Coding Dojo

I came into the boot camp with a little bit of prior experience. I was about half way through my computer science degree and felt that the learning was going a little slow. I wanted to go somewhere that would boost the speed of the learning and teach me some of the newer web technologies out there. When i went to the Dojo, I realized that they had a great curriculum and a great environment to learn. 

Michael Choi, the founder, did an excellent job as an instructor. He gave insight into the real world and how things are really done. He's been a part of a lot of start ups, both consulting and founding, and has great development experience. It was a pleasure to learn from him. 

The biggest thing that I can say is, you get out what you put in. I came from a technology background but saw very successful students that had different backgrounds, such as finance. They ones that put the time in (12 - 15 hours daily and sometimes even the weekends) really did an excellent job learning and were able to excel. Others that didn't put time and effort in, didn't do so well. Coding Dojo lets people in from all backgrounds because they believe that anyone can learn this, given they have the motivation. I completely agree with them. They also believe in strength through struggle. When you come to a bug, they want you to try and work it out without asking for help the first 20 minutes. This really helped me and caused me to learn even more, since I was actually surprised at how much I could figure out on my own. 

When I couldn't figure something out though, there was our instructor their and TAs to help. The TAs are usually from previous groups, but are still working on personal projects or want to expand on what they learned. They will bend over backwards to help you figure out any problem. It was really great, because if they didn't figure out the problem right away, you were able to follow along with them in the troubleshooting process and help solve your own problem. 

The curriculum was great and very up to date, they know what people are looking for. We did modern technologies that really were relevant in the field. They showed me how to interview, helped me work on algorithms for interviews, and even reviewed my resume. After a few tricks that they showed me, I was getting calls daily for open positions, I didn't even need to use their recruiting network. I got hired as a web developer the week after my boot camp. 

Coding Dojo was a great experience and as long as you are going to use a little effort to help your future, I definitely recommend it. They teach you in a way that you can pick up other languages, frameworks, and technologies within a weekend. That type of learning quick is what they employer wants, as you can never know everything in this field. So just take my advice, go to the Dojo!

I attended the Coding Dojo to become a better programmer and in nine short weeks my programming knowledge and skills advanced by leaps and bounds. The curriculum is excellent, focusing on teaching students programming fundamentals and the ability to quickly adapt to new technologies, skills which can be leveraged to stay on top of the ever changing field of web development. After finishing the bootcamp I was able to quickly get an awesome job at a small web development firm. All of the people I met during my time at the Dojo were fantastic and there was a real sense of community. I don't regret a single thing about my time at the Dojo and strongly recommend it to anyone interested in computer programming and web development.

I rarely write or read other people’s testimonials/reviews due to the fact that I am a skeptic who believes that company conspiracy exist where employees or individuals are paid to write bogus reviews. I know I am not the only person who thinks like this; therefore I want to write a review that is meaningful and give insight to future CodingDojo students.

When I was considering coding bootcamp programs around the country, my two main priorities were the cost and the quality of what I was going to be learning. I’ve been going to school for a long... time and each opportunity was driven by one of the priorities I mentioned above but also influenced by situational circumstances. After years of working in the IT industry in various roles and putting my true passion on hold, which has always been to code , I’ve decided this time to disregard everyone’s opinions and follow what I feel is right in my heart(tough decision, but I have to live with myself).

I should have invested in a coding bootcamp such as CodingDojo a long time ago instead of “wasting” money on my traditional education. With that said, before I get criticize for stating the facts for WHY a bootcamp option would have been a preferred choice of education; I would like to state the opportunities that I knew it would offer me: having greater control of my career and the opportunities I sought after and the ability to challenge myself while working on projects that are revolutionizing the way people interact with in web and mobile spaces. CodingDojo was one of the few programs that I researched and decided to attend because the cost looked reasonable based on my budget, it was offering a fullstack web development program and was located in the heart of Silicon Valley; three combinations I knew I couldn’t go wrong with given any day or situation.

Although I didn’t know what to expect since I had limited coding experience, I was positive that I would give the 12weeks program my 100% commitment since it would be foolish to pay for the program and not give myself the best chance of succeeding in this endeavor. Since starting the program I’ve come to realize that as far as cost and quality curriculum goes, this is one of the best investments and decisions I’ve made in a long time. The quality of the course gets an A+, the TAs and instructors are awesome and very knowledgeable. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to give the impression that this is Disneyland and everything is peachy (there are difficult times), but if you can commit to working harder than you’ve ever worked in your entire career or education journey, then consider yourself half way there because whatever goals you set for yourself, commitment and dedication will definitely get you there; that’s if you’ve decided CodingDojo bootcamp is the right choice for you.

The staff members at CodingDojo are invested in your success because this is the reason the program exists. They will go the extra-mile in helping you define and execute whatever path you have defined as a priority BUT, yes there is a BUT, you have to want this just as badly. So to perspective students, those considering starting a bootcamp journey, here are some of the questions I asked myself before moving to Mountain View, CA:

1. What is my learning style? What are my strengths and weaknesses?

2. If there’s another opportunity that existed and paid me extremely well and I wascompletely happy, would I still pursue this route?

3. Can I commit to a 12weeks intensive training that will change my career trajectory in terms of opportunities?

4. What strategies do I need to be successful in the program and accomplish what I am starting?

5. Is this something I can see myself doing for the rest of my career? Why?

If you’ve asked yourself these questions and can reasonably and comfortably answer these questions, don’t wait a single day because the time is now for you to begin your journey at CodingDojo.

I had a profound experience during my Coding Dojo bootcamp. I had my doubts that I could learn so much so quickly. Would I leave a poser? Would I be viewed as a wannabe by other developers after leaving? The answer is that there is still a lot I have to learn but Coding Dojo gave me a rapid head start which would have taken me years of frustration to figure out on my own. I've also received a warm reception in the field by other coders who respect the effort it took to get through the bootcamp. The staff at Coding Dojo really treated us with respect and took care of us. This allowed us to focus on what we came for- coding skills. I didn't just gain new job skills but a lot of new friends and valuable contacts who will continue to provide support for a long time.  As a result of attending Coding Dojo I'm now working as a web developer for a a major insurance company for $97k/year.  This seems to be the entry-level rate.  I've seen jobs for double that which I could probably land after a year or two of work experience is added to my resume.  I'm valued and appreciated for what I do and I love the work.

 As a web designer with extensive WordPress knowledge, this bootcamp was a waste of money.  It took me over 700 applications to get hired as a Web Support Specialist.  The "skills" I learned were not enough to enter into an entry level Front-end or Back-end position.  If you are willing to learn independently for MONTHS after graduation - treating it as a FT job then this might be your school.  Otherwise - go to CodeAcademy - complete personal projects - enroll in their Full-Stack track and save yourself thousands of dollars.  Coding Dojo employees former students as their instructors with no industry experience - same applies for their TA's. 

I attended in 2021, I graduated from the software engineer 3 stack program. I was approved for the income share agreement and took it, this was the worse mistake I could have made. It took me an entire year to get a job in tech and that only happened because I specialized. College would have been cheaper and more useful in the long run since the income share agreement charges 2?5 x the boot camp price and takes 10% of your pay for 10 years or until the amount is paid in full (30+k) even if you were never able to get a tech job. To top it all off they were recently bought off and we lost access to the alumni community on discord, which was one of the perks we were promised alongside career services (which suck). If you're able to just get a degree at wgu or something instead, it's cheaper and at least you can look for employment outside of tech if you need to .

Don't fall for their scam. I graduated from their software development program in 2023. Their curriculum was grabbed from free online sources, they lied about the graduated rates and the placement rates. They lied about helping you get a job as well. All the career service managers ever did was provide you with an excel sheet listing links of job sites and resources that any one can find by googling it themselves. Also half the links they provided were from websites that do not exist anymore. They also had limited space for helping you in meetings and then blamed you for not seeing them when "time is available". Coding Dojo sells their program as good for you any age, any place in life, as being able to transition into the tech field when in reality they used inflated numbers. Anyone that could not find a job that ended up freelancing on fiverr or volunteering and working for free was counted as "hired" and "successful" in Coding Dojo's eyes. All my instructors were previous students of theirs that hadn't found a job yet. All our TA's were also previous graduates from which only 1/3 of them were actually any good to help with problems that came up, however, none of them were good when it came to you trying something new for a project. All that the instructors did was read off the online material that you had access to and had to also study on. Essentially, if it wasn't in the curriculum then they did not know anything about it or how to help you. Most of the time, you had more help and learned more from other students after the program ended. I have learned more from Udemy courses, Coursera courses, and free coding websites than from Coding Dojo bootcamp. Now I am stuck with a PRIVATE student loan from a servicing company that Coding Dojo pushes for you to use and that loan servicer does not care about lowering payments, postponing payments more than 3 months for a total of 9 months, or any help at all. Most of us are still out of a job or had to go back to our old job now with more debt. Some of us, including myself, have filed for bankruptcy because a $500 private student loan monthly payment is ridiculous when we can barely afford a living in this economy. Coding Dojo and Ascent Funding should be sued for putting so many students through financial hardship and should refund students their money. 

The cost of this bootcamp was over $16,000. The instructors for the most part “Coding Dojo” graduates. Not at all IT professionals. Do not buy into the lies that the sale marketing team tells you. They will tell you about all the support, the number of IT jobs out there, how you’ll get hands on job ready experience when you finish, lifetime career services and it is all BS. The curriculum is so broken that you do not learn anything. They build you up while you are enrolled so that you don’t drop out (which means they lose money). The “hands on” that you do is never gone over for you to understand in depth. The assignments were so broken that you are better off using TryHackMe labs (that subscription only cost $15.00 a month). You pay $16,000 for a very vague introduction into Cybersecurity. They do claim that  they prepare you for the CompTIA Ssec+ and CompTIA CySA+. Let me tell you that once I finished this Bootcamp in July, I got my Sec+ in August and I got my CySA+ a month after that. Not once did I use the information that was provided on Coding Dojo’s platform because it did not help. Most of the information is misspelled or out of place. One interesting finding that I do want to point out in this review is that I used Jason Dion’s CompTIA courses to prepare for both CompTIA exams and I realized while studying for my CySA+, the EXACT word for word material that comes from Jason Dion’s course was the entire Intermediate portion of the bootcamp!!! The “INSTRUCTOR” used exactly word for word in all of “HIS” writeup slides the exact sentences from Jason Dion’s study guide that is provided to you when you purchase his course on Udemy. His course on Udemy cost $20.00!!! This cost over $16,000! I wonder how Jason Dion would feel about a “tech” school using his material word for word? The lifetime Career Services is a complete joke. They will meet with you 1 time after you finish the program and then after that they ghost you. Complete waste of time to use this Bootcamp and they do say that they do not guarantee employment (it’s common sense that nobody can ever guarantee employment) but that is the cover up they will use for a review like this. This honest review is coming from someone who finished triple black belt in all 3 stacks of the program (Core, Intermediate and Professional). This review could not be more honest and to the point. A coding dojo “ninja” graduate means nothing to anybody. One last thing to mention is I did find out is that they are suspending the Cybersecurity course for the remainder of the year and I believe that I a good thing! Do not believe the advertisements on YouTube and do not buy into the sales pitch that they give you. Coding Dojo is a scam and you can learn Cybersecurity for a heck of a lot less money by using Udemy, YouTube or any other online resources. If you do read this and still think that Coding Dojo is worth it, please read this review again and look somewhere else.

My experience with coding dojo was not great. Most of the material you can get off like for free and the hours they had available for help was outside my work schedule. Web Fundamentals was the best part but once I transitioned into Python it was awful. They cram so many things in such a small amount of time it was difficult to feel that you learned anything especially working 40 hours a week. The instructors had very little experience, just a year or so just out of graduating coding dojo. Most of my frustration comes from how even impacted by Hurricane Ian the company talked me into staying not advising me once you complete 50% you get no refund. Once I was past the 50% it’s like they didn’t care. 

Definitely not worth. So regret that I spent that much many while I couldn’t get any job and not even help from their job center. At beginning they talked the way that you will get many job offers after graduation easily however after you graduate your payments start and you need to get a job to be able to pay that money. They are not a credible college and don’t have federal tax I’d do while I just asked for tax return my tax accountant told me that I wound t receive money back even because I’ve been student 6 month. Recommending you go to college and university instead and practice what you learn at home and get job

First, let me say, if you are looking for an easy way to get a certificate, THIS IS THE WAY TO GO! For starters, you don't even have to do the homework. After the first 'stack', where I busted my ass to get the assignments in, the instructor told me they don't get checked anyway. So I didn't bother submitting any more. Which is OK, because the exam was a joke that I had no trouble passing even without doing the homework. Their claim that the instructors are 'industry professionals' was a lie. I had 5 instructors. Only one had any experience. The rest were just recent graduates with no experience in the field. I admit it was a bit expensive, but, considering I didn't really have to do any work to graduate, it isn't too bad.

I attended coding dojo both online and in person as covid restrictions eased.  In person instruction was a complete waste of time, the instructor just made videos of the lecture so prevented any interactive learning and would later just tell students to review the video.  This really made the in person experience feel like a waste, i spent thousands in lodging/travel costs to get less effective instruction.  I cant speak for all the campuses but the san jose classrooms are in a huge cubicle farm so all the extra noise makes it impossible to concentrate, also they teach 3 classes with no separation for sound so you have to listen to three instructors and try to focus.  I really wanted to learn how to build and deploy a website for my business but did not end up getting the instruction i needed.  if you ask questions outside of the curriculum you will likely be told to focus on the material, it was very disheartening, made me lose motivation when i realized they would only teach the minimum for the test.  I ended up attending another coding bootcamp fully online which had much better instruction, wish i had just done that one to begin with.  also the instructors tend to play favorites and work with certain students more than others, not all instructors but some.

career services was little to no help,  a number of folks in my class rejoined the military and 5-6 months later many are still looking for work.  at another coding boot camp the job placement rate was much higher with most of the class having jobs before graduation or numerous interviews lined up.  if you do not have a college degree i would certainly take the job placement claims with a grain of salt.  having an engineering degree opened up a lot of doors for me but for folks without a degree it was tough.  

I would certainly recommend talking with folks in the industry before attending coding dojo, and check out all the other options to make the best choice for you.




 

My favorite is the curriculum. As a beginner, there are too much knowledge and resources on the Internet, I don't know how to choose, what to learn, and how to plan. I really like Coding Dojo's learning platform, it imparts knowledge in an efficient way and lets us reinforce the knowledge by doing lots of exercise and homework. If I studied by myself, I wouldn't be able to learn so much so efficiently.
Besides, the instructors and TAs are always willing to help, check the code and solve my problems either with installation or coding. It helps me a lot because I don't have anyone around me to ask for help, after all, I'm not in CS major.

Coding Dojo was an amazing experience for me. I loved the structure that it provided, along with the support that I got from the instructors and the TAs. They were pretty kind and open-minded even when they were times that students would ask seemingly 'common-sense' or 'redundant' questions. They understood that not everybody has had prior experience with coding, but they do make sure to gently point you to WHERE you can find the answer so that you can build your self-sufficiency (and as a recent bootcamp graduate, this skill has been really helpful because I now look at language / framework documentation most of the time). Shoutout to John M. and Spencer 

Coding Dojo can be better at ensuring that their curriculum is up-to-date

I took the Data Science 12 week bootcamp.  Be aware that in a 12 week course, you have 24 actual classroom hours (2 1-hour meetings per week) where the instructor goes over a powerpoint, then demoes some of the concepts you're learning that week.  They attempt to get to the point where there is time for a group exercise (of which there is little value) but there is rarely time for that due to the overwhelming number of questions from students (in my class there were more than 25 -- hard to be sure because I wasn't clear how many were TAs of the 30+ that were logged in).
Personally, I expected much more facetime with an instructor and was disappointed by this.  I was also disappointed by the heavy reliance on a learning platform that was being built as we went along and was full of errors that I frequently reported.
It's also worth noting that in my course, we had a highly qualified instructor for the first 4 weeks, a new to teaching instructor for the second 4 weeks (who had a backup to help with student questions), and another brand new instructor for the last 4 weeks that was actually a TA during the first 8 weeks.
You should also be aware that they have a monthly drawing for prizes for people that submit reviews.
Now, if you think this kind of experience is worth $8500+ then this is the place for you.  I did not, and will not be recommending them to any of my peers.