Coding Dojo

Some others have covered it as well, but I'd more or less recommend avoiding the Dojo if you're looking for a well supported education. If you learn well without support and feel like you don't need help finding a job, then this school might work for you as its cheaper than some other self-paced options. I graduated recently and just feel massively unprepared to even look for work as my CS contact essentially ignored me for 16 weeks and provided none of the promised resources despite me asking several times. I gave up about halfway through and focused on increasing my coding skillset hoping that would get me a job or at least put me in the position to get one. So far, no luck- but it is early yet.

A lot of the content that is on the platform, especially the videos, are very well wrtiten and explained, and this is only reinforced by the instructors when asked for clarification.  However, it is notable that there has been a lot of turnover in administration and instruction staff, and the new content that is added is not up to par to what the previous.  There is not enough focus on the content itself, most of the school staff seem focused on getting new versions of the platform up and running instead of updating the content on the platform.  Old platform was a lot better, instead they replaced it with a less immersive one and wasted time/effort on that project that could've been spent on updating out-dated content.

Don't go to this bootcamp. It is really terrible. I was kicked out of this bootcamp for speaking out the truth this bootcamp is lying to get new students. I have proves. I won't be saying my name for my security reasons. Here are a few of things that this bootcamp said which makes it really terrible. 
1. They hired their graduates as teaching assistants to hike up their numbers to show that their graduates students get jobs after graduating from the bootcamp. Their teaching assistants are all their graduates to hike the numbers. That also includes somes instructors as well. That's sneaky way to lie the numbers. 
2. You can study on your own. Their curriculum sucks. Their curriculum is all self study. There are many courses online that are way cheaper than this bootcamp when you are self studying. When I talk this to VP, he was so rude when I had conversation about this. I'm looking at you ***e**. 
3. They said career service is endless. It's true. But that can be done when your career service isn't any valuable & terrible to your students. Endless career service. Give me a break. 
I know PR manager will try to fix this. Don't!! OK!!
 

Pros: The curriculum is very straight forward. They provide instructors who are very good at getting you started and making sure you have realistic goals in learning the material as well as giving you the access to other resources for better understanding and insight. They will sit with you for extended periods of time to help debug and guide (given you don't have them trying to do the entire assignment themself). Their lectures are fun, and even though at times it will be stressful, overwhelming, and or confusing, they make sure to give you ample time if used responsibility to stay ahead of schedule and ready for the certification exams. The key to your success in this program boils down in my opinion to your cohort and the people you can lean on when times are exhausting, and the dedication you have to completing the program as well as the time investment required. Staying encouraged and not being afraid to ask for help will go along way. Overall, they provide the tools and the program you need to succeed. I participated already having a background in computer programming, so I had an upper hand when it came to the learning curve. I still had a learning curve, so keep that in mind. Lastly, make sure you take full advantage of the project time, the experience of actually building something with others is invaluable and the one thing I wish I would have been more invested in. As someone who was looking for a job for a while before entering the program, the experience and assignments I did in this program put me over the edge in the interview process, and I was able to lock in an offer before I even finished the program!

Cons: It at times can be very demanding and exhausting. The program itself is very immersive as it describes, but at the times the platform is not updated or does not break down the concepts in a way that is upfront or clear. The videos are very helpful in my opinion, I wished they had more of them. While I was in the program, there were only two instructors. 30-40 students learning this much content with only two instructors can be stressful not only for you, but also for other classmates who would love to help out, but are barely keeping up themselves. There were times where I had to wait a while to get help, but it was also understandable. I was also that student who would help others, and even that began to take a toll, so keep that in mind. I believe they are hiring a new one (which would make a huge difference) but this is just my experience. Lastly, whereas I am grateful and felt valued by the staff at the site, upper management was another story. I will leave it at that. Overall, I would not let any of these cons stop you from taking advantage of this opportunity, especially if you earned your degree in the field and just having a hard time getting back into field after some time like me.

Go to a different Coding school! 
Coding Dojo interviews you after you apply to make sure you'll be a good fit for the program but this is just a ploy to make you think you’re special by getting accepted. They accept everyone! They don’t care. They just want your money! I couldn’t believe the caliber of people they enrolled, just to get a cohort started. They are false advertising that they can teach anyone to code, that you’ll make $76k+ when you graduate and that the department of labor will provide several companies to interview you and an apprenticeship program. All lies. No one is going to hire a coder with zero experience for anywhere near that amount. The program will NOT make you stand out when applying for jobs. You can forget about passing technical interviews or algorithm screenings! You will fail entry-level tests even for new computer science graduates because Coding Dojo lacks foundation and does NOT replace a computer science degree. The Boise, ID campus was brand new when I started the program. It was so disorganized, there was a lot of late and mis-communication, we had seven different teachers come in from out-of-state to replace a couple of teachers for odd reasons, no teaching assistant, and the interviews we were promised by multiple companies were never set up. Coding Dojo was supposed to establish relationships with several local companies for interviews and apprenticeships, not the Department of Labor, they totally dropped the ball and they still haven't tried to make it right. It's all a lie.

Pros: 

• Facilities are kept fairly clean. The area's nice and equipment is adequate. 
• Being surrounded by other determined individuals is a great resource you can't get in an online course. 

Cons: 

• The pace of this course is unrealistically fast. Most everyone is behind all the time even after putting in nearly every waking moment into the class. 
• The learning platform has some major information gaps. Fundamental concepts just aren't covered at all. Many key concepts are brushed over or mentioned once without emphasis. 
• The instructors are my biggest complaint. None of them have professional coding experience for starters. They're all just graduates of this bootcamp who couldn't find jobs in the field afterwards. This means they're either the bottom of the barrel in their respective cohorts or Coding Dojo's job search resources aren't exactly the best. 
• We received about 90 minutes of instruction in the first week. Keep in mind you take your first belt exam at the end of the first week. You're essentially going to be teaching yourself HTML and CSS.  
• Instructors provide zero feedback on assignments. I couldn't even get any on my first exam after asking repeatedly. They admit they can look over and provide feedback on all assignments. They just don't. 
• TA's are brought in to help. They are more recently graduated students who have yet to find work. They're 0/5 on successfully helping with any issues I've brought to them.

Overall, I'd say save your money. Go pay for codeacademy or treehouse. It'd be more worth your time.

I needed guidance and a good working environment, and that's exactly what I got as a student at Coding Dojo. It's not an easy program, but they're very up-front about how much time you need to put in. The results are mixed, depending on how much work each student puts in, and their amount of previous experience. That is not to say previous experience is required, but it definitely helps make the experience easier. You'll never be the slowest or the fastest student in your cohort.

I personally did two months of free online coding self-study before the bootcamp, and while I was happy I did, that self-study barely scratched the surface of the curriculum we went through at Coding Dojo.

I came into Coding Dojo with zero knowledge of coding other than the pre-bootcamp prep course that I did. Overall the experience was very challenging and rewarding. 

As you can find on their website, the bootcamp is structured for 14 weeks with 2 weeks spent on web fundamentals and 1 month spent on the 3 stacks: Python, MEAN, and C#. The web fundamentals was a very good beginning as the pace wasn't too fast and it introduces you to the fundamentals of HTMl, CSS, and JavaScript. Before going in depth to the different stacks, I'll first talk about the instructors. All the instructors for each stack have been excellent. I personally had Noelle, Navya, and Prescott teach my cohort. All of the instructors are invested in the students and want to make sure that every one is able to succeed. At any time if you fall behind, the instructors are very flexible and encourage you to talk with them to develop a specialized plan to catch up or do the most important assignments. All of the instructors are very knowledgeable with their stack and have plenty of experience. They are all very realistic about their expectations and advise students where the most difficult concepts may occur, potential errors, and the most important concepts to grasp. 

Now onto the different stacks, first web fundamentals was an excellent introductory module structured to give the students background on the basics of web development. The assignments on the learn platform all build on each other so there is a lot of structure there. Also algorithms are introduced here, specifically the Basic 13 algorithms which is a good foundation for students to have by the end of web fundamentals so they can build on those algorithm skills in subsequent stacks. 

Since the Python stack was the first full stack experience, it initially has a big learning curve especially for students who don't have prior experience in web development. Navya was very helpful in breaking down the concepts of OOP language first starting out with the basic syntax of python, building on those skills to add OOP basics, and then slowly adding on the back-end technologies including Flask, Django and integration with SQL database. Each of the sections are built on each other and the end-of-day goals are reasonable. Even if you don't keep up with the assignments, the schedule is flexible, and as long as you go to the instructor for help, you should be fine. 

In the MEAN stack, it was a different gear since MEAN stack is non-relational. Learning MongoDB, Angular, Node.js, Express was all very useful in MEAN stack. The culminating assignments are always full-stack web apps implementing CRUD tasks and RESTful APIs. The MEAN stack content on the learn platform wasn't as good as python or C# stack. The instructors leading the demos and explaining the concepts on the learn platform didn't do a very good job. Half of the videos doesn't have code-alongs or short demos which isn't useful the students. Most of my cohort had to rely on our instructor's live demos to help us with assignments. 

In the C# stack, we went back to OOP programming. By the third stack, you pick up the language much quicker. We learned to add .NET Core, Entity, LINQ, and SQL database into our basic web apps. The instructor Prescott, was very helpful in this stack and did so many code alongs and demos for the students that really show us how to write more efficient code and the most common pitfalls when coding an assignment. The C# content on the platform was excellent, the videos were very well done with short demos for each concept presented. There are no complaints here. 

A comment on your time spent at Coding Dojo. Successful students that graduate from Coding Dojo generally spend 70+ hours on coding every week. If you're not prepared to make that commitment depending a variety of circumstances, just take a step back and evaluate your goals. This bootcamp isn't cheap and you want to invest the necessary time in it to succeed. Make sure that your family situation is relatively stable and you let your friends and family know that you can't spend as much time with them during the 14 weeks. But I guarantee you that if you put in the time and effort, you will graduate as a self-sufficient programmer who is able to learn new technologies on your own.

A word on the student environment. Students who don't get a chance to visit the Coding Dojo campus before enrolling. I can speak to the Bellevue campus. Each cohort will get its own section and each student will be given a monitor, the monitors use VGA cords so either make sure you have an adapter or check one out from Coding Dojo. Also there is a parking permit pass that you'll need to put a $50 deposit on. As for student life, there are food trucks in the Bellefield Office Park at the entrance of the park and one near the Coding Dojo campus. There is normally a lunch-and-learn on Wednesdays where an instructor will cover a relevant topic of choice. On Thursdays at 11 am, there's activity day where students are encouraged to rest and play boardgames or ping-pong. Occasionally there are lunch events where a potential recruiter from a local company will come by and talk about their company. 

A word of advice to prospective students for Coding Dojo. If you do decide to attend, pay attention to the promotional deals going on for tuition. Depending on what month students entered the promotional discount off tuition varies from $500 to up to $4000. I believe Coding Dojo is being unprofessional in this aspect. There were more than a few irritated students in each cohort when we found out about the promotional discounts students received in later cohorts. Also if you do refer a friend to Coding Dojo and they sign up for the bootcamp, make sure to follow up with the $500 discount for your friend and you as there was a little trouble with a few students in my cohort. Other than this promotional discount problem, the rest of Coding Dojo has been amazing. 

I completed Coding Dojo's full-stack onsite web development program at the end of April.  Here are the top five things I enjoyed most about the program and why you might consider joining:     1) The program encourages you to research effectively and to work with others.   I learned the most when I was working with another person.   2) Learning three different stacks.   You see how websites can be built from three different stacks.  This made me appreciate the number of ways a problem can be solved with technology.  There is no one way to do things.   Also, the pace at which you learn prepares you for the changing job market.  Software / web development is constantly pivoting to new languages, so the concepts learned at Coding Dojo prepares you to ever-ready.   3) Coding Dojo's "learning platform".   It is their online portal where you can access resource material, assignments, and take your exam.   The platform will be your first stop whenever looking for information.  The Internet can lead you down many different rabbit holes.  The platform offers guided, concise, and well-structured learning material.  It is the first place I search before going to Google something.   4) More on the platform.  The assignments on the platform were fun and helped reinforce what you learn.  If you can do the assignments then you will do well on the exams too.     5) Lastly, the instructors.  All of the instructors and staff at Coding Dojo were incredibly helpful.  They will often sit down with you to help work through technical bugs.   I can honestly say that I had a great experience.  The program challenged me to work harder and I learned a great deal about web development as a whole.  

To be honest the remote Coding Dojo Bootcamp program is NOT worth $6,000 or MORE! After "graduation", I'm left with NO job in the field and horrible debt! My review is based on the remote experience. 

- The remote program value is NOT worth the money.

If I had known that free YouTube videos, free edx.org courses, affordable Udemy, Treehouse, and free Udacity courses were a STRONGER learning foundation than an entire expensive Bootcamp program, I would have SAVED so much money! I wasted both my time and money on this program. 

I thought that having direct human interaction with an instructor would be a stronger learning experience. The remote program only includes two live lectures a week from instructors. There are daily online exercises that you complete by yourself. Initially, I was attracted to the remote program because I was working full-time and could do classes in the evening to hopefully transition to a new career change after graduation.

The pacing of the overall program is unrealistic for the working class and the instructors often RUSH the lecture material. The result is that you do NOT get a solid learning foundation but a rushed final product. My fellow Bootcamp classmates struggled to turn in assignments because they had jobs and the lectures didn't cover all assignments.

- The remote program quality is POOR.

The program gives this false perception that you will be fully trained and ready for the software workforce. The program doesn't teach best practices and sometimes the instructors even forgot the basics of setting up an app. 

Although I respect and liked the instructors, they do not teach you the core features or basics of a programming framework or stack because they didn't have time. The curriculum rushes them. Something essential and simple like the Django Admin dashboard robust functionality. The MEAN portion also felt rushed and MongoDB lectures were very unclear.

I was told I would never get a job using the code that they taught me! They completely rushed and skipped over what frameworks have built-in and the power of the technology. 

It got to the point that I had to PAY outside experts to correct the code quality that the instructors taught me. I also had to pay outside experts to redo code samples that were taught in the program, just to get employers to look at me. So not only did I have to pay the Bootcamp monthly $1,000 installment payments but also additional costs for support that they lacked.

- The remote program lacks support.

AWS deployment was required to pass the final Django exam. No TA knew how to deploy on AWS at the time. With the instructors not available on weekends, I had no choice but to pay outside experts once again!

- The program post-graduation experience.

The remote program's learning quality will NOT make you stand out when applying for jobs. You can forget about passing technical interviews or algorithm screenings! You will fail entry-level tests even for new computer science graduates because Coding Dojo lacks foundation and does NOT replace a computer science degree. 

For the remote program, algorithm training sessions are optional and not enforced or structured in a way to help you pass the most basic level algorithms. On the contrary, I was told the onsite program requires students to do algorithms every day and the learning quality is better. I was told by staff that the basic on HacerRank was too hard to do.

In conclusion, SAVE thousands of dollars please! Enjoy cheap Udemy courses, go to in-person meetup events, find a Code Mentor and watch free YouTube videos. You will learn so much more and have better code samples to show jobs. Seek certification from a program that uses best practices in programming stacks and does not rush the learning experience or quality.

Let me start with the good....

My cohort was amazing. The instructors were amazing.

They say you are the sum of the five people closest to you. If that's true, then for four months, I was an effing genius. I cannot begin to gush about the people I have met there and how they've continued to play a huge part in my life, even today. Everyone was diligent, eager to help, and insanely smart.

I was genuinely surprised and impressed by the camaraderie found the in the people here, not just within my cohort. And since the nature of these boot camps is to attract people from all walks of life, each person I met was this amalgamation of interesting experiences. I learned the most from these people.

The resources

For someone like me, with zero programming and technical education/knowledge/foundation, the instructors and the platform will be an immense resource for learning.

You will have to put in the work and the time. Don't think just because you paid $14K and come to class... sometimes... that you will learn through osmosis. GTFO. I spent a minimum of 60 hr/week here and I still know nothing, but I do know a whole $#i&-ton more than when I started. Know what you're getting into. It's a process. I recognized early that I will never be the strongest programmer and that this will be a life long journey. 

Do all the assignments - there are a bunch;

Do the research - the platform is painfully incomplete and this will teach you to StackOverflow like your life depended on it;

Do the best you can and then do better - open more than one belt exam if allowed, even if you pass on the first time (You, smarty-pants).

Now The Bad....

The company

A lot of broken promises - they initially said we could open other stacks (outside of the three) at the completion of our program. Lies.

Not a good value for the material you actually get. After graduating, I've taken courses (Udemy, Meetups, FCC) where the course work was much better edited, clear, updated regularly, and cohesive all for really cheap or even free. I guess, though, you're more motivated when you have a little skin in the game. $14K to be exact.

Too much politic-ing. Rules and regulations kept changing, often mid-stream. It's very confusing for students to keep up with all the mess. To Coding Dojo corporate - if you're going to change something, have some consistency and let the last cohort be grandfathered in. It's unfair and makes the company look unprofessional and amateurish.

The resources

The platform is painfully incomplete (*see previous comment. They will tell you it's by design. Um sure, is the outdated information also by design?)

Also, some courses were so poorly written that you could cleary tell they did not car about those sections.

But to be fair, it's been a month since I logged in because they kick you out 6 months after you graduate... which is crap because on MOOCs, you have access to all your courses (free and paid) for LIFE (or the option to dl if the course is to be archived). For $14K I'd expect to have access for at least a few years or the option to download my couse work.

The career services

Vary by campus, so I'm told.

The info we got in VA was mostly generic. It might be really good for someone in HS that has no work experience but if you're switching careers or seasoned, you will find the information laughable. The resume examples are horrendous - these are examples of what gets thrown into the trash by recruiters. 

Furthermore, they want all graduates to reguritate the same cultish motto "1,000+ hours of programming" blah blah blah. Be more creative. They need to understand that the pitch, the resume, and the approach will be different for the individual and spend more time with THE individual. 

The instructor for career services was late 75% of the time. He also failed to tell us our course would be starting a week late... Causing people to come into the Dojo when they didn't have to. He also didn't update the materials he sent out... Some dating to the previous year. LOL.

Honestly, I was a bit annoyed with the program itself. Corporate did not feel professional or organized. But like I've mentioned earlier, the people and friendships I've made my time awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

And no. I am not a software engineer.

Online Coding Dojo Bootcamp was great but went by too fast. I am an experienced Programmer who was looking to review my concepts and learn new programming languages like Python and ASP.NET Core technology. While the curriculum is well structutred and the instructors are great, it went too fast for me, I did not get a chance to review concepts and felt like it was too fast. I am still struggling on some concepts I did before I joined. I need more practice, more real application to what I learned. More hands on, more testing questioning practice.