Dev Bootcamp

I dropped out of college to attend Dev Bootcamp a year and a half ago, having only done the equivalent of one year of CS in self study. The experience was the definition of disappointing. The curriculum was all either exercises I'd done as part of my self study or some of the worst I've ever seen (ie. program an imaginary hospital even though we already gave you a week of exercises in the subject, OOP programming). When I approached teachers with questions, they would say that they'd talk to me after class and literally would avoid me afterwards. The absolute worst of it all was job placement. Stephanie refused to give me the counseling, resume help, and teaching I desperately needed, telling me to instead go talk to my fellow alumni. I wrote her bogus check in emails about how I'd saved orphans from burning buildings and she replied as if I had given an actual check in. I never was put in contact with companies. I was not alone in this, with few of my cohort getting jobs. Only the ones who previously had connections did. Later I enrolled in another bootcamp out of desperation. The precourse curriculum for that camp covered more than the entirety of Dev Bootcamp. They also provided the career help I needed, and I got a job making 6 figures with options and benefits 3 weeks after graduation. There are good coding schools out there, but Dev Boot camp is no longer one.

I thought it was awesome how they design and iterate everything based on student feedback. The environment, space and culture were all great but there is room for improvement instilling the correct mindset for continuing learning once the program ends. The bad (perhaps with any school) is that the best teachers are assigned to you by chance. In an ideal world it would be nice to have less discrepency in regards to the talent of the teachers. More to the point about instelling the correct mindset after graduation, you are caught offguard when the program ends and you're an adult again. There should be more emphasis from day 1 that things will be harder outside of the program. We need to be comfortable stepping out of the bubble while still having coding mentorship while working alone.

Also I wish there was more emphasis on data strucures and the science part of what we're going. It's a challenging thing to do because the more serious science you teach, the less you risk making things boring. DBC was a lot of joy. There's algorithm night every wednesday which is open for anyone but you usually end up not going because you're busy with other stuff. Getting into the program is too easy which means there are some students who aren't as serious as you are. That was a little frustrating. 

Overall to end in a good note it is a necessary experience if you want to become a coder and a lot of the bad things I described I am sure happen in other bootcamps as well. I 100% recommend DBC but if you're very serious about learning and doing this as a career, make sure you research and ask questions. If you're the laid back type who loves coding and technology, DBC is the perfect place for you.

I attend Dev Bootcamp (DBC) after having bounced around unfulfilling  jobs after completing my Master’s Degree.  I had gotten a small taste of programming in my coursework previous and had tried to expand that knowledge on my own with little success.  I had heard of DBC when it was established in San Fransisco and was ecstatic to learn there was a Chicago branch.  I immediately put in my application and after a series of interviews I was accepted into the program. 

“Phase 0” at Dev Bootcamp is a series of exercises you are expected to do on your own time before your in person time begins.  This theoretically allows DBC to further explore whether you will be able to survive the rigorous work that occurs during the in person 9 week session.  This phase was rather lax and I feel like in the several guided pairing sessions I underwent I didn’t receive much instruction or utility.  I have heard they have reworked Phase 0 since I went through it and hope that it involves more feedback on exercises and further instruction.

Heading into the in person section I was nervous but excited.  The first week was definitely a shock as we were thrown directly into work that was very challenging (at the time) and took a while for us to complete.  I remember seeing on the website that we’d be working 60-80 hours a week and thought that couldn’t possibly be true and that they were inflating that number to scare off anyone who was not serious.  They were not… most weeks I was at DBC every day for at least 12 hours.  During the week we worked on different exercises in pairs or groups (mostly pairs) and going to lectures, Engineering Empathy (team building/mental preparation?),  and yoga.  From Friday to Monday we were working on group projects that were rarely finished before Sunday afternoon.

Every three weeks is considered a phase and at the end of each phase there was an assessment where they determined if you were ready to be pushed through to the next phase.  These were fairly stressful, as I was unemployed (no time for anything but DBC) at the time I was determined to make it through in the minimum 9 weeks so I wouldn’t go too much into debt.  The assessments were tough but generally fair and afterwards you were able to sit down with an instructor and they would go over it with you and make a recommendation about whether they thought you were ready for the next phase.  Your performance in the weeks leading up to the assessment also factored in and often were more indicative of whether you were ready or not.

At the end of phase 3 you participate in a final project where you work for 8 days to create a webpage/app from scratch based on someone’s ideas.  At the end you get to present your final product to your fellow students/alumni and some employers.  

After graduation, you have a week of resume and interview prep and you are sent out to find a job.  I was underwhelmed with the amount of help that I received from the Career team, partially due to a transition period that was occurring in staffing.  As one of the reasons I selected DBC was their career team I was fairly disappointed with this stage.  Despite the lack of assistance I was able to secure a job within a few months of graduation and have been working for the company for over a year now.  I really enjoy my job (something I’d never been able to say before) and I am thankful every day that I took the chance and went to DBC.  Overall the program was great, the instructors were amazing and I have a bunch of awesome new friends that I keep in touch with that went through this bootcamp with me.  I would recommend this course to anyone who is willing to work hard and be rewarded.  

Great program. It was a lot of hard work but very rewarding and prepared me well for a job in Software Development. They provide a good full stack education so that regardless of if you want to go into front end, full stack or backend software development, you will have a solid foundation with which to get a job and continue your education in the workforce. The differentiatior in my decision making process was the more well rounded education that DBC offers and the universally positive reviews I was hearing from employers.

Bootcamp focuses mainly on Ruby and Rails, with a little bit of Javascript. Broken up into three phases you also get to extensively learn algorithms and logical thinking for 3 weeks building games like sudoku solvers, chess, boogle, and more. The professors are all superb, and the space is great. Free unlimited coffee, and career support after graduation.  

On the other hand it is very expensive, and the job search is completely up to you. You also don't learn any JS framworks or mobile development. Also the interview process for developers is up to you to figure out by reading a book called "Cracking the coding interview". 

DBC surpassed my expectations by leaps and bounds. I didn't expect the program to be drastically life changing in terms of overall growth, I thought that I would just learn how to code a bit. However, after going through it, I've met so many great people and learned significantly more than code (though we did learn quite a bit of it after all those super long days). I highly recommend the program if you want to learn and improve yourself in a supportive and positive environment.

Dev Bootcamp is the best thing I have experienced.  The instructors know their stuff and it is sooo surprising what programming you can do in 9 weeks.  Not only do they teach you Ruby on Rails and Javascript, but they teach you learn to learn a language quick and the idea of a web application.  They care about good practice of a programmer, as well as how to not burn yourself out!  They take care of your bodhy with yoga, and your mind by teaching you EQ.  Not only did this program improve me as a programmer, but it has improved me as a person.  

Attending DBC in NYC was hands-down one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. I came from a Psychology and Administrative background with absolutely no previous programming experience (with the exception of a few Codecademy tutorials). It was an all-around positive experience as I not only gained technical skills in relation to web development, but moreover, I learned "how to learn" in order to be able to teach myself new technologies, frameworks, etc. as a new developer. Instructors, staff and fellow cohort mates/alumni treated me with the utmost respect and kindness at all times, and were more than willing to help whenever I felt stuck, confused, or discouraged. They also all made it such a fun experience - I have never felt so comfortable around a group of people in such a short time span.

Unexpectedly, I learned way more about myself as a person and gained friends that I will have for life. Every person in my life has noticed a difference in my attitude and demeanor as I have become so much more excited, happy, and ready to take on this new chapter.

 

 

Over All Experience

Best learning environment I’ve ever been a part of. I wish more of education were taught in this model- hands on, lightly guided and fast paced. You get to apply what you learned quickly. The culture of dev boot camp promotes cameraderie among the students and instructors. It rewards curiosity, hard work and persistence. I met a wonderful and diverse group of people here. They were and continue to be inspiring (in the lease cliche way possible).

 

Instructors

Instructors are very knowledgable, approachable and helpful. They never give you the answer- just ask a lot of questions about your process and thinking which helps you figure it out. Many of the instructors brought in their years of industry experience and excitement for new technology. I would have liked to be pushed harder.

It concerns me slightly that they will employ graduates of the program who have not had much experience with dev work outside of Dev Bootcamp. While it is valuable to have the support of people who have first hand experience as a DBC student, I think that someone with more experience is better equipped to push students out of the DBC comfort zone since they know what outside of DBC looks like. When I pay $12,000 I want my teachers to be seasoned and have given their lectures more than once. That being said, I found that the students turned instructors were competent when it came to assisting with the hands on exercises. I know that other boot camps also employ their old students.

 

Curriculum

I think it is relevant to compare the curriculum of a bootcamp to a CS program, because that may be who you are competing with for a job. (but a lot of people out there are self taught or went to another bootcamp). Dev Bootcamp is strictly a Web Development shop. It is not a computer science degree or its equivalent. you do not learn mobile development. You learn Ruby, Javascript, and SQL (plus HTML and CSS). Except for SQL, These are all scripting languages. The great thing about this curriculum is that they give you all the components necessary to hack together a fully functioning website. Really, that’s all you need to get started in web development. And they write the curriculum to prove to you that you can make real things. You build StackOverflow and Craigslist as projects.

When you graduate, you are most likely going to be ready for a QA role or something on the front end. You probably won’t do much on the backend because companies prefer to hire candidates with Data Structures and Algorithms experience/course work for that. You do not learn Data Structures or Algorithms. You will know what an Array and Hash are- you will need to study anything else.

A really big part of DBC’s philosophy is to reveal your ignorance. Never be afraid of what you don’t know, pursue it. Ask questions. I like that philosophy.

 

Job Assistance

Helpful. VERY helpful. They went above and beyond what I had expected.

They aren’t going to apply for you- but they give you the tools you need. There is a 1 week course at the end that kick starts your job search. You have LinkedIn and Resume reviews, brush up your portfolio and learn to stalk the hell out of potential leads.

They also give great tips on how to keep organized and motivated. The motivated part is super important because job hunting burns you out. All their resources are available to you and you can walk up to anyone and ask if they would be comfortable giving you an email intro (maybe even a recommendation).

I have absolutely no regrets about my decision to walk away from my previous career, plunk down a ton of money, and take this giant risk.

I'm sure you've read all about the fast-pace and the short time-frame and the long days, so let me tell you about stuff you may not have read:
 

-You should be on board with Engineering Empathy. The people who got the most out of the program were the people who were willing to be open. Read up on it, ask questions about it, and ask yourself if you can engage in uncomfortable self-reflection and open discussions that will make you a better person and a better team member. If you're looking to focus on code and code alone, this probably isn't the place you will be happiest, and that's okay. I was drawn to DBC because of their emphasis on you as a whole person, not just as a programmer, but it's not for everyone.

-DBC accepts beginners - I was one of them - but the best thing you can do for yourself is to be as prepared as possible going into Phase 0. It was hard for me to get through Phase 0 and I didn't work during those first 9 weeks. Give yourself some runway and choose a start date that allows you enough time to really work through some tutorials and have a good foundation. The stronger you are going into Phase 0, the stronger you'll be going into Phase 1, and then you won't be spending precious mental energy trying to grasp the basics during fast-paced days - you can be reaching further into the curriculum.

-You're going to graduate with a lot of new skills, and you're going to need to keep working on them while you job hunt. Depending on how strong you are going into the program, you may feel confident enough when you graduate to go out and interview immediately. I gave myself some time after graduation to do a deeper dive into Rails and JavaScript now that I had the time to learn at a slower pace. Don't expect to graduate and land a job immediately - it happens, but it's more likely that it'll take 1-3 months, and during that time you need to be focusing on learning as well as applying for jobs.

-DBC is great at taking feedback, and the curriculum and overall experience is constantly changing. Get in touch with them and ask to speak to a recent alum rather than relying on internet searches. The phase 1 curriculum is a lot different than when I had it - I'm jealous of the students now. My only real criticism is that I wish we had even more exposure to JavaScript and algorithms, but that's based on my own experience and they've added more in since I graduated. There's a cool 'spike day' in Phase 3 when you get to pick any framework you want to practice with. All of these changes took place since I graduated in December 2014, so the staff is constantly working to improve the experience based on your feedback and their critical review of content.

-The Careers team is really awesome. No, they don't guarantee you jobs, but I would receive emails about job opportunities that companies had reached out to DBC to promote, and the job I have now is as a result of a referral from someone reaching out to the Careers team. DBC has relationships with "Employer Partners" but it seems to me that the majority of people getting jobs did so through their own searching vs those relationships. Shar'nee, the Career Coach, is really awesome about staying in touch, giving you advice, and helping you retool your resume and your approach to job hunting. Career Week itself is pretty invaluable for getting you started. Bonus: DBC is really welcoming of having alumni back in the space to work on projects and job hunting after graduation.

I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Good luck!