devCodeCamp

I went to DevCodeCamp with zero experience and by the end of the course I felt really good about where I was and where I was going. The instructors are absolutely wonderful. They are super helpful, always encouraging students to ask questions and extremely welcoming. No one is discriminated nor is left out of the one-on-one hands on learning experience from these instructors. All the guidance I received was very positive. When I felt myself struggling, it’s like they knew the right steps to take to help me understand and move forward in a way that is sort of personal to who you are and how you learn. I attended DevCodeCamp a little before the pandemic hit and ended up having to go remote half through the course. The change worked for me and I never once felt like the one-on-one experience and teachings disappeared. It actually felt like they reached out more frequently to make sure we were all doing okay. Three months after graduation, I received a job offer. Mind you, this is during a pandemic. The school helped me with the job that I got and I could not be more grateful for all their help and assistance. devCodeCamp changed my life and if you’re looking for a bootcamp to attend, look no further. 

Absolutely awesome experience, would recommend to anyone looking to break into the Software Development field. Their curriculum is very in depth and fast moving, everything works together to bring you to a deep understanding of the stack their working in. The instructors are awesome, it's a perfect mix of serious knowledge and fun wittiness. The in class environment is great, the building is very accessible and easy to work in. Overall an amazing experience for anyone who is looking for a new career, or just looking to pick up some programming skills.

Working closely with instructors that actually cared about your projects. My personally assigned instructor Michael H, took all the necessary steps to in-depth explain programming principles, good writing conventions and conceptual background of some algorithms and data structures.

For our personal projects Michael T. Helped tremendously, helping guide my decision making and project direction when things inevitably got complicated. While at times some concepts were difficult to grasp; the instructors made an effort to go over the concepts again in a different way to really ensure we're ready to implement them in the real world. 

While at times, it was frustrating they would have limited involvement; the skill of learning how to research on your own will set me up to learn endless programming languages, with the added benefit of having them as a support team for concept that are increasingly difficult to grasp. 

Summary: I went from working in janitorial work for almost a decade, with minimal development/coding experiences to accepting a job at a Fortune 500 company as a Full Stack Engineer. The instructors are great. They are relatable, accessible, and generally fun to be around. 

The funding options seem to be very flexible, especially with the ISA option (income share agreement). My plan was to attend devCodeCamp back in late 2017/early 2018, but I couldn't make the funding work. When they introduced the ISA as an option, I returned and am very glad I did. With the ISA, they only get paid if I get paid over a certain threshold and there are limits (both in time and amount). 

The program was challenging and engaging. Every time I felt like "I got this! No problem!" we would get a new assignment and I'd be right back to "I guess I have no clue what I'm doing." It's a constant up and down as you are introduced new topics. And make no mistake, there are a LOT of areas covered. 

After graduation, the support was excellent. When I received my Associate's Degree (in a different field), it felt like I graduated and got thrown to the pits. This was NOT the case at devCodeCamp. In the month it took me to interview/accept a position, I was in constant contact with the individuals involved with the program, including being able to stay in the classroom and continue working/applying for jobs.

The environment they cultivated is truly impressive. It's collaborative, challenging, and there's never a dull moment. It is hard work and some weeks will require you to work beyond the normal class hours (looking at you, capstone projects), but it is worth it. With my new role, I will be almost doubling the salary I was earning just 16 weeks ago (12 for program, 4 to find job). 

HIGHLY recommended

Going into the program I was a bit skeptical like most people I'm sure. However, this camp is outstanding and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get into coding/developing as a career. I came into the camp with no coding/developing experience and after 3 months I am able to build a full application with front end and back end functionality. The camp is intense and does not give you time to procrastinate on projects, but is still kept at a pace that you can still learn if you put in the effort. The major benefit of a program like devCodeCamp is that the instructors are all really knowledgeable on all the languages/programs that you learn. If you get stuck or don't understand something they are all willing and able to answer pretty much any questions you have and explain it in a way to help you understand it. If you are a veteran you can use the GI Bill to pay for the program like I myself did which helped support me so I didn't have to work in my free time so I could focus on the program. I recommend at least coming in for a tour to check it out and ask any questions you may have about the program.

I went into devCodeCamp with no real knowledge or experience. I am still floored by how much I was able to learn in the 14 weeks I was a student here. The entire course is built around teaching the technical aspects and the abstract ones. This means that instructors will help you learn code languages, structures, and techniques as well as learning new ways to approach problems and where to look to learn new things and solve issues yourself. My advice to anyone thinking of coming is to take the leap and gamble on yourself. With the experience and staff at devCodeCamp it's a sure thing.

From day 1 you will dive right into coding! This isn't the traditional "sit down and learn from a textbook" classroom environment, this is very hands on and you will always be learning something new. After finishing college with a 4-year degree in something that has nothing to do with coding, I was looking for a change. I heard about devCodeCamp from word-of-mouth and decided to give it a try and I never looked back. There will be times where it feels like a roller coaster,  you will have days where everything is clicking in your mind and there will be days when you will need to focus a little bit more. When there was times where I felt like I was getting lost, the instructors was there to help me with each project. They want you to succeed! Looking back 4 months ago I never thought I would accomplish this much! Going in without a coding background, and now looking back I am glad I took the leap of faith and joined devCodeCamp. The process to enroll into the program  was very smooth and easy! In devCodeCamp you are provided with a great knowledge of coding as a foundation to go forth and learn any other language or create more applications. I was able to find a job quickly, jump starting my career as an engineer. If you are on the fence about this program, jump off the fence and dive in!

I had a rather unique experience at DevCode Camp as I entered as both a veteran and had significant schooling in Computer Science prior to attendance. 

AS A VETERAN:

Support could not have been better. There were many former service members like myself from all different branches that were able to easily transition into careers with the skills obtained from DevCode Camp. As one of the few programs that accept the GI Bill, tuition was fully covered and I was even able to take advantage of housing on-site in one of the Pritzloff's Loft apartments with other students at no cost.

AS A COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR:

Being just short of my degree with no software development or engineering experience I found it hard to compete with peers in my field. Despite the shortage of developers and programmers companies rage about, finding a job even with a degree is extremely challenging without the skillsets or experience desired by each specific company. Through DevCode Camp I was able to hone already learned skills, learn best practices, and gain some very intense experience in technologies I never would have touched in an academic environment but are common practice in today's industry. The ability to properly apply skills/technologies learned is crucial and yet severely lacking in most academic programs but is instilled in each graduate at DevCode Camp. 

I checked out devCodeCamp a while ago and was skeptical at first. I saw some reviews that turned me away. My friend decided to sign up to later in the year and showed me what he was working on. I was amazed to say the least. I had two classes under my belt; languages not taught at the camp, and was still hazy on actual programming and software development. 

I signed up and was blown away at the help the instructors gave, how they taught, and how the curriculum was laid out to give us the foundation and stack on it. You really don't need any experience before coming here, but you do have to work hard. I am glad I signed up, now I can deliver quality software and begin my journey as a software engineer.

Well, to be honest, I was really scared to start with this. Knowing that it is a fast paced learning environment and would have to leave my job and invest my savings into it and me personally have never studied in any American institution before this(I am from India), I was risking everything. But now I am glad that I took the right decision as the knowledge that I have now would not have been possible without devCodeCamp.

The team of Instructors led by Mike, is a really awesome team. Not only they helped me with my questions but also encouraged me, and brought me back up whenever I would feel little low. Environment in the camp is positive and each of the instructors are available anytime of the day to help you.

devCodeCamp teaching philosophy is learning by doing, and that's exactly what one would get. I got real hands on experience on coding in industry standard projects. Overall, it is worth your money as it would not only teach us the technologies but also prepare for the future.

I came to devCodeCamp (dCC) with vary minimal experience with code, only having dabbled with it. That experience got me through the first couple of days before I found myself being challenged and given new things I've never been shown before. Overall dCC was a huge game changer for me and my life. I went from driving a forklift in a warehouse to being a knowledgeable job-ready developer in just three months. 

The course itself was challenging but very rewarding. One of the most important skills they will teach you is the ability to learn. You are given a lot of information very quickly and then given hands on projects to work on to apply what you just learned. When you run into issues or have extra questions, the instructors are always there to help guide you in the right direction. You are their first priority. However, you are still responsible for doing research on your own and this becomes a more apparent as you continue the course. The curriculum is always being updated and modified to match what is currently in demand, so you will always be learning relevant technologies, design patterns/principles, and skills.

When it comes to post-graduation, they keep in contact very will. As a graduate you are always welcome to come back to dCC anytime you would like and talk to the instructors or use the space to work. dCC can not guarantee you a job and they will tell you that up front. However, they will help you every step of the way to your first developer position. They help with resume building and writting. They will give you resources to help look for job, and help guide you through what the process will look like. You can even schedule mock interviews with the instructors to practice for upcoming interviews you may have. dCC partners with a wide variety of companies, and will help give you an inside scoop on certain avalible positions or let you present your final project. Even when they help get you in contact with certain companies, it is still up to you to follow through and land those positions. 
 

If you are thinking about going to devCodeCamp or are worried that it might not be for you, I would highly recommend scheduling a tour and at least seeing what they have to offer, because dCC can be life changing.

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of what you read online... truth is, you never really know until you try it for yourself.

For me, it was the chance I was looking for and the structure was exactly what I needed.  The instructors are there to help you get going, point you in the right direction, and guide you when you get stuck, but they are not going to give you the answers and they won't do the work for you.  If you are looking for hand holding, this won't be the right fit.  You have to put in the work, and you have to be willing to fail.

The course work is fairly fast-paced, but for someone with no coding experience, it wasn't too much to handle.  I certainly wasn't the top of my class, but with effort and time, I was able to learn and became a Junior Software Developer.  At the end of the program, I was put in touch with contacts at many companies around the area and got a great jump start to landing the perfect job for me.

Yes, I would recommend the program, but I'm just a random person on the internet. Take a tour, talk to the current students and recent grads who are there, ask the instructors what to expect, then ask yourself if you're ready to get to work.

Did you get a job? I waited to write a review for the course until I got hired but now, I am so here it is:

 I started out as everyone else, skeptical, and unsure about the amount of money to be spent. I can now say in certainty it was all worth and a small price to pay to launch myself in such a lucrative new career. I landed a job as a Full Stack Developer within less than one month of graduating! Full time salary work with the job title I was shooting for. Not only did I get hired so quick, there were multiple opportunities for interviews and potential places of employment.

What is it like?

The course it tough, fast paced, but all graspable. You have top notch instructors that really do enjoy teaching you. As time goes on you see yourself as part of the whole devCodeCamp system and not just as a student. You build relationships with your classmates and build actual interesting projects. Also, the environment at their Milwaukee location is awesome. Perfect atmosphere for working and a short walk to the Milwaukee Public Market for lunch.

What do you learn?

You start on HTML and CSS the first week. You then switch into JavaScript which in my opinion, is where it gets fun. We were doing things in JavaScript the second week of camp that was more complex than the coding challenged I received during my interview at my new place of employment! It just shows they put the pedal to the floor right away, and surprisingly, with their stellar instruction, you barely realize you doing such complex things. Next you move into C#. C# has been the most beneficial language (for me) studied at devCodeCamp and they spend most 12 weeks working on and learning it. You cover the most important fundamental aspects of C# and its OOP (object orientated programming) characteristics and capabilities. Next you jump into SQL (databases) and ASP.NET. Ahh, the golden jewel of ASP.NET MVC 5 and ASP.NET Core. I have spent countless hours outside of class building school and personal projects in ASP.NET Core. ASP.NET Core is a high in demand tech in Milwaukee right now and there are many jobs for .Net developers. ASP.NET Core + MVC allows you to build web applications using the combination of C#, HTML, CSS, JQUERY (JavaScript), and Entity Framework (A way to connect to your database easily). It really is a perfect ground to take everything you've learned and start building powerful web applications.

What else?

They bring in speakers of successful past graduates as well as employees or employers. You may get the opportunity to present your projects to multiple real companies in person. You get Paul, which is a real incentive on its own, because he is someone who looks out for your back and helps get those interviews and job leads.

So, should I?

Honestly, if you are smart, driven, and passionate (I know cliché) then yes. If you like puzzles and have an analytical/logical mind, then it will be perfect career move for you. It’s true, the salary you will get from your first job could pay for the course within a year (obviously depending you other expenses).

Final tips.

Work extra hard, do the absolute best you can do, help everyone around you and/or ask for help when needed, do as much extra credit projects and/or personal projects as you can.

Good luck!

What kind of thinker are you? How hard can you push yourself to grow when there is immense pressure mountained against you? You need to ask yourself these quesitons and answer honsetly if you're considering attending devCodeCamp.

For myself, it worked out quite well. I sit, writing this in my sleek, downtown office, sipping free cold brew during a break from coding some node.js. Now that it's been 4+ months since I've graduated from the Software Engineering bootcamp at devCodeCamp, I can give an honest assessment of devCodeCamp and the tools and opportunities that I have gained as a result of completing the program.

Let me tell you about where I was when I first considered attending devCodeCamp. At the time, my twin boys were 1 and a half years old, I wasn't making enough money managing a coffee shop, and I felt that I was not utilizing the talent for problem solving that I new I had. While it would've been impossible to stop working to attend the 3 month, full time development program, I luckily was able to enroll in the part time program, which met 3 nights a week and several Saturdays for 6 months.

Before enrolling officially, I completed the recommended pre-course materials. **DO NOT SKIP THIS** Also, I took a free Udacity intro to javascript course. If you are considering choosing software engineering as a career and want to attend, you HAVE to make sure that you can enjoy the type of problem solving that coding can present. I was confident that I loved coding- symbollic logic was my favorite course in college and there's nothing to me like a good whiteboard challenge. My biggest peice of advice would be to learn some javascript and see if you like coding before making a huge financial commitment.

So, about my actual experience at devCodeCamp... First, the campus is very cool. Its got the feel of a hip startup - exposes brick in the classroom, rows of monitors on every tabke, some pretty weird artwork on the walls, lots of young people eager to build something new - it feels good to be in the space. Located in the Pritzlaff building of Milwaukee's 4th ward, its a really slick location.

Second, there are some outstanding instructors there. One of the challenges with the PM part-time program was that its hard to staff a good developer as a part-time, evening instructor, and that is why I believe they no longer offer the Part Time Software Development course. I had a few different instructors as a result of this, which would've been a big challenge if it weren't for the daytime instructors being as supporting as they are. I know the daytime instructors well, and they are all outstanding. They're super positive and knowledgeable, but most importantly, they aren't going to spoon-feed you the answers. They are going to make you work through the problem, and that is truly the best way to learn.

The curriculum was satisfying and mostly prepared me for what to come. The biggest challenge is that in a 3 month FT or 6 month PT program, the bootcamps must pick and choose the most important this to teach. The first third of the course is basic: html, css, vanilla javascript -learning the basics. Then we moved on to C# for OOP and finally we spent the last chunk of the cousre learning ASP.NET MVC 5. We learn SQL querying and we got a lot of exp with GitHub. 

Now that I am in a new position working primarily with node.js, I think I would advise devCodeCamp to consider shifting away from ASP.NET and using more of a node/React stack in the future. Node.js has become such a massively popular development language and there is such demand for node.js developers. Regardless, languages themselves are less important that the actual problem solving skills you receive from the cours.

Lastly, job assistance was fantastic. I was incredibly anxious when I graduated as I was stepping out into the unkown. Technical interviews are terrifying, but they do practice interviews/whiteboard challenges at the end of the course, so I felt decently prepared. More importantly, I participated in a "demo day" where I was able to showcase my capstone project for a company. They were interested in interviewing me after, but it was already after I had completed another interview (set up via devCodeCamp) for Northwestern Mutual. I got the position at NM less than 4 weeks after graduation.

You may have read that bootcamp grads struggle mightily in their first IT positions. I can say with certainly, than anyone in their first IT position will have to stay on their toes, because there is SOOO much to learn as a developer. the curve is massive. Now that I've been in this position for 3 months, I've become confident in my abilities, but eager to learn more. Experienced developers know that newcomers have so much to learn. If you can succeed at devCodeCamp you can be a highly successful developer.

The key is knowing yourself well enough to know if software development is right for you. This is a HUGE investment; one that I'll be paying off four 4+ more years. I've seen people fail - people who probably should've quit when they fell behind. Ultimately, be honest with yourself - if you're don't like algorithms, puzzles, logic, this isn't right for you- however, if you're like me, and can sit and problem solve for hours on end, and you have the mental toughness to grind through the pressure and stress of building something in a very short period of time, than this can be the game changer that you're looking for. devCodeCamp didn't chage my life - I changed my life and devCodeCamp provided the tools for me to do so.

devCodeCamp has easily been the most enjoyable education experience I've ever had. The coursework is relevant to the job market, the lectures are informative but not overbearing, and the instructors are amazing. They welcome all questions and are extremely approachable and helpful. If you attend this school, ask as many questions as you possibly can. The instructors will gladly explain not only how something works but why it works better than other feasible solutions.  You will gain a great depth of knowledge that is limited only by how much effort you give.   In short, go to devCodeCamp!!!

Prior to devCodeCamp, I was working as a software tester. Working in tech gave me an understanding of the development process, but I did not know how to code. I started looking into devCodeCamp not knowing exactly where I wanted to go with code, but just knowing I wanted to learn more about why the things I tested worked the way they worked. Four months later and I have zero regrets. I can only think of positive things to write in this review, so that is what I will do. 

When deciding whether or not I should go to devCode, Paul answered all of my questions. He was super helpful and informative and had me talk to several people, including instructors and current students. I felt like I had all of the information I needed to decide whether or not devCodeCamp was right for me. When the first day came, I was still a little bit worried that I had made a bad decision to drop everything to do this, but after about three days I was hooked and not looking back. 

The instructors at devCodeCamp are all super enthusiastic, excited about code, and excited to teach you code. They all know that the world of programming is constantly evolving and are constantly learning new things to teach others and keep up-to-date. They are ready to drop everything to help you solve a problem, but they know just how much they should help and when they should stop helping and make you figure things out on your own. The class is very project-based, which means you spend most of the time working through problems and learning from doing and for me, just the right amount of time listening to lectures. 

I think the best thing that came from devCode for me was the approach to solving problems. Once I learned a few things and worked through a few problems, coding started to come easier and it started to feel like I could learn anything. Several students will go through devCodeCamp having learned extra languages and/or frameworks that devCodeCamp doesn't explicitly teach, just because of the great environment they are in and the encouraging and excited people they are around. It makes you want to keep learning and creating things. This was the first time I actually really enjoyed school and felt like I walked away with knowledge I was going to use. As the weeks went by (very quickly) I was more and more excited to become a developer.

Once we graduated, the instructors were extremely helpful with our resumes and interview prep. Paul and Geoff were awesome in connecting us with potential employers. I ended up accepting the job that I wanted the most, about a month after graduating. I have devCodeCamp and the great people there to thank for that. devCode is doing amazing things and if you are looking for a bigger challenge in your career, I would highly recommend it. You don't need to know how to code to start (I didn't), you just need to be excited to learn.