DevPoint Labs

I recently graduated from the full-time web development cohort at DevPoint Labs, and I of course wanted to write a review about my experience.

Before the cohort started, we got some instructive preparation work to do to get us into the basics of programming. We also got the task to do a basic website about ourselves, which we then got to present in front of our classmates on the first day.

The schedule was straightforward – in the mornings we had lectures and after lunch we got assignments to do. I liked this setup, as it allowed me to first gain theoretical knowledge about the specific subject, and thereafter practical experience when trying to do the coding by myself. The teachers and staff at DevPoint are really amazing people. They were always helpful, nice and friendly, and I am already missing all of them. There are also amazing TAs that help out with correcting the assignments as well as giving support and help in the afternoons. In the back of the classroom they offer fresh fruit, cereal, milk and snacks.

We had two Hackathons, which I really liked. We got divided into groups where everyone had to build a website with predetermined goals. The more tasks you completed, the more points you earned, and in the end the team with the most points won. These Hackathons were for sure stressful, but they were also very exciting and fun, and helped us practice working and coding together in teams.

There were two separate interviews, which would mimic real job interviews where we had to answer questions and solve whiteboard problems. The last couple of weeks we were also trained in building a resume, as well as marketing ourselves on LinkedIn. We also got professional photos taken that we could use for the resumes and on LinkedIn. I liked all of these parts and I am glad that they put in all of this in the cohort. I am sure that I will benefit from it for my future job applications.

We had two events outside of class; a barbecue and a game night. I definitely enjoyed both of these ones and I would have loved to see more events like this. The staff had also planned a bowling night, but because there were too many people that could not join, it was unfortunately cancelled.

The last weeks we were working on a huge final project, where we first got to choose out of several different options and then got divided into groups, where every group was assigned one project. I think this was the highlight of the cohort for me. I loved having one big project to work on together in a team, after all of the small ones we had had earlier. It really motivated me, and every day I was excited to continue working on it. It all ended with the big graduation day, where we had a pleasant mingle and got to present our projects.

There are a few things that hold me back from giving the highest rating. First, there was a lack of communication throughout the cohort. Many times, we were informed that we were going to have the interviews that day, but then the day passed, and no interviews were held. And then the next day, it was the same thing. Other times we were informed that the teacher was going to come back in one hour to check up on us and release the assignments, but then the teacher never came back.

I also wish that we would have gotten more feedback. In the first half of the cohort, the TAs gave out feedback for our daily assignments, which I appreciated. However, in the second half of the cohort, we for some reason no longer received any feedback – only notifications that the assignments had been graded. I really would have wanted the staff to give more feedback about the assignments, as well as more personal feedback; i.e. how we are doing with the coding, what we are doing good and what we need to work more with. Furthermore, especially in the beginning it felt a bit like we should only ask the TAs for help as a last resort.

A final concern is the curriculum. It is without doubt impressive, and it is unbelievable how much you can learn in these 11 weeks (React was my favorite part). However, there were several things in the curriculum that we did not go through at all, which I find a bit odd. I am also carefully questioning that we spent so much time with the Ruby programming language. I agree that it is a good language to start with as it is both user friendly and intuitive, but to me it seems like Ruby is only decreasing in popularity out in the “real world”. I have barely ever seen a job advertisement where they are looking for Ruby backend developers; they are almost always looking for developers in either Java, Python, C/C++ or C#. Moreover, we did not at all go through mobile responsiveness, which I think is a really important part of building a thorough and competent website.

To try to sum up: I have learned so much during these 11 weeks, and I have gained many good experiences, memories and friends. I am thankful to DevPoint and its staff for giving me this opportunity. As DevPoint is only several years old, it is understandable that there are parts that can be improved. I believe that the communication and feedback will improve with experience, and if the curriculum gets updated to better reflect today’s needs in the job market, the bootcamps at DevPoint Labs will only get better with time.

My experience at DevPoint Labs was phenomenal. I graduated from the 11-week part-time web developer bootcamp just a few weeks ago and it was hard but 100% worth it. I had been teaching myself to code for about 6 months before deciding to attend a bootcamp. I also work full time, 10 hour days, and have a family. It wasn't easy to balance everything but it's possible! It was a huge sacrifice but I'm so happy I did it.

The cohort really helped me establish a solid foundation of web development. We learned Ruby, Ruby on Rails, ReactJS, testing, PostgreSQL, and SO much more.  I was really sad when it was over because they made me feel at home.  The instructor, Henry, really knew his stuff. The TA’s were always really helpful and knowledgeable. The DPL founders also provided workshops for things like resume building and social network. They also have alumni come in and talk with us about meetups, post bootcamp, jobs, and interviewing. I also still have access to all the course materials which has been really helpful. I would recommend doing all the pre-course work before you start. Get a good foundation beforehand of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (which is provided in the pre-course work).

 It’s impossible to expect leaving a web development bootcamp knowing everything you need to know but  DevPoint Labs will give you the foundation and tools you need for continuous learning! 

My time at DevPoint Labs was an excellent experience! All of the people in the staff are of the highest quality. The full time instructor, Spencer, is a top notch teacher. Although coding is a difficult subject, he is able to keep you engaged in the information by creating a fun and exciting learning environement. I came into the course with absolutely no prior experience, and I left after 3 months as a certified full stack developer! Without having the wonderful community support from the staff and other students I don't think I ever would have been able to learn coding as effectively. I would recommend DevPoint Labs to anybody who is interested in learning web development!

Course: Full Stack Web Development Part-Time
Schedule: Mon-Thurs 6-9 PM

Q/A

I'm a parent & work during the day, should I go to a Bootcamp?
Yes! I work 8-5 pm & then went to DPL from 6-9. I did have to invest time in the course and saw less of the daughter & wife during the course. The majority of our cohort was all moms & dads. Friends in the cohort had graveyard shifts after class or left home to go to work then straight to DPL in the evenings. To have this structured dedicated time with assignments & being able to ask every question is worth it! I would absolutely choose the same course again. The immersion into code in a classroom compared to now and then at home is worth it. I learned more in the 3 months about development than a year on my own. 

Why DPL?
It came down to scheduling more than costs. Other courses in the area had schedules of M/W/Sat for 6 months, but I really needed to have family time during the weekends. Mon-Thurs worked best for 3 months for my schedule. The focus is more functionality & development more than the design which is ok! You will learn design frameworks like Bootstrap, materialize, semantic, etc but focus more on functionality also. Anyone can make a page look pretty but to make it functional is more important!  

2 Saturdays are required for Hackathons during the course, but that is easier than 6 months of Saturdays.

What should I know prior?
Be decent with HTML/CSS with at least some JS. Going through the prep work for Javascript & Ruby really helps. Finish the prep work, you will thank yourself! 

Can't I just learn this all on Udemy?

Yes, but chances are you likely won't. Over the years I've picked up a few Udemy courses for code, but never really went through them & simply didn't prioritize them even after paying for them. To be in an environment where everyone has questions and to learn tons of new functional concepts with the teachers at DPL was exactly what my career needs. To be able to put together Ruby, SQL, Rails, React, ES6, with user Authentication or APIs I would have ever been able to learn on my own as quick as I was taught. 

Do they guarantee jobs?
No, but you do get resume workshops & they introduce you to where to find/present your self at networking opportunities. Courses that guarantee placement do exist, they cost more or usually take a % of your wages once you get a job. DPL gives you the education & details on how to connect here in SLC/Lehi. After the cohort, there is a community of developers in many offices around the valley you can reach out to. 

You will get out what you put in, even if you're getting into code for your first time choose one language to be good at. You can have a job for life if Javascript is your best/focus language. If you have a few years in design or development before coming in this will, of course, make your resume stronger. If you go through all the lectures & complete all the projects you will feel confident applying shortly after the cohort. I got an interview within 2 weeks of graduation with a small dev studio because I'd been applying during the 3rd month. During my interview, the company opened up the DPL website and was happy to see the extensive list of subjects covered!  Listen & Study as your career depends on it during the cohort! 
 

Examples of what you will build a few weeks into the program**

I have many more apps on my Github & have more projects in the works. 

https://bautista-target-app.herokuapp.com/

https://imperial-database.herokuapp.com/

https://notes-dpl.herokuapp.com/notes

https://bautista-react-store-bestbuy.netlify.com/

** on herokuapp.com give it a second to load since it is a free service. 
 

Final thoughts

Do it! Go to DPL learn to code, get a better career! 

I went in to this bootcamp not knowing a single thing about coding and now I can build my own app from the back to the front. They teach you by starting with a part of the app then the the next day you learn another part and as you go through each day you see how it all comes together. What also helped me learned so much is by asking a LOT of questions. You know that the staff wants you to exceed because I would ask question after question and they are always wanting to help you. One of the best decisions I've made.

Before starting my education here, I had become a coding junkie in my free-time while studying at college. I ate up the basics at freecodecamp.org and tutorials on youtube about JS, CSS, and HTML. I could have continued my independent study, but upon review of the tech market, company have come to expect and often require some certification or degree. Some family members of mine had already taken this course and urged me to look into it. I was hesitant at first, but after study and review, I decided to take a leap of faith. 

Taking this course was the best educational experience I have ever received. The course quality, curriculum, and teacher's were all excellent. I highly encourage anyone who can even somewhat relate to where I was before taking this course to at very least stop by the school (second floor on the right) and see what it is like. That is the best way to see what you will get. This course was 100% worth it.

I completed another bootcamp previous to this one, and thoroughly enjoyed this program more.  The instructor and TA were exceptional, very friendly and willing to help you solve your problems (both big and small debugging), including before and after class.  I especially appreciate the community that DPL provides, you really feel like you're part of something.  But most importantly the content and course structure was very organized and I'm excited that I can add Ruby on Rails and React to my resume, among other new skills.

I made a decision to change my career when I moved to the States. My law degree wasn't worth much until I am able to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars in a Master degree and I would still need to move to another state (and I love Utah). 

With so many resources online, I was kinda lost. I was wasting my time trying to figure what everyone thought it was the best material to study and everyone had a different opinion about it. Also, it was difficult to find how applicable was the material towards a project. I researched about the coding bootcamps across the country and applied for scholarships where I could. 

I got accepted here and it was my first choice because I know a lot of people who graduated from Devpoint Labs and was able to find a job and work as kick-ass developers, including where I work at. I also liked the fact every day we are focused on learning and applying on a small project that we would need to finish by the next morning. Being able to finish small projects like that was super rewarding and kept me motivated every day. Tinkering and being able to think through was one of the biggest lessons that I've learned and obviously never give up! We also did bigger group projects where it took a couple of days or even weeks that we had to finish as well. WE LEARNED SOOO MUCH!

For everyone out there trying to learn this new skill, I would definitely recommend a bootcamp. Not any bootcamp, Devpoint was the best choice when I did my research.

First, bootcamp might be expensive at first but it saves time when it comes to learning. Instead studying by yourself, you are maximizing your time and being able to apply on the market faster and do the math *(you are able to have a return on your investment quicker). They teach you what the companies are using out there and guide you through so many technologies. Keeps you motivated and it is a great resource for networking. Second, I chose Devpoint because I went ahead and ask people who actually are developers and graduated from the bootcamp. They all said it was the best first step to the right direction. Some mentioned having bad experiences with other bootcamps. I actually never met anyone from my network that graduated from other bootcamps, this isn't a good sign when I am surrounded by developers at work. Do your research, find people on linkedin and start a conversation. I loved Devpoint Labs because my peers were actually my peers. There was a sense of comradery where we were always helping each other before going to a TA.

I highly recommend for those who are thinking about applying. Be involved, research and prepare for an intense bootcamp, but so rewarding.

I had been searching coding bootcamps all over the valley and doing my research while working night shfits as a bartender downtown. I started with V school and was halfway getting ready to start with my foot already in the door, when i realized how unorganized it seemed there. This might've been just a one off, but for me my experience was more important than any other review i read about the place. I set up an appt with Mark Price and he was wonderful, going over the campus and the curriculum and what to expect, i was sold. Even waited 3 additional months to start.

This was one of the most intense, yet rewarding experiences of my life. I only knew what i knew from freecodecamp and codecademy, but the tutorials rarely have you build an application with the content that you learn unless you are paying for the classes. I knew i needed something structured and also needed to know where the bar would be set in order to be confident to go out there and apply for software engineer positions. Devpoint Labs provided all of that.The structure, working collaboratively in group settings (how a professional setting would be very similar to), building projects and getting the hands on assistance that i would not have seen otherwise online. 

I highly recommend this bootcamp, as i do believe the accredidation with the University of Utah does provide the crediability to go to an employer and show them its not just any coding bootcamp. You will realize just how much you will need to know, but if you have the desire to learn and absorb, this will be a good thing because the direction you want to go will seem much clearer.

Study on your free time and redo the assignments over and over until you feel comfortable with the content. This is one thing i regret not doing enough of and because of the pace of the course, it will be pertinent to your success.

The review i saw below titled "you will not get a job" was interesting to me. That is true that this course will not automatically get you a job. YOU yourself will be responsible for getting that job, nobody can do that for you, and if you put in the work and have the desire to pursue this as a career, YOU will get a job. I recieved a ton of "We will be moving on with another candidate" emails, more than i could count, but i also just recieved an offer letter for my first Software Engineering position and accepted. There's no way i wouldve gotten a call/interview without the skills and certificate i recieved from Devpoint Labs.

I took the Full-Time Web Development Summer 2019 Course at DevPoint Labs. This course is perfect for a person looking for an intesive immersion program that is willing to commit most (if not all) of their freetime to making a major pivot in their career.

Key words: INTENSE & IMMERSION 

I came in as a hobbyist with a background in Online Banking and Software support. I was tired of passing my clients over to the IT/HelpDesk to resolve issues I KNEW I could resolve given the resources. I looked at other bootcamps; DevPoint Labs spoke to me because of the affiliation to the University of Utah (as well as the reputation of the program), and its Full-Stack curriculum. This 11-Week program puts you THROUGH IT, it is full of peaks and valleys of accomplishments and challenges. The course exposes you to the numerous paths that you may take on your journey as a developer. As a student, you get what you give in this course. It teaches you to trust yourself, to know when to ask for help, and practical technical skills for your career.

I recommend this course for those serious about a career change and encourage you to use all resources offered by the staff! That meaning, utilize the TA's when you cant figure out an error message, use the lab time to ask other students their methods, involve yourself online through the slack channels, re-do assignments or the pre-course work and eat a bowl of cereal! The course is rich with information, it is difficult, and fully worth the time, money and effort required. 

Was a great course. I highly recommend this course to anyone whether you have experience or not. I came into this course with some experience and the course did wonders for my coding knowledge. Curriculum is full stack, meaning you learn front end and back end application development. The curriculum includes a lot of things that are popular in the professional world. I went into this course with a fairly weak resume, and now I am getting noticed by employers. If you are a complete beginner, there is some short prepwork you have to complete before starting, which will get you up to speed. Instructors are very patient and helpful. Be prepared to work and lean fast, and remember, you only get back what you put in work wise. Great Course!

I went into DPL with a handful of coding courses under my belt, but what I felt was a complete lack of understanding in coding. I prepared for what I thought would be an extremely rigorous and difficult 3 months for me. 

To my surprise, I excelled at DPL. The instructors were fantastic. Any question I had was answered, but not in a way that just spoon-fed me the answer. I learned how to research, how to find my own answers, how to critically think my way through code, and how to ask for help when I really did need it. This was critical for me. 

The curriculum covered exactly what it needed to. I knew enough JS coming out of the camp to work on web apps, I knew enough Ruby to start scripting, and I knew enough ReactJS to continue my education on my own. 

Honestly, coming out of DevPoint, I did not feel ready for a development job. I thought for sure no one would hire me and that I would take another year or two of self-study before I was taken seriously as a developer. 

How wrong I was. Within a month of graduation, I found myself writing scripts for a major tech company and learning entirely new languages. My education was that good. Though I did not know the language starting out, I was able to pick it up quickly and efficiently. I was able to think my way through problems and that was what made me a valuable part of an engineering team. Though I am now in SalesForce development, DPL was what jump-started my career. 

It was absolutley worth it. 

I personally had some programming experience in other non-web languages as well as quite a bit of experience in teaching and tutoring STEM subjects before heading into DevPoint's full-stack bootcamp and found that it was extremely well run. When learning how to program, having the ability to get help quickly makes a big difference, and the teachers and TAs at DevPoint were pretty much always available to jump in and help.

The "I do, we do, you do" learning philosophy they use also really helped me quickly get a feel for the concepts, and then they provide many bonus objectives on every assignment to test and push your understanding without fear of failing. 

Overall, I have already recommended this program to several friends and would recommend it as a great way to build your own foundation in coding, from which to propel you into a fast-moving and exciting career.

I graduated from DevPoint Labs in January '18, and just over a year later it's proven to be one of the best decisions I have ever made in my career. The DPL fulltime full stack course offers quality, relevant content and tons of hands on experience and mentorship over the course of an intensive 11 weeks.

As with any course like this what you will get out of it is entirely dependent on what you put into it. A DevPoint Labs education isn't something you get, its something you do. If you take this course seriously and work you ass off, the staff at DPL will go above and beyond to help you succeed.

As of writing this 4 out of 25 people  in my cohort got a job after graduating. Two more people got jobs as TAs but I don't believe being a TA leads to getting a job in the real world and it only pays $50 a day. My source is our alumni slack channel and Linkedin. 3 of the 4 had previous experience with programming and the 4th person got an internship. That is the reason I gave this course the score that I did. 4 out of 25 is less then 1 star  out of 5 and if you count the TAs 6 out of 25 still rounds down to 1 out of 5 stars.

In my opinion DevPointLabs is a scam. Not only do they not have any job assistance but they did not teach how to design websites for moblie. None of our launch day projects had any responsive design.

A little under 4 months ago, I was living in Birmingham, AL, working at a bank building boring reports for management and playing with Excel spreadsheets all day knowing I had no future here. I had always had an interest in software development and convinced my wife to move across country to pursue this career. I had spent the previous year or so getting myself familiar with basic web technologies such as HTML, CSS, Sass, JavaScript, and a little bit of Node JS (backend), but never truly had an understanding of it all and how it all worked together. But I knew that I had the drive and the passion to be in this industry if I could only completely immerse myself in the development enviroment surrounded by like minded individuals. 

I applied to DPL for the winter cohort 2018, and got accepted a few weeks later after a few interviews and prep-work. That was it, getting accepted was my ticket out of Birmingham and my confirmation that it was my time to do something I truly believe I should be doing. I packed up, left Alabama with no regrets and headed for Salt Lake City with my wife and my doofus golden retreiver. The same week I arrived, living in Airbnb's until I found an apartment for my small family, I met with Nhi Doan (co-founder of DPL) for the opportunity in tech scholarship interview. A week later I got the email saying that I have been awarded the scholarship for the program, after showing Nhi my passion to be in this industry, and a few portfolio projects I had built prior to attending DPL. I have been asked several times why I attended DPL, if I had already had experience prior to attending, but the real answer is that I didn't have "true" experience. Sure, I had a few small projects that I had built with JavaScript, and even some React projects, but none of them were solid enough evidence I knew what the heck I was doing, or if I could even work with a team.

I had been applying and interviewing with companies all across the country prior to attending DPL, even for basic front end development positions, but every time a question came up such as, "Do you have any experience on the backend?", or "Have you ever had any experience on a dev team?" my answer was always "No". Each and every one of this interviews were followed by a rejection letter with the words, "sorry, we are looking for someone with a little more experience". I was always strong to enough to land an interview based on some of the projects that I built because my design/art background always made things look decent, but when I got in the weeds with an interviewer and they asked me to solve a simple algorithm counting vowels in a string, I would clam up and it would be over.  

Prior to the start of class, I did my homework. When I say I did my homework, I mean I truly DID my homework. I spent several days if not weeks reviewing every single algorithm on free code camp. Dev Point doesn't directly focus on algorithms, but teaching your brain how to solve algorithms, by breaking them up piece by piece and learning to solve them programmatically will put you leaps and bounds ahead of your peers looking for jobs. Plus, knowing how to solve them in general, will make every programming language so much easier to learn, because you will start to learn patterns that appear in every single language. I'm not saying you can't make it through DPL, without being a professional at solving algorithms, I for one am still learning and I am still actually terrible at them, but I am 300% more confident in job interviews now, knowing what I know.  

Attending Dev Point was the absolute best decision I have ever made in my professional and personal life. The instructors are fairly new but are absolutely capable of getting you where you need to be if you take the program seriously. You will hear this a million times, but the result you get out of the program will be a direct representation of the work that you put into this program. I didn't enter DPL expecting them to spoon feed me every single ounce of information or get upset when my instructor didn't know how to solve a problem I had. You learn to eventually talk yourself out of your own problems, sometimes I solved a problem just sitting next to an instructor like they had some kind of answer aura around them even though they didn't even have to say anything. Dev Point was an excellent fit for what I wanted out of a bootcamp. I knew coming in they were going to cover some topics, that I had already been exposed to, but that's ok. I knew it would just solidify what I already knew, plus maybe even touch on something I didn't even know was possible!

Dev Point did an excellent job structuring it's curriculum in such a way where everything compounds on what you learned the previous day. There were projects almost every single day, projects that not only reinforced topics covered in the lecture, but were amaing projects to showcase in interviews upon graduation to potential employers. We had two hackathons in our cohort, which if you haven't ever attended one, I highly recommend it. Plus, if you are in the Salt Lake City area, message Marc Price(admissions counselor) and tell him you want to sit in on a hackathon to see some of the amazing things students are able to put together in a few hours, after only learning how to program for a few weeks! Prior to attending (once I arrived in SLC from AL), I attended launch day, which is the program's graduation day, and the final hackathon from the prior cohort. It was an awesome experience and I got to meet some really awesome people who are still friends / contacts to this day, so I highly recommend it. 

There are a few helpful tips to consider if you are planning on attending DPL that I would like to share:

1. Take this program seriously, and employers will take you seriously. The one thing I cannot stress enough to people is take this program seriously, SERIOUSLY. Dev Point will provide the structure for you to learn, and will even provide the tools to help you learn, but it is on you and YOU alone to actually learn what you are doing. They will provide projects every night to reinforce the lecture for the day, or even some additional resources online to continue to learn. Our cohort was over the Christmas break, and our instructor even provided a "12 days of coding" curriculum to keep us busy and coding during the break. There will be plenty of opportunities to learn and be pushed if you give yourself the opportunity. 

2. Show your passion through every project that you build in class. Dev Point will assign a new project almost daily to help you build your skills through programming. You will never get where you need to be if you just worry about the lecture and the lecture alone. If you only focus on learning how to code and not on actually coding throughout the program it will show later on in the course when you are building projects with your peers, or even in an actual interview. Every project that is assigned to you take it seriously and treat it like you have been given a coding challenge from an employer, that has to be turned in the next day. Once you feel like you are "finished" with it, (it's never actually finished), think to yourself whether you would be proud to show this to an employer, if not keep at it. If you keep this mindset throughout the entirety of the program, you will have a plethora of amazing projects to stack your resume and your portfolio site. 

3. Code, code ALOT. I have spoken at a few QA sessions for Dev Point Labs while I was a student and students always chuckle when I tell them I went to bed before 1 or 2 a.m. maybe a handful of times when I was in the cohort, but I am dead serious. I coded so much during my cohort I was waking up in the 5 hours of sleep that I got writing lines of code in my sleep and solving bugs while I was asleep. There were several times I woke up in the middle of night, went to my office, and solved an issue I had a previous day. You have to be living, breathing and eating code to fully understand everything that you are learning. You have to be applying the previous days lecture in some form or fashion, whether it be helping others learn by teaching, or contuniuing to build your own personal projects. 

4. Put life on hold. During your time at DPL, you have to put your life on hold and just hold out for a few months on doing extracurricular activities while you focus 100% on the program. Besides, you are paying $10k for the program, so why would you waste any time you have on something, atleat until you graduate. I am married, and just moved to Salt Lake City during winter months, so you can believe me when I tell you it was hard to not go snowboard every weekend with friends or just explore the surroundings! I am also a huge gamer, so telling my friends, "hey man, I know winning the FIFA world championships would be cool and all, but I gotta do this homework", was a huge challenge for me, but in the end, we still won the championship after I finished school, so it was a WIN WIN. 

5. NETWORK. One of the main downfalls, of becoming a developer is that alot of us are introverts and get night sweats thinking about meeting someone new or having a normal conversation with someone, that you have never met. In the end, networking is what is going to get you your first job as a developer. Not saying it isn't possible, maybe you are just a resume wizard, who got paid in college to write resumes for other people, but it is an extremely competitive market, so show casing your abilities to people on one sheet of paper, is the equivalent to the browns winning the super bowl, possible, but highly unlikely. 

    a. LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the obvious first way to meet people with similiar interests in the same industry. Connect with people, bug them, ask them to meet with coffee. I once met up with a guy from LinkedIn when I first moved to Salt Lake City, who I had never met (it's actually possible), at a coffee shop he requested. I didn't ever mention to him that I despise coffee, not the smell, but the taste. I showed up and he had a coffee pre-ordered for me. I held my nose and chugged the thing and tried my hardest to keep a smile on my face. It will be awkward, but the more times you do this, the easier it will be.

    b. Slack. If you haven't been exposed to the development world yet and have never heard of Slack, you should go ahead and google that one. Download it, find some communities that mean something to you, whether it be UtahJS (if you live in Utah), DenverDevs, several others loaded full of developers ready to answer any questions you may have. It is actually surprisingly a tremendously effective networking tool, without being the suited up, title heavy, word explosion that LinkedIn can be sometimes. Just get involved in the communities on Slack, and eventually people will get to know you and you can meet up with some of the other Devs or work on projects with them. Alot of these channels have a job postings channel, where recruiters post daily job postings for you to apply to. And the best part, you can send them a message DIRECTLY and express your interest. 

   c. Meetups. Meetups, if you are new to the community are mostly organized through the Meet Up app, or through slack channels. But they are usually like minded groups of people who meet once a month, or week, to discuss a certain topic in the tech community. GO TO THESE. Attending Dev Point, there is little time to really be doing anything other than sleeping, but if you can make it to one or two of these during the three months I highly suggest it.

6. Show your passion. Last tip I have to end this review for Dev Point is just to show your passion that you have. If you truly want to be in this industry and are excited about your future in development this will come natural to you. If you are in this industry solely for the money, then it will eventually show and you will get weeded out by employers fairly simple. You will notice during interviews, they will ask you questions like "What side projects are you working on, or what open source project is your favorite. They ask these questions because they want to gauge your interest level, and see if you are passionate about the things that you build, or whether you are contributing to the community. 

I say all these things to tell you that if you choose Dev Point Labs to jump start your career in development, you won't be dissapointed as long as you follow the tips that I suggested and work HARDer than you ever have before. Their curriculum is perfect, and they are always doing their best to keep it current with up to date technology. After graduation I was able to land a software engineering position a few weeks after I graduated, only because I took every project seriously and it in turn, grew my skills light years ahead of where I was when I first came into the program. DPL provides all the necessary support to get you where you need to be, but in the end, it is up to you to determine where you land. 

If you have any questions about the program or anything at all please feel free to reach out to me. 

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Good Luck!

Daniel B.

DevPoint Labs was such an amazing experience. I've learned much more than I ever thought possible over the past 11 weeks. Coming from practically no coding experience, this was one of the hardest things I've done, but it was also one of the most rewarding and DEFINITELY WORTH IT. The staff here is amazing and they make sure you get the most out of this experience. Dave, whom was my instructor, is so great at what he does! All while making class fun and exciting. 

A regular day at DPL has 3 hours of lecture, then lunch, then project time. 3 hours of lecture everyday might seem like a lot, which it is, but Dave makes it extremely enjoyable and interesting. He truly cares about each and every student and their future. Even off the clock, he's always on Slack answering questions. There are also TA's available to answer your questions during project time which was extremely helpful since it was more of a one on one situation.

10/10 would recommend. No doubt!

tl;dr <ahem> DPL is well worth it, tough, it does feel like being thrown in the deep end but they won't let you drown.  DPL & UofU top-notch with providing ASL interpreters and other accessibility needs. Career/job assistance services could use some beefing up.  And would I do it again? See the bottom for that answer.

Details:

My background:

BA degree in Education, worked in social service field, switched careers completely- graduated from a 7 month business school type program in COBOL, DB2, Visual Basic etc. Many jobs as a QA Tester in the mainframe environment.  I decided to jump into Web Development (possibly connect to automated testing)- which lead me to researching bootcamps and ultimately DevPoint Labs.

The program itself

This is truly an intensive 11 week course. BUT it is, as so many has already mentioned, well worth the time.  The 'classroom model' is set up so that lectures are in the morning and "lab" time- work on projects and homework of the day solo or with teams in the afternoon.  I think most people learned best with the lecture part; I felt like I learned best with the afternoon 'free' time- though I tended to stay by myself as I learn best that way with a helping hand often from the instructor, the TAs and other classmates (and a huge Thank you to all).  The assignments were great and varied, the Portfolio project I enjoyed as it was something you'd see out there in the world and something people would use (all 5 offered were in that vein). Oh and the two hackathons were great in utilizing what we learned while making it fun.  Mornings were spent in the classroom but we could go anywhere in the building for our afternoon "sessions"- quite often I found myself in the basement- quieter than the Chapel and classroom were. The lectures covered a different topic every day with a few refreshers in there as well.  You could ‘code along’ or take notes or just follow along. With the live coding we got to see how the code worked- and even when there were errors- we learned how to deal with it and why it happened.

Housing  

The housing offered to out of state or out of town students was certainly a big perk and a plus in my decision to go with DevPoint - part of it at least.  15 minute walk to class- longer if you had to deal with snow/ice *cough*.  Best part of my day to be honest- decompress and rest my poor brain/eyes.  I can't say anything to parking/driving as I didn't have a car there (I flew in) but the public transportation system in SLC is GREAT.  DPL did offer a discounted "Hive Card" but I stayed with the "FarePay Card" as I didn't use the system as much as I thought I would.  Only spent 25ish bucks the entire 3 months (I didn't venture out much....).

Accessibility

• I don't think I've ever read any reviews from former students of ANY bootcamp talking about accessibility and how the bootcamp dealt with it.  Full disclosure- I am Deaf and also have 'low vision'(in other words I still need some extra "support" mostly with font size, distance and color). 
• I enrolled 1.5 months prior to the start; in that time there was a lot of discussion.  It helped a ton that University of Utah had their own disability services department.  Between DPL and UofU they went the extra mile and were able to provide ASL interpreters for the entire 11 weeks (4 regular and over the course of 11 weeks 6 subs as needed on such short notice- it was less than 2 weeks before my arrival before I got confirmation on that.
• vision wise, I didn't need a ton of support  but they did make sure I  had the same access as everyone else.  The instructors bumped up the text size and changed to dark themes or high contrast colors (99% of the time they made sure to remember lol) for the projected code we followed along with.  I am betting it was a side benefit to many of the hearing/sighted students as well. :).  The classroom seemed like it was in 'reno mode'...I don't know.. but the lighting wasn't the best.  One of the DPL staff swapped the bulbs in the front of the class AND in the projector for brighter ones- MUCH better. (We won't mention the high ceilings-- not the best acoustics lol - did not help for the case of the "mumblers" ;) ).
• DPL made every effort to make sure the classroom, environment, events and material accessible to every single person in the class and I'm grateful to them and UofU for going the extra mile.  I have no doubt they'd do so again.  I hope it did raise better awareness for both the DPL staff and the folks in my cohort.

Final thoughts

For me another reason why I went with DevPoint is that it was out of my comfort zone...and I discovered that I did better discipline/routine wise away from my usual home- less distractions!  That method may not work for everyone but it happened at the right time for me. That and my original plan fell through with the closure of my choice in my home state.

Yes I was anxious in going - and learning at a breakneck pace.  Turns out I worried for nothing- my interpreters were great (they even kept  a 'cheat sheet notebook' FULL of how to sign all the "techy" terms- there aren't many signs in ASL for all the stuff we learned), I did pretty well with the set up and pace though many times I had trouble keeping up in the AM - look at my laptop, watch interpreter(s), look at projector- something had to give LOL so I tended to just "listen"  but afternoons/nights I was able to catch up.  The instructor and all the TAs at times were hard to catch but they were always there when you did need them. And even though I, along with many, dealt with Imposter Syndrome- heck went through that when I started in mainframe QA- it was a wonderful and challenging experience.

Would I do it again?  Hell yes.

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