Epicodus

Why Epicodus worked for me: 

• great price
• great location and a nice space
• pair programming + group projects (I wanted experience working with others)
• the curriculum gave me direction and motivation i lacked when working on my own
• the cohort (I met and still am in touch with - so many great people)
• the internship (it was great to get some experience working with a tech company)
• job finding assistance (I actually found my current position through an Epicodus job posting)

Why Epicodus might not work for everyone:

• the curriculum is more broad than deep  (that means extra studying if you want to go in depth into anything, which doesn't work for everyone.)
• it's better to think of the instructors as TAs (they'll help you when you get stuck, but there's no direct instruction per se)
• the amount you learn is self-driven (because of time constraints and the fact that Epicodus accepts students at all levels of coding knowledge, it is often up to the student to challenge themselves or follow up with the resources that Epicodus provides)
• your job search is also going to be largely self driven (again, Epicodus offers resources, but in the end it is up to you to follow up on them, do the networking etc)
• not all internships are created equal (it is possible that you will get an internship with a company that is very up and coming or not entirely certain what to do with an intern)

Epicodus is very clear about what it is and is not.  From the get-go (as in, these are all things that I was told during my intake interview) they want you to understand that the instructors are more TAs than anything else, that your learning is largely self-driven, and that the goal of Epicodus is as much about teaching you HOW to learn how to code as it is teaching you how to code.  This last skill is invaluable given the rate that technology is advancing - it is incredibly unlikely that you will never have to learn a new framework/language for a job.  As long as you understand those things, are willing to put in a lot of work yourself, and keep working on improving after you have finished the curriculum, Epicodus will work great for you.

 

 

Minimal effort by the online instructor (in-person instructor in Portland was awesome), the Portland campus looks nothing as advertised, the material is very very out of date, and there is no structure.

Often times it would take over 3 weeks for weekly projects to be graded by the online instructor (it took over a month for our capstones to be graded). Though the in-person instructor would have assignments graded with 1-2 days.

If you are expecting instructor led courses, then don't go here. The instructors are there to answer questions, not actually teach. To ask a question you have to fill out a form and then submit the form to a discord bot, which in itself is time consuming and can feel daunting. If you do end up attending this bootcamp, know that you're basically going to be on your own.

The online instructor was only available from 11am-3pm (if you're lucky), so you're on your own if you need help. But the in-person instructor was present almost always.

I could go on and on about all the issues with this program, but that would take pages upon pages.

I wish I could get a refund because this was a joke.

TLDR; Online instructor was only present for short periods of time (In-person instructor was awesome, and present almost always). The material was/is out of date. I don't recommend going here.

Epicodus gave me all the tools to become a successful programmer: how to walk through code, how to think and design with class constructors, components, and the MVC structure, how to pair program and talk about code with others, how to implement best practices and most importantly, how to use a growth mindset. If it wasn't for Epicodus, I wouldn't have a job in the field. My Javascript/React/C# class at Epicodus coincided with a college track where I was taking computer science and math. I'm convinced you get more hands-on experience at Epicodus then you would a four year degree. If you are looking to get into the industry, I would highly recommend the Epicodus full time track with the internship matchmaking process. Although I didn't get a job from my internship, I got one soon after. The internship was truly a stepping stone into my next adventure and taught me about as much as the program itself. I can't say enough good things about Epicodus. The main advice I would give to someone starting out is, you get out what you put into the program. Truly a great experience!

Positives:
1) The flipped classroom style, and pair-programming aspect really worked well with my learning style. I was able to absorb the material at my own pace, and have the ability to implement what I learned with my partner. It's incredibly helpful and productive to have someone at your skill level learning alongside. However, it did not mean that the material came easy to me.
2) The student advisors help keep you on track towards your end goal. Their mock interviews and resume reviews are essential towards obtaining a job. They also help see you from a humanistic perspective, and not judge you solely on your technical skills. They would also send emails of open positions to students, if they're still job searching. I believe it's the student advisors who set up guest speakers every week or two, which are super awesome to attend to, and allow a chance to broaden your network! They range from past alumni's experience to recruiters with insider's tips & tricks.
3) The student advisors also seek internships for students to work under. I wouldn't have found mine if I didn't go through Epicodus. I imagine it would have taken me three-four times the work to get the same experience.
4) The fact that I got to do this at home, remotely, and learn ended up feeling more productive for me. Sure, it would be pleasant to interact and pair-program in person, but I found the positives of working from home more substantial.
5) Team week projects were fun, and having that same Friday off was a pleasant break to have!
6) Cost is less than other bootcamps I have found. They also have a scholarship program for the underrepresented population.
7) The program's embrace towards DEI showed me that they didn't care only about money, and had an ethical approach towards the tech industry.

Negatives:
1) In all honesty, instructors can be a hit or a miss. They're all very nice people, and I wouldn't mind working with them in the real world alongside as my coworkers. I just had a hard time thinking I could depend on them to explain certain logic, or reasoning behind the code.
2) Discord channel could be messy, and unorganized. Epicodus does their best, but I felt it wasn't the best medium to display information when other cohorts were going on too.
3) The clock-in and clock-out system can be a bit constricting, but there are chances to fix them with the instructors.
4) The React curriculum isn't the best to work from. It's a good reference to go to, but I wouldn't depend on it as my sole guide to understanding React.

For all the negatives I pointed out, it minimally affected my ability to learn how to code and program. Therefore, I give Epicodus 4 stars altogether!

Epicodus is much more affordable than other bootcamps I was looking at. I like that it offers C# and I think the pacing of the material was almost perfect. I really appreciated having internships at the end of the program and that the culture is inclusive. I would've liked to have covered more material in the C# portion of the program, I feel as though it was a little slow paced and repetitive, whereas the React portion felt crammed with too much new material on top of Career Services assignments and capstones. Overall though, I feel liked I learned a lot through their curriculum and that Career Services helped better prepare me for job interviews and applications. I would absolute recommend this bootcamp to friends, especially those who have some experience with programming as it will probably benefit them in the long run.

Epicodus taught me the most updated and relevant information on each language and framework. I still find myself going back for information from the curriculum now because there is a lot of really useful information in there! This bootcamp provided me with the structure I needed to sit down and spend time everyday to learn how to code. Pair programming was useful because that it allowed me to work with many different types of people and to learn and grow together. The content is challenging so be sure you are ready to commit. You get out what you put in! Ultimately I highly recommend this bootcamp to anyone who is considering one. It's very thorough and the instructors are awesome!

The quality of Epicodus does not meet their current asking price for tuition, nor their updated one. Career services are severely lacking for example. In one instance of our cohort the career services, people were asked about networking and they told us they didn't have any good feedback since they didn't really enjoy it themselves. It was super cringe when it happened. We've also been told by students they've asked to come back and speak that they received no help from them during the job hunt. Basically don't come here expecting career services.

After that, the material feels really beta testy. Spelling and grammar mistakes feel pretty regular. They do fix them fairly quickly when they are reported though so there's that.

We've also had instances of poorly worded projects. In one instance a project told us to write a test with an example that would pass the test with the way that they worded it. Again, not very helpful and confusing. Also, one of the other rubric items was interpreted in different ways because it was described with what I call "weasel words". Phrases are ill-defined when you're working with data. What do they consider a phrase? How many? It was unclear.

We also couldn't get a response from any instructors that day because they were all offline. Which leads to one of my other issues about Instructors being hit or miss.

For example, rather than giving us coding examples in the morning, they were giving us Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion examples. They had difficulty answering questions on DEI on a couple of occasions. We were also denied our pleas to proctor examples early on. I'm actually at the point where I wish I had dropped when I could get a refund, but I'm now stuck with the course or taking on a loan for a course that I don't actually feel fulfill's its advertising of what they offer.

This was also odd compared to what students said in other cohorts where they did get proper walkthroughs. So it really sounds like you get a different experience depending on if you get Cathy or Shawn, who sound wonderful.

There was also recently a presentation from some prior students where one didn't get a proper internship either. They basically were an employee so it would seem that Epicodus might not be properly vetting their internship either.

So let's review: Material can be problematic and unclear, Instructors can be hit or miss, projects can be poorly written, you're held to an attendance standard the instructors themselves don't hold themselves to, career services doesn't have the experience it needs to operate properly, and the internship could land you in a positon where you're really just unpaid labor for someone because they didn't properly vet it.

I decided to transition to software development at the beginning of 2020 and Epicodus was a critical component of this career change. Enrollment at a coding bootcamp fully immersed me in the field and it was my privilege to learn alongside inspiring, dedicated individuals who share a passion for personal growth. Collaboration is the center of the Epicodus pair-programming format and my cohort became a tight-knit group as we spent months debugging, designing, and testing together.

They handled the transition to remote learning tremendously. The instructors and career services team do a wonderful job of guiding you through the work while also encouraging independent learning. I built projects I'm proud of and came away with so much knowledge.

The internship component was a key reason why I chose Epicodus over several other bootcamps, and having a line of practical experience really helped out my resume. Job hunting was still a rough few months afterwards, but I had the tools, support, and time I needed to succeed. After all that work… I’m officially a software engineer! And I hope you’re able to take the same chance for yourself 💕 

I found the part time program very rewarding. Due to onset of Covid our class went from on-site to online midway stage (I preferred the on-site version) but in terms of material and what not the whole experience was very rewarding. Plus the course fee is very affordable compared to what others charge (I don’t think the people who run this program are money minded - they seem to run it like it’s a non profit). I haven’t landed a job yet but the whole course was a transformational experience for me 

 Sometimes I have found the material very difficult to understand. At first, I thought maybe it’s because English is my second language but after talking to my classmates it seems like I was not the only one. The explanation of certain topics and the tasks were very hard to interpret. Although I chose to believe that it was made purposely and it’s a part of the process. The ultimate task is to learn how to learn, so I'll trust the process, join the full time and do my best to graduate it by googling, watching YouTube tutorials, reading other material, and hiring a tutor if needed.

I had some issues concerning the presentation of information from a complete beginner's standpoint. I used the feedback button and made my opinions known, so I won't repeat my ideas. I really liked the structure of the classes and the ample resources available to us. The instructors were very accessible in the discord channel and it was fun to work with people online. I had problems sharing my screen in the beginning and Cathy told me about hooking directly into the ethernet cable instead of using wifi. That did the trick. It was also very hard to see other people's screens because the print was so tiny. I invested in a 32" smart tv and that solved that problem. By the time I got everything together and was comfortable with everything, the class was over.
I had a problem pairing with someone who kept their mic off in order to read the lesson. I had already read the lesson and didn't know what to do with myself. I should have contacted the teacher, instead I left the room with that person without an explanation and joined another group. I apologized to this person, privately after some thinking. That was my own personal problem and had nothing to do with Epicodus. I have learned so much in such a short amount of time, that I am amazed. I learned about the basics of coding, hooking up hardware, communicating online without visual cues from other classmates, as well as new apps that I have never heard of. When I think about the scope of what was accomplished in the Intro class, I give high marks to Epicodus. Thank you for offering this class for $100. I have a much clearer idea of what is involved for the full time classes. I hope I can finish my code reviews and move on to React. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity. Lauralee Green "

Still fairly new here at Epicodus, but my experience so dar has been awesome. I was reccomended by several friends to go to this bootcamp and a few weeks in I understand why so many friends had a great experience. The coursework is very challenging, encourages working in groups, collaberative coding and hands-on-the-keyboard instructions. I cannot say enough good things about my experience. I think you can find a cheaper option out there, but based on how many friends have gotten jobs so quickly after the bootcamp I am glad I made the choice I did!

I attended only the intro course, so I don't know about the majority of their material. I do know that what I experienced was somewhere between marginally adequate and a total mess. The content was meandering and confusing. Michael, the director, made the majority of the video courses, where he spent most his time trailing off on tangents, getting tripped up on words, throwing out advances concepts, and writing sloppy code. When I say sloppy code, I mean sloppy. Most of it was all mashed together without any comments or extra spacing. Paragraphs on top of columns on top of classes on top of divs without any forethought into comprehension of code. I spent most of my time just trying to figure out what his code even meant, let alone write my own. On top of that, Michael's videos often contained printed revisions where he made mistakes during his lectures. It was a mess. The content needs major updating. It's quite obvious they are still using the curriculum from when they opened. They're still teaching bootstraps and JQuery, two refrences that are seldom used in today's programming field. The tech world is always changing, and schools NEED to keep up. They spent most of their time teaching how to cheat on a website by using these two methods instead if actually building a website with clean tags and an understanding of CSS beyond cookie cutter styles from a 10 year old playbook. It was at this point that the free trial ended and they wanted me to cough up 12k for a full education. Now I will say I do have a great understanding of css and html now, but it was mostly because i didn't follow their curriculum and instead bought a great book on the subject, and instead just used class time to teach myself something useful. I want to note that their instructors are all recent graduates that, if I had to guess, were only hired because actual programmers don't want to work there (and it beefs up their placement numbers). I will say I really liked my teacher. He was able to answer most my questions (the content was on entry level things) but I could tell he was frustrated at how the content was arranged. Just don't go here. Don't. The influx of code school grads without knowledge of programming is causing companies to blacklist these schools' graduates. Instead do what I did. There is no "fast and easy" way to b a programmer. This is one step ahead of a con. Careers take work and time and effort, programming isn't a get rich quick scheme. Get an associates at PCC in Computer Information Systems. It's a two year course, it's cheaper than any bootcamp, and you will actually learn how to program and most likely get a job. I love my courses at PCC. I learn more each lesson than I did in the 3 months at epicodus. Hope this helps!

Epicodus was a warm and unforgettable experience.  The classes were structured in an efficient format and were fast and challenging, and accomodating to students with no prior experience or a lot of experience.  Our teacher Tyler was incredibly knowledgable and helpful.  My classmates were ambitious and driven, and I’ve developed lasting relationships with them that will continue to be fruitful in the industry.  The staff at Epicodus is motivated to help you succeed and will be there with you up until you find a job you that suits your needs.

The internship oppurtunity alone is worth the price of admission.  I was placed with a professional and respectful company that ended up hiring me out of the internship.

I would recommend Epicodus to anyone who wants a career change, and I have recommended it to close friends and family.

Joining Epicodus was the best decision I made while switching my career. At a time I joined them I was 35+ with almost no previous experience in programming. It was hard in the beginning but it was worth it. I met wonderful people there, great teachers and best class mates. I really appreciate all of the friends I made there. We all created together this supportive community with one goal: to be professional programmers one day. And thanks to them, after less than one year from starting this journey, I got my first real job in the industry. I think me working for Microsoft now is the best recommendation for that school.

Epicodus is the best investment I've  done for my career. I did not have any coding experience before going to Epicodus. It was frustrating at first, but once you start to understand the concepts, it will get easier. Just a few tips I wish someone gave me before I started class. Read up on the basics of coding. Even though they will start from the very basic, its nice to have a head start. Do not be afraid to ask questions. If you do not understand any of the materials, your mentor is there to help. I had John Franti as my mentor and he is an amazing teacher. Very patient and very knowledgeable. Last and not least, do not give up. There will be challenges and frustration throughout the course, but it will be well worth it if you put enough effort.

I went to Epicodus for their Introduction to Programming with Kyle Lange this past fall and it was one of the best learning experiences learning how to code. Epicodus is designed even for people like me and anyone who don’t have a tech background but the desire to learn to have the tools necessary to succeed. From how to learn command line, HTML, CSS and Onkected JavaScript with a final project that challenges you to use all the skills learned and use them in your last project, it’s a good beginning for people who don’t have a technical background and can succeed in their full class route wether is React, C# and others. The classes are well paced even for the advanced and for the begginer coders. What highly recommend the most about Epicodus is the class flexibility of the schedule, the professors (like Mr. Lange )who are dedicated  and skilled to help you in the most difficult coding bugs in any project and working in teams is the best approach as it mirror s the true environment in a high paced web developer company. These traits and opportunities to also intern at the end of your developer language route is what makes Epicodus great. Please consider Epicodus a choice if you’re in the Portland or Seattle area and want to change your life.

I looked for programming courses and researched few bootcamp schools before I came to Epicodus. The price is more than reasonable for what 27-week program gives you. I almost didn’t have any previous experience except free online course for HTML and JavaScript. There were guys in my cohort who knew much more and it helped me a lot. Pair programming was mostly helpful. We were learning different technologies 8 hours a day, so yes, it was tough. I would suggest all the students to start learning algorithms and data structures during the program to be better prepared for internship interviews and job search.

I was lucky to have good guys in my group, and my 5-week internship was very great! So, Epicodus classes gave me good portfolio full of projects, understanding that I can do programming at least 8 hours a day (50-60 hours per week in my case), and a real experience in a real company. I studied algorithms and data structures later by myself for interviewing and finally got a job.

It was right choice for me.

Epicodus has a very strong curriculum in basic web development and can be a good starting point for people who have already determined that coding is the right career path for them.  

 

In my time there I went from only basic knowledge of code logic, to being able to write in 4 different languages (C#, JavaScript, CSS, HTML). I learned valuable tools for programming, how to research code questions, and the basic workflow for building projects from the ground up. By the end of the first section I was able to make a Tetris game with 3 other classmates. By the end of the second unit I built a working social network and space shooter game with 3 different classmates. By the end of the third section, I had built a well designed and functional e-commerce website with 3 more classmates. And by the end of the fourth, I had built my own maze solving neural network AI for my independent project. I also put in a lot of time and effort into learning however, and not everyone will find it easy to learn as quickly as Epicodus demands.

 

While Epicodus does provide good basic knowledge, their curriculum isn't as strong at preparing you for an actual programming job in the real world. It's common to have to learn a  new codebase when starting a new position but that isn't an experience Epicodus provides. Also, Epicodus projects rarely go beyond a few static web pages hosted on Github. Exposure to these scenarios can and do teach valuable lessons the first time you encounter them, as they force you to think about problems and questions in new ways. If Epicodus added that to their curriculum it would better prepare future developers for real world experiences.

 

Some of this is solved, however, by the internships Epicodus provides. These internships vary wildly in quality though because all the companies are different and Epicodus can't really control their actions. While I had a great experience at my internship, I don't think that was a universal occurrence. If you do get a good internship as I did, it can get you amazing connections, recommendations, experience, and mentors for your future career. Epicodus does it's best to match you with a company that would be a good fit, and from my experience I came away for the better from it.

 

The instructors are competent and are good at teaching the basics of code knowledge. However, they are not always experienced enough in the programming world to fully provide the answers that some students may have.

 

Epicodus is also helpful in the job search after you complete the course work. They offer resources, and their demo day generated several interviews for me with a variety of companies. But competition in this field is tough, so it still may take many months to find work in the web development field. I was employed as a junior software developer about 4 months after graduating, and I was one of the lucky ones. So use the resources that Epicodus gives you, but know that you have to do a lot of your own work to be successful in the job hunt.

 

In conclusion, I think Epicodus is a great start for prospective developers, and is a great place to learn and get your foot in the door. Just be aware that finding a job in this field is much tougher than just knowing the basics, and that it's only the starting point.