Epicodus

I was interested in coding for a while and started teaching myself, but wasn’t making very good progress until I came across Epicodus.  Two of the factors that helped me decide to take the plunge and enroll were price and location.  I can easily say that this was the best decision I have ever made.  Last year I gambled, left my job and moved to Portland in the hopes of becoming a developer.  Epicodus took what I was teaching myself and pushed it into overdrive.  

What is the secret recipe?

1 - Start with one amazing instructor

2 - Sprinkle in former students with great knowledge and experience in the program

3 - Add an excellent curriculum and 

4 - Supplement with eager students that come from different walks of life with the common goal of becoming a developer

Michael Kaiser-Nyman is extremely talented and invested in ensuring that everyone has a great experience at Epicodus.  He truly cares for everyone’s mental as well as emotional state when going through this bootcamp.  There is a genuine sense of family when you are at Epicodus and that is sparked by Michael’s leadership and values.  It’s not just about learning it is also about becoming a better person.  Michael tirelessly worked to make connections for every student in the Portland tech scene.  Michael set up internships at Portland tech firms which led to employment for many students and scheduled weekly talks from industry professionals and former students.  Michael also always kept students in the loop about meetups and encouraged our participation.  All of this immerses you in the field so much more than just learning the concepts on their own.  

One of the strengths of Epicodus and a testament to this idea of family is that Michael has employed former students as teachers in the program to assist him in explaining concepts and also as a constant visual reminder that - yes it is possible.  The team assisting him is approachable and are a TREMENDOUS help in navigating the daily waters of learning at Epicodus. They had a knack for guiding us all towards the answer we were looking for without just telling us so that we could work through the issues and understand better.  The feeling of accomplishment when reaching the solution to a difficult problem was great. High fives around the room once a difficult problem was solved were not uncommon!  The idea is that, to be a programmer, you have to think like a programmer and the only way to get there is to fight through the tough problems and come up with a solution on your own as much as possible.  This I feel is one of the things that prepares Epicodus students so well for success in the real world.

The curriculum is great. It was accessible for someone like me who had never programmed in their life before coming to Epicodus, but was also challenging enough for other students who came to Epicodus with experience in programming. The curriculum always starts with the basics and then takes this concepts and continues to build upon what you learned the day before.  We covered many topics and were given great challenges to learn a concept.  We were always taught how to create something from the ground up so that there is a firm understanding of how and why something works.  There is a strong emphasis on testing and writing clean, DRY code.

Pair Programming is central to the experience at Epicodus and was a huge help to me.  At the start of the day we would select a pair who we would program with for the whole day and we were encouraged to select a different pair as much as possible.  This is great because by working with someone new everyday, you get to see different perspectives, work on skills together and push each other to places you probably would not have gone on your own.  It also places a great focus on the value of communication with your pair which helps you learn so much quicker.  There would be days where I was stuck and would learn from my pair, there were days where my pair was stuck and by virtue of explaining my thought process and talking about a solution I got a better understanding of the concept too.  Finally, there were many days where both of us would be stuck and we would fight through the problem together.  I cannot fully express how valuable pairing was and how much it helped me learn in such a short period of time.  It was great!

I am very happy I took the gamble and enrolled at Epicodus.  Without Michael and his team, I could have never jumped into the career I wanted and changed my life.  Epicodus not only gave me the knowledge base but also helped created connections and helped me to start thinking like a developer which all contributed to me currently being employed as a software engineer.  I highly recommend Epicodus.  It was an amazing experience!

Epicodus is inexpensive without compromising on value. The class size is one of the largest of many bootcamps I sampled. Honestly though, this was not an issue when you consider that you learn by grappling with programming concepts in pairs and have 3 instructors available to guide and point you in the right direction. 

The location of the bootcamp was right in the center of the city. Its close to several well know tech companies and a good number of technology meetups. The technology community here in the city was amazing, take a peek here - http://calagator.org.

I didn't have or need a car while I was in Portland. The city has really good public transportation and its cheap.

I am a graduate of the Epicodus Spring ’14 class, and I can honestly it changed my life. I was working as a business analyst (translation, spreadsheets all day every day) and found myself itching to get into more of a development role. I knew some SQL from my data analysis experience and I had taken a semester of C++ in college so I knew how much I was drawn to the beautiful logic of coding, but I really felt like a kid playing in the sandbox when it came to writing usable, efficient code and never dreamed I could actually gain the skills necessary to be a real live software developer. Going back and getting a second bachelor’s degree in Computer Science was out of the question because I didn’t want to spend 4 years and tens of thousands of dollars. I looked at self-directed resources online, but none of them seemed to have the real hands-on training necessary to actually land a job and it required more self-discipline than I knew I was capable of. 

Then I found Epicodus. After only 4 months and only $3400 in tuition (much less than CS degree programs and even other code schools), I went from barely knowing any code to being employed as a contributing member of a software development team as an intern (I was later promoted to a full-fledged developer). 

How did I learn everything I needed to know in 4 months? Well the answer really is, I didn’t. Four months was enough to get a grasp of Ruby, Rails and JavaScript, but by no means was I an expert in any of those by the end. What I really took away, was the ability to figure out anything I came across that I didn’t know.  If we didn’t know how to do something, or couldn’t figure out why something, we spent 20 minutes googling, or reading documentation, or asking our peers before any instructor swooped in to give us the answer. If I had been trying to learn on my own, those moments of frustration could easily have turned into giving up. But because I had the support of 59 other people in the same position as me, learning with me, I pushed through those moments of frustration and got to experience the moments of elation when you figure out what you had been missing.

In addition to having the support of classmates, the instructor support at Epicodus is amazing. Not only was I supported throughout the course while I learned, but once it was over, I knew they had my back in finding a job. I was lucky enough to be hired by the same company where I was placed for my Epicodus internship, but I know they did everything possible to make sure all of my classmates found positions as well. 

Ultimately, because I chose to attend Epicodus, I am now in a career that is immensely gratifying and intellectually stimulating and I would recommend it to anyone looking to get into software development. 

Epicodus is a wonderful program at an incredible price. Immediately after graduating I received multiple interviews at established companies and have already received two job offers. Your mileage may vary, but this seems like a pretty common outcome for Epicodus grads.

Michael has done a great job of designing a curriculum that emphasizes best practices and technology used by actual software development companies. Anyone can learn how to hack around with a programming language or two. Epicodus, through behavior-driven development and pair-programming, teaches you how to solve problems using best practices as part of a team. That's invaluable.

I can't stress enough how much of a bargain this program is. Michael, Maureen, Dustin, and the rest of the staff are all doing an amazing job. Highly recommend.

Due to the cost disparity between Epicodus and other code schools, I was initially a little wary of Epicodus. However after hearing feedback from engineering friends that have worked with Epicodus graduates, I made my decision to attend.

Epicodus was completely worth it. It was worth my time and money. If I had to narrow it down to two reasons why Epicodus was so great, it would have to be the internship program and the career/job support provided by Epicodus staff.

Epicodus’ internship program is amazing. Epicodus set me up with interviews with five different Portland startups for an internship during my fourth month of the program. Not only did Epicodus help me prepare for my interviews (e.g. reviewing resumes and projects), they also worked with companies to generate feedback for students. Working as a development intern for a month was incredibly invaluable—the value was truly apparent at my first job interview after Epicodus. There I was able to discuss and show the live code I worked on at my internship. I was also able to demonstrate that I was familiar and felt comfortable working a member of a fast-paced development team.

Epicodus provided amazing career and job support. They provided cover letter reviews; they also arranged mock interviews, open source code sprints, and career fairs. Approximately one week after the end of Epicodus, I received an offer from a company I met at Epicodus' job fair. The staff at Epicodus was available to talk when I needed advice. Furthermore, they checked in with me for a few weeks (even after I started working) to make sure that I was doing alright.

I am very glad that I attended Epicodus, and I would highly recommend it.

I was lucky enough to already live in Portland when I decided to take an intensive programming course, but Epicodus was an easy choice. Here's a few reasons why:

1.) Coming to programming from teaching, I was really impressed by the learning model compared to most of the competition: 100 percent learn-by-doing. The curriculum is highly relevant, well-explained, and scaffolded to let you learn at a pace that's best for you. Coming in with some programming experience? Go as fast as you want, up your skill set, and add projects to your portfolio. Does HTML, CSS, and TDD mean nothing to you? Don't worry, you will learn a TON and have a blast doing it with others who are right there with you!

2.) A focus on pairing really helps you practice important interpersonal skills that are hugely important for transitioning to work in cutting edge development environments like Agile and Scrum. You'll work with lots of different people and get good at navigating a range of personalities and work styles.

3.) A few instructors provide you with just enough support so you don't get stuck for too long, but not so much that you're not forced to practice the most important skill of all: pushing through programming challenges by practicing good problem solving. Nothing is more satisfying than thinking you need help, working a little longer, and realizing you don't!

-- The cost. I am quite serious when I say I got more knowledge and skill out of this course than my Master's degree, and that cost me about 15 times more. $3500 is a SCREAMING deal for what you will walk out of this course with: relevant foundational web development skills, knowledge of how to teach yourself further, and a network of support to help you land your first job.

Bottom line: if you have an interest in the web, like solving problems, and are ready to work hard, then you should come to Portland.

I am so grateful to have done Epicodus. I wanted to change careers from politics to something that was more intellectually and mathematically challenging. Having known Michael for a long time prior to taking Epicodus, I knew that he was a bright and caring guy. I didn't look into any other code schools, and it turns out that I didn't need to. Initially, I was surprised that so much of our learning was self-directed. I expected there to be more classroom-style, didactic lecturing, but instead we spent our time learning by actually programming. I'm so glad that Epicodus is designed that way because it not only allowed me to learn a lot about web development but it also taught me how to solve problems on my own, work with a partner, and ask questions. Even more than knowledge of specific technologies, the problem-solving skills I learned during class are what I find most useful as a developer now. I was also pleasantly surprised by the diversity of my class in terms of race, age, and gender, given what I'd heard about the tech industry.

Before Epicodus I had been doing research on coding bootcamps for about a year. They caught my attention because the program was longer in it's entirety than most and also cheaper. After having been through the Program and around Michael and his team for the second half of 2014, I can honestly say that this was the best investment that I could have made ever made education wise IN MY LIFE. NO BULLSHIT! Michael is truly driven by a genuine purpose of helping people get a foot in the door in this industry!  Michael has created a program that is challenging and rewarding with a relatively low barrier of entry. He truly wants to expose those who want to learn to the programming world. He has created a great environment to grow and ask questions at a good pace. He also fostered a great culture of making adjustments for improvements as the class moved along. There is a constant flow of feedback between the students, the instructors and Michael, which is awesome. The class wasn't perfect just like anything else in life but I will say this. If you HONESTLY put in GENUINE effort and go in with an open mind you WILL learn more than what you could ever imagined in such a short period of time. Half of the battle is being mentally tough and just having the will to keep hammering it out and asking questions when you don't understand something. Missing a bunch of days just because is not going to cut it. You'd be selling yourself short. And FEAR, it is the number one killer of opportunities. I noticed that many people were so afraid of what might happen 3 months down the line because they had a bad day and couldn't focus. Tell fear, FUCK you and keep pushing!(excuse my language)! Some of those same people are now happily employed!! I told fear to fuck off and I am now also one of those employed individuals lol!

Ultimately, The Epicodus program is lead by a really really smart, and most of all, GENUINE guy. And for any program/organization to be great, it must start from the top down, period. So if you are looking to Jumpstart or change your career, Epicodus will provide an excellent opportunity to do just that!

Last year, I enrolled in Epicodus, a Portland-based web development bootcamp. I left my career and moved across the country without really knowing what would happen. It was a big gamble, but it really paid off.

I initially chose Epicodus based on the price and location. I am still happy with these factors, but there are several others that I have come to appreciate as much or more. 

First, the curriculum is outstanding. It is accessible to someone like me who is relatively new to programming but challenging enough for more knowledgeable students. Not sure? Check it out yourself. The curriculum is all online at https://www.learnhowtoprogram.com I am really impressed that Michael (the owner) is so transparent. There are no surprises here. You know exactly what you are buying.  

The current instructors are both former students who really know their stuff. They are patient, articulate, and knowledgeable. They have high expectations but don't leave anyone behind. Michael works closely with them to ensure that everything is going well and to troubleshoot any issues. 

Class is from 8:30 to 5:30 with a one hour lunch break. Each day, we code in pairs on practice problems. Some bootcamps boast about 12 hour days. I am grateful that Michael has a more realistic schedule. By the end of the day, my brain is mush. I usually spend a couple hours looking at material in the evening but it is at my own pace. I have found that rest and time off are really important to my learning process. Issues that are really confusing on Monday often start to make sense by Tuesday or Weds. Sometimes it just takes awhile for things to sink in.

The student body is large. Probably larger than some bootcamps. I thought this might be an issue at first but it really isn't. 60 colleagues means there are 60 people to connect with and 60 people to turn to for help. When you are stuck, you try to figure things out with your pair, and if that doesn't work, you go to a peer. Instructors are a last resort. The idea is that in the real world, there aren't any instructors, so learn how to troubleshoot now.  

Community connections are a major emphasis. There is a lot of encouragement to participate in Meetups and other relevant events. Michael hosts a number of these at Epicodus itself and he is working closely with the local community to secure internships and bring in companies for job fairs. Michael seems to have a lot of great connections, which he has used to help place former students.

Last but not least, the setting is fantastic. Epicodus is in downtown Portland in a large open space with stand-up desks and brand new iMacs. I ride my bike across a bridge and along the river to class each day. It is beautiful and there is always lots of interesting things to see.

There was really no downside to my experience. Every now and then, I got confused by a reading, but Michael usually picks up on any issues and helps us through them. Sometimes, I worry that there is too much to learn or that I will forget something I learned a few weeks ago, but I think has more to do with working in a rapidly evolving sector than with the pace at Epicodus.

After completing my coursework, Michael helped place me in an internship at a great startup in downtown Portland. The internship lasted four months and then they brought me on full-time. I'm loving what I do and thinking about what the future may hold.

All in all, Epicodus was a great decision for me. There might be other bootcamps out there that would have worked out as well, but right now, I don't see how I could have done better.

Epicodus manages to provide a program that hits a perfect sweet spot in providing an environment that is rigorous and challenging as well as supportive and fun.  The four months flew by, but it was also hard to believe how much we'd covered in that time frame.  

The program's pedagogy is strong, and the topics covered are carefully considered and extremely practical for folks looking to start a career as a developer.  What really makes Epicodus stand out, though, is the obvious care and investment the staff have in the program and in each class member during and after the class.  Without a doubt, Epicodus provided an exceptional basis from which I was able to launch a career in programming.

I have two degrees from two schools. They're worthless. I spent less than 1 trimester's worth of Tuition for Epicodus and made more money in a year than those other degrees have earned me combined. This is only possible thanks to their absolutely amazing job support placement.

Classroom environment is amazing, supportive, instructors are passionate about helping you out (they're former grads, they KNOW what you're going through), and Epicodus sticks with you until you're employed and thereafter. Having a computer that you know works so you spend all of your time coding and not fighting your environment: Priceless.

I can't begin to express how much this decision has impacted my life. It ranks 3rd, only behind immigrating to this country & being born  :-)

You can't find better for the money. You simply can't!!!!!

Prior to Epicodus, I had worked jobs where I was the 'unofficial IT guy'. I did some programming at home for fun and loved learning everything I could about the tech world. I wanted to find a true technical position, but my skillset and portfolio from self-teaching just weren't enough to get me in the door for any positions that I would be interested in. Because of the guidance of Epicodus's great staff, curriculum, and collaborative environment, I can now proudly say I am a full-time web developer at a great company.

Epicodus is not a career panacea, though. It's not a magical place where people walk in with no knowledge and motivation and leave as senior developers. Epicodus is a great tool for people in the right position and frame of mind. Michael and everyone at Epicodus will tell you that you will only get back what you put into Epicodus. It's not designed like traditional schooling where you are constantly held to a standard and forced to complete objectives, or else! The purpose of Epicodus is to give students the right tools, guidance, time, and environment to quickly hone their programming skills. If you come willing to work (and often struggle!), you can be ready to be a developer by the time the class is over. 

Before I decided on Epicodus, I debated going back to college to get a CS degree. It would have been exceedingly difficult and expensive, especially considering I already had a liberal arts degree. I looked into other options and discovered coding bootcamps. I had heard very mixed reviews about some of the programs that were out there, so I was skeptical to say the least. I spoke with representatives from two other bootcamps before speaking with Michael (the owner of Epicodus). First off, Michael responded within an hour to my initial email requesting information, with a personalized response answering some specific questions, so I knew this wasn't some generic response. What sold me in the end wasn't just that Epicodus was FAR more reasonably priced than other bootcamps, but that all the people I spoke to at Epicodus sounded genuinely excited about what they were doing. I could tell Epicodus wasn't just a meat grinder trying to push as many people through as possible.

I think the staff of Epicodus really is the best factor in the end. Never did I feel like I was being left behind or ignored. My questions, whether technical or otherwise, were answered quickly and professionally. I didn't have the greatest internship experience (due to some extenuating circumstances at the company), but Michael and Maureen were super supportive and worked with both me and the company I interned with to make sure the situation was resolved as best as possible. I know they've also taken my experience to heart in order to help other students avoid such situations in the future!

I found Epicodus to be a challenging yet supportive environment with a wide range skill levels, from complete beginners who had never coded before to obviously experienced programmers who were learning new languages.

 

Prior to Epicodus I attempted to learn to program on my own. I even did my own “personal bootcamp” by moving to Asia and studying(on the cheap) full time for 3 months. Though did I learned a lot I learned WAY more in the same amount of time at Epicodus. The curriculum at Epicodus teaches how the magic underneath the methods works. It builds progressively by showing the long way to do something before teaching the easy way so you understand what is going on under the covers. Building apps from scratch every day made me comfortable with how to properly set up an application, writing clean code, writing good tests, using version control, using the command line, and so much more.

 

As great as the curriculum was, I think what was even more valuable  was learning with 59 other students. Pair programming is awesome! I learned so much just by watching others write code and problem solve. Pairing with a different person every day gave me the chance to work with a wide variety of personalities, which was occasionally challenging, and forced me to improve my communication skills, and of course they say the ability to communicate is the most important skill of a developer. I found that explaining myself to someone else helped me to better understand what I was doing. Having a large team of people searching for solutions to the same problems was great and now having access to a large network or developers is wonderful and I still take advantage that brain trust. It was also great to have such a large group when it came time to do interviews for internships, which was frankly a bit stressful. It was nice to hear about my classmates’ experiences and learn from their successes and failures.

 

The instructors/coaches at Epicodus where very talented. They had a way of pushing me to toward the answer without giving it away so I still got a feeling of accomplishment when I reached the solution. Learning at Epicodus was like the difference between working out on your own and working out at a CrossFit gym. Nearly every day I went beyond the point where I would have quite had I been working by myself. 

 

I loved the facilities. I particularly liked the standup work stations. The weekly lunch talks by members of the Portland development community where inspiring. I got to hear the insights of a lot of great speakers(like the CEO of Treehouse!). Many former students would stop by and they were very helpful. And the price was hard to beat. I was confused at first and thought that must be the price per month because it was so much lower than other bootcamps. Excellent value.

 

The best part of the whole experience is I now feel confident that I can figure out how to build just about anything I want! 

 

My advice to anyone who will be attending Epicodus is do the prework before you get there. Many students did not do the prework and they did just fine but I think it will make it so much easier on you if you do. The Epicodus prework is a good primer on coding and I recommend it to my friends who are interested in learning to code.

My job in IT support was about to be outsourced and I hadn't been happy doing IT support for awhile. I wanted to learn to code for awhile but didn't have any experience. I made a quick decision to apply for Epicodus close to when their next class was about to start. I was happy to be wait listed and then accepted. Coding every day with a pair for 8 hours and then having a lesson to watch at home was exactly what I needed to learn how to code rapidly. I went from knowing nothing to starting to feel confident by the end of the class. I got an internship through the school and my internship went on to hire me and a few others from my class. This is the first time I can honestly say that I love my job! It's fulfilling to be doing something I actually enjoy and I know I wouldn't have had this experience from traditional schooling. I got a lot more of Epicodus than I did with 4 years of college. Epicodus was definitely the best investment I ever made in education and the best career move.

Epicodus gave me a very solid foundation to begin a career as a programmer. Like most students I began the program with minimal coding experience and left equipped to find employment as a programmer. Working in pairs expedites the learning process, and the instructors were very knowledgable and were always able to guide us to correct solutions. If you are interested in becoming a programmer I would definitely recommend Epicodus. It is the most affordable boot camp and will fully prepare you to work as a developer. 

I attended Epicodus a little over a year ago and had austerely minimal experience with coding beforehand. What I did have was a desire to learn and problem solve. 

 

With a lack of experience came some nervousness, but that faded away after sharing my enthusiasm with Michael in our initial phone interview. What I had experienced over the phone came to fruition in class as well: what matters most is having the ambition to take the time to fully understand something and figure out how to make it better. Michael teaches you the "how" and "why" of coding. The class as a whole encourages how to teach yourself! 

 

That's the beauty of Epicodus - you're immersed in a learning environment where no one knows everything no matter how long they've been coding! Everyone is learning all the time constantly having new ideas, creating and figuring out many ways to solve many a problem. While I took the Ruby/JS course, the point of an immersive coding class was executed in full at Epicodus. The objective isn't merely to learn as much as possible about the languages covered (however, that's awesome too), but to go beyond that and understand the building blocks of web development, regardless of the language. 

 

Michael has a knack for spreading the excitement and fun in web development because he's a developer at heart. That's what makes him such a great teacher: always striving to make things better. Be it code, be it Epicodus itself. 

 

Long story short, I recommend it :) 

I worked in technology development as a project managers for years before I considered going to a bootcamp like Epicodus. I was a good project manager and I could stay employed pretty easily, the resume was impressive and I was head hunted by some pretty impressive people for career work. However, I was only good for the people who hired me. My job was actually stressful, confusing, and often a negative environment with those I was managing. 

It didn't take long for me to realize the real problem; I was managing coders and I didn't know how to code. Most project managers and those who hire project managers don't think this is a problem, but trust me it is! So, I went to the first coding school everyone goes to, Google. Self teaching was a nightmare. The internet has some good tools, videos, interactive sites that you think can teach you how to code in your spare time, but thats like learning a 2nd language from google translate (it's only possible in theory). 

I was living in LA at the time and was at the end of a project I was managing when I decided I needed to be more proactive in learning how to program and develop. Epicodus stood out as a great option. I always loved Portland and it was cost beneficial as well. 

I needed the 8 hours a day 5 days a week for a couple months to really re-learn how to learn a new language. Immersion learning works in linguistics, why not coding? Well thats exactly what it is and it works. Michael, who's runs Epicodus, put a great deal of thought into HOW you should learn coding. The order in which you go from language to language and simple ideas to complex ones are, in my opinion, almost perfect. I can honestly say that I could not have learned this skill set any other way. The pair programing structure and teachers are fantastic. My only regret is that I can't go through the new Java course they are now introducing. 

I moved to Nashville TN and I am now the director of an interactive media lab that develops technology for marketing, media, and businesses. Most of my work now is in Python and you might say "but Epicodus doesn't teach Python!" and they don't. But they do teach you how to "Learn how to program".

-Lee Kebler
www.linkedin.com/in/leekebler  

Before I started Epicodus I had zero previous computer training. I was in HR and looking for something more fulfilling. I loved my experience at Epicodus. While initially nervous to start something new, I quickly grew comfortable. The teachers were really supportive and always around to answer questions. Pair programming also really helped me out because it allowed me to learn in a hands on environment while collaborating with my peers. I quickly grew more confident in my abilities and started working on my own side projects. Two weeks after completing the course I landed a full time job with a software company. I would recommend Epicodus to anyone wanting to take a coding boot camp. The ‘go at your own pace’ vibe, and support from everyone, makes it a great learning environment for anyone who’s interested in programming.

Epicodus fast forwarded my learning.  I practiced and studied on my own for several months before attending.  I had decided to learn what I needed to become a coder solo.  I am super glad that I decided to go to Epicodus.  The daily exercises and working with fellow learners allowed me to gain much more insight and skill rapidly.  Michael and his team are ever evolving their approach to introducing programming skills, and the approach I experienced was quite effective.  Here's my take:

PROS: 
-Excellent pairing experience (100% of time, changing pair daily)
-Michael strives to make great connections to Portland's tech industry that pay off in -your internship experience
-Internship experience led to job offers for many students
-Great balance of pushing you along, but setting a reasonable work/life ratio
-Amazing PRICE!
-Really nice and caring people running the school
-Focus on learning self-driven problem solving

CONS:
-No senior developers on the teaching team
-Teacher/student ratio does not allow abundance of help

These are things that stood out the most to me in my experience.  It was wonderful and I highly recommend it.  It's really important to hear that becoming a developer is about learning how to learn.  It's not easy, but it is attainable.  Most people that fail do so because they believe that they cannot do it (even though only this belief is stopping them from being actually able to code).  From my perspective, it is hard, and it feels very hard almost every single day.  I am pretty sure that the feeling of coding being a great challenge doesn't reduce itself or go away for a long time.  So get comfortable with being very challenged.  If you can like that, then you will enjoy being a programmer.  

I spent easily over 60 grand on college and 4 years of my life to get a bachelors degree. Fast forward 5 years later and I'm still making barely more than minimum wage (in the field I was pursuing no less!) At this point I though I'd give something else a try. A few friends of mine recommend coding bootcamps and it was a short time commitment at very little cost compared to my other options. So why not?

Four months later here I am with a brand new job thats paying well beyond what I used to make. The atmosphere is much more relaxed (what other industry lets you drink on the job?) and your ideas and views are respected by your peers. Keeping in mind that I had absolutely no prior experience, I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome.

Epicodus doesn't teach you code, it teaches you how to learn code, and that honestly was the most important tool I left with. No school will prepare you for the real world since no two companies use the same languages and style, but it will help you adapt as fast as you need to if you're willing to work at it. It also teaches you how to code well with others, which is crucial to keeping up with the team. On top of this, they have an excellent and light-hearted teaching staff that will make 8-hour coding sessions go by quicker than you'd think possible.

I can't speak for everyone, but I believe now is the time to jump into this industry while it's still underpopulated and Epicodus is the best place I can think of to begin.