Hack Reactor

I came to Hack Reactor following several positive experiences attending massive open online courses (MOOCs) through sites like Edx.org and Udacity. I have an affinity for this type of online learning, which is not for everyone - holding yourself to a regimented schedule and taking ownership of your accomplishments, while mantaining a level of satisfaction for your work without direct feedback from instructors, is difficult. Even the best courses I have taken through other sites have suffered from a lack of interactivity with other students and teaching staff.

This is not the case with Hack Reactor Remote, where you will be in direct contact with fellow classmates and a team of instructors, mentors, and counsellors nearly 12 hours a day, for six days a week, for three months. You get to know each other, you form serious relationships, and you bond with a network of the most talented individuals you will ever meet. This is the real value of Hack Reactor - the opportunity to join a community of lifelong learners, and a network of alumni that spans the globe.

Which is not to say that you won't learn to code. You will, and you'll be shocked by how much you'll internalize over the course of three months. But, with the JavaScript ecosystem changing so rapidly, it isn't about 'learning to code' with any specific framework or technology - it's about learning patterns and design paradigms, data structures and algorithms, so that you'll be capable of picking up and teaching yourself any new library or programming language.

By the time you graduate, you won't just know JavaScript - you'll know how to function as a software engineer and a member of a development team. You will have scoped and tested and architected full stack applications within tight deadlines. You will be a Git ninja. These skills are far more valuable on the job market than knowing such-a-framework or building some kind of jQuery shopping cart.

My one and only gripe about Hack Reactor is that some of the curriculum did feel slightly out of date. This is understandible given how fast the technology is changing, however there were times when I questioned whether it was appropriate to have retained some older material. And while I am sharing this out of a desire for full disclosure, I will also say with all honesty that any of these instances were offset by discussions and live lectures delivered in tandem with the pre-recorded ones. There was a vibrant blend of content throughout, and the inclusion of just a few older lecture videos in no way overshadows my experience.

As with any genuine learning experience, what you get out of Hack Reactor will be commensurate with the effort you apply over the course of the three months. If you're a driven, self-directed learner, you will do very well with Hack Rector, which out of any academic program or course of study I have taken - online or otherwise - I consider to have been the most compelling and rewarding. Highly recommended.

As someone with some software experience, I was originally skeptical of the whole bootcamp thing. After having gone through the program, I am very happy with my decision to do it and feel like a stronger engineer for having gone through HR. The school does a great job of going in-depth where necessary and slowly increasing the autonomy as you progress. More than anything, the people (both instructors and cohort mates) are what really make HR special. If you are able to get into HR, I highly recommend attending.

I wish I had read an honest review specifically the one by Nori Maki Arare before spending around 20k dollars.

No one tells you that instructions are recorded from 2014 when Marcus used to teach. Now all you get are those old sprints and recorded lectures and help from students who themselves have just graduated as HiR's or some who have been hired  permanantely from previous cohorts.

Often found them lacking in knowledge during the sprints. For the thesis forget about getting any help from them. I actually never bothered using any help and just struggled through the thesis.

Seen a number of students struggle through the course as they thought entering the course meant they will become programmers, a number always drop, a number just remain poor till the end.

Your study begins once the course is finished as you've spent 20k , now go all out on your own studying till you are good enough to get a job, can take upto 6 months 

Don't think its a 3 month course to get a job

one month pre-course,  3 months course and HR publishes audited reports for students taking upto 6 months to find jobs. So we could have done it on our own in 10 months with our money intact.

Join free code camp, get udemey coupon vouchers, make a schedule, then all you need are cohort mates so you can pair program. If you want to get to know the tools, take a hack reactor or anyother bootcamp prep course for 600 odd dollars.

Its just a money making machine with a pumped up outcomes phase. I wish they had invested our money in great teachers which makes great students.

As more and more of these bootcamps are springing, I've found that the job market for new engineers is overcrowded so lets see if it takes our cohort 6 months or more ??

tldr; Hack Reactor is great.

Me from two years ago: I don't WANT to pay someone to learn this stuff. I already have a job!

I spent a year fitting in jQuery and building websites for work projects as much as possilbe. I spent intermittent weekends trying to cobble together full stack apps. I had a variety of small projects with inconsistent code. The resources are already out there after all. 

Hack Reactor gives you tools to handle those resources better. Or, more accurately, Hack Reactor gives you a place to build your own damn tools. You work with great people in an environment that is always supportive and always challenging.

Thanks to my ~year, I walked in with a good grasp of basic JavaScript. In the first two weeks my understanding of recursion, closure, and other concepts that can easily be taken for granted were vastly improved. That's because Hack Reactor is a place where conversations happen. Comparison with my year of solitary learning shows why this is important.

When I was on my own and teaching myself mongoDB with the node.js driver, I spent a few weekends bashing my head against a wall of callbacks. Finally, I was able to solve the problem because of a conversation where someone helped me conceptually walk through the process. If I had been able to reach out sooner, I would have spent more time building node.js apps instead of feeling crushed by a basic concept.

At Hack Reactor you build apps, play with code, and talk with great people. Almost as a magical side effect, you learn. You learn a lot and you learn fast. 

If you want to be capable of building web apps on your own but you don't know where to start, this is definitely the right place. After the program, you will learn how to build a full-stack app and show it to the world. The staff are really nice and dependable. However, the curriculum is really intense and the path moves so fast. So don't expect to be in a comfortable environment. It's also a good place to meet so many brilliant and passionate people here. There's no internal referral program so you still need to work hard to get a job. But the career coach will assist you in job hunting. All in all, it's a awesome program and I'm glad that I made the decision.

No hand holding. Students must be self-motivated and be willing to ask any and all questions that would quash either self doubt in technical abilities or trouble incurred by personal issues. The mentors at hack reactor are always open to help in teaching technical details as well as support emotional/personal growth so that upon finishing the program, students are not only technically but also psychologically prepared. Side note: San Francisco housing may get a little frustrating. Talk to peers and mentors to find reliable and suitable housing.

For those of you thinking about joining Hack Reactor, I suggest you buckle down, skill up, and apply. If you are accepted, HR will be one of the most fruitful and meaningful experiences of your lives. 

When I began my studies about 4 months prior to applying, I could barely understand basic Javascript expressions but now, after graduating from HR, I am able to build incredible applications regarding things that I love. HR iterative curriculum is incredible but the pace is breakneck. It may not be for everyone but for those who are able to learn and adapt quickly, this is a great path towards becoming a software engineer. In addition to the curriculum, I've met some of the most intelligent and compassionate people. Friends that I will surely keep for years to come.

If your passion is to become a software engineer and build amazing things, HR is the place where your journey begins.