Ironhack

Now, I am 100% sure Ironhack is a scam.

Fyi, this review not meant to be well written; it is meant to show you how angry I am,hence some paragraphs address Ironhack, and some to you, readers,

If you believe you can become a programmer in 6 months for 12,000$, for that same price, I would check out Ivy leagues certificate programs. Trust me, when you go out there in the job market, you will be competing against people with Computer Science degrees and foreign programmers with kick ass programming skills(No one will be leading you by the hands, which is really what you are paying for, or yeah, the friends you will make for that hefty price. Out in the real world, you will have to figure things out on your own).Even if you get through the doors, keeping up with those people (most likely who paid a lot less in a year than your 6 months at Ironhack) will be your biggest challenge, and never mind repaying that loan. Check out that one complaint to BBB from a former student of Ironhack. Me, I am self taught and I am still teaching myself, trust me after this poor experience (have a look at the copies of their emails to me to understand my ill feelings toward them), save your money and try freecodecamp, again no one will lead you by the hands in the real world. In fact, have a read at this BBB complaint about them

BBB Business Profile | Ironhack Inc | Reviews and Complaints

Under Ironhack Reviews with Switchup, I see the tuition cost is $6500, but they they gave me $3500 scholarship a day after my interview, and told me me I had to pay $9500(deposit included, which means my tuition would be $13,000).

Here is the history of my application/interview background with them:

On 02/13/2018, Kevin Dasilva, my interviewer, said I was going to hear from them in a month. On 02/14/2018, Pat de la Guardia said I won a scholarship. Naturally, I thought it was a full ride, because the decision came the day after my interview, plus have a look at my post on Quora with the copies of the emails; the link is below

Why interview me if you had already chosen your 4 recipients for the full ride? The answer is simple, I never had a chance. The interview was simply to see if I had the means to pay ( whether or not I work for a company that offers financial education assistance. I remember Kevin probing me about it) if they gave me 'some' scholarship. I would not feel baited had Kevin Dasilva said to me, we have already chosen our winners, ( even though they had not interviewed me and there were more people to interview after me ).

Ironhack giving me only $3500, the day after my interview, makes me wonder if their business is based on who has the right face to represent their company for a full ride and to tempt the next batch of people, and who has the means to pay them to keep their business going. Something tells me no matter how well I did, I just didnt fit the profile they were looking for, which is not a problem, however, they should let us know what we are competing for. If I had known they had already chosen their 4 recipients for the full ride, I would not have revealed so much about me. I didnt come to them looking for an education, I simply applied for a full ride shot because I got an email through my meetup membership.

Oh, something else I should note, I recently reported to Florida Department of Agriculture And Consumer Services that I was baited/mocked and now cyber bullied. I cced Marisa Bruno, Program Manager, and I got an auto reply stating she resigned on Friday and she went back to Pennsylvania . She is the one who sent me the mocking email giving me the impression I had won a full ride, 2 days after my interview. Hmm, the timing of her resignation is making me wonder.

Anyway, Ironhack you had no right to forged my acceptance to your party today (03/01/2018). I ignored all your party invitations. You reached out to me under 30 minutes after you sent the first general invite, telling me you noticed I had not replied. Okay, your first advertisement said Uber gave you $200,000; 4 people were getting full ride and the rest gets divided. Assuming, you gave the rest of us $3500, I would say, you sent roughly 47 invites.

Why did you notice under less than 30 minutes (mind you on a Friday) I had not replied to your party invitation. Then the next 2 days you keep harassing me to reply by telling me other people reported that they could click on the invitation button. Liars. I can understand making sure I accepted the invite, if you had given me a full ride, but for such a small amount, why does Daniel Brito personally contact me many times to get me to accept the invite. On 02/28, he pressed the acceptance button and sent me a confirmation. That is a forged acceptance by Daniel Brito. On 02/29 after so many emails by you, I wrote to him telling him I would not go to their party nor reply. because I didnt trust Iron hack anymore.

To anyone reading, here is my I am feeling mocked. Again, my interview was on 02/13, with Kevin Dasilva , he said I was going to hear from Ironhack in a month,

***On 02/14/2018, I got this email from Pat de la Guardia***

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Thank you so much for your application to the UBER Scholarship. We interviewed so many impressive candidates and you were among one of them. While UBER and Ironhack couldn't reward scholarships to everyone, we saw a lot of merit in your application. Although you didn't qualify for the UBER Scholarship, we are happy to announce that we were able to secure additional funding to offer you an Ironhack Innovator Scholarship.

Therefore, on behalf of our team, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to Ironhack with a scholarship of $3,500.00 for the March 26th, Part-Time Web Development course. Out of the many applications we received, you excelled in the admissions process and we feel you’ll be a fantastic addition to the Ironhack family!

As a next step, and to accept your scholarship, we ask you that you reserve your spot in the course by making a deposit of $1,000 by Wednesday, February 1st at 5pm EST.

To guarantee your scholarship and reserve your spot, we must receive your deposit as a confirmation. Please keep in mind that spots are limited for your course and we are confirming enrollment on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can make your deposit payment here. (Please review the student enrollment agreement before submitting your deposit).

For more information about financing or other general questions, please do not hesitate to check out our FAQ's and/or reach out to me directly. Congratulations, again!

Best,

Pat

Admissions Director, Miami

----------------------------------------------------------------------

****Then on 02/15 Marisa Bruno wrote:****

I want to apologize. We made an error last night and sent you the wrong email. But don't worry, this is GOOD news! Ignore last night's email because YOU ARE AN UBER SCHOLARSHIP WINNER!!

Pat will be sending out a new email with details about your scholarship shortly.

I hope you will pardon us for the mistake and we’re SO excited to have you join us!!

Marisa

P.S. This was my face this morning when Pat and I realized we sent out the wrong email.... (sorry again!)

Marisa Bruno | Program Manager

+1 (305) 907 7086 ext.712 | marisa@ironhack.com

Miami | Barcelona | Madrid | Paris

***This is the email from Pat, Marisa told me to wait for in the above email:*****

On behalf of our team, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to Ironhack with an UBER Scholarship of $3,500.00 for the course. We had 2,500 applications and winning this award means that you are in the top 5% of all the applications we received.

As a next step, and to accept your scholarship, we ask you that you reserve your spot in the course by making a deposit of $1,000 by Friday, March 2nd. 
To guarantee your scholarship and reserve your spot, we must receive your deposit as a confirmation. Please keep in mind that spots are limited for your course and we are confirming enrollments on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can make your deposit payment here. (Please review the student enrollment agreement before submitting your deposit).

For more information about financing or other general questions, please do not hesitate to check out our FAQ's and/or reach out to me directly. Congratulations, again! We're SO EXCITED to help you start your career in tech.

Best,
Pat de la Guardia 
Admissions Director, Miami

P.S. SAVE THE DATE- We are holding a cocktail party for you (and the rest of the winners) on March 1st at 6:30 pm on our campus. We'd love for you to join us- you will receive an invitation to your email shortly :)

Readers do you see why I feel mocked and that they wasted my time.

As for the great reviews you see about them, I am pretty sure friends rating friends/ manipulated to their favor. I remember the first time, I gave them a 3 star rating on Google, and I posted the details would when I was sure of what I was experiencing, that same day, I got an invite to their welcome party, Now here is the odd thing, on 02/14 when Pat told me I had won a scholarship, he also invited me to the Welcome party. Then I replied sounding like I was not sure I was going to take the scholarship, he then changed his mind saying he was not sure I could go to the Welcome party and said he needed to ask. I thought to myself, ask whom? You are a Director. Feeling manipulated, on 02/15 I changed my rating to 1 start, and next you know, they sent me a nice paperlesspost invite to the Welcome / Cocktail party. Yeah, those rating are influenced.

Take a look at all the sites that rate them, notice how high their ratings are. Do you think that is normal that there are barely any low ratings? Please read the complain filed against them, the reviewer clearly says a lot of people could not find jobs after completing Ironhack. It should be clear to any reader, that Ironhack encouraged their friends to write reviews, hence all the 5stars. If you attend their info session, you will see over 10 staff members; each one of them gets their friends to write reviews and give 5 stars, there is your formula for incredible high rating on Google, Course Report, SwitchUP…

Readers, after reading my post, if you decide to give Ironhack a try, I would encourage you to ask programmers who have been in the industry well over 15 years and learned either on their own or from school. Ask an experienced programmer if it is worth paying $6500, or $12,000 (whatever their real price is: they told me $12,000, but on Switchup, 6500 is posted) to become a productive programmer.

Two very intensive months worth it to understand how the industry around UX and UI works. I would say that the learning environment is the best part of it because you surround yourself with people from all over the world, different backgrounds and ages... and push together towards the same goal. 

The instalations are amazing and the availability from staff memebers is always there. Very interesting to network since Ironhack Barcelona hosts several events through the year.

Things to improve: I would say that the communication between teachers (since we didnt have a lead teacher) before giving the classes was needed. Also, on hiring day I would do a little bit of effort to connect the students to the companies. But all this is already being achieved since those problems were communicated and now they are improving everything that was shaky last year.

Overall, I've never learned this much knowledge before like in Ironhack. 

Love to be part of the Ironhack family. 

Spending almost 3 months at Ironhack was a great experience which I would I definitely recommend. After years of working in SaaS sales, I wanted to learn more about some of the technologies that are driving the industry.

Ironhack's Web Development Bootcamp gives you the opportunity to become an autonomous full stack developer. Whether you are looking for a career change or you just want to update the tools you work with as a software developer, Ironhack invites you to a dynamic tech ecosystem full of opportunities providing you with the right tools to pursue your career in the software industry.

Champion team, good content and an amazing space in Madrid where you'll be able to build your network in some of the best events in the city.

Es lunes, hace un frío del carajo en la calle y tengo los cojones por corbata. Llevo yendo unos días antes a IH y he conocido a unos cuantos alumnos que me acompañarán en las clases por lo que no estoy tan nervioso como podría ser ir desde cero, cosa que muchos de mis compañeros no podrán decir pero ahí están todos sentados en la grada escuchando recitar al cabrón de Mark la bienvenida y a los teachers reforzando su lengua afilada con los nuevos. ¿Mi primera impresión?, tenemos un Dr. House por profesor, ¡genial! Una vez acabado el discurso de bienvenida nos metimos en la clase en la que permaneceríamos los 2 próximos meses viviendo, comiendo, trabajando con nuestros compañeros en pair programming, sufriendo por poder alcanzar la meta de los 3 proyectos…pero es curioso, porque la primera semana piensas que es eterno, la segunda te plantas pensando que en una semana tendrás que hacer…¡¡¡¿¿¿UN VIDEOJUEGO???!!!, pero como si de un río que te arrastra se tratase te plantas en esa famosa semana, ¡y sorpresa! Consigues acabar un juego cuando 15 días antes no sabías ni lo que era un DOM y mucho menos un canvas. Fin de semana después del proyecto, mucha cerveza y algo de estudio el domingo intentando no llevarte la ostia que te dieron en el primer módulo rezando para que el mantra de lo que los antiguos alumnos no sea verdad “el segundo módulo es lo peor”, y ahí estas en el segundo módulo mirando como las vacas al tren, sólo eres capaz de pensar WTF? Cuando te empiezan a hablar de Express (si, express me voy a venir abajo), Node y Mongo. Cada vez que toca hacer un pair programming miras a la pareja que te toca intentando averiguar si eres el único que no ha entendido ‘na de na’, pero según dicen ‘es el proceso natural’ te dan de ostias y luego esperan que aprendas ¿pero que coño me estás contando?, así no se aprende ni pa…espera un momento, si me paro a pensar se que es un constructor, una instancia, una query, un ejs…si van a tener razón y todo estos cabrones y voy a estar aprendiendo, escocido, pero lo más importante, aprendiendo. Llegamos al final de las dos semanas y nos toca hacer un proyecto con una pareja, me tocó con una persona muy afín a mi por lo que me sentí como pez en el agua y ofrecimos un buen trabajo. Es el final del segundo módulo, tengo una sensación de tristeza porque queda una semana de clase y después el proyecto de 2 semanas, más cerveza y relajando motores porque el segundo módulo fue muy arduo y doloroso.
 

Finalmente atacamos la tercera semana, sentimos como si nos estuvieran metiendo a presión deprisa y corriendo Angular sin ser capaces de entender que significa la palabra ‘reutilizable’ pero ahí estamos en una semana aprendiendo todo lo posible aplicando Passport a nuestro proyecto, juntando todos los conocimientos que tuvimos para dar a luz a un proyecto que representaría el top de nuestro aprendizaje dejándote el sudor y rezando para que no te salga un ‘unexpected token fatal error’, para una vez más presentar tu proyecto, recibir un aplauso y…se acabó.

¿De verdad, y las vivencias, gente, profesores, amigos?
Si te contase las picarescas y las vivencias tanto positivas como negativas, ¿vivirías realmente lo que tienes que vivir o intentarías vivir lo que yo te contase?

Sólo te daré un consejo nuevo alumno, no tengas prisa después de la hiring week, tardarán en contactarte porque así funcionan las empresas, pero finalmente te aseguro que conseguirás esa meta ansiada como es la de conseguir un buen puesto de trabajo, palabra de ironhacker.

I graduated from the Full-time Web Development Bootcamp in Madrid and I am very satisfied with the results. I learned more there than the previous 6 months learning Javascript by my own and now I have a good understanding of all the processes that are required to build a web app and a much deeper understanding of Javascript language.
In this 9 weeks you will have to overcome a lot of frustration and understand a lot of complicated new concepts and put them into practice on the same day but I can assure you at the end all will make sense  and you will feel able to face any challenge in a real world web development project.

My prior experience was mostly on the graphic/digital design side but I always been interested in the most technical part of the web (the code), in your class you will find people with very different backgrounds, many of them with no prior knowledge of any programming language so don't doubt and go for it! 

An excellent first step to boost your career o start a new one.

De las mejores experiencias que he tenido en la vida. Han sido dos meses intensísimos en los que lo único que hemos hecho ha sido programar y aprender muchísimo. Desde el primer día te empiezas a enfrentar a nuevas tecnologías, lo que hace que aprendas muchísimo. El temario muy completo y los ejercicios te ayudan muchísimo a ir asentando lo que vas aprendiendo cada día. En cuanto a la organización, inmejorable. Para mí ha sido un gran impulso profesional. Encantada de haber tomado la decisión de hacerlo. Mi consejo: just do it! No lo pienses!

I come from a Graphic Design/Engineering background, and Ironhack really taught me the extent of the science of User-Centric design. The methods are specific, and really helped me decipher the mystery of UX, as well as sharpening my technical skills! The teachers and staff members are from all walks of life, they’re passionate, attentive and rigourous. I really felt like jumpstarting my career and this was definitely the best bet, we’re very properly walked from the initiation to the recruitment process. 2 months obviously don’t give you the time to learn everything about UX in the workplace, but the intensity of the work and the content gave me the confidence to start a career in UX/UI!

The atmosphere is really nice! The classmates and teachers feel more like my family after these amazing 2 months!
And the premises: DAAAAAAMN. I’ll let you see for yourself (hint: free coffee and beer)

I have to say that these 2 months experience was very intensive. I think I have never worked so much in my life ! it was worth it.

I  already had before a professional experience in UX/UI. My goal was to learn last tools and methods for UX Design and these goals was reached. 

Courses were very interesting and most of the teachers were great professionals. Our TA (Teacher Assistant), Louis, was also a great assistant !

We had the opportunity to work on 4 projects: two personal ones and two collaborative ones. The results were amazing.

I think I am now quite well prepared to get a UX designer job.

Having realized that I had to leave my last job as a journalist that didn't satisfy me at all, I decided to start from scratch at a completely different area: Web Development. And which option could be better than Ironhack? That's what some of my friends told me. I decided to face the challenge... and by this moment I can say it's been one of the smartest decisions of my life. Even if frustration has made me think I wouldn't be able to success, i discovered I could fight my fears and "hang on", like a cat poster. One of the most important things were my colleagues. The IronHack family always help you when you need support, an extra explanation or a positive vision when your world looks grey. Now, two months have passed by, and I'm not entirely conscious on how much i've improved and learned as a professional and as a person too.

Taking the UX-UI Full-Time course here at Ironhack Miami is the best thing I've ever done. Not only did I fall in love with UX-UI, but I was given an amazing opportunity by Ironhack to be sent to Paris. In Paris I will be presenting my Final Project to a group of new UX-UI students. 

The Ironhack team is beyond excellent, every week they pulled each student aside to make sure their experience was nothing less than perfect. If you're looking for a career change I highly reccommend investing in Ironhack. Ironhack has surpassed my expectations which were high to begin with in the first place. 

Maite (Instructor) and Kari (T.A) were amazing. They made an excellent team and made us (the students) feel like we were all one big family. Maite is highly knowledgable and passionate about what she does and it shows in her teaching and willingness to put in extra time and make sure we're going to do well in the tech ecosystem. 

As far as the curriculum goes... It is a lot of work to do, but it's nothing you can't handle. 
 

The most important skill learned through Ironhack's UX/UI Design course was the systematic approach to probelm solving. In learning UX/UI design methodologies you learn to problem solve using guidelines that optimize the solution through careful consideration of the "user."

Maite was my instructor and she was simply phenomenal, her passion for UX and her UI skills were beyond impressive. She is an influencer in the UX/UI design community and her ablity to inspire the class and instruct us in the techniques Ux'ers would need to be successful was inspiring. Maite always maintained a professional attitude and never displayed disappointment in the class or any student -she always maintained a sense of inspiration and the class responded to her instruction with universal admiration. If you sense a degree of admiration for her, I can assuredly state the admiration was felt by every student in our class- she was amazing in conveying the concepts that were new to us and ensured we fully understood the principles being taught. I can't say enough about the quality of education I received at Ironhack and it was the result of the superb instruction Maite conveyed. I would highly recommend Ironhack in an instant to anyone looking for a coding school or UX/UI design school- I can't imagine any school surpassing the standard the instrcutors and staff set at Ironhack- they are beyond reproach.

Keri was the other part of the success myself and the other students achieved at Ironhack as she was the "teachers assistant" for our class. Keri teamed with Maite to form an unbeatable combination of class instruction........if any student needed clarification on any aspect of class instruction, Keri was always ready with a smile-never showing a hint of despair. The chemistry between Maite and Keri was a pleasure to experience as they formed an unbeatable teaching team. Keri displayed complete mastery of UX/UI design principles and eagerly helped at a moments notice, she clearly has the qulaities of a top level instructor.

Brito is the "Placements Manager" and I've yet to see anyone more passionate about matching students with carreers. Brito is often found running around the school creating/maintaining contacts for carreer fairs to ensure every student has the maximum chance of successful job placement. He is a core component to student success with unmatched connections in the Miami tech industry and is highly regarded and respected. Brito always maintains a level of approachbility and availablity and is 100% committed to matching up students with the correct potential employers. Students normally interact with Brito near graduation time as he interviews every student and forms a relationship and pairs student traits to the best matching employers. He clearly takes great pride in his success rate in matching students to carreers and truly enjoys his role in student's success. 

The Ironhack staff was always courteous and approachable. The staff actually knows every student by name and always maintains a level of "friendship" that is difficult to describe. On 1st day of enrollment- the entire staff meets with all the students and engages in "name" games to enhance name recollection- this is an ingenious concept to student introduction and clearly works as the staff calls everyone by name! The school has a very 'informal- tech startup' feel which is likely intentional and helps foster an enviornement of learning and friendliness.

The classroom environment also featured a "tech startup" feel with it's glass walls and sense of openess to staff and students alike.  I would not change a thing to the learning enviornement, it was pleasing and provided a relaxed feel.

My experience at Irohack was completely positive- the instruction and curriculum was flawless and the staff was always friendly. Ironhack sends weekly e-mail 'surveys' asking how they might improve the school or staff and it was difficult in making such recommendations. My suggestion was to add a "soda" machine to the upstairs kitchen as I don't drink coffee or beer!

Ironhack is more than a school- it is a place where life-long friendships are formed and fostered. Both students and staff alike bond in a unique way I was not expecting and this sense was echoed by my fellow classmates. Ironhack is a place where lives are being changed and oppourtunities and dreams are being realized ..........I fully recommend this school and know anyone who enrolls will likely have the same experience and will be ready for their new carreer.

So when you're ready to experience the most unque learning experience you'll ever engage in and ready to meet a super-friendly staff, enroll in Ironhack and get ready to be called by name.....I was beyond imprerssed and bet so will you!

Get ready for a life-changing experience because I was not and I'm so glad I attended Ironhack.....new friends, experiences and careers are waiting! 

(I have no affiliation with Ironhack other than being a fully satisfied student.)

Mi nombre es Nadia Carreira, soy de Bilbao, estudié diseño gráfico en la upv de Leioa. Me especialice en diseño web e ilustración. Actualmente quería dar un giro y no quedarme estancada en el diseño, poder afrontar problemas más técnicos y saber desenvolverme con otras tecnologías. Ironhack ha sido un paso muy gratificante en mi carrera profesional el cual me ha ayudado a superar ese reto que yo me había marcado. Ha sido un camino duro, pero esto sólo es el comienzo. Poco a poco iré integrando más conocimientos y asentando todos los conceptos vistos en este bootcamp de dos meses. Lo que más me ha gustado ha sido el trato de los TAs hacia nosotros, siempre dispuestos ayudar, a llorar y reír a nuestro lado. Yo, sinceramente estoy muy agradecida de todo el apoyo, ya que sin ellos quizás no lo hubiera conseguido.

This very sentence has driven me since I can remember. It has taken me through my Business studies into my first job in Fintech, from there into a Finance Masters, and lastly into Ironhack.

On my way to their web development bootcamp many had questionned what programming had to do with finance, to which my response was always: I’m going there to learn how to learn a programming language.

Little did I know that Ironhack would offer me so much more!

1. A family. The people are amazing! Both staff and students, all from different backgrounds and sparkling with ideas and ambition.

2. A network. A strange bond unites Ironhackers all over, leading to an ever- growing community of people seeking to help each other and exploring the tech world.

3. A new way of approaching work. André Torgal (our teacher) has decades of experience in different projects and Agile training; he has taught us a new way of approaching challenges, teamwork and life!

4. Thirst for disruption. The fabulously engaged staff continuously organises events with startups, successful entrepreneurs and innovators. Here we all gained insight into the tech world, and it has unleashed my creativity by showing me how to build the very tools that allow us to ignite change.

5. A loooot of fun. From parties and dinners to a weekend trip to an amusement park, it was (despite all the intensity and very hard work) never-ending fun.

I now am not only equipped to work as a front or back-end programmer, but also have a framework to easily learn other languages that align with my chosen industry (+ a few side projects which I inevitably crave to build).

Best (and most useful). Holidays. Ever!