KU Boot Camps

Kansas City Coding Bootcamp is an excellent choice for students who want to jump into Full-Stack Web Development. The first day was a classroom building exercise to bond with each other and network with one another. It was great I made quite a few friends in here that I have been learning with since the beginning of the course. The structure of the curriculum is on a higher difficulty and can be daunting. The resources that are available to you are top-notch and all of it is available to you after you graduate. The key advice is that the more time you put into it the more you will get out if it and not to sit there and struggle by yourself when you have peers and teachers who can help and do their job which is to teach you.

I'm going to be completely honest with you. Because I wish someone would have written a review like I am going to write for you and I hope it will help you make your decision, 

I enrolled in the KU Cyber Security Bootcamp in Mar2022. I had a career that i was unhappy with before (I'm 37 years old) i enrolled. I was always smart with computers. Not like in the coding and technical way but I can work my way around a computer without having any technical schooling. Btw the class is $16,000.00. I took money out of my retirement to do this. They do let you break it into payments of 2,000K a month. 

So I bought the required computer ($1,000.00) and headphones ($250.00). The class begun in march 2022. The first few weeks there wasn't a whole lot of engagement. Just the professor reading off a PowerPoint. The homework was ( on a scale of 1-10) a 4/5 to begin with (I have a Bachelors of Science Degree) for the first few weeks. Then once we started getting technical with command line stuff and Bash Scripting, I was totally lost. I was literally looking a Korean and I had no idea what was going on. but the class continued on and the homework was still assigned. The Teacher (Sam Martens) and TA (Ben P.) were really awesome they always were available after class/before class to help. 

I never took advantage of this because, In my mind, i thought, i was going to ask him. "So remember everything from the last week? yea... I didn't understand any of it. Can you help me make sense of it". They offer tutors (free for 50 min, then it costs money after that). I also didn't take advantage of this because I personally have issues learning from someone over the computer.  I have a wife and two kids. I also had a job i was working at the time. Class was 6:30-9:00 tues/thurs and 10-2 Saturday. I was tired a lot and most of the time was just trying to get thru the class. So i was just on time to class and as soon as it was over I was gone. Never stayed to ask questions. 

Once the class got into Pentesting. I completely 100% checked out of the class. This was a topic that was so far beyond me that saying it was like looking at Korean was a total understatement. Then there was a PROJECT on Pentesting. So i literally turned in a blank assignment. I didn't understand it nor did i have any desire to understand it because I just didn't get it. There were about 5-6 units where I just never did the homework because I was so lost. I didn't even see a point of doing the homework because its not like I was going to understand it any better. Its like I just tried my best to follow along and nod my head. At that point, I realized what a huge mistake I made taking this class. If a career in cyber security was going to be like this. What the h#ll did i just spend 16,000$ on?

Fast forward to the end of the class. I barely made the final project and for 6 months of a class. I felt the the final project should have been something of a summation of everything you learned but it was basically pick a topic and demonstrate it. So I was going back to weeks 1-2 for my project because that the only thing i understood.

I got my certificate and thanked Sam and Ben. Who honestly were great guys, very patient and kind. 

Fast Forward to the important Stuff. Getting a job. Read carefully.
 
1st and foremost--- Graduating from the KU Cybersecurity Bootcamp DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING TO ANY COMPANY HIRING FOR ANY I.T. SPOT.

2nd This class DOES NOT PREPARE you for TIACOMP Security+. The class gives you a voucher to take the test for free. But if you fail the test. its $300.00 to take it again. So Once done with your 6th month boot camp. You have to study for a test that basically had NOTHING to do with the Bootcamp. 

Its 4 months post-bootcamp now. I had my resume re-done by a professional ($80.00), And to date, I have applied for 264... Yes that's right, two hundred and sixty four. (264)I.T. Entry Level/Cyber Security Positions with hundreds of different companies and guess how many interviews I've gotten.............................................................................. 1.

1 singular interview that went well but then they sent me a coding test which we never learned in the bootcamp so i never even returned it. 

I have yet to take the COMPTIA Security plus test because frankly I am terrified to do so. Because If i fail the test I don't have the money to take it again and then what!

My situation was unique and i am an old school learner. But i wanted to take the time and give you the breakdown of what you should and shouldn't' expect. 

Do not believe that graduating the bootcamp alone will get you a job. you need to take COMPTIA Security Plus test and pass to even get your foot in the door. in the I.T. world You can study on your own and take the test without even taking a bootcamp. Save yourself $16,000.00 and just study for the security + test. Look up Professor Messors videos on youtube. 

The school did not really do anything to help me get a job other then recommend I go to networking things and seminars. I've got a job and kids and don't have time for all that. 

If i had to do it all over again. I would not have taken this class. I'm out 16000$. I have nothing to show for this and If i fail the COMPTIA test then literally everything i did in the bootcamp , 6 months of my life and my 16000 was for absolutely NOTHING. 

I signed up for this course because I wanted to learn development and this course is taught at a state university (though not through the university).

My experience:
Day 1 and you jump right in. You have about an hour of introduction and then you get your machines set up. This was supposed to be done before the class, but was either not done correctly by the students or they ran into issues. The aides and instructor went around the room and helped to set everyone up. The same class you learn a bit about the command line and some simple HTML. The speed at which this class goes is incredible. You will feel lost, you will struggle, but you will also learn.

What you learn:
Some of the things that were taught an/or required in projects: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, jQuery, Moment.js, Firebase, Node.js, Express.js, MySQL, Handlebars.js, Sequelize, MongoDB, and React. I've sincle learned that things such as Flutter and Vue have made their way into the course.

Prework:
While it's not required to do any pre-work other than the very simple stuff that they assign you, I would advise that any students signing up for this complete the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Codecademy courses to get a good grasp on the foundations.

Projects:
You are assigned about a project a week and the project will be about the stuff that you learned in the class that week. These are doable projects, but most WILL challenge you. Good news is that these projects can go into a portfolio and employers love to see examples of code that you did.

Job Assistance:
They do offer job assistance, but it's far from ideal. I had the worst career services person while I was there. She is now no longer with KU so I'm sure it could only have improved. The career services offered included things like resume cleanup, interview practice, and things of that nature. The did't have job placement.

Are you job ready afterwards?
I would say that you are for entry-level jobs. This can be quite the challenge, but I did get several offers within my first 3-4 months of completing the bootcamp. This seems like it was pretty standard. Of my class, only one person took more than 6 months to find a job that I know of. Most people don't get jobs with exactly what you learned, but they're easy transitions. Some students got jobs in C#, PHP, Java, or even working in a CMS.

Drop out number:
The class started with about 22-24 students and ended with about 14-15 by the end of it. Most of the students that dropped out did so during the first 2 months. There were a few that dropped out as time went on and some of those because they already had jobs and didn't want to give their time to the class after.

Time committment:
I personally spent the 10 hours in class and about 20 hours outside of class each week. Those 20 hours was divided between completing the projects they ask you to and hours that I spent watching videos and reviewing class content. This may have been more than necessary, but I feel that I got a good value out of the class.

Overall:
I would 100% recommend this course for anyone wanting to learn web development or coding in a short amount of time.

*I was a student and do not work for Trilogy though I don't think I'd mind being a tutor or TA for the program.