Bloc

Ok! This is a real experience at Bloc. 2 mentorship sections per week. 30 minutes for each. Don't expect that your mentor will spend more than 30 minutes to clear your concerns. I rarely got enough attention as my mentors did not have enough time for me. I asked a question. She replied me with a single sentence. Then, I have another question. Then, I waited for one or two days from the mentor to answer my question. For each, project, you need to go through each checkpoint. Sometimes, that checkpoint is not necessary to push to git hub as it is very little change. Mentor asked you to update, make new branch, and push your code to that new branch. Then merge them to master. One project has at least 10 checkpoints. So, you spend times playing around with git hub. Career support is not helpful at all. I rarely got notifications of career support sessions. I checked my inbox and spam, I did not get any notification from career support team for any upcoming sessions. They said, 'Guarantee Money Back' if you cannot find job within 6 months. Don't trust. Something can be happened during the program. You might end up dropping out because of unsatisfication. They will took your money based on how far and time you go within the program. I registered into this program because I expected that I would get answers to my questions if I got stuck in coding. But, it is time consuming waiting for your mentor. They are judgmental. They said most mentor has experience in programming 10 to 15 years. That's not true. Most of the mentors are only having 2-3 year experience in programming. Those of them are our alumni who took WD at Bloc. Don't waste your time in online program. If you really want to code and become a real programmer, you should go to on-site bootcamp. Then, don't expect that you would become a professional Web developer. Graduation from those bootcamp is just a beginning of your journey.

I am currently in Week 8 of the program. Overall, I am very satisfied with the program considering all of it is down online. So far the curriculum layout provides a nice balance between being easy to follow along, providing some challenging exercises and getting to choose interesting projects for your portfolio. There are often a lot of great resources added to each section to expand on the topics covered and workshops to provide supplemental material. With this in mind, the curriculum does not hold your hand and it is not meant for those that need someone telling you how to do something every step of the way. It will help you start thinking like a developer, utilizing the power of the Google and many other resources.

One of the things that I struggled with other online courses is that I didn't have someone to often ask questions and check my work. One thing that makes Bloc a bit different from some other online courses is that students are all paired with a mentor that they get to pick from before they start. Rather than get matched with one, students get to pick a mentor that may have a background that is similar to what they are looking to get out of the program. My Mentor, Brian, has been a big help for me when I am struggling with a particular topic. It is great to have someone that has been in your shoes before and is really there to help you succeed. During our weekly check-ins, we cover any obstacles I ran into through the week and often go into discussions about some coding best practices or about some interesting projects to explore. 

I recently took my first progress assessment. These assessments are spaced through different sections of the curriculum and is meant to simulate a technical interview while reinforcing your knowledge of the subject you just covered. The assessment was a great way to get feedback and help me refocus on particular topics.

In terms of job assistance, the program interspaces checkpoints that get students to focus on a specific vertical and provide some advice on how to network and find jobs within these verticals. As there isn't specific 1-1 career guidance in this section, it's something that I hope Bloc may be able to support in the future. I marked it as N/A since I haven't completed the program yet. While this isn't quite an option yet, Bloc has a great community of alums and mentors that are often active on the community Slack and are willing to provide some advice.

All in all, I would highly recommend giving it a shot and at least getting in touch with one of their student advisors to see if it would be a good fit for you. 

I've been a web developer for 16 years, professionally for ten. I'm currently in Bloc's UX Design fundamental, and a  friend is a full-time software engineering mentor at Bloc, so I get a lot of insight into the program that others may not.

What sold me on Bloc is the dedicated mentor that you get. I'm on a slowest pace, but still get dedicated 1:1 time every week and have never felt rushed, despite being at the "lowest tier". Choosing one was hard, but it is nice to know that you can request a different one should things not work out with your current one (personalities don't mesh, time slots don't line up, whatever).

Bloc's project approach is also something that won me over. After the fundamental lessons, you get to choose from a handful of different projects to take on (or do them all, if you have the time - which I would highly recommend). I feel like these are as close to real world experience as you're going to get, short of having an actual client throwing the work at you. I am not saying this is unique, but when you combine it with having a dedicated mentor, *it is invaluable*.

Finally, it is going to challenge you. They will not do the work for you. My friend is one of the brightest and most talented developers I know, and he was required to go through the software engineering projects just like a student before becoming a mentor, and he still enjoyed it.

Besides, if you discover you do not like it, they do have a refund policy, which was another draw for me.

Bloc has been a very rewarding experience so far. I am currently enrolled in their Web Development track (9 weeks into a 54 week program).

The initial stages of the Web Development track used to rely heavily on the codeschool courses but they have now developed their own platform to deliver the fundamental courses. If you've ever done any Codeschool work, you will have an idea of what the course will be like early on (web course instruction and code challenges to practice the skills taught).

I have been in the course 9 weeks and now it's starting to get beyond the early, fundamentals of HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, and t's really challenging me.

The best part of Bloc's curriculum so far is having a mentor who is able to help you with challenging aspects of code, and who helps keep you motivated when things get challenging.

I'm currently enrolled in the Software Engineering Track (recently renamed "Software Developer Track") and so far, the program has exceeded my expectations. By far! I spent quite a while researching coding schools this year and in the end, Bloc was the best fit for my situation.    1. I wasn't in a position to return to school full-time, much less relocate across country for a bootcamp, so I knew I would need a fully-online course of study. That narrowed down the list quite a bit.    2. I'd been looking primarily into Full Stack programs because I wanted exposure to as many programming languages as possible. When I came across the SE Track at Bloc, I was immediately interested in the idea of learning CS fundamentals along with FS skills.    3. I work FT and PT to pay the bills, so I needed a program that was flexible. Bloc offers a few program paces which can be adjusted during your track if needed. So if you have unanticipated life events, you can work around it without derailing your studies.    My reasons to enroll aside, Bloc has been a wonderful experience so far. The course materials are well-organized, thorough, and challenging. I can't believe how much material I've covered since starting the program! Working with a mentor has been more valuable than I could have imagined and now I understand why people rave so much about it. My mentor is knowledgeable, responsive, and always willing to answer my (many) questions.    I was a bit apprehensive about starting down this career path. Coming from a non-tech background, it felt like jumping into uncharted waters. But I have no regrets---other than wishing I'd discovered Bloc sooner! 

Hi, I'm a design student at Bloc so a little different from all the other students on this thread commenting on the developer programs. But in case anyone out there is interested in design, here are the top 3 reasons why I personally chose Bloc:

1) Mentorship. I believe the most effective way to learn is by interacting with someone considered an expert in the field. Mentorship works. I'm a former Navy pilot and learning from a more senior pilot was the best way to develop my skills. Basically the process goes like this: Brief – Fly – Debrief.  Bloc’s mentorship program essentially works the same way: Learn – Do – Feedback.

I picked up a lot of valuable resources that my mentor personally uses.  My mentor has been great for learning and discussing real design practices, theory, industry language, as well as focusing my learning efforts.

Experiences with mentors will differ from student to student, but if you communicate your expectations early, Bloc will pair you up with the best one. And if it doesn’t work out, you can ask to switch. But in general, the mentors at Bloc are awesome!

2) Structured Program. Sure, one can argue that there are tons of free online courses floating around. But do you know which courses are most aligned with the tools and skills relevant to the job you want? Because I didn't, and I didn't want to waste my time blindly coming up with my own program.  Additionally, one of the most valuable things that Bloc offers is helping you build a portfolio of projects.

3) Schedule Flexibility. I recently moved from Washington state to San Diego while working on lessons at the same time. I made the move with the encouragement of my mentor.  My mentor recommended attending meetup groups and building my network while in the early stages of the program (see mentorship mentioned in bullet #1).

I attended my first meetup group in San Diego where I met senior designers who recommended having a portfolio to apply for jobs (see portfolio mentioned in bullet #2). As I build my portfolio, I now have new contacts who can help critique and share my work, and are a great source for job leads.

To find out the difference between the Design Track vs UX/UI design fundamentals: https://blog.bloc.io/designer-track-vs-uxui-design-fundamentals/

Hope that helps!

I've been working as a project manager the last three years for a call center, assisting groups to enhance current applications and develop new programs.  I work closely with developers and development managers on a daily basis and became more interested in the programming side within the last 6-12 months.  I've grown a little tired of what I do and decided it was time for a change.  

I knew that a four year university to get a degree in CIT or another related track wasn't an option.  The cost of tuition for a bachelor's degree is outrageous and quitting my job and going to school full time isn't possible when you have a mortgage and a kid on the way.  I needed a way to gain the knowledge in a structured manner and in a reasonable amount of time, at an affordable price.  So glad I found Bloc.

Bloc offered everything I needed, packaged into a great product that was hard to pass up.  I elected to take the slower track (12 hrs per week) as I still work full time and need a life outside of work/Bloc.  I'm still able to work as much as my time permits, sometimes 15-20 hours in a week.  My weekly meetings with my mentor are always constructive and he's available throughout the week should I have any questions or hit any roadblocks.

Bloc is challenging and you'll get out of it what you put in.  The first phase was very demanding while learning JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Git and Command Line.  Right now I'm in phase two, where I apply the concepts I've learned to build a website.  The career prep is also very helpful and built so that you'll be in the best position to land a job right after graduation.  So far, I'm loving the experience and I'm so glad I found Bloc.

I would like to say that although the Bloc Full-Stack curriculum was extremely challenging, it was truly a rewarding experience. My mentor, Tim, and I met twice a week, and it was in these meetings that I had the opportunity to ask any questions that I wanted to ask. Not only did we cover the topics presented in the comprehensive curriculum, but I also had the chance to ask for advice in building my own web application. This was invaluable. Tim would even carve out time on the weekends to go over more advanced topics with me if I needed clarification. 

  The Full-Stack curriculum is awesome because by the end of it, although you don't know everything about web development (who does?), you have a high level overview of what is involved in building modern web apps.   That being said, you get out of the course what you put into it. If you dive into the extra credit and really utilize the resources Bloc provides for you, including your mentor, you will truly benefit.   No prior experience building web applications is necessary, as the curriculum starts with the basics of programing. However, I would recommend it. The program can be quite intensive, and a lot of ground is covered.   The course starts with the fundamentals of object oriented programming and the Ruby programming language, then dives into building web applications in Ruby on Rails. This was my absolute favorite part of the course, as you get to build a Reddit replica, and see what all goes into creating a web application.    Topics covered in the back-end portion of the course (the first half) are programming in Ruby, building web apps with Ruby on Rails, testing with RSpec, and building APIs in Rails.    The front-end portion of the course (the second half) covers the fundamentals of programming in Javascript and introduces you to building single page apps in Javascript/jQuery and AngularJS.    Overall, it was a tremendous experience, and I would recommend to anybody who is on the fence. Now that I have finished the Bloc curriculum, I have the skills required to build whatever I can imagine.    #hacktheplanet

This fully immersive class gets you into the action the first day. You learn by doing at bloc, rather than listening to lectures and taking exams, which is what most university degrees offer these days. 

After I finished my program, I felt completely ready to start a job. The cirriculum is easy to understand because it is divided into checkpoints. They provide you with the skills and deeper understanding to be competent in the field. 

I would trade my four year degree for my course at bloc! The way it is set up gets your ready to suceed in your career. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interesting in UX/UI design. 

I'm about 1/4 the way through the design program and could not have asked for a better experience.  My mentor, Chris, is amazing and is always willing to support me with constructive feedback and criticism, as well as supplemental reading and materials.  I've learned so much in just the fundamentals section of the course, and as I embark on my projects, I know that I'm getting an amazing education in top-of-the-line, current tools (which Bloc largely supplies licenses to!), and insight into the industry as it is.  Plus, the Slack channel is awesome and the students and mentors there, regardless of the track they're in, are incredibly supportive!  It's been an amazing experience so far! 

I am currently enrolled in Bloc in the midst of what will end up being a year-long program. Overall, I enjoy having a one-on-one mentor quite a bit, as the courses are geared towards my pace. In other tech classes I have taken, sometimes classes are geared towards the slowest on the uptake, sometimes they go so fast that the bulk of the class is lost. I find that the challenging curriculum at Bloc is well balanced as a result - I can fly through things I already know, and sllow down and get into the details when it is something I need work on. There is a lot of freedom as well when it comes to selecting projects, and I have been encouraged to be creative.

While I've been enrolled, Bloc has made great strides in integrating the online community of students via Slack channels, and they offer occassional webinars which have proved interesting and helpful. I have gotten help from the community when Stack Overflow, Google and my mentor have been stonewalling me. Generally, my mentors are great and available, but they do need sleep like everyone else. My mentors are all working professionals in the field which has helped flesh out the curriculum as they share their best practices knowledge and very, very strong opinions about how one should code. I switch up my mentor after each unit to get a breadth of experience and it has been great for me to pair program with senior people of pretty different styles.

I recently had a mock technical interview which was great. However, if you are expecting some sort of job fair near the end of your term, Bloc is a remote-only platform. So, that is why I knocked the job assistance to 3 stars. If you need hand-holding and a soft landing in an internship affiliated with the school, Bloc is not for you. Bloc encourages you to go to meetups and engage your local tech community, which has proved helpful to many Bloc students and alumni.

A online bootcamp style program that not only teaches you the best methods but also you are assigned a mentor that is with you through the entire course. My mentor workes in the industry which is very helpful in getting current information about technology, programs and additional respources. Bloc is project based with easy to follow videos as well as communities for feedback and solving problems. They also want to know what your goals are and helping you achieve those goals.