Bloc is now Thinkful

As of 2/4/21, Bloc is now Thinkful; the curriculum and community will not change.

If you graduated from Bloc prior to Feb 4, 2021, please leave your review for Bloc. Otherwise, please leave your review for Thinkful.

To view updated and accurate information, please visit the Thinkful Course Report page.

bloc-logo

Bloc

Average Rating4.61
477 Reviews
2 Courses

Bloc is an online coding bootcamp that incorporates 1-on-1 mentorship to prepare each student for a career as a professional software engineer or UX/UI designer. Bloc's apprenticeship approach is tailored specifically to each student's learning needs. In the Web Developer Bootcamp, the curriculum is centered around frontend JavaScript and students can choose whether to learn Ruby on Rails or server-side JavaScript with Node. Bloc’s project-based curriculum is written by expert curriculum developers and vetted by their advisory board comprised of hiring managers. Students work with mentors 1-on-1 to clarify concepts, pair program, and build a portfolio of sites that will demonstrate job readiness as a professional software engineer. Not everyone can quit their job or move to a new city for a bootcamp, so Bloc has designed a comprehensive bootcamp with this in mind. Students can enroll full-time, or complete the program at a part-time pace. Bloc also offers 80 hours per week of real-time access to an experienced developer to answer any questions students may have. 

No prior development experience is required to enroll in Bloc, but a strong desire to learn and take on challenges will be important in each student's success! Bloc has a 100% acceptance rate, but is looking for students who are driven, hard-working, and ready to learn.

Career readiness is important to Bloc- their flagship Track programs include job preparation material and career prep workshops. Mentors will help students put together a portfolio and prepare technical interview questions. When ready, students work with the Career Support team to navigate the job search process with an individualized game plan and exposure to Bloc's Employer Network.

Write A Review

477 Bloc Reviews

Schools can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Course Report never suppresses negative reviews
Sort by
Filter by
  • Anonymous
    Rails developer • Graduate
    Nov 21, 2014
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Solid Program - Just Landed a job

     I really did like my bloc experience. it was pretty intense. The best part about the experience was my mentor Aaron.

     I'm based in SF and looked pretty closely at Dev Bootcamp. I ended up choosing Bloc's 18 week track and I was able to keep working (as a marketing manager at a startup) full-time at the same time. I'm going thru the job prep phase right now, and just got an offer and will be starting as a rails developer in abou...

    Report
  • Anonymous
    Graphic Designer • Graduate
    Nov 21, 2014
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    UX Design

    There are a number of coding and design bootcamps available. Bloc is offered online and provides you with weekly mentor meetings. As such, it seems similar to several online bootcamp programs. In my opinion, I wish that I had selected one that wasn't so expensive or an on-location bootcamp that guarantees job placement. The fact that this is online, means that you are self-paced and self-disciplined. For me an in-person option would have been better. To do something like this online at...

    Report
  • Anonymous
    Frontend Web Development • Online
    Oct 29, 2014
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Bloc not for me

    I really wanted to like Bloc program. I liked having a mentor, but some of the program material was confusing / not clearly explained for a beginner.

    Report
  • Athena
    Anonymous
    Student • Online
    Jan 21, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance
    N/A

    UX UI Program

    I would give this program 3/5 stars. There's A LOT of reading, and they're super informative, and I learned a lot, but I wish there were more "experience" in the field. For example, work with clients or maybe have more fake clients so that students can practice real-life situations. I feel like I still have much more to learn. I had 30 minutes mentor sessions once a week, and I felt like that wasn't enough. I was really on my own most of the time, and I did A LOT of self-learning. I've b...
    Report
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous
    Student • UX/UI • Online
    Jun 30, 2020
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    With everything there will be pros and cons

    I finished the Bloc UIUX design program and my experience pretty good overall. The curriculum is mostly reading material and is less interactive than I anticipated, so it's important to keep this in mind. There were no live sessions to replicate in-person classes unless you attend office hours. This is nice because it's flexible, but it was hard for me since I wanted there to be "class" for more interaction/feedback/communication. The curriculum was good, though, in the sense that it cov...
    Report
  • Justin
    Anonymous
    UX Designer • Student • Design Track • Online
    Jun 10, 2020
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    UX/Front-end Design

    The Bloc curriculum within Thinkful was perfect for giving me a solid foundation in UX Design. It's a program that you really need to work hard at, and function pretty independently. But if you can do that, this program will set you up for success and give you the foundation you need to begin a career in Tech as a product designer. I recommend this course as a better alternative to more pricey bootcamps, especially if you need the flexibility to do it remotely. 
    Report
  • Priscilla
    Anonymous
    Graduate • Design Track • Online
    Apr 06, 2020
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance
    N/A

    Designer Track

    I finally graduated and I would definitely recommend Bloc to anyone. However, do your research and know that this is an online program, meaning there will be limitations. 
    Report
  • chris
    Anonymous
    ckallen12193@yahoo.com • Web Developer Track • Online
    Jul 16, 2019
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance
    N/A

    Not worth the price

    I started in 2016 but not sure what month I started, I looked at my first Invoice and it was in November of 2016 so I know I started around that time most likely a couple months before. My review is really late and I decided today I want to write my experience because it wasn't a good one. When I started I was very excited and enjoyed it but about a month into the track, it started going down hill. First thing first is everything they teach you , you can learn on your own.  There's so much...

    Report
  • Chieri W
    Anonymous
    Marketing Representative • Student • Design Track • Online
    May 02, 2019
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance
    N/A

    Great curriculum with lots of support - but it's all up to YOU!

    Bloc is a great online platform with a strong curriculum that teaches you everything you need to know to be a UX designer. It covers three main topics - UX research/testing, visual design, and basic frontend development. The way the curriculum is designed is innovative as well. It starts with teaching you the fundamentals for each topic, then gives you a project to do where you have to repeat the steps with some guidance. Then another project where you repeat the cycle but you have more fr...

    Report
  • Katie Larry
    Anonymous
    Student • Design Track • Online
    Feb 20, 2019
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    So Innovative

    I had another career and really didn't enjoy what I was doing but didn't want to go back to school for another 4-8 years to switch careers. I looked into software design programs and realized this is something I really wanted to do but when I found Bloc, I was blown away at how hands-on the program was and how it truly prepared you for real-world experience. It also is continually being updated changes it's curriculum based on what's currently going on in the tech world. My mentor has supp...

    Report
  • Martha
    Anonymous
    Student • UX Design • Online
    Feb 19, 2019
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Design Track

    I have a lot of previous design experience but I wanted to learn UX design inside and out. I'm still in the early part but I feel like I made a great decision choosing Bloc. It's a great fit for me and it's been very flexible which is exactly what I needed as I juggle other responsibilities. The curriculum isn't easy but the instructors are great and they give you plenty of help when you get stuck.

    Report
  • Kawita
    Anonymous
    Student • Frontend Web Development • Online
    Jan 22, 2019
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    My Bloc Experience

    I'm enrolled in Bloc’s web development program and it has been an incredible experience for me. Even though the curriculum is designed to be self-paced, I've never felt I am on my own and adrift. For my part, I commit 25+ hours each week to my course of study. Admittedly, there is a considerable learning curve; however, after the four month mark, the concepts clicked. I am able to bridge theory to practice and am looking forward to creating my portfolio over the coming months. As each day ...

    Report

Bloc Alumni Outcomes

75%
Employment Rate
0%
Graduation Rate
$62,400
Median Salary
cirr-logo
77% of students intended to seek in-field employment within 180 days of graduating. 23% of students did not intend to seek in-field employment. Below is the 180 Day Employment Breakdown for 40 graduates included in report:
180 Day employment breakdown
Employed in-field75.0%
Full-time employee52.5%
Full-time apprenticeship, internship or contract position22.5%
Short-term contract, part-time, or freelance0.0%
Started a new company or venture after graduation0.0%
Not seeking in-field employment0.0%
Employed out-of-field0.0%
Continuing to higher education0.0%
Not seeking a job for health, family, or personal reasons0.0%
Still seeking job in-field25.0%
Could not contact0.0%
salary breakdown
Notes and Caveats
Read the full Bloc CIRR Jobs Report here

Recent Bloc News

Rachel Meltzer
Rachel Meltzer
Updated May 10, 2024
Remote jobs are rapidly becoming more popular in nearly every industry, growing by over 173% in the past decade. This phenomenon is sweeping the US, Canda, and most of Europe as millennials demand a better work-life balance. Over 3% of US employees work from home at least half of the time, and over 5% of the US works full-time remote jobs. Whether you want to work from home, become a digita...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated December 27, 2018
As we near the end of 2018, we're rewinding and reflecting on the most interesting and impactful coding bootcamp news of the year. Come with us as we look at trends, digest thought pieces, break down the ~$175 million in new funding, and more. We’ll also look at our predictions for 2019 and our hopes for the future of coding bootcamps! 2018: Course Report in Numbers We added 89 n...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated October 31, 2018
With a passion for spoken languages, Sami wanted to challenge himself in the world of programming languages. As a Hebrew teacher and parent in London, UK, with various commitments, he enrolled in Bloc’s remote self-paced Web Developer Track to learn Ruby on Rails and JavaScript on his own schedule. Sami tells us about the similarities between learning spoken languages and programming lang...
Liz Eggleston
Liz Eggleston
Updated June 05, 2018
Thinkful recently acquired Bloc, which means that two of the largest and most established online coding bootcamps are now joining forces. But what does this mean for students? We sat down with Darrell Silver, the CEO of Thinkful, to get the scoop on job guarantees, career support, mentorship approaches, and how students can choose the right program for their needs. Our Takeaways on the Thi...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated July 16, 2021
  Welcome to the first News Roundup of 2018! We’re already having a busy 2018 – we published our latest outcomes and demographics report, and we’re seeing a promising focus on diversity in tech! In January we saw a significant fundraising announcement from an online bootcamp, we saw journalists exploring why employers should hire bootcamp and apprenticeship graduates, we read about communi...
Liz Eggleston
Liz Eggleston
Updated December 20, 2017
After receiving valuable employer feedback, online coding bootcamp Bloc has taken the best parts of its two previous curriculums and combined them into the new and improved Web Development Track! The Bloc team has also added increased real-time mentor support (80 hours per week), and added a choice of programming stacks (Ruby on Rails or Full Stack JavaScript) for students. We asked CEO C...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated December 05, 2017
October 2017 was a busy month for the coding bootcamp industry with news about growing pains in bootcamp outcomes, mergers, acquisitions, investments, a trend towards bootcamp B2B training, and diversity initiatives. To help you out, we’ve collected all the most important news in this blog post and podcast. Plus, we added 12 new schools from around the world to the Course Report school di...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated September 28, 2017
Need a rundown of everything that happened in the coding bootcamp industry this September? You’re in luck! We’ve collected all the most important news in this blog post and podcast. This month, we kept up with the status of the bootcamp industry, learned about how bootcamps are thriving in smaller markets, and explored different ways to pay for bootcamp. Plus, we added 7 new schools from ar...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated September 20, 2017
After working at Mint, Netflix, and founding two tech companies, Ryan Balfanz wanted to pay it forward and mentor career changers. Now, as a mentor for Bloc’s online coding bootcamp, Ryan balances his day job as a software engineer at Square with ensuring that his students meet their career goals. Ryan tells us about his background in teaching, how he opens up his network to help students w...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated October 21, 2020
Although he had a solid career in technical support, Tim Martinak wanted to take his love for technology to the next level. He started learning Rails in Bloc’s Software Developer Track while balancing his full-time job at Braintree in Chicago, and when a Software Engineering Apprenticeship opened up at Braintree, Tim went for it! Tim tells us why a Skills Fund loan made his learning possibl...
Lauren Stewart
Lauren Stewart
Updated February 07, 2020
There’s something about a good mobile app that just helps you throughout the day– be it your Linkedin, Google maps, CNN, Nike+ Training, or ESPN app– we depend on our smartphones for a lot. Due to the global rise of smartphones and tablets, mobile apps can be the go-to source for information, entertainment, productivity, e-commerce, and more. By 2020, global mobile app store downloads wil...
Lauren Stewart
Lauren Stewart
Updated October 25, 2016
There are many reasons to attend a bootcamp- maybe you’re ready to take the plunge into a coding career or you want to update your current programming skills. Or maybe you’re part of a rising generation of aspiring technical founders and you’re ready to launch your own startup…you just need tech skills. Should you go to a coding bootcamp to start a company? Many bootcamp alumni are enjoyi...
Locations

Bloc Alumni Reviews Summary

Overall Experience
4.6
Instructors
4.7
Curriculum
4.5
Job Assistance
4.3
Write A Review
More Information
Guarantees Job
Job Assistance
Includes Housing
Offers Corporate Training
Accepts GI Bill
FAQs

How much does Bloc cost?

Bloc costs around $9,600. On the lower end, some Bloc courses like Web Developer Track cost $8,500.

What courses does Bloc teach?

Bloc offers courses like Design Track, Web Developer Track.

Where does Bloc have campuses?

Bloc teaches students Online in a remote classroom.

Is Bloc worth it?

The data says yes! In 2019, Bloc reported a 0% graduation rate, a median salary of $62,400, and 75% of Bloc alumni are employed. The data says yes! In 2016, Bloc reported a 41% graduation rate, a median salary of $65,411, and 80% of Bloc alumni are employed.

Is Bloc legit?

We let alumni answer that question. 477 Bloc alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Bloc and rate their overall experience a 4.61 out of 5.

Does Bloc offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?

Right now, it doesn't look like Bloc offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.

Can I read Bloc reviews?

You can read 477 reviews of Bloc on Course Report! Bloc alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Bloc and rate their overall experience a 4.61 out of 5.

Is Bloc accredited?

While bootcamps must be approved to operate, accreditation is relatively rare. Bloc doesn't yet share information about their accreditation status.

Get Free Bootcamp Advice

Sign up for our newsletter and receive our free guide to paying for a bootcamp.

By submitting this form, you agree to receive email marketing from Course Report.

Get Matched in Minutes

Just tell us who you are and what you’re searching for, we’ll handle the rest.

Match Me