Bloc

 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 about 10 days. 

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 my own discretion, I would have preferred a more affordable 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 been job searching for a good month and still have no offer.

I didn't connect with Career Services yet, but you are pretty much on your own looking for a job. I wish they helped me connect with employers.

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 covered UX, UI, and coding. This helped me gain a greater understanding of the whole product design process. The mentorship program was one of the reasons Bloc stood out to me. I really enjoyed my mentor sessions as it helped me ask questions I had and build a relationship. I knew that my mentors were very knowledgable and also genuinely cared for me and my success. 

Difficulties:
- Grading can take a while. Some of the assignments can't be completed if the previous one has not been approved (in the sense that you should not move ahead without feedback) and this obviously set back a lot of things. It was really frustrating not to be able to plan how much work will be done in a day and move forward. 
- Another frustrating thing was coding the portfolio. In the program, you must design then code your portfolio. Now, this truly taught me a lot about HTML and CSS, but as a UIUX designer it wasn't what I wanted to focus on and it took up a lot of time that I felt was unnecessary (a shared sentiment between many). So this is also something to keep in mind. 

All that being said, I do feel that I've learned a lot and have been pushed. There is definitely more learning and work to do after this, but I feel like the program gave me strong roots. Bloc has definitely helped me grow and I feel like I did make the right choice.

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 resources out there especially on Youtube or other websites that offer a FREE curriculum and courses that cost $10 to $20. The curriculum is not anything special and like I said you can learn all of this on your own. Now when I started this program I didn't know this and that is why I was enjoying at first ,  but after finding out you can learn to code for FREE or for $20 a month , that is when I felt pretty upset with myself I didn't do enough research before this. I am currently a Full Time Web Developer in Los Angeles and I learned everything from online resources and courses that are $10 to $20 so I know for a fact what I'm saying is true.  Now as for the teacher I had, he was smart but at times rude. I can't say he was the worst teacher because he did give good advice , just when you would ask a lot of questions he would get annoyed but I understand that a bit seeing he probably had a lot of students. I would give them one star but because I feel the teachers are actually smart I'll give them the extra star. The things that really just threw it off for me is the price ,  the curriculum , and the teacher being rude occasionally. You can learn everything from the program on your own without paying thousands of dollars. I hope this review will help some people.

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 freedom to design as you want. That system has been strong as it allows you to learn the basics and then repeat to strengthen your skills.

Besides the curriculum, there's an always-active Slack channel where students, mentors, and staff alike can interact! It's a great place to support other students by taking their surveys/tests, but also learn from the mentors and staff.

Most importantly IMO, you have a mentor who you can meet with on a weekly basis for 30 mins! My mentor has been critical in getting me to the finish line. It's easy to get in your head and become discouraged with your work, but my mentor has always encouraged me to keep going and have confidence in myself. That's something a curriculum can't teach you, so having him was so key for me.

Lastly, this program has everything you need but it's really up to YOU if you use it to its maximum potential. I had a lot of trouble getting started since I was working FT and in this program. Bloc is here to support you but you definitely need to put in the work. It takes a lot of self-discipline since you're not sitting in a classroom environment. If you can accomplish that, I believe Bloc can do great things for ya!

*Even though Bloc has Job Support, I did not give any star ratings for it since I'm not at that point of the program yet.

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 supported me along the way and I'm so excited to get a job once I finish. Bloc place has changed my life!

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 passes, I become more comfortable and confident. Additionally, I have also consistently been supported by my mentor who I meet once a week online, by the wonderful mentors who are available at all hours of the day on Slack, and the superheroes from student success, such as Taylor. I had a life changing event at the end of November and Taylor was my rock; she worked with me to resolve the concern in such a manner that my studies could continue seamlessly. If your desire is to create a firm foundation in front-end design and a future in the field of web development, the only choice is Bloc.