Chegg Skills

My overall experience at Thinkful was terrific. I enrolled in the Digital Marketing self-paced program, which is perfect if you already have some subject knowledge or marketing experience and need a flexible schedule. The curriculum was well written and highly educational. It filled in the gaps for me as I was self-taught before the course. The program's most valuable aspect was having a mentor that I could meet with twice a week to go over my weekly assignments and discuss their experience in the field. I was also looking to make a career change, and the results of my job search were significantly more successful after completing my course at Thinkful. I walked away with a solid foundation and additional skillsets and a robust portfolio, resume, and LinkedIn page, which made me more competitive in my job search. I landed several interviews and secured a full-time job in marketing within a month after graduating. If you're interested in a digital marketing career, I highly recommend this course!

I completed the Designer Track through Thinkful and I can say my experience at Thinkful undoubtedly landed me my current position. Their mentors and coaches are very helpful both during the course and after graduation. You always feel like you have someone there to help guide you or answer questions whether it's your mentor, one of the assessors, or someone in the Slack channel. The weekly mentor sessions and interview-like assessments are what drew me to Thinkful. It really feels more like an apprenticeship than a bootcamp the way they have it structured, and I really appreciated that. Thinkful is always updating their curriculum to match the needs of the jobs that are out there and adjusting to current standards, which is very helpful on the job search. I graduated just as the pandemic hit, and I cannot speak highly enough of the career coaches after graduation. They and my fellow graduates in the program in our Slack channel helped keep me sane during a rough job search, and I landed a great position after 5 months on the job search thanks to their help!

After working in healthcare, I was inspired by my patients and was curious to push the boundaries of data and statistics to find solutions to improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery. This sparked my love for data and emphasized on the potential of data-driven decisions to help drive a business. With zero programming experience, I was searching for the best remote course that would challenge me and help me develop job-ready skills as a data analyst but also support me. The Data Analytics Flex program allowed me to continue working full-time while learning technical skills such as Excel, SQL, Tableau and Python part-time. The community at Thinkful including fellow students, alumni, mentors and coaches were extremely nice, supportive and helpful. It is a great environment to be in to better yourself as a data analyst and person. Overall, I highly recommend the Thinkful program and would not be in my current role today as a data analyst without my experience there. 

As a recent grad of Thinkful’s DAI program, I am so happy to report positive feedback. I was drawn to this program, because, for me, they guaranteed a job upon graduation, which means they stand by their curriculum and process. I already have a degree, about 10 years of work experience, and prior to Thinkful, I was in the midst of pursuing a second degree. In comparing the two experiences, Thinkful, in my opinion, out-performs the traditional college experience. Thinkful places an emphasis on skillset with practice, current tools, and building a portfolio. While I learned some of the things I did with Thinkful during my degree program, the teaching methods at Thinkful are far more effective and relevant. Additionally, the Thinkful program places students in constant contact with an advisor and a mentor to keep them on track. Staff does not seem overwhelmed and they do not treat you like a number. In college, I’m not sure if my advisor knew my name. Lastly, students are encouraged to interact. I not only found a resource in my peers, but I have made new friends all over the country. I can only speak for the DAI program, but I’m sure if other programs are run like mine, then Thinkful is well worth it. I would highly recommend Thinkful to anyone pursuing further education or additional skills. At the very least contact Thinkful for an info session. You literally have nothing to lose and I think even after that info session, you’ll find that possible outcomes are still in your favor, given the options available to complete Thinkful programs. 

This program's intended purpose is to enable students to become ready for a job as a full-stack developer in 6 months. It allows you to go your own pace and is all conducted online. Thinkful provides both technical curriculum and information/assignments related to getting prepared to get a job (e.g. building a portfolio, updating resume, crafting your LinkedIn profile, essential networking skills). The personnel they provide for your direct support includes an academic success manager and a coding mentor which you meet with for 45 mins, twice a week.

I do not feel qualified to assess the relevancy of their curriculum - what technologies and concepts to include and what to leave out based on the current needs and demands of the tech industry. From the research I have done, the choices they made seem to align with the general trajectory of web development.

As for the quality of their curriculum. I think much of what they have is solid. There will be times where outside resources will be helpful - YouTube, medium articles, any developer friends you might have. Their curriculum is kept up to date - but is static in nature. It is words and images - not voices and videos. The medium may be a bit old school - but it worked for me.

There were times where you could see gaps in their ability to teach. For example, they had an entire module where they assigned difficult coding challenge related to algorithms and data structures, but did not provide solutions to the problem set. There was no grading or direct feedback in this segment of the curriculum which makes it impossible to know what a more professional, efficient, clean coding solution might look like.

The focus was definitely on the frontend (JavaScript, HTML, CSS, jQuery, React) which left me wanting to know more on the backend. I do not feel prepared to do anything beyond the more rudimentary server-side tasks.

My experience with my coding mentor was lacking. There were more than a few times where they would cancel last minute or just not show. Mine had a focus on Java and backend development which doesn't really align with the focus of the program itself. I am sure they were very competent at what they knew best, but there were quite a large number of times where I would ask questions and receive answers something like "In Java I would do this and that... But I'm not sure how that works in JavaScript". It is possible that your experience would be different - it depends on who you end up being paired with.

Let me speak more broadly now about my experience and recommendations.

Was it easy? No.

Was it worth it? For me, yes.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Probably not... but it depends.

It was hard. It was lonely. It was frustrating. It was dense. I feel exhausted from it all. BUT, I do feel ready to obtain a position as a frontend developer. I am a much more competent developer than before I started the program. And I feel like my job hunting artifacts (resume, portfolio, LinkedIn) are more solid than ever.

I do not think everyone would succeed in this program. I have an engineering degree and am quite capable of thinking deeply and understanding complex concepts. I am able to use available resources online to learn and resolve most blocks I run across without someone holding my hand. I am motivated and probably could have learned these skills without Thinkful. I imagine there are plenty of people who would not be able to handle the work load, pacing, required discipline, and/or lack of hand-holding. To be clear, I don't say this from a place of judgement - everybody has their strengths and weaknesses, and their preferred learning styles. But it is meant as a warning. For many, I would recommend choosing a different route. Maybe in person? Maybe a program with a smaller, more focused curriculum?

My best guess as to why this was effective for me was that I committed when I put my money down to graduating this program and I really knew I wanted to become a developer. Also, having the curriculum was so helpful because it narrowed down the endless possibilities of what I should learn next. There are so many technologies and concepts one could explore in the realm of software development. To have a path laid out for me prevented me from becoming overwhelmed and paralyzed. I imagine this is somewhat like having a personal trainer develop a workout plan for you. All you have to do is what s/he is telling you. You are freed to focus on simply executing instead deciding what to do. This was what Thinkful provided.

I more than likely would take this path again if I were granted a do-over. But there is a chance I could have gotten similar results without Thinkful and saved a lot of money. 

Before choosing Thinkful's full-stack flex program, I would recommend you explore your options. If you do decide to go with Thinkful - really commit. Trust their curriculum and process. And don't be afraid to ask for what you need (e.g. a new coding mentor, time off to recover before restarting).

May you find the path that works best for you and your goals. Good luck!

Thinkful seemed like a great choice after completing the prep course work. The prep coursework was slightly challenging, you had to pass an interview-like assessment of your knowledge, and you have a mentor helping you along the way. Normally, I would assume, the prep course would be a good indication of what to expect through the main curriculum but unfortunately that was not the case with Thinkful. My first disappointment was having to use jQuery in building the first few app projects in the course. After learning and using JavaScript in the prep course, this should have continued through the curriculum. 

Pair programming was another disappointment for me. Having to pair with fellow students makes sense in general but it was a chaotic mess when working with people who were not able to do what pair programming was meant to do, solve a problem when the driver hits a bug. I found the majority of people unable to help in this concept and just relied on the one knowledgeable person to do all the work while they pretended to be helpful. It's very similar to a group project where one person does nothing while reaping the benefits of other's work. I found it very frustrating. Pair programming with your mentor would have been a better approach in my opinion instead of pairing with other students. 

Thinkful is a factory model of bootcamps which is something I wish I realized before deciding to partake in their course. The factory model is a time-based model, not a comprehension based model. You learn for a fixed amount of time, and then you move on regardless of the level of comprehension. Everyone learns at a different pace so if you don't understand the concepts completely before getting new concepts the next day, you fall behind very quickly. This became more apparent when it came to pairing with other students in the cohort. With this approach, it's very hard to actually know the material and be successful outside of the bootcamp. Yes you are assessed along the way and if you fail to pass the assessment after 2 attempts, you're out of the bootcamp. To truly be successful here, you MUST already know coding and software development before enrolling in this bootcamp or be a super level genius but if you already know software development, why do this bootcamp? Seems pointless to me and a waste of a lot of money. 

If you truly want to learn and master the concepts of software development, this bootcamp is not for you. If you have coding experience and want to waste your money with surface level understanding of pretty general you can learn on your own from the internet concepts, then give Thinkful a try. After my brief time with Thinkful, I do not recommend it.

I worked in tech for about 2-3 years in the in business, operations, and marketing, but soon realized that I wanted to learn more about UX Design. I was between a few different bootcamps, but Thinkful seemed to be the most affordable based on what they were offering. The tuition refund for early graduation was another reason I chose Thinkful.

All in all I had a pretty great experience. There were some challenging points along the way that I felt could have been drastically improved, but Thinkful is young, and they continued to make great changes throughout even my time in the bootcamp. Some of the material was too basic and some was too complex, but it honestly kind of prepares you for how working in tech usually is. I had an amazing mentor, but some of the support staff were not great (I think they have since changed the support system anyways).

For me, I only had a few issues with the program, that since seem like they have all been fixed or reviewed. If I was enrolling now I would probably have given this a 5/5, but still I think program is awesome. I graduated early and was able to get some tuition back and I was able to find a job before I had even graduated making more than 10 times what I had paid for the course, so I would say this is a great investment if you are willing to put in the work!

I completed Thinkful's Engineering Immersion program earlier this year. I was originally considering doing the Flex program, but ultimately decided on the more intense Immersion program, partly due to the living stipend option, which I took. Although this meant I would pay back more money once I graduated and started making over $40k, it was absolutely worth it to be able to focus completely on the program for the duration of it without having to worry about how I would also cover my living expenses.

The Engineering Immersion program is quite intense - I spent about 60-70 hours a week in class, pair programming, studying, and/or working on projects and assignments. There are multiple project checkpoints and technical interviews that need to be passed in order to stay in the program. My cohort started with 24 people, and about 12 ended up graduating. The workload is no joke, and I think was especially difficult for people who had little to know coding experience before the program. I had been self-studying for about 6 months prior to enrolling, but I still found the material difficult and taught at a very fast pace.

That being said, I really enjoyed my experience in the EI program at Thinkful. It pushed me to learn much more than I would have on my own in the same amount of time. The teachers were great, as was my mentor, who I met with twice a week for most of the course. I also really enjoyed pair programming with other students in my cohort, which isn't something you get in the Flex or Nights/Weekends programs. My career coach was also outstanding, and my current job was a lead from someone on the Thinkful careers team.

I would definitely recommend this program to anyone who is serious about making a career change into tech. You have to give 200% to succeed in the Immersion program, but if you have the time and motivation to do it, then your work will pay off in dividends.

It’s a pretty great experience. It’s legit. The living stipend can sound too good to be true, but it’s real and it allowed me to actually be able to do the course.

The program managers (think academic advisor) are helpful and generally concerned about your experience and well-being.

The profs are very knowledgeable and helpful. They enjoy feedback, and pass along critiques to the curriculum developers.

The curriculum, as someone coming from education, could use an M Ed’s touch. The information is great, but doesn’t make use of modern teaching theory or learning development studies. It’s basically read this and try this example.

You get paired with a mentor for the duration of your program. By all means, if it isn’t a fit do not try to tough it out. Let your program manager know about the issue and get re-paired.

Post grad you get a career coach. They will help you with your résumé, cover letter template, and interviewing strategies. You get emailed curated job openings with Thinkful partners. There are tons of resources. Especially if you did a living stipend with an income sharing agreement, they are going to do their best to get you somewhere. That’s how they recoup on the investment.

Overall it feels pretty solid. Ask questions. Take chances. Go for it.