Chegg Skills

I joined the online web developer bootcamp since it's flexible and I don't have to commute everyday. It took me 8 months to complete it even when I was a full-time student - it did take a little longer when it's totally up to you to control the schedule and how much time you want to invest in everyday.

Overall I think the curriculum is great, especially the front and backend programming - they taught you well to use Node, React and Express to build full-stack projects. I'm satisfied with what I learnt through the materials and building two projects on my own. I personally never used the help from the technical couches, so I don't know if they're helpful, but the two mentors working with me throughout the program were both very skilled, responsive and ready to help.

I would say how much of the data structures and algorithms part we could learn was entirely up to ourselves. I personally took other online courses (free) before so I kind of just skipped this part, but I think I'd be overwhelmed if I were new to algorithms and had to learn all the content by myself.

I did two projects that I could put on my resume, and it helped me to get through some resume scanning first rounds and eventually led to a job offer. The career couch I worked with was very supportive and resourceful. It was really nice to have her through the trying job search period, but I'd say in the end there's only you in it. Be patient and confident!

Thinkful has a new program, the Digital Marketing course, that started in April 2020. I was lucky enough to be part of one of the starting classes. I am at the end, entering the careers portion, but wanted to leave a review about my experience thus far. 

To start, Thinkful communications with regards to meeting scheduling, was a flop from the beginning. Before even accepting the course, I scheduled two information meetings and neither time did a person show up. Yet, when you fill out their contact form on their website, a recruiter calls your phone, every day! I skipped the information session because I had done my own research on Thinkful in general and saw a ton of awesome reviews. However, any information on the Digital Marketing program was scant. *First red flags*

While I am happy that I moved forward to obtaining more skills in Digital Marketing, I was very underwhelmed with the program at large. The value of the course does not meet the price point. The only redeeming factor will be to actually obtain a job with the skills I've learned (a lot from supplemental resources) or receive a refund, I suppose. 

Cons:
-The material can be found on programs like Google Digital Garage for free
-Two mentor meetings are mandated per week. I have plenty of meetings where mentors didn't show for whatever reason and it is a bit unnecessary. The DM program isn't nearly as intensive as, let's say coding. There only needed to be one meeting a week.
-Lack of peer to peer engagement
-Missing items such as what they call, "Office Hours" where Thinkful offers internal supplemental information.
-Student lead mentoring sessions vs mentor lead sessions
-Expensive for the flex class layout

Pros:
-Overview of the most important details of Digital Marketing
-Academic Success Management is most helpful
-Potentially make some connections using Slack
-Was able to find a ton of resources and tools outside of Thinkful to help drive in my understanding of the material

Overall the program was good! The curriculum was fast-paced and self-ran. My first mentor that they paired with me was really excellent. However he left eventually and I went through 4 more mentors who were not good at all. It was really unfortunate my first mentor left. Also, my program manager gave me misinformation regarding my program's end date, which ended up costing me another $1000+ to finish the program. There was very little ownership or recompense on Thinkful's part. I'm glad I did it, and after a few months out of it, I'm still hoping it pays off, but it wasn't without its major hiccups. 

I started the Data Analytics Flex program in June 2019 and completed it in December 2019. I enjoyed the content and variety of the course material. It was written very well and was most times, easy to follow. The projects and capstones were challenging and fun to complete and interacting with the graders was very helpful. I highly recommend spending time really immersing yourself in the material and other resources provided to really take in what you’ve learned and of course continue to practice after you have graduated, in order to keep what you’ve learned fresh in your mind until it becomes second nature. Anytime I had an issue or a question, it was resolved quickly on Slack or with my mentor. I would work on developing a good working relationship with your mentor and if you do not feel comfortable, request a new one. The career coach was a great resource and held me accountable, which is a big thing that I was missing prior to starting this program. Overall, I had a great, well-rounded experience with Thinkful and would recommend it. 

Overall, I had a great experience with Thinkful. They paired me with a great mentor and academic success manager from the start. I can say with confidence that my mentor was the biggest piece of my success in the program. He was extremely patient with all of my questions and would even answer emails and offer me extra one on one time when needed. Even now that I've graduated I have stayed in touch with him and he still answers any questions I have. What I'm trying to say is, develop a good relationship with your mentor and don't be afraid to ask your academic success manager to be paired with a different mentor if they're not a good fit for you. Your mentor will largely determine what you get out of the program. 

The curriculum was fairly weak in some spots but overall it covered the big topics effectively. The assignments were great and challenging but I found myself going outside the curriculum to finish some of the projects. I was fine with this as I had my mentor to guide me to the correct literature but it would be nice if Thinkful could beef up the curriculum in certain spots. This is my only gripe with the program. 

My career coach was great and very supportive once I graduated. I found a job in about two months after graduating and she was a big part of that. She gave me great advice regarding my resume and portfolio as well as great tips for interviews. She was also very positive throughout the process as I received about 60 "no's" before my first "yes". We had weekly one on one's as well as group sessions with other graduates - all of which I found very helpful. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Thinkful and would recommend it to anyone considering a "bootcamp". The program is not easy, they expect a lot out of you in a short amount of time but I can tell you with confidence that it is worth it. When I first started I only had about 6 months of coding experience and after the program I feel very confident in my abilities and am very excited to start my new career. Thank you Thinkful!

If you're here, you're probably wondering, "Will this actually work? Is it worth the money? Can it land me a job?"

Here's your answer: After 12 years as a journalist, I quit my job and committed full-time to Thinkful's full-stack flex program. Today, just short of nine months later and at age 35, I had my first day as a professional web developer.

I'll spare you details about the learning platform (which is top-notch) and the resources available to students, as they're covered in depth in other reviews and in Thinkful's literature; suffice it to say, it's all legit. You have tons of resources at your disposal and my mentor/program manager/career coach were all delightful people who are great at their jobs.

What all that can't really communicate is the night-and-day difference in my experience as a job-seeker and employee. 

I'd known long before I left my former employer that I was going to; I gave them eight months notice and conducted a nationwide job hunt with the goal of getting out of the state and out of the field. I sent out ~150 job applications. In six months, I got zero interviews. Not a one. This despite having a resume that, I've been told more recently, is actually pretty impressive. 

That failure led me to the conclusion that I needed help — which led me to Thinkful — but it also led me to another conclusion: Even if I was successful, I was going to wind up living wherever there was work. I felt — probably accurately — that in that position, I had very little agency over where I could go and what I could do with my life.

I graduated from Thinkful in late April. By mid-June, I'd had interviews with four companies and got offers from two — this amid the worst economy the U.S. has seen in most people's lifetimes. 

My pay is higher than it was, and will only grow. Instead of paying ~$150/month for health coverage, the company's paying for it — and the plan's much better. All tech is provided. Instead of working in an office with a moldy, leaky ceiling, I'm working from home or a spacious office suite in a business district. Instead of 90 minutes, my commute is 20 minutes — or zero minutes. Instead of working in a dying industry, I'm working in a thriving industry. Instead of worrying about layoffs, I can see a future rich with opportunity. Instead of trying to fit my life around a job, I can find a job that fits into my life.

If you do the work, Thinkful will change your life. It will materially improve it, it will make you smarter, it will make you savvier and it will better help you understand how the modern world functions. 

I graduated from the Thinkful Data Science Flex program in March of 2020. This program was amazing!  I was working full-time as a teacher so the pace and flexibility of this program was what drew me to it. There are guidelines for due dates to make sure that you graduate on time and some modules I finished early and others I needed an extra day or two and the program is setup to accommodate all of this. I was completely supported with a great mentor that I met with twice a week, a Slack channel that had tech support hours with great people, and a program manager that got back to me quickly with answers to my questions. After graduation my career counselor worked closely with me, gave me tips, sent over potential jobs to apply for, and helped refer me to the company that I just received an offer for!  Overall, I am very happy with the experience and would recommend it to anyone looking to change careers!

So it has been about 2 months since I graduated Thinkful, and I wanted to say that I am super happy with the money spent at Thinkful and I don't regret any of it. 
The curriculum is amazing, I think they teach you super relative things, but the skill that I feel like was really taught to me was that I can learn any other language when needed.
Career services after graduating was honestly a lot better than I expected. The EPM team does really well in building relationships with other companies. I was able to gain an internship through the EPM. Also, even after gaining an internship I still have my career coach and career services for the 6 months.
Definitely recommend Thinkful!

I completed the data analytics flex program in October 2019. When you start applying for jobs you realize the curriculum left a lot to be desired. They definitely don't dive deep enough for you to be really competitive in the field with the technologies you're using. There were a lot of holes in the readings that I needed elaboration on throughout the course. My mentor and career coach were the best part of the whole experience. They were always very eager to help which is great because office hours weren't always useful. Sometimes I would go to office hours and the people in there that were supposed to be "experts" would have know idea how to fix my python code and say something like, "Sorry I'm more comfortable writing in R." Like, what? That does me no good. Grading assignments was a whole other doozy. You don't get the same person grading your assignments, so one person could request a revision and when you turn in that revision the next grader says you still did it all wrong and tells you to do it another way. You end up doing 4-5 revisions based on peoples' stylistic preferences. When it came to getting a job, luckily I got one through a referral because I don't feel like my learning was very deep or thorough into the subjects taught and employers noticed. I bought additional courses on udemy to try and dive deeper so I could build better projects to showcase. I shouldn't have to do that if i just spent almost $8000 on a program (which they have since lowered the price and refuses to give out any kind of reimbursement for recent grads). All in all, look at requirements for analyst jobs and take classes that match on udemy or take a certificate program on coursera, it's basically the same thing.

Thinkful was honestly one of the best decisions that I have made. I got a job 1 month after graduating. My time at Thinkful was not easy but I don’t regret going at all. I am a college graduate with a BS as well and I went straight from college to Thinkful. Let me start with this. This will take you a while but that is okay, this field is very top-heavy and When you're done you will not be an expert. But if you want it bad enough you can do it. If I can do it you can too. I really do believe these will give colleges a run for their money In the future. If you are debating going to a boot camp let me tell you, if your okay with spending nights cramming your brain with stuff and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.. you have the mindset to be a programmer and you will succeed. It isn’t hard but it is hard work. Thinkful is a great school. I met a lot of great people during my time there. If you're lucky you will get a mentor like mine who will help you succeed in any way possible. This school is a great choice if you want to work remotely or on your own time. If your on the fence like I was.. do it. Gaining a skill that will only make you better is not only going to help you career-wise it will also change the way you look at yourself. Many people can do this job but not everyone wants to put in the work to learn it. This field needs you. If you are willing to handle setbacks and push forward. I believe going to Thinkful will be a great choice. I highly recommend them.

Pros: My mentor(Tom) exceeded my expectations tenfold. I received more help in my mentor sessions than any of my professors provided in college. The curriculum was well thought out and covered all material relevant in today’s world. Flexibility: having the option to work remote is both a pro and a con. To me, it was a pro.

Cons: Curriculum: 100% text based. This can be very boring, although it made learning it easier for me