Chegg Skills

I am really happy that I joined the Bootcamp. Prior to coming to Thinkful, I enjoyed courses on FreeCodeCamp, Udemy, Codecademy, Watch and Code, Ray Wenderlich, and read some books. The courses with an online community were the best ones.  All these are excellent resources, for the dedicated self-learner. in hindsight, I probably would have learned more, if I was more active in the communities. I did learn a fair amount but I was not focused enough. I found many a rabbit hole.

After a long time of deciding where to focus, I decided to focus on Javascript and React. Again after a long time checking where to study I picked Thinkful.

Having been in the Bootcamp for 3 months now, I initially discovered that after using Bootstrap before coming to Thinkful, and then asked to  code the HTML and CSS  from a design I realized that did not know as much CSS as I thought, don't get me wrong Bootstrap is a great framework, but by learning the fundamentals of CSS I understand more how page layout works.  Another thing I discovered in my first mock interview is why it is really important to be able to explain concepts and that comes from a good understanding. Yes, I found I need a lot of work in this area, but I feel I am on the right track.

The next amazing thing I discovered was working with a mentor. I found that pair programming really helps me think more and not just look up answers. I got really lucky my mentor makes me think. Now I am writing code in ES6 using models and I  feel I have a better grasp of debugging and reading code. Slowly getting better at reading documentation.

Also, I think it's really cool that there Q & A sessions, Slack and Workshops available pretty much several times everyday. 

The curriculum has been great, but some things that I think would be more helpful would be more CSS projects where no frameworks allowed. Also, I think that more time spent using dev tools, for learning how to debug and also for learning to read and understand code better, would be very helpful. 

I can't  comment on job assistance yet but I have a good feeling so far.

Thinkful is an awesome bootcamp. The mentor community is of great help. I was blessed to have Derek as my Program manager. He is a very supportive and amicable person. He understands that real people can have real problems in life and that they can need some time to take a pause in the course. Thanks again Derek :)

Moreover, all the mentors are highly qualified. If anyone put their 100% efforts in the program and of course live and breathe code during bootcamp days then they will definetly land up in job.

Way to go Thinkful. You guys totally rock ...

My experience with Thinkful was great. For context, I completed this course 2.5 weeks for personal reasons; I did it for 40-50 hours a week. The curriculum was really well done, barring a few points that weren't covered very well before we were asked to do it. Their approach is to give you a reading, simple practice drills, then small projects to work on. There is also the big capstone project we work on at the end.

My mentor, Nicholas, was very helpful and experienced, which helped me a lot as well.

I was on the fence about whether I should join a Data Science Bootcamp or study on my own. I am so glad that I did this bootcamp through Thinkful because it gave me a very clear and focused direction over self-study. I quickly found a data science job directly due to the projects I built in the bootcamp, after only about 3 months in, before I even had finished the bootcamp! The online component of the bootcamp was really nice as I could fit it easily into any spare time I had throughout the week, and the mentorship component was amazing because I could bounce all of my ideas off of a professional data scientist as I progressed.

When I did find a job, it was also valuable to continue to have access to a data scientist to get additional insights related to my specific job. 

Great job, guys! Keep up the great work!

In May of 2017 I was laid off from my job, working as a system administrator for a healthcare company. My last month of working there I started considering becoming a web developer. I was using Tree House and YouTube to learn, I thought that it may not be enough to get to where I want to be.  After I got laid off I decided to take this time to pursue a career in web development. I signed up for an Intro to JavaScript meetup not knowing that it was a web development boot camp that was hosting it.  I learned a lot in that one night and started looking more into the company. I was still a little skeptical about it because it was all online. So, I went to a couple schools around DC and attended their open house. One of the schools I wasn’t sure of when a woman started chasing me out of the door when I was leaving so that I would schedule a meeting with them….

So, I decided to sign up for Thinkful’s trial. During that trial period, I learned so much! I decided that the cost for it was all worth it. The mentors are also great and very knowledgeable and want to help you learn.

The Thinkful curriculum is great but you have to be willing to put in the time to learn!

I'm a complete beginner which was probably stupid on my part, but after the first month, it's all starting to make sense.  Tho I suggest going through some basic JavaScript and Jquery before you start and the first month will be a breaze.  My mentor is a huge help to me.  With his help, i've been able to think of bigger and cooler designs for my first big project.  Just do all of the lessons and try to figure out as much as you can on your own but then ask for help when you need to and you'll do great.  I was excited to learn about web development when I started but it was all unknown to me.  But now I'm starting to genuinely become passionate about it which is essential for success.

This program is great for people with an interest in programming code fo websites. It takes you step by step and allows even those only mildly familiar with coding to be successful. I had two college courses in Java and a computer literacy course as my only background and i have been having a fairly easy time of things. I was at an advantage due to my prior exposure but the way they lay things out was easy for anyone to follow and more importantl there is an amazing community of people willing and eager to help you through tough spots or just challange you to think of coding in a different way.

When I first thought about going to a bootcamp at 19 I was nervous that maybe employers would ignore me because of how young I was, that was not the case. If you are 18 even i'd give this school a shot even without the money back guarntee and I did and was successful. 

The thing about Thinkful is that the curriculum isn't perfect and could definitely use some improvement but it's not bad and goes into much greater detail than Treehouse on many things but yet it is still their weak spot.

The instructors and staff at Thinkful are top notch, my mentor worked for harvard and was a windows genius who taught me not only many things about code but also life, they are incredible people(and so were my peers) . Another thing I love about Thinkful is that they try to help you in any way they can and whenever I needed extra help I was granted that as my success in the end was key despite the fact that they didn't have to pay me back because the guarntee didn't apply to me because I was 19. One thing I think needs practiced and stressed more is CSS exercises because most of my classmates had barely any knowledge when It came to creating custom layouts.

The job assistance program was helpful in brushing up my Linkedin and Resume as well as staying productive during the job search but ultimately it was the connections I made at hackathons that lead to me getting a job. 

Just turning 20 a few months ago I get an average of 3 job offers a week from tech recruiters, without Thinkful i'd probably still be working in a factory.

I wake up every morning to get up and do what I love at a company where I am cared for and I truly make a difference, it's really a dream come true.

The flexible program at Thinkful allows students to go at their own pace. The benefit of this is that if you have oodles and oodles of extra time all day, you can finish months early and save yourself a few bucks!
 

Initially, I was given a mentor who was pretty exclusively a Ruby dev. When I became more sure that NodeJS was my preferred choice, it was simple to just email my program manager and switch out for a different mentor. The whole process was intuitive.

The only reason I can't review their Job Assistance is because I got my first job before graduation. Never underestimate the importance of a portfolio, even if all the projects aren't entirely as polished as you'd like. It's proof that you can code something.

Thinkful is a great community to be a part of. The other students and the mentors are all very supportive and they want you to suceed. If you don't get a job in six months, they'll give you a refund. What do you have to lose?

I was enrolled in one of the earlier iterations of Thinkful's Full Time Web Development Bootcamp. It was a decision that had changed my life.

I graduated college with a degree that I didn't know what to do with. Similar to many people, I caught word of the ludicrous field of software engineering and as an attempt to pursue that lifestyle without wasting another 4 years in school, I started researching bootcamps. I looked into several different bootcamps(almost all of them at the time really) until I settled on Thinkful. It wasn't just because their price was extremely reasonable compared to their competitors at the time, but they also did the best in terms of reassuring me that they were truly invested in my success during the initial informational call.

I decided to give them a chance and it was easily one of the best decisions of my life.

Overall Experience - After I signed up, the onboarding process was nothing less than exceptional. I had a video chat with the program manager and was given an extremely detailed overview of what was expected of me, what was in store for me, as well as what they are going to do to ensure my success. The student support is fantastic. It was extremely easy to reach out to any one in the administrative staff whenever I have issues with anything at all. When I started feeling like my learning style didn't quite mesh with my mentor's teaching style, the support staff immediately jumped on to find the a different mentor to help me overcome my obstacles. Overall, I could not be happier with my learning experience at Thinkful.

Instructors - Every single instructor I've interacted with via private mentoring sessions, Q&A sessions, or specific tech workshop sessions have been extremely professional. Even if a student is not directly under their mentorship, they are often available for any students to ask questions over slack. Students will never feel like they're stuck due to the availability of instructors as resources.

Curriculum - The only reason I rate the curriculum 4 stars is because they were still slowly developing and perfecting it; I'm sure if I were to fully revisit it again, I'd give it a higher rating. After my graduation, I noticed that they've started incorporating more computer science topics such as algorithms and the concept of time complexity. I'm sure these will help students to bridge the gap between becoming a tech vs a software engineer and make them much more valuable in the job market.

Job Assistance - This is probably what most of the people actually care about. After graduation, I was put into the career placement program where I had a session with my career success manager once a week for tips, guidance, and assistance. This is the part of the program that I appreciate the most. If it wasn't for their constant support and encouragement, I probably would not have been able to endure the harsh reality of the job searching process as a fresh bootcamp graduate on my own. They are constantly giving me leads to opportunities, helping me with research, and connecting me to more local mentors in order to help me expand my network. This is where they show that they are truly vested in your success and Thinkful does this in spades.

I went into Thinkful as a complete programming novice. After a lot of hard work, I have a full-time job where I am a part of the back-end lead for the Start-up that I am working for as well as a part-time job acting as a mentor for my local university. There's been a lot of new bootcamps popping up since my time at Thinkful; I can't speak for all of them, but I know for a fact that if you're determined and willing to put in the hard work, Thinkful will definitely get you to where you want to be.

I had been working in the non-profit industry for several years and while it was fulfilling, I learned more recently that my real passion was in technology. Fast forward, after a bit of research, I settled on Thinkful's Flexible Web Development bootcamp. I chose it for a few reasons:

- It was all online, so I didn't need to quit my full time job. This helped me get started right away since it was less of a financial burden.

- They didn't have any pre-requisites. It was ok to come in ground zero.

- They had a job placement guarantee if you finished the curriculum within 6 months. This sealed the deal for me.

Starting the program felt smooth and reassuring - you're taught HTML, CSS, and the basics of Javascript. Once you are past that though, things are much more challenging, and at that point, things feel a lot more urgent. I was paired with an amazing mentor who helped me prioritize my work, keep me on track in the curriculum, and make sure that my projects were up to high standards.

I would say that the most valuable part of my experience with Thinkful was my mentor. He had a great ability to understand the problems I encountered in my projects and was able to explain things to me in a clear manner. He was always ready do demonstrate real world examples of concepts that I was learning. And most of all, he pushed me real hard in each of my projects, which ultimately, helped me find a job very quickly after finishing up the program.

I definitely recommend this bootcamp to anyone who is looking for a career change like I had. They don't just teach you how to code - they prep you to become a professional web developer. This means helping you with producing high quality projects, putting together a portfolio, prepping for interviews, and navigating towards getting your first job as a developer.