Dev Bootcamp

I am a recent grad of Dev Bootcamp and I have to say it has been a transformative experience. The confidence you gain in taking on challenges and learning coding skills serve as the foundation for building a career in computer science and web development.

The curriculum is fast paced, the instructors are knowledgeable and there are ample opportunities for you to go above and beyond in pursuing topics that interest you. The nature of the program is such where you will develop bonds with your classmates and very likely continue to code, work, and value their support well after graduation.

The most important point I would make to any aspiring bootcamp student is that you most certainly get out what you put in. This is NOT school. If you choose to coast by, doing the bare minimum no one will stop you. If you choose not to use the group challenges to develop your interpersonal skills as well as your technical acumen you can. If you let a classmate dictate the direction of a project rather than exposing yourself to a topic you are interested in that will happen as well. If you are willing to take your education into your own hands and take on what might now seem an insurmountable challenge DBC is an exciting, challenging, and inspiring program that you should strongly consider.

 

I attended DBC from November 2015 to Feb 2016.  It was a life-changing experience.  I came with just a vague sense that I wanted to learn how to code.  I left feeling empowered to start a tech company.

DBC doesn't just teach you Ruby or JavaScript.  The program teaches you how to teach yourself how to learn.  In five years or so, Ruby or JS may be out of favor, and that's to be expected as technology evolves.  But the most important skill I left with -- understanding how to teach myself a new language based on the fundamentals I learned at DBC -- will allow me to keep up with the times.  Further, the program gives you an expansive view of what technology can do.  Now, very few things feel beyond reach.  If I want to build my own social network, I have a good sense of how to approach doing that.  Same with building a mobile app or a physical device. 

The program will also make you a better person.  The engineering empathy curriculum is really incredible.  Prior to starting at DBC, I already thought of myself as an open-minded person, but I left DBC much more aware of my own faults and limits, and with a better sense of how to improve.  I'm a better person, not just better coder, as a result of my participating in DBC.

The program is definitely intense.  Very little downtime.  There's always more work to do and more things to learn.  But it's all worth it.  I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

 

 

DevBootcamp changed my life. Not only is it a school that generally can't stop helping its students, its focus on helping it's graduates, and the dev community it's located in was amazing!

I'm a grad and I'm invited to work in the space any day I need to be here. Today the school invited in 35 high schoolers to teach them about resumes, and code. One of our local instructors is an organizer for the local javascript JS meetup and one of our office staff is on leadership for GirlDevelopIt. If we have a meeting with new people we always make sure we understand everyone's prefered gender specific personal pronouns.

About the code. 6 months before DBC I hadn't written a single line, now I'm a Guide for a coding school, and I got my first job around a month after I graduated. With their accelerated program and focus on placement with a dedicated careers advisor at every location. I'm sure that anyone that goes through DBC will be happy, and able to get a job as a developer without much stress.

Dev Bootcamp does more than teach you how to code. They teach you how to learn, which is one of the most important skills you can have as a developer. The teachers truly care about student progress and I never felt like I was left hanging when confused. We are encouraged to learn and explore beyond what they have to offer (which is already so much), but it is so great. Not to mention, it was so much fun and I met a lot of really amazing people through the process.

It was very challenging mentally and emotionally..and I'm fairly introverted, so I definitely had to come out of my shell. Totally worth the money for me. I got a contract job 3 months after graduating and now am working as full time software engineer :)

Dev Bootcamp in San Diego was the most challenging, rewarding, and fun experience I've ever had. I went in not knowing how to write any code to being able to build my own website and web applications over the course of 9 weeks. The schedule is very rigorous but you'll be glad that you stuck through it. Dev Bootcamp is divided into three phases with an assessment at the end of phase 1 and phase 2. I'll give a brief summary of what Dev Bootcamp was like.

Everyday Life:

From day 1 you'll start coding and it will be extremely challenging. For someone completely new to coding that first week was the most challenging just to get your mind wrapped around everything that was going on. The hours say 9am-6pm but most students stay after hours to continue working. You'll pair program 90% of the time but before you know it things will get easier and you'll soon really enjoy coding. Each day there'll be a quick morning meetup to discuss the days lesson plan. You'll then jump into the morning challenges right up until lunch time at 12:30. From there you'll have free time till 2pm. At 2pm there'll be a quick meetup or instruction before you go back into coding for the rest of the day. DBC also offers engineering empathy classes once a week and Yoga once a week as well as free therapy sessions. Weekends are much more relaxed but most students come in and work on weekend homework.

Course Work:

At DBC you'll learn Ruby, Html, CSS, Javascript, Ruby on Rails and how to build web pages and applications. You'll work in pairs and teams to simulate real working conditions and also the hardships of working in teams. The course work may seem very intimidating at first but know that you and your classmates are in the same boat and are there for each other. At the end of every three weeks there is an important assessment that you must pass in order to continue the course. You'll be making your own projects from scratch and the final weeks are devoted to final group projects.

What I liked about DBC:

DBC was the most rewarding learning environment I've ever been a part of. In highschool and college I learned just to memorize and do well on exams. After exams I would forget almost everything. At DBC learning feels exciting as you are able to apply everything you've learned immediately and create things that you are proud of. The comradary at DBC is extraordinary and the people you meet will be your friends for life. The teachers are experts at what you do and will be mentors to you throughout your whole experience and beyond. The career counselor was wonderful, always notifying you of any potential opportunties, helping you craft your resume, and she has many connections accross Southern California. Lastly, DBC became my home, it was a place for fun, learning, and unforgettable memories.

Advice:

DBC is not a walk in the park. You have to give everything you have and make the most of every oportunity you have there. If you make it through you'll be equipped with the skills needed to break into a career in technology. For me DBC was a wonderful experience and I have absolutely no regrets. It landed me two interviews within a week of graduating and has helped prepare me for a career in technology.

I had a pretty great experience at DBC Chicago.  It was simultaneously the best and hardest educational/life-altering experience I've had.  The curriculum is designed well for people of all different skill levels (the only code I knew going in was what was on Codecademy) to keep things fresh and challenging and the instructors are very supportive and helpful for code and non-code related help.  

The thing that I really loved about DBC unrelated to code was yoga and engineering empathy sessions.  It really helped to get out of my head a few times a week and have access to those ways of relieving stress.  

Now, post-DBC there are many events and assistance for job seeking...if you live in the city where you attended DBC.  As someone who didn't stay in Chicago post-DBC, this wasn't super helpful and I felt pretty left out in the cold on the job search front. I was able to utilize the techniques the careers team taught us to reach out to and research companies to help find contacts, but ultimately what got me in the door at the company I ended up with was that one of the instructors knew some people at the company so I was able to warm outreach to them.  Overall...curriculum is solid but the job assistance is only good if you don't move back home/elsewhere afterwards.

I always wondered what if I pursued computer programming as a career. DBC allowed me to attempt that dream. I ended up loving every second of it. The staff, Brianne, Mark, Kevin, Amanda, and Kimbra were amazing and they were always quick to help. The cohort was also great; we were all there to be better people and pursue new goals and it was fun growing together. We spent countless hours together and I made new lifelong friends because of this. You'll be pair programming almost every day and work in a group almost every Friday. I felt like we didn't go enough in depth with JavaScript and I struggled a little on that subject. DBC has three phases breaking up the materials and an assessment at the end of each to check if everyone is on the same page. There is another phase after DBC and it's the phase one of your new career. The job search was difficult, there was a lot of nonresponsive companies, but two months after DBC was over I found a full-time programming job. DBC isn't kidding when they say you'll have to disappear for nine weeks. I found myself spending at least 60+ hours there a week, often times more. This is a commitment and unless you're absolutely sure you shouldn't do it. When you are fully committed this program will pay for itself. You'll get back what you put into it.

The Chicago location of DBC is also just really special, culture-wise. There's no competition student-to-student; you're only ever competing against yourself, trying to learn more and be better than you were yesterday/last week/last phase. I had an amazingly great cohort (aka, the group you go through the program with), that had really awesome interpersonal dynamics and that definitely influenced my experience. I think about 99% of DBC Chicago grads would agree that it's incredibly hard to graduate, because as tiring and hard as your time can be, you don't want to leave this wonderful place and the people you've met there. With regard to experience: There were things I had to learn on the job, because my first position was with a small company, and many random tasks (like SSL certificate renewals) fell to me because I was the most qualified person, even if it wasn't in my technical job description. However, I was able to learn and try, because of my DBC experience.   Everything I learned in Career Week has proved invaluable to me. I'm confident in negotiating, and will always negotiate, and have actively spread what I've learned (never say a number first, always negotiate, etc) to other people. I'm also confident emailing any person about work, etc.

I had an amazing time at Dev Bootcamp.  The instructors, Mark and Kevin, are awesome - probably some of the smartest and greatest programmers I'll ever meet and I feel so lucky to have learned from them.  They truly care about their students and are still there to support us even after we've graduated.  I also had a lot of fun and made some amazing friendships - I'm new to San Diego but already have a really cool community of friends and support.

I had no experience coding prior to joining DBC, and I thought Phase 0 was a great way to prepare and get an idea of what coding is like.  Phase 1 was far more intense and felt like jumping into the deep end, so be prepared and expect it to be really challenging right off the bat (which is a good thing!).  After the first week of Phase 1 I honestly didn't think I'd make it through, but I did.  Don't give up when those feelings come - it's hard work but it pays off.

I've had a lot of office assistant-type jobs in the past, and I was always incredibly bored and lived my life waiting for the weekend.  During my time at DBC, there wasn't a single day I didn't want to be there (even though we spent 12+ hours a day there for 2 months straight).  I think that's pretty amazing, and I'm confident that thanks to DBC I will find a job I'm not just waiting to leave all the time.  A couple weeks after graduation a few of us already have jobs/internships - the search is definitely challenging, but there is a lot of support here for you (including all your new friends who are going through it with you!).  The career counselor Brianne is wonderful and hosted a really helpful career week for us with speakers and workshops that made me feel prepared for the search.  

It's a lot of work, and it's really challenging, but it's also incredibly fun.  If you like to code (try some online tutorials if you have no experience), and you're ready for a change, go for it.