Alchemy Code Lab - CLOSED

This program was good for about the first 2/3 weeks. Nothing ever happens to students who make false claims, disrupt the learning environment multiple times during lectures, and obviously copy and paste from alum github repos. Then came foundations 2... Read More where multiple people where not at the required 90% to continue the course and they were still strung along in the program. These people have still to this day not grasped the core concepts of coding. They are completely a predatory school. I personally had some trouble in my personal life and they were willing to help work around my issues. But they only help when it is coinvent and/or benefits them.

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Alchemy Code Labs! I ended up attending for a bit under two months (I left because I ended up getting a job offer due to a previous job search pre-Alchemy) but can attest to their high quality instructors,... Read More commitment on good coding best practices, and impressive depth and speed of topics they cover. . . by 4 weeks you're making a shopping cart checkout-flow using localStorage and TDD! My instructor Dani was super helpful and knowledgable. The additional staff, Marty, Megan, and Shannon were incredibly supportive as I weighed my decision to take my job opportunity, or continue with ACL. Even though I decided to leave, I still stay in active touch with my old classmates and the ACL staff. One of the best decisions I made in my software engineering career!

Alchemy is a fast paced learning environment but definitely will give you the skills you need to break into tech. Of course you will need to put in the work, stick to coding and market yourself, but Alchemy does a great job at providing you with a network... Read More and support system in which you can acquire professional connections that can possibly expand into getting that job, it is all on how you decide to use those resources. If you are coming in with zero coding knowledge it could be very rough at first since there is so much to learn but eventually you start getting more comfortable with the basics and the information starts to sink in. A great thing about Alchemy is that they ensure that the people they have attending their school are diverse, from all sorts of backgrounds and open to differences, they provide a healthy social environment which makes it easier for it to be a more collaborative, supportive and judgement free zone. I attended when it was in person so I cannot speak on how the distance learning would be, but I definitely recommend the program, they teach what is being used the most in the industry for web development and what you more likely will end up using once you get your first tech job, all I learned from Alchemy is what I use every day at work. The instructors are very knowledgeable and the team projects assigned are a great way to get prepared on how collaborating in a professional setting will be.

I went through this program with no prior background in the field. I got a 90K+ job within a year of graduating. Let me be clear, if you expect to pay the tuition, show up, half pay attention to the lectures, chat with your friends during lab time, and... Read More spend more time complaining about the instruction and difficulty of the material than actually coding and doing your work, you won't get a job after. I'm a white heterosexual male, and I certainly have all the privilege that comes with that. I get it. I worked as a full-time freelance trumpet player while going through this 45-hour per week program, and graduated with a 120% grade. That's why I got a job. Because I did all of my labs, code challenges, and readings, and I turned them in on time. Does white heterosexual male privilege play a role in that... absolutely. Did I earn my job, you're damn right I did. The people that run this school have the best intentions of their students at heart. The instructional staff does an amazing job. Could they be better... we all can be. But they listen, and they learn. I felt fully supported after I left Alchemy. Did I expect to be handed interviews? Nope. I kept coding and worked on my craft, and in the end, two of my former TA's recommended me for a job at their company. I went through six rounds of interviews for that job. And I got it. I love everyone who was in my cohort. I support them wherever they are on their life journey. But to project your lack of success on to the school instead of looking into yourself is not fair and inaccurate. If you want to get into code, and you're serious and committed, go to Alchemy. Their success percentages speak for themselves.

My experience at Alchemy Code Lab was definitely not worth the time, and especially not worth the money I spent. They put more time and effort into convincing you that you will get a job in tech than actually helping you get a job in tech. The job assistance... Read More is a joke and consists mostly of their career person telling you to "be positive", "go to networking events", and having special guest lecturers, who are friends of theirs or previous students, who tell you similar obvious job placement advice. The teachers, while knowledgeable in the subject matter do not really know how to teach others unless they already have a background in computer science. The most hands on teaching you will get is from previous students that just finished the program and are being paid minimum wage. If you have any history of workplace trauma, personal trauma, or lack confidence in yourself, you will not do well in this program. This program is mostly for white men who already think highly of themselves and who won't have a hard time getting a job in tech regardless of their abilities. In my opinion, Alchemy Code Lab is a predatory school that preys upon people who are in bad work situations. They spend a lot of energy and time on convincing you that anyone can code and anyone can get a job in tech making $85000 a year with unlimited vacation time and the best benefits in the world. They do very little to help with the job search or helping you make the connections they insist will help you get a job. If you are having a hard time in the classes they tell you you're doing fine and that everybody has a hard time. They tell you just keep moving forward and eventually it will all make sense. When you finally get wise and ask for help, they will just keep gaslighting you until you break. When you finally do crack from the pressure they blame you and tell you that you are unprofessional and won't ever be able to get a job in tech. That last part didn't happen to me personally, it happened to a friend of mine in the cohort ahead of mine. I had a similar experience but mine was more just being gaslighted over and over and told me experience wasn't what others were experiencing. After talking to other students I found that many were also having the same problems with the program. Another thing that they do is lie about how many of their students get placed in jobs in the tech industry. They count any job in the tech industry not coding jobs, even if you're job doesn't have anything to do with coding. I got a job at a tech company doing remote sensing and lidar processing due to my previous career in geospatial science. They count that as me getting a job in the tech industry. Even though I don't do anything tech related that I learned at Alchemy. Also my job pays a little more than half of what I made before I started Alchemy.  Do yourself a favor and don't waste your money here. Go take some coding classes online for free at freecodecamp or somewhere else. Try taking a computer science course at a community college. Don't waste your money on predatory schooling.  

tl;dr
Pros:
Alchemy has an active community and a fantastic network
You will learn to scale up FAST and gain the experience of configuring a full-stack app within a day over and over.
Job support and preparation from day one and after graduation

Cons*:
Pricing... Read More for the virtual program is the same as in-person.
Balancing 3+ hours of zoom lecture, followed by 4-6+ hours on group calls or the "quiet room" can be draining.
Our cohort shared at different points concerns about going virtual, social justice, and pricing. While the Alchemy team scheduled times to listen to us, which sounds like more than what other programs do, they often grouped the concerns into one discussion, which felt like a disservice to each valid and important consideration. In the end, Alchemy’s response to raised concerns often fell flat or lacked any real resolution.

*My cohort was the first all-remote cohort during COVID. We had signed up expecting an all-in-person program, and because of COVID, everything last minute, and for the first time, was moved to all-remote on zoom calls and slack message. So many of our experiences will probably be unique to our cohort.

Job Support
Shannon goes all out for you. She connects you with recruiters for big companies, pairs you with working developers for informational/practice interviews, and is continuously making connections for other networking opportunities. Two of my most recent contract roles have been from connections that started with Shannon. The career and community support does not stop after you get your first role either. The Alchemy community is continually sharing opportunities, and you can tell that people genuinely enjoy connecting with other alums even years out.

Curriculum
Moving an all-in-person program to entirely remote in less than a month, during 2020, is bound to have growing pains for both students and instructors.

By the time we made it to the Career Track, people had talked about how things felt more settled and especially enjoyed working in React. I had some prior coding experience, which I think helped me not to feel overwhelmed at first. However, if you have prior experience, you might find yourself reviewing some content since the program is also designed for people with little to no experience. That's all fine because the team has excellent advice on what libraries to check out or projects to work on if you have additional time.

The lectures are live (and recorded if you want to review later), you don't have to wait in a queue for help, and you will have a consistent instructor for each course. If you have the chance, make sure to attend the Friday Hack Days that Ryan organizes. He'll share a cool project that he or an alum is working on, ranging from Blockchain, your first GraphQL API, to reviewing important JavaScript concepts.

I really wanted to love my experience at Alchemy. I researched boot camps over the last couple years and Alchemy kept popping up as a great place to learn software development, based on reviews. I even spoke with several alumni before locking in my enrollment... Read More and every one I spoke to had nothing but great things to say about their experience.

Unfortunately, at the $24K price tag I would say I was very frustrated and disappointed. So I am very clear, I did speak with the owner on many of the subjects I write about below, but they seemed to go on deaf ears and even got worse after our conversation.

You will learn a foundation of tools that will help you get your software development skills going, but at that price tag the cost is not worth it. The organization is all over the map. It was very common for the teacher(s) to change curriculum on the fly. I suspected many times that the teacher had not prepared or looked at the material for the days lecture/demo, previous to class, based on the fact that they changed things on the fly and often would have to read out/change the notes during class to understand what they were trying to teach. I felt that lots of time was wasted with this disorganization. With that high price tag, this is just inexcusable. In some instances, it felt like we studied topics that were not very valuable for job experience. Several people in my cohort asked the teacher if we would actually use this material in a job setting and the response was "well no, but I think it is important for you to know." That sentiment was very disheartening. Why are we not studying topics directly applicable to potential jobs?!? I felt like this happened with many of the topics throughout course. Again, at the price tag of $24K, we deserved better!

Another other problem was the TA's. They were all very kind people, but when you had an issue they could never help. You always had to wait for the main teacher to solve issues. When they cannot help us because they themselves don't have the knowledge I see that has a disservice to the students. I also felt at the high price point, there is a need for more intentionality from the staff for the students. It would have been nice to meet with staff/career services (one on one) on a regular basis to get a better idea of how you are doing. This is a brutal five months of school and more support would have possibly made a huge difference. All I would get from the staff is "if your grades are good, then you are doing fine," and for me that is not enough based on the price.

Honestly, there are so many more things I could lay out as issues I had with the school, but the main thing I wanted to address was Alchemy's need to push their personal and political views. They spoke constantly about inclusion, pronouns, and politics. I have no issue with these topics, but when it seems to be at the detriment of doing the task we paid for, I find that super unprofessional and a huge problem. That will not happen in most work places and sets a horrible precedent for the students thinking that is normal. The funny thing is Alchemy was all about those issues if you agreed with them and didn't have a different opinion (doesn't sound very inclusive to me). My thing is, leave that out of the work/school environment. I don't need to hear all you opinions. I enrolled here to learn and for that $24K price tag I expected a level of professionalism. It actual made for a very uncomfortable environment. I know from talking with others in my cohort I was not alone in this!

I would hands down say to anyone looking at a bootcamp to stay away from this place. If you can find someone to help you get started and mentor you through the learning process of software development, you would be better off and save a ton of money by getting courses via Udemy. You could probably spend $200 and get all and more out of the curriculum than Alchemy has to offer. I started doing that at the end of my time in Alchemy and found I learned so much more.

I really wanted to love and promote this place. Now, I don't want to do a disservice to the people that come after me. It is a huge investment. I think there are better ways to become a software developer.

One last thing: no way their job placement is at 86%. I would challenge them to show more detailed stats. Past alumni I spoke said they also thought that number was inflated as well. I did some research based on past graduates and it is likely more around 50%. The reality is that it was never on Alchemy to find you a job, it's on you. That being said, for $24K you should get truthful stats!

Alchemy Code Lab was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. Prior to this, coding was something I was interested in but never really planned on pursuing. That was until one of my best friends took the program. Before coming to Alchemy,... Read More I already had a good impression because my friend had been trying to convince me to take it from when he was in the program up until the point when I finally said yes. I gained confidence in Alchemy’s ability to prepare people for tech careers when my friend got his first job where he was referred to by another Alchemy graduate, and after talking to Megan, my decision was made.

If your only interest is to learn web development, then I would suggest much cheaper alternative resources like Khan Academy, Udemy, Codecademy, YouTube, etc. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of other resources that are much cheaper than Alchemy Code Lab that you can use to learn web development. Alchemy Code Lab isn’t just about teaching you web development, it’s about preparing you for a career in tech starting with web development. You’ll get tech industry-related experience with teamwork and communication, project planning and management, and best practices as well as career-related experience with networking, resume writing, interviewing, and salary negotiation. When you join Alchemy Code Lab, you won’t just be enrolling in a class, you’ll be joining a positive and supportive community that will support you during your time at Alchemy and will continue to do so long after you’re done with the program.

While the cost of doing Alchemy Code Lab is obviously higher compared to other programs in the Portland area and keeping in mind that I can’t really compare the Alchemy program to other programs (because I didn’t have to take other programs), I would say that it’s totally worth it for the experience and the amount and quality of support you get from the staff. I would dare say that you can get your money’s worth just from having access to Shannon in Career Services but that wouldn’t be fair or right to Megan, Marty, Ryan, and the other staff members (I haven’t met the others) because they are all amazing and supportive. Shannon will help you with networking, interviewing, and negotiating salary. She will give you advice on your resume and even set you up with recruiters for positions that she thinks would be a good fit for you. Her goal isn’t just for you to get a job, it’s for you to get a job that you’re happy with and pays well. Marty and Ryan are veterans in the tech industry and are very up to date on the latest and most popular technologies. They always make sure that the curriculum they teach you is reflective of the demand in the job market. Megan is basically Alchemy’s mom. She’ll support you emotionally if you ever feel down, and she’ll also work with you to get financial aid. Before the pandemic when the classes were in-person, she made sure that the class environment was comfortable and gave out snacks everyday.

I want to be clear, just doing the program isn’t going to guarantee you a job nor will it guarantee that you will be an amazing developer. You’ll have to put in the work to get results. However the work you put in at Alchemy will have amplified results with their support.

At the time I joined Alchemy, I had past experience coding, but I wanted to bring my skills current with an in-demand tech stack. I was fully prepared to go out of state to get the best bootcamp education. Alchemy, being a smaller school, didn't happen... Read More to cross my radar until the very last minute. Thankfully, it did, and I was able to join a cohort that had just completed their prep week.

I found the coursework to be very challenging and I really appreciated the strength of the Alchemy community in supporting each other through it. I really feel like I made some true friends in the coding crucible there. I was able to continue on with a small study group after the program ended in order to keep up and build on my skills.

Six months later, I've accepted an offer for a great job with a startup after receiving a great deal of interest from several potential employers.

So wait, why only 4 stars for curriculum? As a cohort, we expressed some concerns about the timing and methods for the introduction of React.JS into the coursework. To Alchemy's credit, they listened and adjusted things for the very next cohort. This wasn't a huge deal and curriculum in a good bootcamp should always be evolving to fit the needs of the market and the students. If I could give 4.5 stars I would, it's just difficult to be perfect in this area.

One thing that I've heard from other bootcamp grads in town is that they are a little jealous with the career support that Alchemy offers. Job hunting can be very emotionally challenging and it was nice to know that I could always reach out and get help when I needed it. I frequently reviewed materials we'd been provided with prior to interviews in order to be well prepared. And, as an alumnus, there were fireside chats and other events to keep me in touch with developer life and the job market in a more direct way.

tl;dr
Challenging (and fun!) program with really strong network/community. Unparalleled instruction quality and career support. Went from having virtually no programming knowledge to being a confident software engineer in about 5 months. Found first role... Read More within seven weeks of graduating despite having completely unrelated professional background and seeking work in the midst of a global pandemic. Couldn’t be more grateful for decision to attend Alchemy.

INSTRUCTION AND CURRICULUM
Depth
What drew me most to this program was the depth of the instruction — learning one language from front to back through hands-on experience. Bootcamp timelines are short; by spending that time diving deeper into JavaScript instead of scraping the surfaces of several languages, Alchemy students develop a strong foundation in the engineering processes and practices that make us successful finding jobs and in the field. We have a deeper understanding of fundamental concepts, are able to write better quality code and can adapt to new languages and tools quickly.

Process
During the technical interview for my current role, I was asked to architect an app based on product requirements from imaginary project managers, wireframe it, and build it out on the spot. For an Alchemy grad, this is a breeze; I did a version of this every day for months and really deepened my skills during project sprints. What really sets Alchemy students apart is our ability to break down a process and execute each step from start to finish. The language itself could be learned through online courses; it would take longer, and the lack of accountability would limited the format’s effectiveness for me personally, but it would be possible. But becoming really comfortable with processes — through demos in iterative practices, projects and many hours of hands-on experience every day — is not an ability I think I could have learned through other means.

Staying up to date
Alchemy’s curriculum is always changing to keep up with the industry. My current software engineering role is with an established retail company that is transitioning its model to focus more heavily on software. At my job, we use the most popular library for building UI components and the most up-to-date syntax. The fact that my current role is using a similar tools to what I learned at Alchemy — and is using them the same way that I learned — highlights Alchemy’s strengths. When the latest JS version was nearing release, we knew what to expect and were able to implement some of its features immediately.

Instructor quality and support
I felt so supported throughout the program by Alchemy’s primary instructors, Dani and Ryan. They are skilled at finding ways to present information that can be absorbed by different learning styles. Several TAs were also available to offer assistance, and one was officially designated to review my work. When I needed assistance, I was always be able to connect with a member of the instruction staff — both while the program was in person and after the pandemic abruptly shifted us to remote learning. This is a huge asset compared to other programs, where you may find yourself beating your head against the wall for hours.

Projects
Among the greatest strengths of this program are the one-week sprints on small teams. During each of these four sprints, you will collaborate with your peers to design, build and deploy an impressively professional app. These experiences prepare you for working on teams at software companies: You pair- and mob-program to build features and squash bugs; put test-driven development principles into practice; learn how to implement effective project management strategies; navigate snags in a high-pressure environment; learn new technologies really quickly; and develop approaches for working with colleagues who don’t always share your style or perspective.

These projects become professional portfolio pieces and provide real-world experiences to discuss during interviews. But even more, they prepare you for your future job. In my opinion, they put Alchemy head and shoulders above other bootcamps.

CAREER SERVICES
Shannon is an impassioned advocate for grads in the network that she is diligently growing. (I have her to thank for my acquiring the interview that led to my current role.) But she also teaches you how to advocate for yourself as a software developer. She provides you materials to consider your strengths and weaknesses and how you’ll fit in the tech community. This helps you grow your confidence about what you have to offer, which in turn allows you to converse comfortably at both networking events and interviews.

COMMUNITY
They believe in you when you have doubts. Megan and Shannon will always remind you of just how uniquely awesome you are. That sort of personalized attention simply doesn’t exist at most bootcamps and figured prominently into my decision to attend Alchemy. The community of grads is also ridiculously supportive of current students. (That includes me! Please reach out if you have any questions. I did the same before choosing a program.)

REMOTE LEARNING
My cohort transitioned to remote learning almost halfway through our program due to COVID-19. I could not have been more impressed with how seamlessly and professionally Alchemy handled the pivot at a really ambiguous moment. Communication channels were completely open with students to ensure that we were well supported, and staff were quick to heed our suggestions. Our actual schedule was unchanged; we simply switched to Zoom lectures in the mornings and worked on labs from home in the afternoons. “Zoom rooms” were available during lab time for students who wished to simulate the in-person experience, when we would often work independently at the same table.

As someone who had to commute at least an hour each way to reach Alchemy’s physical location, I found that I had more time to complete labs and maintain work-life balance. I also found it easier to focus than I did when we were in person. That said, those of you with families at home may have a different experience.

FAQ
Is the field right for me?
As Megan may tell you, the developers who are most successful in this program are the ones who really enjoy it. Before you enroll, do the legwork to ensure that you find this work fulfilling. This program will push you, and if you are truly interested in the material, you will enjoy the experience — and the career that follows. I strongly recommend taking the self-paced JavaScript courses from Codecademy and KahnAcademy; if you have to force yourself to put your computer away, that’s a good sign!

Is it worth it?
Alchemy is more expensive than many bootcamps. Given the depth I wanted from a program and the networking that I considered imperative, that expense was well worth it. The tuition was a big chunk of change that I didn’t have, and as someone with a master’s degree that was already going unused, I wasn’t willing to increase my debt unless I was really confident that I would 1) enjoy the work, 2) be trained adequately to launch into the field, and 3) actually find a job after graduating.

Through my time at Alchemy, I developed not only the technical skills to be a competent software engineer, but also the ability to collaborate effectively on software teams and confidence in myself as a woman in this male-dominated field.

I was offered a job within two months of graduating that almost tripled my previous salary — and I was actively interviewing for other positions at the time of the offer. I expect to pay off my loan in six months.

So yes! Alchemy was so, so worth it. If you are confident that software development is the right fit for you, then look into Alchemy.