Code Fellows

Code Fellows charges high-end boot camp prices without the results, curriculum, or staffing to match. Even the people who were getting paid to attend (CF accepts multiple forms of veteran education benefits) regretted attending the CF software engineering... Read More program. I would recommend staying away from Code Fellows entirely. Most instructors didn't seem to have training in how to lead a class through the material, which made it feel like the instructors were always ill-prepared & short on time. Especially later on in 401 (the main courses), this program felt like watching an unprepared person talk to themself as they tried to go through the CF curriculum; this resulted in failing to include the class in instruction, not providing answers to questions, and frequently not even finishing the instruction for the day during class time. The material itself felt thrown together & stale; like someone just googled the topic for each day and picked the first result, rather than curating the material to fit the needs of the students (this was further amplified by regularly running into dead links and outdated material). Two out of our three instructors had no industry experience. These instructors were better at teaching, and covered beginning material (HTML, CSS, JS), but they didn't always understand the material, and frequently didn't have time to provide answers to questions that came up during class. I had hoped some of this would be addressed once students broke into cohorts with a more specific focus, but that time never came, and a common theme in the program was students/TAs completely lacking the foundational fundamentals to build further understanding. The instructor (401) that did have some experience worked one job after graduating CF, and then became an instructor after their role switched to hybrid from remote. This instructor was hostile with students who pointed out an error or alternate solution during lecture. When they couldn't get a library to work, they would say it was due to a bug, rather than their lack of understanding. Whenever they couldn't answer a question, they would either say there is no time for it, or that they'd come back to it later (it became a running joke because they never came back to these questions). The worst part of this program was having an instructor who still didn't understand that part of the job is learning how to find the answer, not getting upset that someone asked you something that made you feel uncertain. Nothing was done when the cohort tried to talk to the program about the problems with this instructor, and students stopped raising concerns due to fear of retaliation. In this final portion of our program we had 60% of our cohort drop within the first month. This was not surprising at all, and a lot of the students voiced to each other that they felt like the program was a cash grab. When a dialogue was opened to address some of the concerns, the instructor and admin staff were very confrontational. Time was set aside in class to explain why people were wrong about specific concerns in their "anonymous feedback surveys"; a common phrase thrown around by CF staff was that you "just aren't embracing a growth mindset". This was easily one of the most toxic work/education environments I've ever experienced. Along with all of the above, the TAs were terrible providing useful input and very limited in availability. Despite being alumni, they didn't understand the difference between var/let/const, and were typically no help outside of telling you to write whatever code worked in their version of the assignment, rather than troubleshooting and explaining the refactor. TAs are paid ~$15-20/hr, need to stay below 30hrs a week, and work within a priority system that more often than not meant they were not available for students when they were requested. When this lack of availability was presented to the school, one of the lead instructors told people that you could pay $30/hr if you needed help outside of your cohort assigned time. Not having available TAs is insane for a program that costs $20k, and even crazier when the instructors think people should be paying an additional $30/hr to be properly taught something that the instructors failed at teaching. The TAs lack of learning, training, and availability all felt like a continuance of the school caring more about their bottom line than creating a suitable learning environment for the cost. A good remote or self-paced program would be much more beneficial than Code Fellows. For the same price, you could even hire a good tutor to take you through the sticking points each week, while checking on your progress. If Code Fellows is your only option (in-person situation), then I'd take the time to ask questions about your specific instructors (there are some who are enthusiastic & seem to have a passion for the material/teaching), and ask to speak to some of their recent students who have been hired and/or sit in for a class. I do think boot camps work for some people, but not all boot camps care to create a curriculum, update it continually, and spend the time/money to hire & train capable staff; spending six months at the wrong place is an easy way to waste time/money, while also being turned off from the industry.

I really enjoyed the modular pace of Code Fellows and I enjoyed the repetition that was built in so that I could allow coding and whiteboards to be more a part of my muscle memory. I ended up taking 101 and really enjoying the curriculum. Then I moved... Read More on to 201 and 301 back to back and after a 6 month break where I studied and dealt with life I came back for 401. I was on the night track so this made the program a little longer, but also gave me a chance to have income during the camp and have extra time to study and absorb things without committing to the crushing pace of day time. I think I would have been frantic if I was full time. One big plus for me was that I applied for and won a scholarship. Don't be hesitant to apply for that type of aid, especially if you are a person of color. Also I was able to get additional scholarships via my full time job and use the skills I learned in bootcamp at my job, so it was worthwhile to me. I noticed that towards the end a few of the projects were following tutorials from the platforms, which was fine and gave me the confidence needed to know that I could follow other types of frameworks in the future and be able to have a great output. I didn't learn Angular in bootcamp, but I feel I could pick it up afterward. That being said the practice with whiteboards and the team projects were the greatest benefit to me and I am extremely happy I got a chance to learn with my team. So much so that I filled out this review!

As a student of Code Fellows with a lot of experience in programming and not a lot of money I was very focused on getting my monies worth. I came in with a LOT of experience brought in through undirected self-taught programming and I found Value here.... Read More However, I also came in young, with only a couple of job interviews under my belt and zero clue about what it would be like to get into the professional world of anything but fast food. That one was easy. Going in with an underwhelming amount of experience in the professional I am coming out of code fellows Job ready and with relevant Experience to get me anywhere that I need to go in the industry. I am capable of making decisions and planning ahead in great and big ways. The value found in only 13 weeks of courses at Code Fellows is undeniably amazing.

Although I was eager to begin the Code Fellow Bootcamp course, my experience ultimately left me feeling let down. One of the most significant areas that required improvement was the communication. It was disheartening to have important inquiries and concerns... Read More left unanswered for extended periods of time, making it difficult to remain motivated. In addition, I felt that the staff lacked ownership and did not take initiative in finding solutions. This was especially frustrating given the time and money I had invested in the program. Furthermore, attempts to contact the staff via phone or email were met with silence, leading to a sense of frustration and disconnection that made it challenging to stay engaged with the program. Overall, I cannot recommend the Code Fellow Bootcamp course. The absence of effective communication, ownership, and a sense of urgency made for an inadequate learning experience. If you are considering a bootcamp course, I suggest exploring other options that prioritize these critical elements.

The course in iOS development I took at Codefellows genuinely prepared me for the work I have done over the past eight years. The majority of things I learned I still use daily or weekly, and the experience has stuck with me. I believe in the school and... Read More its mission. I know people who went to other boot camps and they were not nearly so well prepared for professional software development. 100% recommended.

I attended the Code Fellows Software Development boot camp in the fall and winter of 2020/2021. I have been holding off on publishing a review because I had the great fortune of being offered a full-time position at Code Fellows shortly after my graduation... Read More and did not want my review to appear biased.  I have recently moved on to an exciting opportunity at one of the "big tech" companies. I am now in the unbiased position to recommend that anyone that is considering attending Code Fellows should do it!  Before attending Code Fellows, I earned an MBA through an online program from a respected state school. From my experience, Code Fellows offers a much more rigorous and better-produced virtual learning experience.  I was pleasantly surprised by the program's ability to build a community and network of like-minded professionals. If you are serious about breaking into the tech industry, be prepared to make the program your primary focus for as long as you are in the boot camp. It will be a challenging and ultimately rewarding experience. Having spent a year and a half "behind the curtain", observing how the program was developed (and continually redeveloped), I can attest to the effort, passion, and care that is focused by every member of the Code Fellows team on the single goal of helping their students achieve their career goals!

Code Fellows totally prepared me for my entry into professional software development by giving me something which most college new grads don't have, software development experience, not just theory exercises. The most valuable skill I gained from Code... Read More Fellows is learning how to learn. Nothing is more important in professional software development than knowing how to learn new tech skills, especially since the industry changes so fast.

I attended Code Fellows in 2020 to make a mid-career switch to tech. While the program was intense and the pace was fast, I always felt encouraged and supported throughout the process and beyond! So far, I've worked at a startup and a FANG company which... Read More would not have been possible without Code Fellows!

An awesome school. This school sets you up for success. It provides a professional grade development environment to multiple avenues of learning. The instructors from the 101 to the 401 level are outstanding and knowledgeable. Their collaboration tool... Read More Remo, was critical my success

I attended Code fellows in 2019 and wen through the software development track with python as my primary language. I was a complete novice, coming from the restaurant industry but Code fellows offered me all of the tools that I needed to successfully... Read More enter the world of tech. I felt like I had an amazing amount of support throughout the entire process, from staff to alumni, there is an overall feeling of community and support. I really felt like everyone was rooting for my success. I was able to land a job in tech within a month of graduating code fellows and am now a security engineer at Oracle. Code fellows offered me technical skills as well as resume and interview prep, really preparing me for success breaking into this new industry.