Code Fellows

My learning-journey was difficult, but very doable; refining me significantly not only as a developer, but also as a human. Having not always felt "included" I found that Code Fellows 100% lived their mission: "We guide people from all backgrounds to... Read More change their lives through fast-paced, career-focused education. We shape passionate coders with immersive training to meet industry needs and improve diversity in the tech scene." What I did not expect was that not only would I gain an entirely new skill set, but I also gained an entirely new community / family of folks invested in my success and future. Now that I am successfully placed in industry, I find myself giving back to this amazing community. THAT is what Code Fellows gives you!

The curriculum is designed to get you in and get you set up with lifetime learning processes. After "learning how to learn" in a sense, I have added more languages to my tool belt. I enjoy being assigned tasks where I don't know the answers initially and have to take deep dives to familiarize myself with all the details and find exciting solutions. After 30 years in food service / restaurants and moving into tech, I am thrilled to be loving life and loving my career!

As someone who is completely new to coding, and the tech world in general, I found this course a great starting point. I had been doing a little self-study of HTML and other coding languages and I was feeling a bit lost and was having trouble knowing... Read More what materials to focus on and direction to go. This course helped to get my focus on the basics and to build a quality foundation of knowledge to be able to build upon. I found the course very challenging and they use a learning style, stacked module, that I was not familiar with and found a little overwhelming at first. As the week went on I realized I did not need every bit of knowledge on each subject to keep up, and I was able to revisit the stuff that I didn't fully understand, both in reviews in class and with labs. I really feel that style helped me with retaining information, and helped me to formulate questions to ask to get what I needed. The instructor, Brad Smialek, was great, as was our TA. They were super patient with everyone, with each student having different levels of experience and knowledge, it really made for a safe and comfortable learning environment. They also made the experience fun, which went a long way, as I was anxious and they made me feel at ease. They were available before and after class to answer any question and made sure that you fully understood the concepts and material. There was group activities that I found really fun and also helped me feel comfortable working in a team. Also, the overall atmosphere and vibe around the downtown campus is great, it really feels like you are at home. I would strongly recommend this course to anyone who is looking to get into computer programming or just looking for a challenge.

Before I decided to take courses at Code Fellows, I read so many reviews about each bootcamp. Finally I chose Code Fellows and I started my first course in August 2019. I just recently graduated with a certificate in ASP.NET Core C# in December 2019.... Read More The whole curriculum was very intense yet it was very rewarding. Here is why I love Code Fellows: I love the curriculum! The curriculum includes in-class lectures, labs, code challenges, reading assignments, pair-programming sessions, guest speeches, networking events, and career development sessions. Code Fellows follows industry standards throughout the curriculum and teaches students to do everything with a proper way that aligns with the industry standards. For example, students have lots of opportunities to pair with each other and do group projects together. With that, students at Code Fellows develop better communication skills and teamwork skills to work with others and can better read and understand other people's codes. They have awesome instructors and staffs! I absolutely love the culture at Code Fellows. It is a very welcoming community. Everyone is so friendly and the instructors really care about the students. At Code Fellows, you can ask anybody for help if you have any questions or need anything. All the TAs, instructors, and even campus directors and principals make themselves available for the students if you want to talk or ask for any advice regarding the curriculum, interview preparation, or career development. Code Fellows teaches students how to "learn". Learning is a never-ending thing, especially if you work in the tech industry. Code Fellows not only teaches students how to write codes but also trains us how to think and learn on our own. When I started my first course, I did not know how to read documentations and I did not know how to find a solution on my own. However, throughout the courses, as I learned more and more about coding, I started to develop my problem-solving skills. Therefore, in my last course at Code Fellows, my teammates and I were able to build a mobile app within one week. The point is we did not learn how to build a mobile app in the class, we learned it all by ourselves! Comparing to a CS degree, a bootcamp is relatively shorter and cheaper. However, at Code Fellows, the curriculum teaches you all you need to know as a software developer. Students graduated from here know how to read/write codes, build full web apps (front-end and back-end), debugging, write unit tests to apps, and understand data structures and algorithms. Additionally, since this is an intense program, in order to successfully pass the courses, students develop excellent time management skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills, and become more self-disciplined and self-driven. Last but not least! Throughout the curriculum, every week there is a guest speaker on the campus to talk about numerous topics related to the tech industry. This helps student be familiar with the tech industry and learn something new from the professionals. In the last course of the curriculum, there are career development sessions that help students prepare for job searching after graduated. We review each others' resumes and do mock interviews to practice our public speaking skills. I found this very useful as I received so many feedback from my classmates and the campus director. Finally, for the time I was at Code Fellows, I developed a strong bond with my cohort-mates. We studied together, struggled together, and then we found the solution together. We supported each other and we kept each other accountable. I really love the culture at Code Fellows that everyone was friendly and willing to help others. If you are considering joining a bootcamp, be prepared that it is not going to be easy. The curriculum was intense and not easy as all. However, at the end everything was worth it. Just keep doing it and never give up, you will eventually get there. Be positive and enjoy the process, it may be hard and you may struggle along the way, but trust yourself, you know more than you think you do!

I have never had a background in tech. I worked construction, moved on to an aerospace machinist role, and most recently got my CDL and drove truck. I would always tell myself that I would get a "real" job when I figured out what I wanted to do. 14 years... Read More later, my wife finally convinced me to check out a Code 101 course at CodeFellows, a one day introductory class to software development. I didn't have a whole lot of confidence that I would be able to keep up because of my age (32), my background, and other personal reasons. Leaving that one day class I felt as if I could actually make a positive change in my life. The next day, I sat down with my wife and signed up for the next available Code 102 course offered at CodeFellows. Code 102 was optional since I could have opted to test directly in to Code 201, but I wanted to give myself all the help I could get.

Again, going in to that one week course I felt anxious, unprepared and assumed I wouldn't pass the final exam. The instructor, Brad, and our class TA, Vij, were so incredible the entire week. Brad presented the information in a way that anyone from any walk of life could grasp. He broke down the information in to easily digestible pieces so that we could actually begin to implement what we were learning right away. It wasn't all theory and lecture. He ensured that the class was an interactive learning environment, allowing everyone to take part in the learning, not simply observe. Both Brad and Vij worked patiently with each student to ensure that the information made sense and that no one fell behind. More than once during that week, they bother stayed late to answer questions and to work through problems we might have had. They would constantly offer encouragement when we were struggling and celebrated with us when we succeeded. It seemed obvious that they genuinely cared about our success, not simply our tuition money. I started this journey to create myself a new life full of anxiety and self doubt. After my experience in 102, I am so excited to tackle the challenges that are ahead. If I had tried to simply test in to 201, I might have been able to google my way to a passing grade, but what I received going through Code 102 was so much more than the knowledge to pass an entrance exam. It might seem like a small victory to some, but for me it was huge. It was the first time that I took a proactive step toward a better life instead of just assuming that it wasn't for me. So thankful for Brad and Vij helping me along on the beginning of my learning journey! If you're curious about a career in tech but you're not sure if you are capable then this course is a must.

Code Fellows does an amazing job of making you and you're classmates feel like a team. The pace is fast, but never felt overwhelming, or impossible. The "campus" is very welcoming, with lots of interesting things going on, from dogs running around to... Read More ping pong tables. To anyone debating if they should enroll in Code Fellows, I highly recommend you do. I believe it will open up doors for everyone who attends much faster and cheaper than a traditional education. Not to mention the incredible curriculum, extended interview preparation, and real world practice that you wont find at a typical college. All in all, give it a shot. I bet you will love it.

I took code 102: Intro to Javascript with Brad smialek as my instructor. I was very nervous and apprehensive about trying to learn a new skill, especially programming. Brad made the entire experience wonderful, entertaining, and highly engaging. 10/10.... Read More

Attending the 102 course has really helped out when I started 201. Our instructor Brad did a really good job of covering a lot of material in a short week. He created a atmosphere that allowed us to more in depth with questions that may not have been... Read More "on the curriculum". I think it helped gain a better understanding of the material. You can definitely tell the difference through the first week of 201 on who took the 102 course. Regardless of skill level I would highly recommend it. Even if its just to get use to the systems and interfaces used throughout code fellows. It's been a great springboard in to the rest of the program.

I attended CodeFellows from October 2018 thru March 2019 (5 months), and then spent the following 5 months building my portfolio website, learning in the areas I felt weak in, and looking for a job. In reality I wanted to have a portfolio I was somewhat... Read More happy with before applying so I wasn't really applying for the whole 5 months.

At CodeFellows there are 3 levels, which is nice, because they only bill you at the start of each level (as opposed to the whole lump sum up front), the first 2 levels (201 and 301) are 100% focused on Javascript (no other languages). The 3rd and final level (401) lets you pick which language you want to specialize in (when I attended in 2018/19 the options were: JavaScript, Java, Python, and C#). The last course is the longest and most expensive. I did the JavaScript course, which I would fully recommend. The first two levels (201 and 301) are in Javascript, so switching to a new language part way thru will only prevent you from getting to more complex coding ideas (my personal opinion). Essentially you don't get put back to square 1 in the middle of your learning. I (personal opinion here) think also that JavaScript and the JavaScript curriculum is the most relevant for finding a job for a junior developer. I didn't take the other courses and I don't hire developers so I can't say for sure.

In the JavaScript track you learn a ton of good stuff. And in my job I have used much of it extensively and repeatedly, and often. It was actually kind-of surprising to me how similar to the "project weeks" the actual job was (Code Fellows project weeks are intense 4-day team projects, where you often have to learn and apply stuff you've never done). My formal job duties are as a front-end software developer, which is why I feel the React portion of the course is most applicable and marketable. It is probably the thing that made me most qualified for the job I have now. React might be the single best thing CodeFellows teaches :). In addition, due to the nature of the JavaScript full stack curriculum, I also feel empowered to tackle backend problems. There is a lot of time spent covering things like APIs (when I was there we made Express servers in Node.js), and in my job I've run across both C# and Java APIs and feel right at home because they look similar to the JavaScript APIs we made in class.

We also covered:
- React (the most popular front-end framework out there now)
- React Native using Expo (i.e. use React code to make apps on your phone), some people even published apps on the app store
- Web-sockets (i.e. chat-rooms)
- Authentication (i.e. users can login/logout, and do special things if they're logged in)
- Databases (our class used MongoDB and PostgreSQL) (i.e. users can store and share data that is saved in the cloud. this is data that lasts through a page refresh)
- A ton of other stuff. Call them or find the curriculum for the most up to date info - I know they keep evolving as industry trends change.

I do feel the curriculum was really relevant. This is something that my brother (a pro dev of ~10 years) helped me look at when deciding whether to do a bootcamp, and which bootcamp to do. As part of the vetting process I also met the people, who at CodeFellows are all very nice and supportive --- they do meet-and-greets for prospective students where you can meet current students, alumni, and staff to get a better idea of whether you want to attend and get recommendations -- pretty useful.

If you DO decide to go thru the program, and I would recommend it, since it has changed my life for the better, there are a few things that can really help you succeed in the class, and if at all possible leading up to the program try to situate yourself so that succeeding is as likely as possible.
- prior experience coding (however small)
- "over-achieve" on the prework (khan academy Javascript in particular), try to make challenging goals for yourself once you complete the basic requirements. Try to strive to make something you want to show people! This can make it less of a chore and more of a fun activity. Start this as soon as possible... from this you're pretty much guaranteed to do great at the start of the course.
- mentorship (even 1-2 hours every month), or someone to call and ask questions to or complain to. Find someone, if you can, who knows programming that you can talk to, even if briefly about random stuff. Ideally they can do code reviews.
- short commute. The less time your commute is the longer you'll have to sleep, eat, and code. Ideally you will only be doing those 3 things for the whole program!!

It's not all roses. Going through CodeFellows is not guaranteed to land you a job - your hard work and persistence is what you will need to rely on for that. The program is pretty hard... no single concept is really difficult if enough time is spent on it, but there are new concepts introduced almost every day, and I didn't feel like I had time to master every concept. Do this for 5 months straight and it does take some mental fortitude to get through it. One of the frustrating parts of the course was the grading system. When I went there, it didn't feel like there were enough TAs, so the grading for assignments was often delayed. So I would lose points on some assignment, and then only learned about it later, when my mind is on something else, and/or the grades are getting locked in. When I attended it was a required 90% to pass, but the actual grading was relatively flexible - you could re-submit work that you lost points on to get additional credit (there was a time cut-off for this though, I forget how long, 2 weeks?), and the late-assignment penalty simply reduced the maximum you could get on the assignment, again, I forget how much (80%?), but it wasn't too bad. Often, it felt to me like playing the grade-game was a big distraction from the main objectives of the class - we had ~4 or 5 assignments a day - some were quite trivial like a daily warmup, but others weren't so trivial, like the daily whiteboard problem which takes ~1hr. In the end, I found that (at least for me) the best route was to play the grade-game (i.e, submit assignments even if not-done, play catchup when you can) ONLY as much as needed to get the minimum grade, and not focus on getting 100% .... instead I tried to focus on learning the material. I realized that there was no special award for getting a really good grade, it's just pass fail.

The daily routine can be difficult. But you get out of it what you put in. And its worth it in the end. I spent a lot of time on this stuff... probably ~12 hours a day (including meals). Class started at 9am and with lecture, lab, other homework, the daily whiteboarding problem, catchup work, etc it is easy to go until 9pm. For me, it helped to keep my meals simple, I had a short commute, and I reduced my social life to as minimal as possible. I would also recommend using a Mac laptop instead of a Windows laptop (disclaimer: I am not a Mac evangelist, I had used Microsoft PCs my entire life) the differences are only slight, and people will tell you that you can program on either, but overall, and if you can spare the extra dough, I think the developer experience is better on a Mac, things just seem to work better and smoother. Also, if you finance a Mac with a Barklays card you can get 18 months w/o any payments, at which time you hopefully have a job - this deal might have changed tho. Also I would recommend dropping ~150-200 bucks and buying a 2nd monitor - compared to the price you're paying for the course per day, a monitor to give you some extra screen real-estate is almost a no-brainer - I didn't get one until part way thru the course and when I did my productivity went way up.

One thing that I think had some room for improvement was the job support. The people who were there and helped me did a great job, but as an institution, the process could have, I think, been a little better. It could be different now.... when I had just finished the program there had been some staff changes in the job support program. I'm also not sure what they could have done differently though - I just know it could have been better - possibly better integration with local businesses? i.e. more "practice" (but not really practice) interviews with local companies (I did get to do a mock interview with Microsoft). Maybe setting up informational interviews? tours? On-site job fairs?

overall i learned alot even tho i was brand new into the code world. i really enjoyed how interactive this course was and i really loved my teachers and TAs. I liked that we learned the basics of html but still were able to do things with what we learned.... Read More

I appreciated the diversity, safe environment, and overall openness and honesty from the instructors and TA. The class was interactive, fun, and informative. Thanks a lot! Html and css only but with provided lunch. Great environment and coffee near by... Read More at KEXP.