Covalence

Covalence Cataylst program is one of the best investments I've made in my education and career. That may be a bold statement, but I'll explain why in just a moment. As someone who spent over 6 years in the mechanical engineering industry followed by a... Read More season in entrepreneurship, Covalence made the most sense for me after a post-pandemic career change. Here are my reasons why I recommend Covalence to any aspiring developer or anyone looking to make a career transition into software development. 1. Cost, Time, and Skills: You may already know the standard model of education is broken. Covalence offers a cutting-edge curriculum that provides real practical skills you can use to build real things...not theory or useless info you'll never use. When it comes to cost and time, the Catalyst program is extremely reasonable compared to a University program which often has an inflated curriculum (and can cost 4+ years and tens of thousands of dollars). If you work hard and apply what you learn from Catalyst, you can definitely land an opportunity making as much or even more than college graduate(in less time too). For someone who is committed and can dedicate time to learn, Catalyst can help you get up an running in less than 1 year. 2. Curriculum: The Catalyst program was very organized and each section built on the previous. The program did a great job of covering all areas of full stack development and a variety of modern in demand technologies. As someone with very little programming experience, the program was manageable and there was always support when needed. All the skills learned throughout the program come together nicely in a final project which can be used in other projects. 3. Instructors and Community: This was the most impressive part of the Catalyst program that made the biggest impact on my experience and career growth. Not only was the learning fun, I actually looked forward to webinars each day. Andrew and Luke both went above and beyond to clarify any challenging concepts. The instructors were very patient and always made time to help me understand the material. I also enjoyed making friends and connecting with other developers on a similar journey. 4. Job Prep: After graduation, the instructors did a great job making time for leetcode prep as well as portfolio project development support. The job search process was challenging, but having continued support from the instructors and community was super helpful! Conclusion: In summary, I love what Covalence is offering by providing students with real practical and applicable future proof job skills. If you are looking for a coding bootcamp to take your skills and career to the next level, the Catalyst program will prepare you for the development world. You will not be disappointed.

I found Covalence because I was specifically interested in a JavaScript full stack boot camp. I also wanted a program that was 100% online. I was looking for a solid program with content that built upon itself...I also knew I needed support from developers... Read More and a community. The program itself is not easy. The information is not spoon-fed to you; you will have to put in the hard work to make it happen. Learning how to code...you will forever be in learning mode! Covalence sets you up for success then after that...it is up to you! :)

I heard about Covalence through a colleague when I was trying to make a career change. I did not know too much about software development but it sounded interesting so I decided to give it a shot. Covalence provided a great jump start to my new career.... Read More I enjoyed Covalence so much that I am now enrolled in a Computer Science graduate school program. My instructor was accommodating with my work schedule and you could tell he wanted you to do well if you put in the work. Small class size was beneficial due to I was able to get a lot of one on one time with the instructor. But I do think if the class size was bigger we could have gotten a better feel for working as a team on projects (but really majority of the course is you learning concepts so this is not that big of a deal).

Joining Covalence to learn how to code is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I was in retail/food service for 10+ years before deciding to learn how to code, and Covalence was exactly what I needed. The way they have their courses set up build... Read More perfectly to teach you what you need to know. The people they have teaching and meeting up with you are super helpful and knowledgeable. I would absolutely recommend Covalence to anyone interested in coding!

Covalence has been an invaluable and well-rounded learning experience for me. I consider myself tech-savvy, but not a gadget geek by any means, and Covalence had a great mix of easy-to-follow video lectures and labs, while also challenging me to find... Read More my own answers as I progressed through the curriculum. It became evident that this was their intention: you can’t always have the answers provided to you, and you as the developer need to go out and find them sometimes. I felt like I wasn’t simply being taught to be a developer, I was learning on my own how to be a developer.

I completed the Molecular course in about 7 months, and I finished my final project after that. By the time I was done, I felt ready to walk into a job interview and tell an employer what I could do. That doesn’t mean I can code anything––and from what I know now, almost no developer could––but Covalence helped me acquire the skills necessary to be confident approaching a coding job, and I’m mentally prepared for the process I need to undertake to succeed and the issues I might face along the way. Because of my location I had to choose an online program, but I’m thankful I did in the end; since it was self-paced, I was able to learn a lot more and dig deeper on concepts I didn’t understand well. Two devs I know, who completed in-person 3-month bootcamps, told me I’d probably be a better developer than them because of this difference.

I’m incredibly thankful to the team at Covalence. They are truly supportive of their students, and they are quick to respond to your questions or concerns. When an unexpected life event came up for me, they worked with me to ensure I could take the personal time I needed before coming back to the curriculum and ultimately being able to complete the program.

I loved the way the curriculum is set up. I learned via video lectures at my own pace and I had a webinar I could join every day (Molecular program). Knowing I had a live instructor to work with daily kept me progressing quickly––and I was often lucky to be in webinars by myself so I had personal attention. Plus, I had 1-on-1 mentoring sessions when I needed them for more in-depth stuff. Initially I was afraid of not having that in-person attention, but I realized that I had better attention doing it online through the Molecular route (not to mention time and energy saved when I could literally roll out of bed and start coding). Cost was one of the main reasons I chose Covalence, and frankly I’m impressed with what I received for such an affordable price.

What could they have done better? It's hard to say because all it took was asking. The team/instructors did what they could to make it happen whether it was a mentor session at a weird time or a new video about React Hooks.

All in all you’re learning with a fun and laidback group of people which goes a long way toward keeping your motivation up! My main instructor, Luke, is an awesome, energetic dude and he was instrumental in helping me learn: he was there every day in webinars asking us what we were struggling with, doing a deep dive into a topic or teaching a new trick he learned. The community overall has a wealth of knowledge and experience, so if you’re trying to find some information/answers without luck, the Covalence community will have some solutions for you. Because of them, I always had help when I needed it. On top of that, there are constant discussions about new tools, languages, updates, etc. that your fellow devs are working with/trying out, and bringing your own questions or curiosities to the group is always encouraged. As an alumnus, I know that continuing to be a member of the Covalence community will help me keep up with new stuff happening in the dev world.

When it comes to my new career, Covalence’s career webinars and services have been helpful to get my resume, LinkedIn, and portfolio going. That’s also something my fellow alumni and the instructors are already very helpful with: telling us their personal experiences in interviews, job postings they find, any helpful tips they have. It’s great having some help in this realm since getting your first job can be daunting.

Ultimately, Covalence has been a way to learn full stack development, and (in my opinion) one of the most supported ways I could’ve done it. Being part of a community where everyone congratulates me on my victories, however big or small, and continues to cheer me on has gone a long way toward my learning and my success as I become a web developer.

Absolutely loved my experience at Covalence. I took the self-paced online Molecular program which at the time of this review is extremely affordable. This program provides 1 on 1 time with an instructor, daily webinars for additional help, and personalized... Read More video reviews for each lab that you submit.

The structure of this program was perfect for me as I had to work and take classes. I already had two years of Computer Science education in college, so I was able to breeze through the first quarter of the program. My CS education taught me the fundamentals, but Covalence took my experience to the next level with using JavaScript frameworks.

The cost of college is insanely high so I'm very grateful that programs like this exist at an affordable cost. Three weeks after graduation I received a job offer as a Junior Software Developer!

I had an awesome time learning a fullstack from Covalence. The teachers at Covalence were amazing and quick to respond if I had any questions. I feel like the structure of the course was perfect because they gave you a lot to build a great foundation... Read More but keep enough pieces a bit open ended which helped me feel like I was flexing my newly gained Developer Muscles haha. Videos and course work was thorough and they were/are always updating the course to make sure it was on the freshest information. Would definitely recommend!

Covalence taught everything from the basics (html, css, js, ts) to frameworks, building server code, authorization, third party API's, databases, and more. The best thing about Covalence is definitely the support you get from the top notch instructors... Read More and alumni. Even after graduation you can ask questions in their discord chat and expect quick replies. They partner with a great career service company to get your resume and cover letter looking great for job hunting. I did the full-time bootcamp and in 3 months learned more than I ever could've expected. I have recommended this program to so many peers and will continue to do so!

I'm currently a student, and at about 1/3 of the way through the curriculum, I'm already applying stuff I've learned to the 'real world', even automating some of the work at my office job. The instructors are knowledgeable and are quick to respond to... Read More code reviews, even though I'm in the self-paced bootcamp.

The lectures themselves are very digestable and the info is presented in a very clear format. The labs are pretty fun exercises and they try to keep you engaged. Overall, I'm genuinely enjoying my experience programming through Covalence, and as this review stands, I haven't missed a single day in committing code for this whole month yet.

I can't speak for the job assistance yet because I still have a couple months to go until completion but they still offer advice and webinars year-round for career assistance, so I'd imagine the direct career assistance as you come near the end of the program would be just as on-par as the rest of the course.

Excellent value, excellent product.

I can honestly say that I entered Covalence with very little to no experience in Software Development. I had learned some HTML when I was a teenager, but not much more than your average kid with a myspace page. They give you some pre-course work to do... Read More before starting, but I committed to knocking it out very quickly in just a couple days. The first week started with the basics, HTML,CSS on Monday, CSS Frameworks on Tuesday, Wednesday we got to JavaScript and ran through JavaScript drills fast. I remember feeling very stressed at the speed during the first week. I stuck it out and after a difficult lab on the weekend I felt like I was getting the hang of it.

You will constantly learn new things which can feel overwhelming, but it works because you get to implement the stuff you have already learned throughout the way. The curriculum was certainly well thought out, and they continue to add and improve it. A typical day starts with a lecture on what you will be covering that day, then you usually have some exercises/drills to work on that allow you to get some practice, and then a lab of some sort to continue further with practice. Some days you may take the work home with you, but somedays you may finish before class ends. The instructor in class is available to help you when you get stuck, and you have access to the Covalence community with other students, alumni, and instructors that are always willing to help. Our class learned HTML, CSS, CSS Frameworks, JavaScript, JQuery, React, React-Native, Node, Express, MySQL, SCRUM/AGILE, and GIT(with some team branching techniques).

The class concluded after we completed a Final Group Project that is designed to duplicate what it would be like in a developer environment working with SCRUM and git branching. I think my entire group was proud and impressed about what we were able to do in our final project. I learned throughout the group project how to really research and teach myself to do something outside of the curriculum. In my situation this was how to schedule events on the server that would trigger at certain times of the day in Node. During the project I had certain things I wasn't very confident I could do, but by the end of it I realized I had learned more than I gave myself credit for.

After Covalence:

Within about two weeks of the course I was able to secure employment. Covalence volunteered to publish my story and I encourage anyone interested in Covalence to read it at https://covalence.io/blog/i-spoke-my-employers-language-but-i-couldnt-write-it/

Covalence plans to release more curriculum such as a C# .NET course and I look forward to adding that to my tech stack.

Advice for Prospective Students:

Try to learn some basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript before going in. The pre-course work is enough, but take your time and retain it. You should expect it to be hard and a lot of work. You will find out that there is not only one way to do things, so don't stress about the instructions on assignments that much. If your like me you probably spent most of your life asking a teacher for assistance when you got stuck, but try and figure it out first. You WILL google for answers to problems or ways to accomplish different things, and that is completely okay and encouraged. If you get your work done before you go home then great, but what else can you work on when you get home? Adding to my assignments at home and going above and beyond the instructions was how I learned additional things and it was very noticeable by the time I got to the final project. I worked every night and every weekend and the course seemed to get easier, but I was just getting better. Remember that learning isn't done when the class ends at 5 no more than it is done when the course is finished.