Epicodus

In Portland alone, there’s no shortage of web development course to choose from. Epicodus really stands out due to the learning environment, post-graduation support, and value.

The course is structured around pair programming with fellow students. You... Read More learn a lot about problem solving, patience, and how to relate to all different types of people when you code full-time all day with a partner. In addition to help from in-class instructors, there are weekly talks from folks in the web development community. I learned an incredible amount about programming in three months and built up a substantial portfolio of sample work, but the most important thing I learned is how to learn how to program. Languages and frameworks are always going to change, and Epicodus helped me develop the skills to keep learning.

Most students have the opportunity to do a month-long internship when the course is over. I was lucky enough to get a job at the company I interned for, but the Epicodus staff works very hard to find and create opportunities for their students as junior web developers at local companies. I had relatively little experience with programming before starting Epicodus, and one of my biggest worries was not finding a job after the class was over, but there’s a ton of demand in Portland for folks with the skills and experience my fellow students and I gained.

The time and money investment was relatively low compared to other schools--and especially compared to college courses--and it definitely paid off. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

I entered Epicodus as a complete beginner. I had studied and prepared for class, but other than that, I zero background in anything related to computer science. Epicodus is an intense 40hr/wk Javascript/Ruby on Rails class that involves pair programming... Read More every day, along with extensive practice with test driven development. The best part about Epicodus is the hands-on learning every single day. No lectures, just coding all day long, which is great preparation for a programming job. I know I learn best while actually making and creating things, and this was no different. Our teachers were supportive and helpful, but even more than that, they had a great sense of when to help us, when to give us some thinking points to prod us along, and when to let us figure it out for ourselves. Epicodus has a wonderful staff who are dedicated to doing all they can to help junior devs get their start in the tech industry. I had an excellent internship experience, which Epicodus organized. Quitting my job and attending Epicodus is one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Epicodus has a curriculum that is targeted to help all students with diverse levels of web development knowledge. Plus all the instructors genuinely believe all their students can become great web developers. It is a very positive place to learn web development... Read More at a healthy pace without putting in insane hours. I definitely benefited from Epicodus.

Epicodus was an excellent way to start my career as a programmer. I have my degree in Marketing and worked in an office for a few years before deciding I wanted to move on and try something else. While going back to school, a friend of mine told me about... Read More her experience at a web development bootcamp. After a bit of research online, and a lot of support from my husband, I decided to apply to Epicodus (it had a more diverse curriculum and for a much better price than the other programs I found online). The choice between spending $50K and 3 years earning a second degree or attending a 4 month long bootcamp for a fraction of the price with skills I could use right away, was easy.

Prior to the program I had basic HTML and CSS skills and by the end I had a well rounded full stack familiarity. The program is challenging - 8 hours every day paired with a partner trying to figure out programming problems can be wearing - but the effort is definitely worth it. We had access to Michael and two instructors when we had questions. They do a great job of giving you the space and encouragement to solve things on your own, but guide you in the right direction when you really need help.

Michael and the instructors spent countless hours setting up internship opportunities for each Epicodus student. I got a three month long summer internship with a great company in downtown Portland when the program was complete. I am now working alongside my husband, a senior developer, on our own web development company as well as working on our first consumer web product. I would highly recommend Epicodus to anyone considering a career in programming.

Epicodus is a fantastic bootcamp. The cost is very competitive, and the quality of instruction is absolutely first rate. I joined the program in the spring of 2014, and got my first paying programming job 2 months after I graduated. It wasn't an easy... Read More walk in the park though. When I finished the program I spent most of my days developing a side project and most of my nights sending out applications until I finally landed that job. But Epicodus was right there by my side every step of the way even after graduation. As long as you're willing to put in the work the staff at Epicodus is willing to support you as best they can. They're just as invested in your success as you are.

For me, Epicodus re-jumpstarted my career in programming! Almost all students were beginners, but I myself was looking for something to re-ignite my learning experience from the ground up.

I had previously programmed in PHP but wanted to diversify into... Read More other languages and gain a better foot-hold in Object Oriented programming. I was studying up on "Boot Camp" styled coding schools once I heard about them in a Coursera forum. I was at the time diving into Scala but soon came to the conclusion that there wasn't much hiring going on in Scala and especially not for junior programmers. Albeit I am still interested in Scala, I am also interested in making money right now.

I wanted to clean up my coding style and re-learn some of the building blocks of programming that I know I wouldn't go back and re-visit easily. I finally found Micheal's Epicodus and was intrigued. The price was much lower yet the curriculum was strong and intensive just like I was looking for. A hard core 8 hour day (plus an hour lunch) of diving into code for 4 months. The idea is pair programming so that you are more of a work setting with the goal of figuring out the great puzzles of coding.

As for beginners, almost all of my class mates were beginners and after the second month they were almost all pretty much on par as me with working coding knowledge. I myself am happy I took the course as I am now much more confident in Ruby, Rails and object oriented programming. I am also grateful for the job placement programs offered and taken advantage of. The instructors were great! All of them. Micheal, Dustin and Mac were all helpful and very caring toward the student needs. Maureen was also awesome in sticking with the students until job placement was made.

I also made a lot of great connections that are irreplaceable. I am glad I made the choice to come to Portland and study at Epicodus.

I had a great experience at Epicodus in Portland. The instructors were top-notch and it cost less than most boot camps I’ve heard about. Folks pair pretty much every day, which I thought I’d find annoying, but I came to really appreciate the benefits... Read More of pairing—especially in interviews!

Within three months of graduating, I was a full time junior developer making 50% more than I made before I attended bootcamp. My educational background was in the liberal arts before I went to dev bootcamp, so I was starting pretty fresh with just one programming class in C# to call my name! I never coded outside of class (though I am sure I would have come out even stronger if I had--many did that), which some people worry about, I guess. I would say there can be an unstated peer pressure to do it, BUT the staff/instructors are REALLY good at trying to persuade folks not to learn and do it all outside the classroom. They wanted us to learn together. I took them at their word and rested my brain at night (after watching any brief homework videos)! I still dreamt in code! I was a slow mover, and I rarely drove when we paired, but I felt I learned more on days when I didn’t finish everything. I was perfectly fine with not being one of the fast ones who knew ALL THE THINGS!

Epicodus wasn't very selective when I joined (thank goodness!), but even so, only two people that I paired with were clearly weaker programmers, and we worked with new people just about every day for three months before our internships.

I was hired by a company that came to our job fair. So, my current success is really all about Epicodus, and I am so glad I did it. Changed my life! 10/10, would attend again!

Attending Epicodus is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Everything about the class perfectly prepares you for the working world. The learning environment emulates the workplace so well that transitioning to a job afterwards was effortless. The... Read More curriculum heavily focuses on programming concepts and learning how to learn that even if you are studying in Ruby on Rails (as I did) you can easily pick up another language to excel at whatever job comes your way post-Epicodus. Last, and certainly not least, are the people. Every member of the Epicodus team helps to create the perfect environment, built to challenge you on a personal level, as well as foster incredible connections with your classmates and the programming community as a whole. All of which will last long after the Epicodus class has ended. Anyone who is remotely interested in programming would greatly benefit from attending Epicodus.

As a seasoned product manager and marketing business owner, I always wondered what it would be like to program every day and improve my skills in web development. I took the opportunity and time to invest in myself during Summer 14, and chose to come... Read More to Portland and Epicodus after comparing them to SF Bay Area alternatives.

Epicodus was less established than some well-known programs in the Bay Area, but offered both a longer 4 month and more “sane” program, with a 9-5 type schedule and an amazingly affordable price. After speaking with MIchael in a phone screen and reviewing their program online, it seemed like the best choice for me.

The experience was amazing, in that I paired with a variety of fun and diverse people from all kinds of backgrounds. I had some programming experience, but learned much more about Ruby, RAILS, TDD, and Javascript. Because of the flexibility and gradual buildup of the curriculum, people could move at their own pace and choose to pair with different or the same people who were at the same place in the curriculum, while being helped by a talented teaching staff.

The “discovery” learning approach that Epicodus uses puts the emphasis on learning by trial and error, driven by your own motivation rather than lots of time listening to someone talk at you about programming. This is very similar to working in the real world, you have to just jump in and do it, and build your problem solving and debugging skills. I think that this approach allows them to successfully mix students with very different backgrounds and skill levels.

For students who prefer a lecture type format, with everyone at the same experience level or lots of continuous instructor interaction I would not recommend Epicodus. It will also not be a good choice for those who like lots of structure and metrics in their learning as with the academic computer classes.

Things I would have liked more of in the curriculum: algorithms and data structures, design patterns and refactoring, and optimizing code for performance and maintainability. But that is too much to ask from a 4 month curriculum, better for a boot camp level II.

I was impressed by how fast many students new to programming were able to pick it up and produce working code, and learn the skills of collaboration, pair programming, daily standups, interviewing, and eventually got job placement.

The office is convenient to the excellent public transportation and bike-friendly streets here, and there are some great food carts all around the office for lunch. Each student shared a stand-up desk (which I really miss), and the office is close to the riverfront for lunchtime walking.

It also turned out that we really like Portland. We moved our consulting company here, and I am now working in a senior role at a small company, and we have hired a total of 4 Epicodus graduates who are actively developing both front-end and back-end code for our RAILS based e-commerce platform.

The many tech resources in Portland include frequent meetups, lots of tech startups, and a growing number of large tech companies who are opening offices here. Leading tech companies like Tilde (Ember JS), New Relic, Intel, Salesforce, and Nike all have offices here. At Epicodus we had weekly lunch presentations from several of these companies, and job “fairs” to help graduates make the employment connection as interns and later as junior programmers.

The thing about programming is that getting good at it requires daily practice and time, and I think that the 4 month program gives you more time to develop skills and apply the concepts to small projects. Many of the other programs are much shorter, and only focus on one language like Javascript.

None of the bootcamps will make you an experienced developer, that is up to you to build skills every day. I do believe that bootcamps are more effective than many of the academic programming courses that I have taken in building real-world programming skills, especially in learning some of the newer technologies and approaches like pair programming, agile development, javascript frameworks and TDD.

I would highly recommend Epicodus.