First Step Coding - CLOSED

FirstStep coding was an amazing class and truly teaches you the fundamentals of JavaScript. They have a large amount of training materials and a large amount of support. You will get everything you put into this class and more. Here are just some of the... Read More things you will learn in the intro to JavaScript course. You will learn about syntax, variables, objects, arrays, booelns, if/else statements, for loops, and a large amount of fundamental functions that will be the building block of your programming knowledge. Every online class is recorded and the teacher support is awesome. We were always encouraged to provide questions and ask for help outside of class hours. I would highly recommend this intro school to any one who is interested in learning JavaScript. The class even touch’s on how JavaScript interacts with webpages in the real world. Sign up if you are serious about pursuing programming!

I was not sure what to expect when I first signed up for this course. I had been thinking about attending a bootcamp to learn to code and to have a career change but was not sure if it would be a good fit for me. First Step Coding was an excellent way... Read More to test out the waters while keeping the current job. They have small classes (we had 5 people in mine) which was also very nice and I felt comfortable asking questions to the instructor during and in between the classroom sessions via Slack.

After the 4 week Intro course, I found coding to be quite fun and enjoyable and now I've signed up for a bootcamp with one of their bootcamp partners (I received a discount off the tuition for being a FSC alumni, amount varies depending on the bootcamp and also seems to be changing constantly so probably should check the FSC website for updated info).

I would highly recommend the course to anybody who is interested in learning to code - I think it gives you a good foundation to work with and also gives you a chance to see if you like coding at all!

For years I attempted to learn core coding concepts but failed to combine these concepts into the tangible skills necessary to actually work on front-end coding projects. First Step Coding's Bootcamp Prep course finally did the trick for me. I came to... Read More the course with no front-end coding experience; by the time I completed the course I had the tools and confidence to be a knowledgeable partner to the front-end engineers at work and even tackle some projects all on my own. The course's pacing and structure was exactly what I was looking for, combining the best elements of a modern, remote classroom (recorded content, web-based lessons) with the collaborative benefits of having live classmates and a knowledgeable instructor to work through problems in real time. Ultimately I believe what made the difference for me was First Step Coding's pragmatic approach to the curriculum. The focus wasn't just on an individual technology (HTML, JavaScript, or CSS). Instead, the curriculum brought all of those technologies together and highlighted essential supporting skills such as debugging, learning how to learn new technologies, good code structure/hygiene, reading technical documentation, and more. I walked away from the course feeling like I understood how to think like an engineer and feeling like I finally *got* how web products are actually built. With the foundation provided by this course I was able to refresh and add some really cool functionality to my company's help site all on my own when I couldn't get the engineering team to divert resources to the task. I can't recommend this course enough to both aspiring front-end engineers as well as folks like me who just want to acquire enough raw front-end skills to be dangerous. In either case, this course is the best first step I've encountered for taking control of your own journey towards technical self-sufficiency.

First step coding was a great thing for me, they have created a great environment for entry level coders yet at the same time give you the tools that give you the capability to expand as far as you like.I felt comfortable asking the same question 3 times... Read More from 3 different angles If i really had to. My hats off to Andy and everyone for making this program a program with a great student to teacher ratio and also having the one-on-ones which are really helpful. Highly recommend this to anyone interested into learning coding it has been great learning experience. Want to thank Calli for helping me throughout the course and special thanks to my professor Jake an awesome individual with much dedication to make sure you are learning and taking what you need to take from the class. Also want to thank Arthur who was a great ton of help in the moments you need it the most.

This class had a great student to teacher ratio with an almost unlimited opportunity to reach out to the instructor for help outside of class. The course work in the classroom and done at home was challenging but not overwhelming. The class delivered... Read More on what is promised and would be very valuable to someone looking to make a career change. If anything I wish the class was a couple of classes longer.

The course, teachers, curriculum and entire atmosphere of this course was amazing. I could not recommend this course enough, and I really feel like the instructors and masterminds behind this course care about your future path to becoming a programmer/developer.... Read More

I came into this course with almost zero prior experience with Javascript or coding in general. The curriculum at FSC provided all the fundamentals of Javascript that I needed before applying to Bootcamps as well as strategies for approaching problem-solving... Read More for interviews and coding challenges. The instructors at FSC were amazing and willing to go above and beyond to provide help understanding the course material and helped me to prepare for and to get into Hack Reactor!!! I would definitely recommend the course to anyone who is thinking about applying to Bootcamps.

This was a fantastic class. I’m a high school teacher with zero coding experience. I spent a few weeks trying to learn to code on my own through various free online resources and then I found out about First Step Coding. I was initially skeptical about... Read More paying for the class, thinking I could learn Javascript on my own for free, but I am so glad I took this course! The instructors are great teachers who are very invested in supporting students (they even offer office hours via video chat for one-on-one support outside of class). I learned a lot really quickly.

TL;DR Totally worth the money if you want to apply to a top bootcamp; it was a much more effective way to prepare than using free online resources.

When I was trying to learn to code on my own, I wasn’t sure what to prioritize and wasted a lot of time bouncing between different resources. First Step Coding has a great beginner-friendly curriculum that helped me build a much stronger foundation in key concepts. The class size is small (my class had 6 students), so you get a ton of one-on-one support during class, and the instructors are available for office hours outside of class. Both instructors--Kurt and Andy--have a great teaching style. As opposed to a lot of online resources where I felt like I was just copying lines of code without understanding why, Kurt and Andy asked a lot of questions about my code to make sure I understood the concepts. When something wasn’t working, they always asked me questions to prompt me to identify bugs on my own and learn to fix them myself. We also did a lot of pair programming during the class. I found that, with all of these opportunities to talk out my thinking as I was coding, I made progress so much more quickly than I ever would have on my own, and now I feel much more prepared for bootcamp interviews.

The class also connects you with tons of high quality online resources to continue learning on your own. Once my First Step Coding course ended, I started working through interview practice problems for Hack Reactor and also learning Ruby (another programming language). I found that I was able to able to progress through the material ten times faster after getting a strong foundation from First Step Coding.

I also highly recommended signing up for the longer class that includes the “bootcamp prep.” This part of the class involves a project where you create your own web application. You also get to participate in a mock interview, which I found incredibly helpful in terms of feeling prepared to apply to bootcamps and knowing what to expect.

Overall, I learned a whole lot in this course and would highly recommend it to anyone who is "code-curious" (as they say) and looking for a good jumping off point. I really can't believe how much I learned throughout the prep course. Prior to this class,... Read More I had tried teaching myself some JavaScript and Python, but never got too far on my own. Then I signed up for this class and in less than three months I have built a web application from the ground up and feel fully prepared to continue learning to code on my own or to apply for a bootcamp.

You will find people with a wide range of backgrounds coming into this class. I personally had substantial experience working with data in excel (as well as some SQL experience) so many of the concepts came easier to me than they did to most of my classmates. This did not turn out to be a problem because the teachers were willing to provide me with more challenging exercises as well as guidance on advanced topics to learn so that I didn't get bored. The more time and effort you put in to this course, the more you will get out of it and the teachers are willing to help you learn as much as you can (even if the concepts extend beyond the core curriculum). It was the quality of the teachers that impressed me most about this course.

For those curious about the online course vs. the in-person, I say go for the online and save your $500. I was signed up for an in person class because I was worried about the online classroom dynamics, but then switched at the last minute and am so happy I did. It allowed me to skip the commute (I just worked from a conference room in my office) and it really did feel like being in a real classroom. I can't imagine that I would have learned any better being in a real classroom.

Final thing: I am extremely happy I took the prep course vs. the intro to coding class. It was the process of building your own web app that makes the big picture come together. Sure, someone who did the intro course can probably build a web app as well, but I'm not sure how easy it would have been for me to connect all the dots without the extra instruction. I found the exposure to APIs was especially helpful.

I wrote my first line of code ever about 3 months ago on the first day of class; last week, I got accepted into Hack Reactor, one of the top coding bootcamps in San Francisco. That says a lot about First Step's bootcamp prep program, if I can go from... Read More zero to not just code literate, but ready for an intensive bootcamp experience in just 8 weeks.

My classmates included people trying to quit their jobs and transition into a tech job (me--high school teacher for 4 years) as well as people who just wanted to learn a bit of coding to help them communicate with their team as work. Andy and his team at First Step have created an educational experience perfectly catered to those who want to take their first step (sorry) into the world of coding but are not confident enough to learn on their own, or perhaps just need the structure that a small classroom provides. There are between 5 and 10 students per class and all coding is done in pairs, with the teacher or TA circulating the room to help. Classes run for 3 hours and generally move pretty quickly but there is plenty of opportunity to pause and ask questions. My instructor, Jake, was funny, personable, and very knowledgeable. He helped me outside of class and even after class was over, while I was prepping for the Hack Reactor interview. I suggest taking notes during lectures, experimenting with the code while in class, not being afraid to ask questions, doing all the homework, and going to office hours if you want to get the most out of the experience.

Tl;dr: great experience, knowledgeable staff, helped me get into a bootcamp with zero coding experience, well worth the pricetag.