Hackbright Academy

I had taken 2-3 programming classes through my university to supplement my major and add to my minor. However, I found the classes difficult because of poor explanations, lack of sufficient background knowledge that was not provided and it was difficult... Read More to learn along side my competitive male colleagues who had more experience through the online games they played in their free time. I felt that I just wasn't smart enough or didn't have the brain to wrap my head around programming. However, when I enrolled in the HackBright Prep course, my teacher filled in the gaps that my professors had left out. She thoughtfully chose her words and analogies that made the way computer operate seem so simple. In fact, I started to feel that excelled at programming and that fueled my further passion to pursue a career in software engineering. I can and will play hard ball with the big boys as a strong, smart woman and so can you.

Overall:
The bootcamp experience at Hackbright isn't about just learning to code, it's also a an introspective journey in learning about yourself and how you deal with stress, fear, and uncertainty. Going through bootcamp forced me to confront my own... Read More fears and become more confident about my ability to learn, grow, and change. It was a life-changing experience for me. It was also great to learn that I wasn't alone in feeling this way.

Pros:
I loved the experience of being in a women-only class! After attending a traditional engineering school and an IT program elsewhere, it was amazing to be surrounded by only women. Hackbright was much more emotionally supportive and there was a lot less of ego blustering going on. Having an advisor who checks in with you weekly was also very helpful for me since I was initially too shy and reluctant to ask for help, even when I needed it. I signed up for bootcamp because I've attended meetups to try learn Git, Github, HTML/CSS, and Python but never made much progress on my own. I learned much more than I'd ever imagined I could from bootcamp. Although I don't recall everything from the lectures, I feel more confident about continuing to learn and review technical concepts on my own. The lectures have a good flow to them. You will be introduced to not only basic syntax for different languages and the Flask framework, you will also be introduced to data structures and algorithms. You will also be given tips on interviewing and the job hunting process. The best part is that you become part of a network of women in technology for life so that you know you're not alone. You're not guaranteed a six-figure job right out of the program but the course will teach you enough of the basics to get started on your journey to achieving that financial goal and of becoming a developer.

Cons:
The curriculum is intense and very fast-paced. If you are a more methodical, slower learner like me, I'd recommend taking beginner courses for Python, JavaScript , HTML, and introductory computer science programming concepts before tackling bootcamp. This will help you keep up. I wasn't able to complete all of the labs but that was okay as long as you learned enough to complete the homework. I felt the pace was a bit too fast for me but that may be because I absorb concepts at a slower pace and need to play around with the examples before they sink in.

(*I took the course remotely during Covid) As someone with very little coding experience prior to beginning the prep course, I can agree that the prep course gives you all the tools, resources, and confidence to continue learning more about programming!... Read More With each lecture, we learned new concepts, and by the end of 5 weeks, it was shocking to see how much I had learned. This pace is very doable and not at all overwhelming, with classes 3x per week, and small assignments outside of class. I particularly enjoyed pair programming - working on an exercise with a classmate. Teaching one another was truly the best way to learn. I am so happy I took the leap and took an official class, rather than learn on my own. I will definitely be continuing my programming journey!

I joined Hackbright's first fully remote cohort (due to COVID-19), and consider the investment worth every dollar. The first week is incredibly difficult for someone with no coding experience, and the first six weeks after that are intense, time-consuming,... Read More and essentially a drink from a firehose of information. However, I'd 100% recommend the curriculum structure, advisor and mentor support, and pace of learning. the Career Development team had a few hiccups regarding schedule and miscommunication, but the overall structure and support is unmatched. HackBright grads have a very good reputation among Bay area companies (learned this independently through contacts in tech when they learned I was attending...always a good sign), and Hackbright alumnae have successfully pivoted into tech from various industries.
In my initial stages of the job hunt, I've found that companies are very eager to interview me despite not having previous tech experience, which is encouraging. I'm confident that I'll be able to find a job in tech after receiving a Hackbright education. Can't recommend this program enough for someone who is willing to put in the time and effort to utilize all of Hackbright's amazing resources.

After enrolling in another bootcamp, I was unhappy about the experience that I was having. I decided to drop out and join Hackbright Academy. I couldn't be more happier with the choice that I made. The curriculum is amazing. Hackbright has done a phenomenal... Read More job curating their curriculum to be up to industry standards. If you're a visual learner like I am, Hackbright will be a great fit. One of the many challenges that I had at my other bootcamp was that it wasn't interactive enough. One aspect of Hackbright that was beneficial to me is that the instructors give live demos of the material as they are teaching it. Also, the lecture notes usually included diagrams of the workings of the code under the hood. It made a world of difference in how quickly I was able to learn the material. If you want a more hands on experience, choose Hackbright. Every Hackbrighter is assigned an advisor (usually one of the instructors). We have weekly meetings to ask questions or talk about any kind of hangups in general. With all of the happenings of 2020, a lot of us had an overall difficult time to balance life. Hackbright gave us a day of observance for Black Lives Matter and the instructors volunteered their time on the weekend to make up for lost instruction hours. That leads me to my biggest reason to join Hackbright, community. I've headed one of the largest women's groups in higher education in the United States. I have never in my life felt so empowered by other women. Most Hackbrighters are women who are transitioning from other careers. Many Hackbrighters are very successful. What was unique about this experience is that no matter what each Hackbrighter has or hasn't accomplished before joining Hackbright, we're all learning to code together from square 1. This creates an enriching community of diversity. It's an empowering experience.

In these especially uncertain times, Hackbright was a supportive learning environment that encouraged not only our growth as software engineers but cared for our mental health as well. Hackbright fostered an amazing community of women, and gave us the... Read More tools we will need to move forward, including addressing challenges specific to women in the industry. For being in the first remote cohort, I felt Hackbright did as well as they could, and things for the most part went smoothly.

Pros:
Hackbright's curriculum is great/well thought out
Learn full-stack programming instead of one language or having to choose frontend or backend
You come out with a full-stack web application project
You're surrounded by women which is a huge plus to... Read More me personally
The instructors are really helpful and compassionate
Amazing job support -- staff will review resumes, linkedin, teach you how to get informational interviews, have weekly white-boarding practice sessions, practice behavioral interviewing, etc.
Gaining access to the Hackbright alumni network
Networking opportunities after your project is finished with partner companies, "field trips", and guest lecturers from different companies
You get two mentors who are currently software engineers who will help with technical questions and job questions
Staff really listens to feedback

Not Cons but things to consider:
*Disclaimer: These items are from my experience as part of the first full cohort offered remotely. I think these items would have been mitigated when attending in-person. Also, since I was part of the "pilot" program any items with the class structure are likely to be ironed out in new iterations of the remote program*

Staff availability during labs/busy project hours -- since staff typically answered questions individually it slowed down getting through the line of people who needed help and I feel that with the in-person environment, this might have been mitigated since others can easily listen in on questions asked by another cohort member.

There was often some confusion on the organizational aspect of the class -- such as when things were due, some instructions were unclear, etc. I think this was because the newness of the remote program and will be ironed out going forward.

Because the class was remote -- I personally struggled with focusing during classtime. This has nothing to do with the staff or curriculum, just if you are considering taking the remote course and you are like me, just be aware and have a plan for how you're going to tackle this potential issue. As other reviewers have said -- at the end of the day it's up to you to make sure you are practicing and reaching out for help to make sure you understand the concepts. That being said, the staff and cohort members are very willing to help and offer support!

On a similar vein (again, nothing to do with staff or curriculum) if you take the remote course I highly encourage actively reaching out to cohort members to foster a community. I have trouble with that and if you don't do that, it can feel a bit lonely since you're not in a classroom setting with the ability to just look over at the person next to you and chat or ask how they feel and stuff. Since this is a bootcamp it can feel overwhelming so it's important to be in contact with your cohort members.

At the end of the day, I would (and do) 100% recommend my friends and any woman interested in taking a coding bootcamp to attend hackbright.
The values, the staff, the curriculum, and the job support are all amazing.

Overall, I loved my experience with remote Hackbright Prep and am now a remote Hackbright Part-Time SWE Bootcamp student. I work full-time, so I needed to proactively designate time to study for class and the technical interview, but it was all worth... Read More it. My fellow students came from all walks of life and made the class interactive and close-knit.

A few areas that might add to the Hackbright Prep experience include: Q&A with a current part-time bootcamp student (to understand the time commitment, experience, etc.), a better foundational intro to concepts that a bootcamp student would learn (such as machine learning, data structures, etc.), the benefits of the bootcamp (such as mentorship, etc.), etc. I would encourage either 1 evening or at least 2 hours to go over the bootcamp experience with Prep students so they have an idea of whether the bootcamp would be a feasible next step for them.

Pros:
+ the instructors are welcoming, encouraging, and available for questions and support
+ the fellow students are also supportive (this made our 100%-remote feel a little more close)
+ the pace is comfortable (fast enough to keep the class moving forward and slow enough to go over more-complicated concepts)
+ the content taught is enough to pass the bootcamp technical interview
+ the resources are fantastic (recorded lectures, lab exercises, etc.)

Cons:
- some of the labs were a bit confusing to navigate
- it was difficult to tell how comfortable you needed to be with certain concepts (functions, loops, etc.) to pass the bootcamp technical interview

I thought the prep program at Hackbright was good. You will learn the concepts needed to get into their bootcamp, if that’s what you choose to do. The only downside I would say is the instructors assistant wasn’t as helpful. It was a little unorganized... Read More at times. Overall, it’s a good program and encouraging to know how other women of all backgrounds are interested in Tech.

This is a review of the 5 week online prep course.
pros
-pair programming experience and networking with other women in tech
-learned fundamentals of python
cons
-a bit disorganized
Ultimately I decided to join another bootcamp (self-paced) for scheduling... Read More reasons.