Lighthouse Labs

I applied at Lighthouse not fully knowing much at all about programming. The first week was rough; tons of new information to take in, mostly concepts and a huge workload. Every week only got harder. There was less work to do; but much harder assignments... Read More as time went on. Week after week was non-stop working; I dreamed about code and then woke up to do even more code... I'd say that if you are to take this course, DEDICATE yourself to it because your whole life for the next 8/9 weeks will be Lighthouse Labs. Also, please make sure you do like coding before starting this bootcamp. Quite a few people left due to realizing that this type of work is not for them.

I am a big fan of the way they did the curriculum (mostly). The cohort I was in focused on JavaScript for 6 weeks, then Ruby on Rails and a few other odds and ends for 2 weeks. The last week included 'advanced' lectures which taught interesting subjects not really correlating to any specific language, but more so useful things to know and real world knowledge. Lighthouse Labs has a beautifully designed website (Compass) which hosts their course work. On Compass, you can only view the current week's work, and anything prior; I guess to avoid people from going incredibly ahead which is nearly impossible if you have not a ton of experience. There are 4 technical interviews laid out on Week 2, 3, 5 and 8. Each one tests your knowledge base and allows the instructors and mentors to gauge your progression through the course. Along with that, there is also a midterm test given at the end of Week 3 (that date may have changed now), which tests your ability to adapt and think. The midterm is well done; where you are allotted three hours to complete a series of coding challenges which can be run through a testing module and linter. It is a 100% pass or fail. Any students who fail are given a few options; to drop out of the program, continue ahead if the staff deem acceptable, or to roll back into the new upcoming cohort. The last option is taken by many; you are not charged for your extra time spent at Lighthouse, and are absolutely not shamed in any way. I believe that in every cohort there are a few students who need that extra time to catch up; especially since programming may be a whole new ballpark to them.

The career services, in my opinion, was very good. Lighthouse Labs boasts a 95% employment rate which is immensely impressive! However; they have been known to sometimes push people into taking their first job offers. I understand that we should not be picky with our first jobs, but I can also see that the pushing is a way to keep up their employment rate. We were given a resumé workshop in Week 5, an Employer Speed Dating event in Week 6, and many of us found ourselves employed before Week 8 (the final week). Our cohort was 14 people; and 5 or 6 of us were given job offers before graduation; some even multiple job offers. Career services does send out your resume to employers for you; and also encourages you to be actively searching. They are also available to help you post-graduation, or post-job if you decide to come back a few months down to road for some career help. The only downside for me is that you are given a terrible internship wage that is pre-defined by Lighthouse Labs: $12.50/hr for 3 months (they say $500/week, which sounds mildly better); however you are offered pretty good salary if you make it through those initial three months. I understand the internship wage; as when you leave Lighthouse, you have your foot in the door to becoming a developer, but definitely not enough skills to make good contributions as a developer until a company takes you under their wing for a few months and shows you the ropes; at that point after you internship do you truly become a junior dev.

Overall, my experience was extremely positive. The staff were all incredibly friendly; the students in my cohort were fantastic. I would probably never want to do 80 hour work weeks for 8 weeks straight again; but hey, definitely a life changing experience. I am employed, and a happy dev now!

Attending Lighthouse Labs' bootcamp was a serious kick in the butt. It's an unconventional approach to teaching, but very rewarding.
It's no stroll in the park, hence why they call it a bootcamp. However, if you're committed to learning and are serious... Read More about taking your education in your own hands, and make the effort, the instructors will go above and beyond to help you.

I wasn't taking the course for job support but more as a side course to further my skills for my current job. I learned quite a bit but what made the course interesting was the passion that exuded from all of the students as well as the lecturers. You... Read More can tell that coding is something they definitely do as a hobby apart from Lighthouse so when you ask them questions out of the curriculum, the are able to answer most of the time! What's also great is that they share offices with Launch Academy so you can see what startups are working on and mingle with them to learn more about the technology!

The main selling feature of this bootcamp is the career services and the massive alumni community you become apart of when you graduate. Lots of industry connections who frequently hire right out of the bootcamp. Several exclusive Slack channels immediately... Read More give you hundreds of connections who you can troubleshoot with and help you with finding work. The value of this program really pays off after graduation.

The bootcamp itself is super intense, but this is what you want. Learning code is tough, and you have to put in the hours. But theres lots of mentors on site to give you one on one help and the instructors are the bomb. An in house made learning management website gives you a great reference tool. In addition to teaching you how to code, they also teach you the tools of the trade so you can go on to make your own stuff as well as work for others.

Facility is decent, probably the weakest part of the program. Long staircase makes the toughest part of the bike ride in carrying your ride up to the top floor. Ventilation leaves something to be desired and if the classroom is full then it makes for a very busy learning environment (bring headphones).

I came with no prior coding background whatsoever and managed to find a full time job after graduation.

Pros:
- Accelerated learning: It would've taken me twice as long to learn this stuff on my own
- Awesome TAs: Talking with TAs is where you learn the... Read More most
- Excellent job support: They do everything they can to help you land that first gig
- Friendly and helpful staff
- The network opportunities

Cons:
- Curriculum's over emphasis on passing tests is at the detriment of learning
- Too many team projects: you end up learning and doing less overall as you never get to build a project from beginning to end by yourself.
- Upon graduation, there will still be a lot to learn. You end up feeling like you know a bit of everything, but not much to a great depth.

Overall, I feel like the first 4 weeks were perfectly paced, and you continued learning. After that, the focus on passing tests and team projects made it so that you were more concerned with surviving and stitching together working code, then actually learning and building a strong base of fundamental knowledge. That being said, I still recommend Lighthouse Labs.

Attending the lighthouse labs boot camp was an extremely stressful experience of consistently being pushed out of your "comfort zone" to learn the basics of teaching yourself how to learn.

I hit "brick walls" multiple times over the course of two months,... Read More and every time there was a mentor or T.A. available to help me through the problems.

While I have not found a job after graduation yet I feel very confident in the support that I have received from the career services from the labs and am hoping that it will help me lead to full employment soon.

Pros:
-I ended up with a job
-Some very good instructors
-Met some cool people
-Learned more than I would have if I had spent 2 months learning on my own

Cons:
-Difficulty was pretty over-hyped. The "One size fits all" approach that they market doesn't really... Read More work out very well, as I found a lot of the material to be time-consuming, but not especially difficult.
-Some of the lessons were pretty awful, to the point of being a waste of time, either due to poor instructors or trivial examples.
-Along the same lines, the TAs were pretty hit and miss in terms of quality.
-Poor job setting expectations re: jobs. It seems fairly misleading to say graduates make ~50k/year when in reality almost everyone gets an internship (or a temporary job) that pays close to minimum wage hoping to make more afterwards.
-Poor organisation. There were several days when instructors were late, or just didn't show up to teach that day and someone ended up filling in. Some other examples: there was meant to be peer code review throughout the cohort that simply never happened, along with weekly interview prep that was either inconsistent or skipped entirely.

Overall it's difficult to say whether I would recommend attending Lighthouse Labs. On the one-hand, there is some value to be had here (as I did get a job in a more interesting field), but I think that the current price tag is too steep for what you're getting.

I've earned a BSc at a large university, a Diploma of Technology at a small one, and I've done Web Development Bootcamp at Lighthouse Labs. Of the three, Lighthouse has by far the best overall teaching quality, student/teacher ratio, and continuing support... Read More of alumni. The Lighthouse crew works to make sure the school's vibe is welcoming and inclusive - e.g. we have trans-friendly bathroom signs. There is a strong sense of camaraderie and community. The place is full of amazing people - instructors, mentors, TAs, classmates... everyone, really. Whenever I felt overwhelmed or in over my head (which you should, at a bootcamp: if you don't, you're not being pushed hard enough, so you're not getting your money's worth) I always knew help would be there when I asked for it. Not just for specific coding questions, but help getting organized, prioritization, and reassurance that I was keeping up and doing well in the program. I can't recommend Lighthouse Labs enough. I had an incredible time there. I rave about it to friends and strangers.

In the iOS Bootcamp the pace of learning was intense, and it never lets up. And that is one of its best features. You never feel like you had an easy day, or a wasted day. The lectures start with intermediate topics and grow in complexity very quickly... Read More from one day to the next. You are always covering new ground, mastering new concepts, and taking on bigger and more complex assignments. By the end of the 8 weeks we were all creating projects we wouldn't have thought possible in week 1. The leap in learning you make in the 8 weeks in truly incredible.
I had no background in coding, comp-sci, or programming but was still able to handle the workload, just barely. The TA's and instructors made sure that they were available to help, but never just handed you the answer. They insist that you learn as you go, rather than giving you the answer, which I am grateful for. With an extremely low ratio of teachers to students, help is always at hand, 12 hours a day. It is this close interaction with instructors and other class mates that I feel really makes all the difference. It is like having a private mentor for 8 weeks, 12 hours day, sharing all of their knowledge openly.
The staff are amazing. Instructors, Admin, and everyone else really come together to help make the bootcamp experience the best it can be for everyone. There are plenty of social events, as well as meaningful and important opportunities to interact with and get to know many of Vancouver's top tech talent.
The only thing I wish had been done differently is the prep work they recommend you do before taking the course. It should be more in depth and tougher. I think students would get more out of the course if they were more prepared. Having said that, if you have any programming, coding, or comp-sci experience you will probably not need the prep. My comments are more directed at those of us without any background in tech.