New York Code and Design Academy

Initially, I liked the step by step, week on week approach. The videos were good and led me through nicely. The presentation and branding is good and that's important to me. It was nice having a pro on hand to ask questions each week but I often didn't... Read More understand his language and I think he was more interested in talking than asking questions. I didn't like all the confusing connecting of apps to upload the work - that seemed convoluted and complicated. The written notes were also not that great. The major draw back for me though was the whole 8 or 10 weeks was focused on only building one website so I was staring at one piece of code for 10 weeks. That didn't appear like an issue until I did a different course which focused on building one simple site each week and I found that much more dynamic and easier to manage.

I gain more experience so I'm gain more money by udacity course android basics Nonodegree , and I'm working little time as freelance and gain more money finally I'm working now in international company and I'm using all topics that i was learned from... Read More udacity course I'm so proud so much to teach by her

I am graduate of the Software Engineering Intensive June 2018 program. Because of this program, I was able to successfully pivot careers and get a Front End Engineer position a month after completion with zero past coding experience.

What I love most about... Read More NYCDA is the community, which is perhaps the most important asset you can have as someone new to tech. It's a very laid-back yet still incredibly ambitious and dedicated group of people at NYCDA. You will not only have a classroom of people going through the same thing as you, you will also have a staff of people dedicated to your success.

My success coach, Sam Lubin, was very much invested in our learning and post-program success. Sam provided critical feedback on my resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and portfolios. Perhaps most importantly, he sat down with me to do mock interviews which really, really prepared me for real-life interviews (so much so that in real interviews, I was even being asked the same questions that he prepped me for). He was such an invaluable resource - even providing answers to questions such as, "what should I wear to this interview," or, "how should I reply to this recruiter." I attribute a lot of my post-program success -- getting and nailing interviews -- because of his assistance.

My instructor, Michael Lawrence, was a fantastic teacher. He is a self-taught programmer, so he provided a number of helpful insights on processes to best learn. Moreover, he taught us many things off curriculum that you probably wouldn't be able to learn otherwise on your own. He made programming very accessible and his teaching style really helped me nail down the technical part of coding.

The program itself was very regimented and project-focused, which was a really great way to for me to learn and develop my skills as a programmer. If you really dedicate your time and effort, you will walk away with a really great portfolio of projects which will help you land that next career.

I wish I would've done this sooner. I was reluctant at first to make the foray into an intimidating and new industry, but NYCDA really made it possible.

tldr; Recommend. 10/10. A++. Would do again.

When I decided to do a career change and learn web development, choosing from the various bootcamps and programs in NYC was a bit daunting. Choosing NYCDA was the best choice I've ever made. Being accepted to the fellowship was huge and I was determined... Read More to give it my all. The school is small and warm, and it truly does feel like family. David was my instructor, and I can say that he was really supportive and was always available to help and provide resources whenever I asked. Krystal is a fantastic success coach and really took the time during and after the program to make sure I was well prepared for interviews and provided me with the resources I needed.

One of the many things I love about the school is the support you receive from all the alumni, staff, instructors and teaching assistants. Everyone is always available for advice, help or just to chat. You never ever feel like just one more student or just a number.

Remember, a bootcamp is just a place to gain the foundations you need to become a developer. Whatever YOU put into it is what you'll get out. If you choose NYCDA you are doing more than just learning "how to learn", you are receiving a lot of support from everyone at the school and you will be part of a caring community.

I recently withdrew early from the UX immersive program. I have never been more disappointed with an experience at a school, which is why I felt compelled to write this, even after receiving a full refund. Keep in mind that I left a good high paying job... Read More for this program, and I can’t immediately find another high paying job. So I have lost income and greatly disrupted my life to go to a sham of a school for five weeks.

I feel like the school actually lied to me about the nature of the program, such as material that would be covered, and the way in which it would be conducted. I was told this program was a very competitive program, that would have me ready for a UX career in three months. I currently work as a designer in fashion, so I felt like an intense program for a few months would be a good investment. I was told that I would be in class with other professionals looking to transition their careers, and candidates were rigorously screened due to the intense nature of the program. I considered this important as I knew these programs entail a large amount of group work. I was also told that there would be a foundations program to get everyone up to speed. However most students weren’t “up to speed” and the class began on a very very basic introductory level. It seems that my foundations program wasn’t even reviewed by anyone at the school, and my teacher, Jimmy Chandler wasn’t even sure what was covered in this program we all had to complete before day 1.

I was assured that the course would start to speed up, but it actually slowed down after my teacher gave his very basic introduction slides to UX. He progressively lectured less and less. His two hour slide presentation, became a 45 minute slide presentation, and one day he had some allergies and just put on a video for an hour. The rest of the day we were meant to work in groups, but we didn’t have much work to do at all, so after finishing our work we would try to learn on our own or just socialize. Although there often wasn’t much to do, Jimmy required us to stay the whole day for a fifteen minute wrap up at the end of the day. This entailed everyone to go around the room and say what they learned that day, it only took fifteen minutes because we struggled to think of anything. At $15,000 for a three month program, I was effectively paying $250 a day. When I signed up for this program Jason Poole, an advisor from the school, told me this full time program was a great deal because I was effectively paying less per hour for the instructor’s time. They also had an evening program that was less expensive, but also less hours. I have an email from him where he breaks down the price per hour of instruction in each program. However my teacher didn’t actively teach most of the day. He regularly took meetings during the day, left with saying nothing, ate his lunch during class time, or just blankly stared at his computer.

Furthermore Jason Poole advised me that html and css would be integrated into our program. However, on receiving my syllabus I saw it was only a few days in week 9. Upon arriving to class Jimmy Chandler advised us that he actually moved it to the last week of class because he had a conference he would be missing class for, and would be having someone else teach a workshop. The average job in UX requires knowledge of html and css, so I was extremely disappointed that this would only be a small part of the program at the very end. My success coach advised me to learn on my own through tutorials, which I immediately began. I don’t expect a school to teach you everything, but when something is promised in a sales pitch….. is this allowed? Who is policing NYCDA and other bootcamps to follow through on the promises that they make students.

While nothing is a guarantee and I was clear that NYCDA wasn’t a staffing agency, they also didn’t seem to have much in terms of career/job resources. My success coach was a former student, who worked in theater and as a tutor, but didn’t seem to have any professional experience at all. Every week we had to do a lengthy assignment where we filled out paperwork regarding our personality, career goals, and did research on the industry. All were templates he gave us were things pulled from the internet. I didn’t receive any feedback on these assignments. Their slack job channel seemed full of internships. I had no idea how I was going to take the little that we were learning, and materialize it into skills that would elevate my career.

I filled out a formal complaint, and spoke with several advisors at the school. Everyone seemed sympathetic to me, but no one knew how to make the situation better. They didn’t have resources to get another more competent teacher in quickly, and it didn’t seem that Jimmy Chandler was going to suddenly become more knowledgeable. Finally someone from a remote office in Florida emailed me and asked me to call them. She said if I left that very day I could have all of my money back, but if I stayed I would be obligated to pay the full $15,000 as I was past the drop date. They wanted me out and fast. So I took my money and I left.

I graduated from the November 2017 Fulltime Web Development Intensive cohort in New York and found it extremely disappointing and did not feel anywhere ready or qualified to find a job in the field. The application process was ridiculously easy compared... Read More to other bootcamps. This should serve as a big red flag. They will also tell you whatever you want to hear, true or not.

The curriculum of primarily Ruby on Rails is outdated by probably 3 years, which in tech is a lifetime. The industry and job market mostly requires Javascript or some expertise in it. You only learn the basics for 1 to 2 weeks here. The more ambitious students in my cohort were learning Javascript and its different frameworks (mostly React) concurrently with Ruby and Rails. That's great but still why not just teach Javascript? They do have a part-time Javscript and React course oddly enough.

They also recently raised the tuition without changing the curriculum.

The instructor, Cam Crews, was very knowledgeable and helpful and you can learn a lot from him if you were inquisitive and had an idea what you wanted to do. But probably 95% of this course is learning on your own and asking questions if you have any idea of what to ask.

Career services is virtually nonexistent. They decided to outsource career services to a site called Boost (getboost.io) which is a virtual career coach. Outside of that you meet with career services or outcomes basically just 2 or 3 times over 12 weeks and all they really care about is if you're completing your projects (it does not take a lot to complete projects and graduate). After graduation they follow up with you but it's more or less just stuff like reviewing your resume and portfolio. These are things that should have been done while we were taking the course, not after. There was zero career or interview preparation provided during the course. And they make it clear that they do not help find jobs.

Final thoughts: They only care about your money. Do not be fooled by the sales pitch. Research the industry and job postings for what skills and languages are in demand then find an appropriate bootcamp.

My experience with NYCDA was mostly positive. I had been studying code on my own, and realized I needed a boost, so I sought out coding bootcamps. Most were extremely cost prohibitive, but NYCDA offered an Income Share Agreement: That is, you only start... Read More paying for their service if you find a job that pays you more than $40k/year.

The quality of the instruction was so much higher than I could have imagined. Our teacher was fantastic. He was extremely intelligent, organized, caring and focused. You could tell that he had prepared each lesson thoroughly, which is very important when you are cramming a week worth of learning into a single day. The cohort learned rapidly in a really safe environment. Simultaneously, a success coach would check in with our progress and offer valuable encouragement and advice. They continue to be resources for everyone in the class.

I expected the company to be interested in finding work for all of the graduates, but this is NYCDAs biggest weakness. There was only one person working as a liaison between the students and companies hiring in our community, and he isn't effective. None of our cohort has been hired yet, partially due to being mislead by this liaison.

If you want to rapidly build web development skills, NYCDA is an amazing choice. But it isn't anywhere near as effective as other coding bootcamps at getting you a job.

I attended this course with the motivation of some new opportunities. I met professionally excellent staff there. They were expert, patient, and kind. They didn't just let you what it is. They let you know how to know what it is. It's like they gave a... Read More key. With it, you would be able to open variety of doors to new worlds. Thank you, and be greater, NYCDA!

The pros of being a student at New York Code + Design Academy is that you're constantly learning something new everyday. Also a huge plus is that you get to be in a friendly environment where people are willing to help out at any time. The con about being... Read More a student is that sometimes when you're trying to learn and things aren't going your way it can be very upsetting and sometimes you feel like you will never grasp it.