Redwood Code Academy - CLOSED

I am disappointed with the curriculum as I was expecting to develop real projects, not just copy and paste projects available online. Sure, the projects are relevant to today's society, but I could have copied and pasted the source codes and understood... Read More it myself, which I ultimately did -- I stayed most nights to learn and make sense all the codes we copied and pasted throughout the day.

The instructor is knowledgeable -- when I'd get stuck, I had help. Oh, and my questions were answered with mostly "yeah, that sounds right" and sometimes with very minimal explanation.

The last few weeks was a disaster. The instructor tried to stretch out the last lecture because there was nothing else to teach, which was weird because we didn't go over most of the software laid out in the syllabus.

There was hardly any job support. I had my resume reviewed, and that was about it. Two of the students found a job within a week or two after bootcamp completion, one of which has a Master's Degree in CS and the other is in Revolent (another bootcamp-like but paid). Both were fruitions of their own networking efforts.

**PLEASE READ I CAN BE CONTACTED TO VERIFY-CONTACT INFO BELOW**

I would like to preface this by saying I am not a spiteful person. If I were I would have made this review months ago (January) when it all began. I had given the owner of this school plenty... Read More of time to respond to my loan cancellation request but I no longer have a choice but to leave a review now that it is nearing April.

I had went onto the school community channel for support and to voice my dissapointment and I was instantly banned by the owner after sharing my experience and sharing info that if anyone else had a bad experience to contact me so I can share an organization called BPPE.CA.GOV My post was immediately deleted but to my surprise I was messaged by several students who voiced that they were disappointed with the school as well. None of which found jobs but sadly you will never hear from them or their experience. I do not enjoy the fact that I have to write this but this school needs to be exposed so that the owner immediatly stops taking advantage of aspiring developers who do not know what they are getting themselves into. The owner finally reached out to me but I am not happy that it took this to get a response out of him. Please do not dismiss my review as I remind you I do not enjoy that this is what it has come to. I attempted to find a solution at lower levels from several attempts to contact the owner and then using the community platform for support. But now this is my last resort.

To the owner of Redwood I am prepared for a calculated rehearsed response to make me appear the one who is wrong when all I wanted was your assistance. But now I am facing financial hardship due to your concious decision to avoid me. I don't appreciate that you are NOW responding to me after being exposed and students who are now encouraged to share their experience have emerged. FYI I purpsoley avoided your phone call and text just now as I would like document this moving foward. You can email me your solution to the email provided below.

Anyone reading this please do not judge this review until we can connect. Please contact me directly at SGAZOR@GMAIL.COM. Unlinke Redwood I have nothing to hide and now have the support of students that attended Redwood. Thank you to those that reached out. I genuinely feel upset about having to write this.

Stay safe amid this Covid-19 pandemic.

Peace and Love.

Teachers and assistance were always nice. After graduation you can continuously go in and get help as much as you want, great relationships. Fun play ping pong on breaks. In my cohort we covered so many technologies such as C#, javascript, AWS, github,... Read More etc.

I went to full-time full-stack boot camp at Redwood Code Academy three months ago. Now I graduated from the school and got my certificate. Also, I got my first programmer job in 3 days after I graduated from school. I have no coding experience before... Read More I took the course. I learned JavaScript (ES6), React (with Redux), C#, HTML, CSS, MongoDB (with Mongoose), MySQL (with Entity Framework), REST, .NET Core (with ASP.NET and Web API), algorithms, data structures, and more from Redwood Code Academy. I finished 4 big real-time projects and a lot of small projects. I committed my time, Redwood Code Academy committed me job level hang-on coding experience. If you want to build up your career with IT area, Redwood Code Academy will be the best choice.

If you find yourself frustrated with your self-learning journey in programming (i.e. progressing slower than you'd like, not having all the answers to your question), then Redwood is definitely for you. Their full stack developer bootcamp is very thorough... Read More in preparing you for a junior web developer position. What you get out of the program is all dependent on what you put in, but Redwood definitely provides the resources for you to push yourself. Paul Epps is an amazing instructor and Senior Dev with 20+ years of experience. He can answer any questions regarding programming or the career path, and makes himself available before class to walk you through any topics you are struggling with. Karim also works full time to help you in your job search full time, providing feedback on every step of the process and helping you find leads wherever they are. The TA also put in a lot of extra hours to ensure no one fell behind the rest of the class.

I thought the job search would take months, but it took me two weeks of job hunting to land my first dev job under the tutelage of Redwood (It sounds ludicrous but somehow it happened). You definitely need to devote yourself to the program if you want to get the results you're expecting, but Redwood gives you an abundance of opportunities to grow as a developer.

Before attending Redwood, I visited various coding bootcamps in the OC area. Instantly, I felt Redwood was the right fit because from day one, I never felt like a number or just another student. Redwood was also the only program in the area that offered... Read More a C# / .NET back end curriculum and allowed me to learn the complete full stack throughout the program instead of choosing between front or back end halfway through the program. Before choosing Redwood I reached out to alumni and was very happy with their outcomes and feedback which also set Redwood apart from other schools.

When inquiring about the school, I was happy that I met with the program director, Karim, instead of being presented with a sales pitch in a room full of people. He met with me one on one which I appreciated. He took the time to thoroughly discuss the program and listen to my goals. He made me feel like he cared about my future and whether I was ready or not. He made sure I wanted to join a bootcamp for the right reasons and that I had enough understanding of basic Javascript, HTML, and CSS to do well in the program. He also addressed all my concerns and fears of quitting my job to start Redwood’s program and my anxiety about successfully finding a job after the program was finished.

My instructors were AMAZING! Each of them had a unique style of teaching that allowed me to learn so many languages in such a quick time. If I ever felt lost or unsure they were willing to give me extra lessons and spend time with me after class to make sure I was absorbing new concepts. Most importantly, they cared about my success. Their success was my success and they were willing to give as much advice and mentorship to help give me the confidence I needed to finish the program.

The program and the job hunt both require hard work and persistence. Because of the support of the Redwood staff, I successfully completed the program and within a month of my job search began receiving job offers. I now work as a web developer and couldn’t be happier with my decision.

Overall I am grateful that I placed my career in the right hands. I am confident if you give Redwood a chance and believe in yourself, work hard and make the sacrifice, you will be successful. Like the alumni who helped me,I would like to help you. If you have any questions for me personally, feel free to reach out via linkedin.

Had a great experience attending Redwood. Initially I was trying to teach myself but could not progress at the speed I wanted to go. So I took the plunge and attended Redwood. The instructors were great. Harrison, Taylor and Zack were on hand to guide... Read More us to find solutions when needed. The format was perfect in terms of learning the material. Lessons with the daily and weekly labs, followed by a few projects. It was a wonderful learning environment. Harrison and Taylor did excellent jobs presenting the material in a way that was easy for me to ingest. I was able to get a job a couple of months after the bootcamp ended. Should you decided to join, definitely commit and put in the effort since the time goes by quickly.

I looked long and hard for a web development bootcamp in Southern California and I am so glad that I chose Redwood Code Academy's Full Stack Immersion Program.

My favorite part about Redwood is the teachers. Harrison, Taylor and Patrick are extremely... Read More knowledgeable about complex topics in web development, yet completely understanding and encouraging to students who are learning them for the first time. They provide a ton of support for students who struggle with the material without holding their hands, ensuring that everyone grasps it on their own terms. It is abundantly clear that the instructors truly care about the success of each student, and will go out of their way to help them when they need it.

Each day starts with a brief warm up period, which gives students the opportunity to practice writing and studying Javascript functions before the daily lecture where a major web development topic is taught and explained. After lecture, the rest of the day is dedicated to a lab where students take previously learned topics and actually code something. The daily labs given during this bootcamp are challenging, yet realistic, requiring students to leave their comfort zones and to apply everything that they were taught to complete them.

If you are looking for a constructive and engaging environment to jumpstart your web development career, then Redwood Code Academy is for you. I would highly recommend for anyone who is serious about becoming a full stack developer

I attended Redwood Code Academy (RCA) in April 2017 and I am currently working as part of the Xamarin Team at Microsoft.

Harrison who is the lead professor and the Founder of the academy has invested so much in making RCA the best Coding Bootcamp in the... Read More OC. Harrison and his staff care about the student's success in and out of the program. All the instructors are very knowledgeable in the technologies they teach and work hard in making sure that you understand everything they show you.

After I completed the program, Harrison helped me every stepped of the way until I found my dream job! I really felt that RCA went above and beyond by helping me prepare for every interview I attended.

I would recommend Redwood Code Academy to anyone who is serious about becoming a software engineer and are looking into making a life-changing career.

I want to start this review by stating that bootcamp, as a whole, may not be for everyone. Every day that you are attending bootcamp, you are making a commitment to yourself to put your best foot forward and become a better asset in the job market. When... Read More you read coding bootcamp reviews, they are usually all positive. People talking about how they were successful and how they landed their dream job. It sounds like a miracle! Who wouldn't want to have the opportunity of job security and a high paying salary? However, the truth of the matter is, coding bootcamp will not provide that for everyone. It will provide that for the people who show up daily and do the grind. The hours are long and you need to have self-discipline. At Redwood, they do their best to create a stress free environment by having ping-pong tournaments and class parties after class on occasion. They don't do this to distract their students, they do this to help us all out. We spend the day staring at a computer screen, working our butts of to get things done. When I was attending the bootcamp, I had no life outside of it. My dreams started to contain code, I started telling coding jokes! It invaded every facet of my life. And I loved it. I wrote things down that I didn't understand and I researched them when I got home. During the project weeks, I went home and worked on the code til the wee hours of the morning. It was fun to learn and I loved every day of the bootcamp!

With all that said, this bootcamp is not a free hand-out. You can't expect to pay the money and have Redwood get you a job if you aren't willing to work for that job. If you are willing to work for it, Redwood is there for you. I never missed a day, I showed up on time, I asked questions and I put my everything into the bootcamp. At every turn, Harrison, Karim, Taylor and Zach were there to support me. They were all so supportive in their own ways. Some days I would come in and be so stressed out from a late night and Karim would be there with a joke to cheer me up. Any time that I was freaking out that I wouldn't get a job, Harrison would be there to pick me up with positive reinforcement. Zach and Taylor were always in the classroom during our daily labs, helping all of us with our problems and finding those pesky little syntax errors.

Another thing to take into consideration when choosing this bootcamp is that you are entering a bootcamp that is small in size, relatively new and owned and operated by the lead-instructor. It isn't some huge corporate bootcamp that has been around for ages. But that it what I loved most. When I finally decided to take the plunge and start a bootcamp, I started looking around in the Orange-County area. Redwood was the only bootcamp that sent me a personalized email. When I went into Redwood for the first time, the first person that I spoke to was Karim. He greeted me at the door with a huge smile and a warm welcome. I spoke with Harrison as well, but briefly since the cohort before me was currently in session. Like I said before, Harrison is doing a lot. I have so much respect for what he does. But it's important to remember that people can't be in multiple places at once. I think one of the main reasons for my success at the bootcamp is that I used the staff for the things they were there for. I never fully relied on one staff member for my success. There is a reason that the people that work there are there and if you do end up going here, use them! They are all so nice and they all really do care. They wouldn't be working with all of us and our craziness if they didn't.

When it came time to find a job, Redwood had my back. Harrison brought out some people that he knows from the industry to prepare us for what people in the market are looking for. They never sugar-coated the fact that the job hunt would be a grind. It really was. In the beginning, I was filling out job applications for hours a day. About 15 a day. It was exhausting, and I wasn't getting a call from anyone except recruiters. Harrison told us, never turn down an opportunity. So I answered every email and every call. I signed up for every job site I could think of. I took phone interviews from every company, leaving my opinions out. Within about 2 months, I was accepting a job offer.

I wouldn't be here without Redwood, Harrison and the rest of the staff. I will always have gratitude for the opportunity they provided me. It is an opportunity that I would relive if I could. There was so much learning, growing and fun had at Redwood! Thank you.