Thinkful

Thinkful offers a month long preparation course which was extremely useful to me to refresh my understanding of fundamental statistics. I had no experience of using Python before joining the program. The prep-course really prepares you for programming... Read More skills needed for the main bootcamp. Once you complete the prep-course, you will be assigned a mentor based on your available schedule for two one-hour mentor sessions a week. I am taking this program while being on a full- time employment and the flexibility was the key to me for enrolling in this program. I find this style of 1-1 mentor-student pairing really helpful for my learning style. I feel like there are plenty of resources available online if you want to learn data science on your own but this mentor guidance is the key that I love about this program. I get to talk through the challenges I faced in the course materials or assignments during those sessions. Mentors are really knowledgeable. If they are not expert on some aspects they guide you to great resources. Thinkful also has plenty of Q&A sessions (via video sessions) during the week where you get to ask questions if you are stuck on course materials between your mentor sessions. Thinkful also has a great community of program managers, students and graduates! If you are motivated to learn data science, go for Thinkful!

Thinkful has a good Full Stack Flex program, but uses their stats from this program to be purposely deceptive about their other programs. I was enrolled in the data science program which was marketed to me by their "get a job or your money back" slogan... Read More and being self paced. THIS IS NOT TRUE. You must graduate within 6 months to get this job guarantee and it only applies if you are living in certain cities. There is a prep course which is fine, but the bootcamp itself is TRASH. Terribly written, the homework assignments are vague and have no answer keys and the mentors DO NOT KNOW THE CURRICULUM AND ARE VERY UNHELPFUL. They also completely determine your pace by approving assignments, and your pace will easily go over 6 months if you are paired with a bad mentor. DO NOT ENROLL.

I always wanted to do one of these coding bootcamps. I started getting burntout at my current job and did some research and found Thinkful. My overall experience has been great so far. I think what sets Thinkful apart from the rest is its community as... Read More a whole. Whether it be online through the Slack channel, locally, 1-on-1 mentor meetings, or Q and A sessions. Being in Portland allows for family dinners which usually involve someone from the local tech scene. Though everything within Thinkful happens online, it's nice to have the support of a local community from other students to your Program Manager.

The only thing I'm not a huge fan of, is how the curriculum is laid out. It's mostly reading, which can be difficult for visual learners like myself. Luckily, there are resources available to help drive home some of the harder concepts. It would be nice to have some videos to go along with the material.

Having a mentor is one of the greatest assets. They are there to get you unstuck and help with any concepts that may be unclear. Everyone at Thinkful genuinely wants you to succeed, and for that I'm extremely grateful.

I entered the data science program with no coding background and have learned more than I ever could have imagined. The curriculum is easy to follow and makes learning fun and relevant. You are paired up with a mentor that you meet with twice a week.... Read More Mine is incredibly knowledgeable and always helpful. The Thinkful staff is very responsive, and I feel a sense of community among the students. I highly recommend this program.

Because data science is such a broad space, it is difficult to offer a succinct program, covering every aspect of this field. Yet, the Thinkful Data Science program offered as much breadth possible, while diving into certain areas further, as needed.... Read More
The accessibility to real professional data scientists, three days a week, furthered my appreciation of this 6-month course; it is an invaluable experience, and for me, was the deciding factor for choosing this boot camp.
It is worth noting, the program managers were always available if any sorts of issues came about. Moreover, Thinkful has a very tight-knit community, where learners are accessible to each other, further improving the learning experience - very important!

I recently finished my bachelor's in Management of Information Systems after returning to school as an adult. I wanted to make a career change into the tech world and landed in IT and software support but still wasn't quite fulfilled. I wanted a career... Read More that involved working on my own projects versus supporting others. After completing a free tutorial on web development I decided to start researching boot camps. Thinkful won because of the mentor program, flexibility, overall ratings, and cost.
I am currently a little over half way done and am so happy with my decision. My mentor has been fantastic and such an asset. There are Q&A sessions every day and a helpful Slack community so I've never gotten stuck for long because I couldn't find help. The curriculum is thorough. I've been really happy with my projects and feel like I'm going to have a good portfolio for job searching. It is a big time commitment, but totally worth it. If I could change one thing I would love to be working part time while doing the program instead of full time. That being said, there are pauses available and it's nice to have a regular income. Overall, I definitely recommend Thinkful.

I am currently in the middle of the program and I love the flexibility this course offers. It is a unique experience that immerses you into the data world and provides you with the relevant tasks to hone the necessary skills for becoming a data scientist.... Read More I had very little programming background prior to this program, but was able to pick up python very quickly through pre-curriculum training. Working with the Thinkful team has be a dream as well, especially my mentor. Meeting x2 a week keeps the pace of the program moving nicely and allows for good communication about each deliverable along the way.

10/10 would recommend.

I am currently enrolled in the Designer Track at Bloc. I have already learned so much related to UX Design, Visual Design, and Front End Development. When I go to local meetups for design I used to always be hesitant since I have only been doing bloc... Read More for 2 months. I thought I wouldn't know enough to participant or even have a conversation. In fact it turned out I had already learned all the topics covered in meetup presentations. When talking to others that wanted to break into the design industry, I felt so well equipped for my future job search. I knew all of the topics, theories, practices, and even lingo. All that's really left is to keep implementing these skills, receive feedback, and develope my portfolio. I am so highly impressed with the content taught by bloc. I love the 'set your own pace' concept. This allows me to take a pause with topics that I find challenging to make sure I understand them before moving on. I can't wait to continue to learn and eventually seek out my first opportunity in the design industry.

Ive been at Bloc a couple months and am loving the self-paced nature of the program. As a teacher, I understand that a students' learning can ebb and flow - with a self-paced program (and a lot of self-motivation, of course) it really was the only choice... Read More for me. I am able to keep my current day job and if I need help I have a mentor and the experts on the bloc Slack channel. Graders that survey assignments have also been incredibly helpful in breaking down what I may have trouble understanding. Overall, I cant find any downside to this program. I recommend highly!