Web Dev Camp

Worst online courses out there, stay away!!!

I was looking for an online course in Web Development that I could do next to my full time job, mainly on the weekends. I have tried the free versions offered by CodeAcademy and freeCodeCamp which were really... Read More good and that convinced me to take the next step and look for a proper paid course. In the end I was deciding between freeCodeCamp and the one offered by The Learning People, and TLP have convinced me to use their offering because they're offering Tutoring on top of the online program. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER!! This online program is so bad in terms of quality (the tutor videos), content (content contains gaps so it is hard to follow what is being taught, the questions and challenges are poorly phrased so it is hard to understand what they are asking for, the questions are messy jumping from hard to way too easy, back to hard instead of building up and they're all asked at the end of a session containing several topics instead of after each topic, hints are useless as they are way too basic something like "if you want to take this course you make sure you are connected to the internet") there is no handout material or anything to support the learning.

After complaining about the content they have said to me I can skip sessions - well thanks for the offer but I have paid for this course and I am taking it to learn this stuff??!
Mentoring is only offered during office hours and one day a week until 9pm UK time which is not an option for me as I have a full time job. And my personal mentor doesn't respond to my emails, apparently he has left the company so I will be getting a new one.
They just didn't put any effort into this online course at all and I can only advice people looking for a part time offering to stay away from this programme! I won't waste my time on this and finish it, but instead join another course offered by a different provider. They've charged me £5,000 for nothing and are not even willing to offer me parts of my money back. I am actually thinking about getting a lawyer involved as they are just not delivering what they have promised.

I wish I could give them zero stars.

Worst online courses out there, stay away!!!

I was looking for an online course in Web Development that I could do next to my full time job, mainly on the weekends. I have tried the free versions offered by CodeAcademy and freeCodeCamp which were really... Read More good and that convinced me to take the next step and look for a proper paid course. In the end I was deciding between freeCodeCamp and the one offered by The Learning People, and TLP have convinced me to use their offering because they're offering Tutoring on top of the online program. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER!! This online program is so bad in terms of quality (the tutor videos), content (content contains gaps so it is hard to follow what is being taught, the questions and challenges are poorly phrased so it is hard to understand what they are asking for, the questions are messy jumping from hard to way too easy, back to hard instead of building up and they're all asked at the end of a session containing several topics instead of after each topic, hints are useless as they are way too basic something like "if you want to take this course you make sure you are connected to the internet") there is no handout material or anything to support the learning.

After complaining about the content they have said to me I can skip sessions - well thanks for the offer but I have paid for this course and I am taking it to learn this stuff??!
Mentoring is only offered during office hours and one day a week until 9pm UK time which is not an option for me as I have a full time job. And my personal mentor doesn't respond to my emails, apparently he has left the company so I will be getting a new one.
They just didn't put any effort into this online course at all and I can only advice people looking for a part time offering to stay away from this programme! I won't waste my time on this and finish it, but instead join another course offered by a different provider. They've charged me £5,000 for nothing and are not even willing to offer me parts of my money back. I am actually thinking about getting a lawyer involved as they are just not delivering what they have promised.

I wish I could give them zero stars.

I was a little skeptical when I started to look into different development boot camps. They almost seemed to good to be true, promising 12-week programs that would get students started in a new career. The admissions staff at General Assembly was really... Read More great in answering my questions about the program, what former students ended up doing and how the whole process worked. I really enjoyed going to a couple of the different events and meeting with former students to get their perspective on the program.

I ended up enrolling in the Web Development Immersive Course in Chicago. I really can't say enough positives about the program. First, the teachers were great. I was in a class of 10 and they were always willing to spend a little 1 on 1 time with individual students to help them work through any issues or difficulties with the material. The course materials and projects were really great, productive and instructive. The career services staff were fantastic as well, helping with a wide variety of areas including resumes, job search, networking and interviewing practice. They were very clear in setting realistic expectations for the job search and I found their advice and insights to be spot on. It took me several months to land a position after the course, but I had several interviews and found recruiters and hiring managers to generally have a favorable view of General Assembly and their graduates.

Overall, the experience was very positive and helped me to make the career change. I would definitely recommend General Assembly.

9 weeks ago I left my job and the UK and headed to Finland to attend this course to learn full stack web development. Upon arriving at the airport I was greeted by Torsten and Raisa and they made me feel instantly welcome. We travelled to the house in... Read More Fiskars and I started exploring the small, peaceful village before returning to the house for some much needed rest in anticipation of the first day of lessons.

Torsten is an excellent teacher, he is patient, knowledgeable and has clearly put time and effort into making sure the course is taught in a way that will be most beneficial for his students. By week 2 we were building an app with rails and as the days went by it was clear how much we had all learnt in such a short time. The course was intense but by the end I was very pleased with the progress I had made and I am confident I will find work as a web developer. Torsten didn't just teach me to copy/memorise code but he taught me how to think and problem solve in a way that will help me with all my future endeavours.

For the duration of the course I was living with the other students in a house in Fiskars, there's a shop nearby and the surrounding nature is beautiful. We worked for 6 days a week, 9 to 6 every day with a relaxed and pragmatic approach to breaks. Raisa would cook a vegan lunch for us, I had never eaten a vegan meal before arriving here and it was always excellent!

Torsten and Raisa put in a lot of effort to make me feel welcome and I can't thank them enough for making this experience as good as it was. I have learnt so much about coding in 9 weeks that I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to become a developer.

The program was very hands on as we started to build an application right at the beginning of the course. I learned a great deal in the course, understand what is involved in managing a software project and it has given me great confidence to start my... Read More career in technology. I personally learn best with a teacher next to me hence I had a great time learning from a teacher who has a tonne of industry experience. Thank you Torsten for your dedication and patience. The live-in program also gave me valuable time and space to learn without distraction. The teacher can flexibly customize the course to accommodate certain needs of students too. Would recommend it, highly!

I was stuck in a dead end job that was going to be moved out of state. I had a few friends and a relative who had taken the Web Development Immersive (WDI) course and had done well after finishing, they suggested I look into it as well. Going into the... Read More program I only had very basic html and css knowledge and no experience with and functional programming languages like javascript and ruby. The rapid pace of learning and long hours of lectures, studying and coding was stressful. Everyday I felt like I didn't know what I was doing and wondered if I had made a mistake. But the instructors I had were amazing, and the class always seemed to rally around each other for help. By the end of each project I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride in what I was able to create. As great as the WDI course curriculum was the Outcomes sessions we had during the course were just as valuable. The whole reason I took the course was to find a job and the Outcomes team was very keen on making sure I was prepared (updated resume, proper LinkedIn profile, job searching techniques, etc.) to hit the job market with brand new skills to show even though I had zero work experience in the web development field. I found that keeping the Outcomes team constantly updated on my progress after graduating from WDI was key to my finding my internship about two months after completing WDI. I was hired by the company I interned with and now have a career that challenges me, I make almost 30% more salary than my old job and I have upward mobility in a field that is growing. The program was very difficult, but in the end it was life changing.

Teaching: WebDev Camp is obviously very different from university teaching methods. Firstly, we worked straight away on a 'real' solution. There was no 'faffing about'. Secondly, the feedback loop is much quicker as Torsten is always present to answer... Read More question when we are too stuck. At the same time, there is enough room to think for yourself and learn by yourself - which is a good skill to have. You also get to develop a lot of your people skills as you work and live together throughout the duration of the course.

Setting: the camp is in the middle of the woods, with many lakes near by. It is absolutely magical. The camp's large garden is also something out of a fairytale. It even has a little waterfall.

Webdev Camp is probably the most relaxing, albeit intensive bootcamp of web development. You get to destress in the traditional Finnish sauna in the evening or go for a short hike during the breaks. Last but not least you will be near the picturesque village of Fiskars.

Before I started the Web Dev Camp course, a junior developer title seemed like something unapproachable. Now, after graduation I know that I am one already.

During 8 weeks we learned a lot about Ruby, Rails, how to use Github, Haml and SASS. We built our... Read More own web application using gems and APIs and we learned about different methods of deployment.

Here, in the midst of nature, if you’re feeling stuck, you can just go for a walk and come back to coding feeling refreshed. I discovered also that school can be extremely fun, that you can sketch an app at the seaside, and that you can be inspired looking at the beautiful Finnish skyline on a break from your computer screen.

I would say that this program teaches you not only about coding, but how to interact with people who might be different from yourself, since you will be living with them for several weeks. This can sometimes be difficult, but it teaches you how to work with and get along with people in a group.

How it feels to be a fresh Web Dev Camp graduate? I feel empowered, confident and ready to start a new career.

Can a bootcamp really be relaxing and non-competitive as well as being intensive and equipping you with the skills required in a real tech job? Yes. WebDev.Camp manages to do all of this as well as providing a safe and supportive environment in which... Read More to learn about code. When I started to teach myself code, the journey to becoming a junior developer seemed impossibly long and hard. Graduating from Web Dev Camp, I feel as though I have the tools and understanding I need to go on to achieve this goal and I am amazed at how far I have come.

Living on site gives you the opportunity to really focus on your personal development and learning, without the problems of everyday life interfering or distracting you. I think that is one of the reasons that the Web Dev Camp course accomplishes so much in 8 weeks. At WebDev.camp we had the amazing experience of working on an open-source app that will be genuinely useful to people in the Ruby community. We learned Ruby, Rails, Javascript and how to use Github, as well as CSS, HTML and Haml. We worked extensively with APIs in our app and learned about different methods of deployment. It makes such a difference to work on real problems, and it was great to be able to look at and work with real open-source code right from the start of the course, as well as then creating our own open-source app. At WebDev.Camp I have learnt so much about programming but also about mentoring, pairing, teamwork and managing my time effectively to be the most productive I can be while still enjoying what I do. We also had the opportunity to go to several meetups and events, and get to know the Helsinki Ruby community. In our penultimate week we gave a presentation on our app to a Ruby meetup, which was an excellent learning opportunity, and this experience will be extremely valuable going forward in our future jobs.

The learning environment is warm, comfortable and beautiful and while the curriculum is intensive, living onsite means that you can fit so much more into your day without a commute or the usual distractions of daily life. Breaks and working at your own pace were really encouraged and I found that being able to take beautiful walks in the surrounding area as well as playing in the snow(!) provided an excellent way to unwind. I would definitely recommend Web Dev Camp, I doubt that any other bootcamp offers such a complete learning experience for the cost of the course, it is incredibly good value.