Bay Valley Tech

I completed Bay Valley Tech's Digital Design Bootcamp which was a great experience, especially since I had zero prior design knowledge. The program covered a wide range of topics at a beginner to intermediate level, great for introducing students to the field of design and setting up for entry-level job positions. It covered UI/UX, graphic design, website design, HTML/CSS, and email marketing throughout the 6 months.  The coursework itself was not too difficult but can be time-consuming if you procrastinate too often. The most notable thing about the program besides it being free is how friendly the staff and other students are, making the learning experience more enjoyable.  Read less

Bay Valley Tech (BVT) is a good program if you want a more structured way of learning and a good place to start. It is free compared to other bootcamps but don't let it deter you away as they provide good resources and staff are helpful. I can only speak on behalf of the Code Academy. There are about 4 "modules" which is basically 4 different classes needed to complete the Code Academy, with each class lasting about 2-3 months. The staff and instructors are very helpful and nice but due to their gaining popularity there is usually an overabundance of student to instructor ratio so communication could take a little longer than expected. The curriculum is good but ultimately should be supplemented with other projects and learning materials outside of BVT coursework. As I have said, BVT is a good start to learning or honing your coding skills and want a more structured way to do so. BVT is more of a gateway and stepping stone to becoming a good software developer. They are located in the Modesto California, so their job assistance and their internship will mainly only be there and for the surrounding area. Overall I would recommend BVT for anyone hesitating to join.  Read less

Bay Valley Tech provides exceptional support for acquiring the essential skills in web development and programming. They go the extra mile to assist you in securing employment opportunities afterward. As a county partner, their focus is solely on your best interests, and they offer a flexible schedule to accommodate other commitments in your life.  Read less

I highly recommend giving Bay Valley Tech a chance if you are interested in software development or graphic design. They provide excellent courses for FREE with an environment full of like minded individuals wanting to learn, grow, and thrive in the tech industry. The community is amazing and the opportunities being provided are fantastic. Read less

 Bay Valley Tech offers the free Code Academy program, which is amazing. I learned extensively about both front-end and backend development, equipping me with the skills needed to transition into a full-stack developer role. The bootcamp provided ample networking opportunities, personalized resume reviews, and even partnerships with government entities for paid internships. This experience was invaluable in helping me gain the necessary skills and more connections to pursue a career in web development!! Read less

Bay Valley Tech is incredibly helpful with learning the skills necessary for web development and programming and goes up and beyond trying to help you get set up with a job afterwards. They are partnered with the county and have only your best intentions in mind as well as a lax schedule in case you have other things going on in your life.  Read less

I had no direction in my life. Graduated with a degree and I realized I wasn't that interested in the jobs available for it. Thinking there were no other paths for me Bay Valley Teach made me realize that their are other options our there that pay well AND let me express my creative side the way I would like to. Read less

As a digital design student it helped fuel my passion for art into a more practical and marketable skill set! I learned how to use a lot of adobe tools and photo editting tools that are a requirement in the creative field. The only short-comings I could say could be chalked up to the fact that the program is free so it can take a bit to get a response back when you first apply. However, everyone is really professional and nice and always willing to answer whatever questions I have. The paid internship gives you some real world experience and it's very helpful that you get paid through the county so I am able to keep working on my digital design skills. Read less

Above all else it is difficult to beat Bay Valley Tech in terms of pricing. It is a free program after all! From getting into the program for nothing to ending with a paid internship, you are undeniably getting more value than you paid for. For me that was enough

And so for being free and open to all it is difficult to judge it's shortcomings too harshly. They are juggling a lot of students with a limited number of instructors and so if you're on track or capable of great self-study that goes great! Falling out of track is also more forgiving that it could be, letting you join later cohorts to continue at your own pace. I found doing so a struggle, but having the option rather than being totally left behind was nice and allowed me to make it through to internships. The size of the program means direct communication can be difficult to get in timely manner every time, so if you need directed assistance, be aware of these things.

Overall I think BVT has been good for me. I can't say it's been smooth sailing or always easy to get what I needed from the program, but again, can look past a lot for free.


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The coding academy is alright since it's free, so you can't really complain about anything not being up to par but a lot of documents and paperwork don't get processed and you have to constantly bug the staff to get things done. It provides a basic structure to what you should learn but you should really be learning on your own alongside the bootcamp. The staff seems to be stretched too thin because there was one instance where one teacher was teaching 3 cohorts and he couldn't answer a lot of our questions. The boot camp more or less is just linking to other youtube videos and resources instead of the teachers themselves teaching you. Overall, it's a decent experience but on its own, it won't really help you be prepared for a SWE job interview. Read less

I believe this Code Academy does well in teaching the fundamentals of Front-end Design. The issue arises with backend. The module 4 curriculum feels bare and lacking in sufficient resources to learn backend. Most backend curriculum feels like learning on your own with very little resources. In terms of Job Assistance it does well with have resume workshops and networking events. Even having the interns do challenges with people in the workforce. I would like to see more collaboration with individuals in tech fields such as working on client projects to get real world experience so we are more prepared for the workforce. In terms of the internship there was a lack of transparency in terms of the number of paid hours one is allowed with the contract signed. It wasn't until a week or so after the contract was signed that individuals learned about the limit of hours we are allowed to be paid. Other than that the program and the internship have really expanded my knowledge and helped guide me in the right direction so I can break into tech. Read less

The course offers a learning curve for beginners to turn them into intermediate web developers in 7-8 months. Starting off with the basics HTML, CSS and basic JavaScript to more intermediate coding and Frameworks with JavaScript like React, Node.JS and Express.JS. This course teaches takes you through everything you need to learn to become a Full-Stack Web developer. Read less

Bay Valley Tech's is a great option for those who want to expand their web development skills or transition from a different career into tech. You gain lots of the foundational skills that can help you land a good paying job. The great part about it is that compared to other bootcamps, Bay Valley Tech offers their curriculum for free. There is also an opportunity for doing an internship with Bay Valley Tech that gives you experience in the web development field. Read less

Their internship pays 25 an hour if you are under 30 and live close to Stanislaus county. It took a few months to get the paperwork done because they are very disorganized and I had to go in person to make sure things are going well.
The work is chill and not bad but the instructors were asking for curriculum improvements which was concerning. Overall the teaching is okay but could be better if they had industry experience.
Job wise it’s quite difficult. This is good for having a paid downtime to learn web applications but you are better off Leetcoding hard and improving your resume and interview skills on your own. Most of the companies are within Modesto and they are usually not hiring or they are client based. If you are looking for 6 figures Bay Area tech job you’d probably have better luck finishing the internship and reading a book and doing projects yourself. Read less

Bay Valley Tech has been an exceptionally helpful program for me as someone who graduated with a CS degree but didn't actively pursue a career in it immediately after university. Between the Code Academy giving me a refresher on the fundamentals of programming as well as introducing me to the tools and workflows used in web development, and the Internship providing me great experience working within a team using Git/GitHub and Agile methodology, I feel like Bay Valley Tech has really given me the boost I needed to get back into the Computer Science industry. Read less

Gets you a paid internship if you are in an approved county, instruction is subpar but most info taught can be found online anyways and the internship is pretty chill. Instructors and faculty are nice and will help you when they can, the biggest issue is that the faculty is disorganized and has serious communication issues. Can take weeks to get a response from staff Read less