Bloc Reviews
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Charles Shisler
A great place to learn how to code
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I finished the Fullstack track a month ago, already having years of programming experience, and I can say without a doubt that Bloc has helped me tremendously! Their curriculum is well thought out and lays a great foundation for you to become a well rounded developer. They introduce you to revision control. They present their material in a way that makes the complicated stuff seem easy! They also introduce you to various API's and libraries that have use in the real world. I am really happy with my time at Bloc, with my two different mentors who were always there to answer my questions, and with the career assistance staff, who are encouraging me to kick into overdrive since I graduated. Go Bloc!
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David G
An amazing step in the door
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As an IT professional with over a decade of experience, I've had a longstanding love of code since I was a kid. Even though my job took me a bit away from that, I've always wanted to gravitate back but just didn't have the wherewithal and structure to really tackle modern development technologies, languages and frameworks via self-study. With the advent of bootcamps, I finally had the in i've long been waiting for.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to devote to a traditionally compact, fulltime coding bootcamp experience - so Bloc's more freeform, online scheduling really fit the bill. This had an unexpected benefit as I was able to supplement what I learned with the Bloc lessons with additional studying and research.
Bloc was a perfect way to ground yourself in current dev knowledge on a your own timetable, and with the mentorship component, you have a dedicated one-on-one tutor/manager/instructor and sounding board to help your progress along, motivate and inspire. This individual instruction is where Bloc really proves its worth. More so than any compressed classroom experience or through directed self-study, Bloc gives you a dedicated partner as invested in your success as you are. That right there is worth the tuition and then some.
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Phil
I had a lot of fun and learnt a lot!
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I've never learnt coding or even heard about anything objective-c related prior to this course. I took this course wanting to get a good fundamental understanding of objective-c as a language. Without any prior experience or knowledge I found that this course was flexible and worked for me, so I tried it out. My mentor Steve was great, he was patient and broke down questions that I had step by step so that I could understand. Whenever I had any problems or if I was stuck he would email/message me within an hour. I had a lot of fun, and that's important, I found that this course was filled with checkpoints and they were fun to learn.
If you're looking for a flexible meeting schedule (because you're working) this is the program for you. The one on one mentorship really helped me get through with a lot of the core fundamental exercises because I knew nothing prior to enrolling in this course. I would recommend anyone who's a real beginner to strongly consider taking this course. Don't be afraid! You'll get it as long as you put in the work! I feel a lot more confident now writing in objective-c.
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Dan
Great program to change careers
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I enrolled in Bloc's full stack web develment program in November 2015. I have enjoyed the program so far and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to make the leap into the web development space. I chose Bloc because of the flexible schedule, competive cost, hands on curriculum, mentorship aspect, and projects to showcase my skills to prspective employers. While the curriculum provides a solid base for someone new to the field, I would encourage applicants to supplement the program with other materials such as online Udemy courses or web development books. The mentors are great to work with. They provide support and keep you on pace. This is a program that anyone can do. While I have struggled at times given that I had no prior programming background, I feel confident in the work I am doing and look forward to completing the program.
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Brandon
The Platform to Launch a New Career
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A little background -- before I joined Bloc I had never written a single line of code. I was a full-time middle school teacher for four years, and had never delved into anything beyond simple computer skills.
Enter Bloc. I started my apprenticeship in October 2015 with Ruby on Rails after doing the assigned prework on Codeacademy and other sites. The curriculum is laid out in a structured, checkpoint format, growing in skill and difficulty as you move forward. It continually builds upon itself. The curriculum does, as some other reviewers have mentioned, hand-hold on the early stages. Though this can seem off-putting to some, this technique is essential when it comes to teaching a student with ZERO coding experience. Other coding schools require you to have some sort of pre-existing skill, and they only accept students who pass certain benchmarks. Bloc doesn't do this. It accepts anyone who has an interest to alter their trajectory, and eases them in to what anyone initiated knows is a challenging skill to learn and master.
Checkpoints present you with a lesson and then giving you coding challenges / problems to complete afterwards. None of these lessons are beyond the scope of what you have learned and many of them challenge you to think beyond a rote use of the code presented -- it challenges you to think of new ways to learn code you have been presented with. This structure is a great entry into the way the coding world actually exists - taking knowledge you know and extending it towards new uses. There are video solutions associated with all problems that are available to watch if you feel like a barrier is too much.
After the primary coding skills are learned, the projects begin. This is where you come to acutally start building applications and a true portfolio. You will be challenged to take a short use case with some direction, but you are primarily responsible for discovering and coding the solution. Bloc offers a lot of projects that cover the prime foundation of the technologies you will use. You don't build massive, epic applications, but you get the skills and knowledge necessary to start crafting such software monoliths.
The main squeeze of Bloc is the mentorship model. I admit that my first mentor experience was off-putting. My first mentor was late often, offered only small pieces of advice and did not push me beyond answering simple project based questions. As some other reviewers have mentioned, this sent me looking for answers elsewhere to extend my knowledge. In the second half of my program I had a completely different experience. I was paired with a mentor who was always on time, pushed me to learn new skills and came to meetings prepared to challenge me to learn new technologies or coding concepts. If you speak up about a poor mentor, Bloc will readily switch someone in to ensure that you are having the best experience. The support team at Bloc is not only responsive, but concerned with ensuring that you get the most from your experience. Any email or concern that I have had has been answered within a few days with solutions readily available.
I have been a student at Bloc for 7 months and before graduating from the Full-Stack course I already have two active interviews, one of which reached a third phase, complete with whiteboards and company-wide meetings. This would have been impossible without Bloc launcing me towards a love and passion for code. As I said before, I knew no code before Bloc, but I am now being considered for full-time Frontend Software Developer positions at established companies. The portfolio and range of projects are of great interest to employers (I suggest you do as many as you can!).
My one (and really, only!) caveat is this: Bloc is not the end all be all. If you rotely complete the curriculum and projects, you will not be ready to perform in job interviews. Though your education and portfolio might get you calls, all the calls I have received are looking to see if you have a fluency and interest / passion for coding. Anyone can learn to write loops and simple jQuery calls. But do you love to code? Do you want to do it for hours a day, week upon week? A simple portfolio will not display this. While as a student of Bloc I have attended meetups, worked on Open Source projects and read books about code to really master the fundamentals. I live on Codewars, completing challenges every day. However without Bloc as my foundation, my ship upon the seas, I'd be flailing about websites creating mediocre projects with fumble grasps on many concepts. Bloc, as it states itself, is the launching pad of a new career -- but you have to be the rocket.
Overall, I highly recommend Bloc. If you put in your passion and interest, and find you love code, Bloc will lay the ground work for a new career and a new trajectory in life. I have gone from teacher to software developer with a passion in a career that a year ago I didn't even consider. Go and get it.
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Patricia Ehrhardt
Self Taught Programmer hits Plateau. What now?
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Bootcamps were never on my radar. I was learning to code via Meetups, Hackathons and online MOOCs. At about the 2 year point of doing this, I hit a plateau. I really couldn't learn anymore without either a structured day to day job doing what I learnt, or a structured environment. So I started researching bootcamps, and took my time.
After a ton of research I chose Bloc for several reasons.
1.) It was all online and allowed me the freedom of time and scheduling to keep working my freelance gigs while attending.
2.) One on One genius Mentoriship is the golden ticket to why Bloc is successful. The caliber of mentors that Bloc chooses may happen behind the scenes, but as a student I see and experience their expertise everyday.
3.) Content is challenging and project based, which is what potential employees want to see.
4.Bloc-Support. There is a ton of support for you on this journey. There is a Slack channel where everyone is awesome and no one makes you feel stupid. There is support if you need more time to grasp concepts, and mentors are availible via email and respond within 1 hour, even with time difference.
Bottom line, Bloc was the best investment I have made in myself in a very long time. -
Alice
Does what it says on the tin!
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I picked Bloc after some thorough research into coding courses. I decided their 6 month full time Full Stack Track was the best choice for me for a complete career change (I was in Accountancy). I was awarded one of their scholoships in diversity, which made the investment in time and money more affordable.
I am proud of what I have achieved and know that the projects I have built and the knowledge I have gained were only possible becasue of the way Bloc works. The track I am on was guided enough that I knew what I wanted to achieve that day or that week, but it was also flexible that if I was struggling or speedng ahead, it could adapt.
By breaking down the projects into 'checkpoints' it means you don't get overwhelmed with a hug task and when you move onto your own projects, you know how to tackle them. Plus it's super satisfying when your mentor marks them complete! Without a doubt my favourite part (and most needed) was my weekly meetings. I got three a week!
My mentor is superb and whatever I want to talk about he can help. In the beginning we mostly talked through stuff I was stuck on but this became less and less frequent because I'm able to work through things on my own (shocker!). He would point out things that are or are not used in industry and give me real examples so I could see what I was working towards.
It was hard work and quite challenging at times but if you put the time in, you'll get there. It's also a process. I'm still learning and expect to be learning for the rest of my life. Sometimes the most challenging part was not to watch Netflix all day.
There's a facebook group and a Slack channel so you can ask fellow students, other mentors and alumni for help, support or just send a funny gif! That way you feel more connected to other people. The staff are also super helpful and quick at getting back to you if you have any issues or want to change pace, or whatever. During my course the curriculum was updated a couple of times and some really cool projects were added.
I'm now coming towards the end of my course and am applying for jobs. Bloc has a career and job prep section which has a wealth of useful info. They help you prepare you LinkedIn and Github pages and even run mock interviews so the first dreaded 'white board' test isn't so scary. In less than a week of sending a few applications out, I've been contacted by three companies, I went to interview yesterday (so fingers crossed). Bloc has definately prepared me for a career change and given me the tools to do so.
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Anonymous
Best Way to Learn to Code, Hands Down
Bloc's model is fantastic -- the extensive curriculum is easy to follow and the weekly calls with a Mentor keep you on track. Highly recommend.
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Michelle
Great Experience + Flexibiltiy
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I'm currently enrolled in the Full Stack course on the 72-week track, and have loved every minute of it! Originally, I enrolled part-time while still working a full time job, but now the online model works perfectly as I'm currently on a year-long RTW trip so I can study and work on my own pace, and still have mentor meetings regardless of the time-zone that I'm in.
Bloc does a great job of pairing up students and mentors based on your needs. My mentor is super flexible and responsive to my questions, even during the times between our meetings. I really appreciate the flexibility to study at my own pace and from any location, as those are some things that I wouldn't have been able to do with a 2-month intensive in-person bootcamp. My learning style works better when I have control over my own time and my own pace, so I believe understanding your learning style is very important when it comes to choosing a bootcamp.
I found the curriculum challenging, but well structured. At the end of the foundations section, I was surprised at how much I had learned and what I had built. Now working on the capstone, and my mentor has been great in sharing resources outside of Bloc (which I feel is a great tool in terms of future work/knowledge).
If you're a prospective student interested in a bootcamp that gives you time to let concepts "sink in", is flexible, and provides 1-to-1 mentor-student interaction, I would highly recommend Bloc!
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Alex Ramirez
Current Student
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I looked at bootcamps for a while. I really wanted to go to a local, two month bootcamp-- I wanted the hands on experience. I had tried to teach myself to code, but when I didn't get something, I kept going down an online rabbit hole trying to find more information, and just ending up more confused then when I started.
Bloc kept coming up, and I kept ignoring it because it was still just "an online school."
But it's so much more. I'm glad I decided to get more information, and ultimately, sign up. The mentorship program makes a world of difference. I don't feel like I'm at it alone. While I'm learning at my own pace, and most importantly, I'm learning HOW to learn coding, having a mentor there to clarify confusing subjects makes it truly feel like I'm learning hands on. Make sure your mentor is a good fit for you. The mentors seem to mostly be top notch, and the advisors really helped with finding me a good one. But unfortunately my first one wasn't good at all. I was able to switch (another great feature of theirs) and now have a mentor who is perfect for me and the way I learn.
Now that I'm in Bloc, I realize that cramming this information into 2 months would be a mistake. Either my understanding of the topic would be hazy, at best, or maybe, the other school's curriculum's aren't that good.
The other wonderful part about Bloc is that I don't have to quit my job, I don't have to spend 10+ hours on a campus, in a lab, hammering the information in. You can pick your pace with Bloc, and learn at the speed that's best for you, and will really make the difference in the end.
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Daniel
The Best Decision of my Life
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Just for a bit of background information, I enrolled in the 9 months Rails Web Development course. At 3 months mark I had finished ~100% of the course (2 projects and capstone). At 8 months mark I had finished ~250% (documented).
You will not regret going to this boot camp. Make sure you find a mentor who is able to meet your needs (your learning style is the most important). Every penny I have spent on this boot camp has not gone to waste, and I would 100% come to Bloc again for another program.
For the 9 month course, it was expected that I put 10-15 hours a week into coding. I ended up putting around 30-40 hours a week (thus 'unofficially' finishing in 3 months). What I really want to talk about though is my apprenticeship experience with my mentor (because this is really what you are paying for).
My mentor saw my motivation and determination to excel and he went over and beyond the amount of hours and meetings that we were meant to have. Even though we are meant to meet once a week over skype for 30-60 minutes, we would end up meeting for 1 - 2 hours, quite often even twice a week. This alone showed me that my mentor was someone who cared for my success. I would also like to say that each mentor that Bloc hires is very experienced in what they do and you should use them to their fullest. Don’t ever be afraid to ask them a stupid question (your mentor won’t judge your question), and they will spend the time with you to make sure you understand everything.
If I was to ever recommend a boot camp, Bloc would be the first on my list (my list of 1). I can tell you for a fact that every program Bloc has to offer is very well made and always improving. People have asked me about my boot camp experience and all I ever tell them is how amazing it was. There is really no other way to explain it aside from it being amazing. Deciding to enroll at Bloc was the best decision I had ever made.
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Stephanie D.
Full Stack - Great Experience
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I researched coding bootcamps for a while before deciding on Bloc. Their program appealed to me the most because it allows you to learn from home, set your own schedule and work one-on-one with a mentor. I didn't want to have to spend hours in traffic going back and forth to a school every day and I like that they allow you to pause your program if you need to.
Enrolling in the Full Stack Program has turned out to be a very good decision for me. I came into this with tons of print graphic design experience but no experience at all with any sort of web design or coding. I was afraid backend would be too hard but, although it's been challenging, I've been able to keep up.
My mentor is very helpful and Bloc connects you with other students for support. I really didn't think my mind was capable of this sort of stuff but it is! I'm currently entering the projects phase of the backend course and I'm look forward to putting what I've learned so far into action.
I'd highly recommend Bloc to anyone looking to add to their skill set or even completely change careers.
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Carl
Excellent Career Preparation
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I heard about Bloc through a friend who had over 10+ years in front end development. He, being more tenured and experienced than my young millenial self, was a trustworthy reference. Bloc turned out to be an incredible experience. I thought I knew Ruby on Rails and Javascript before joining Bloc... and that was all due to self study. However, after going through Bloc, the difference is night and day. The cirriculum is excellent and always improving. You learn through building real world applications in today's most cutting edge languages and frameworks. Your mentor is there to personally push and guide you in the right direction.
It takes a driven and self motivated person to go through Bloc. The difference between Bloc and other code schools is the fact that you aren't forced to sit in a classroom and dedicate 40 hours a week, all the while wondering how you're going to pay your bills. Instead, the program is flexible enough to work around your schedule. I'm extremely happy I went through the Bloc program, they align themselves with you through the entire process!
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Anonymous
From zero to launching my own app just in 2 months
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I'm a current student at Bloc and I'm taking a Full-stack web development course. Next week, my back-end web development part will be over. When I looked at my past two months, I just can't believe how much I have learned at Bloc. Before I started the course, I did not know anything about Rails. Now I have 7 complete projects on my portfolio. It took just two months. Incredible.
1) I like having a mentor. This is a huge help. When I have a question that I can't find a similar question/answer, my mentor give me an answer. It's like a customized answer. Getting answers to my question is good but also it is really nice to hear experienced developer's advices. It is a good guide line.
2) I like that I can take a break anytime when I need to. I had a personal issue earlier so I had to take a time off from my course, I felt relieved that I don't need to worry about getting behind my course. If this was a on-site course, it would be hard to take a time off.
3) I like that I can study at my pace. When I don't understand a certain part, I can spend more time to research deeply so I can understand better.
4) I like the curriculum at Bloc. It certainly teaches so many practical skills that is up-to-date. I enjoy very much learning new skills/tools every time it is introduced. Because Bloc course's explanation is very descriptive and uses a conversational words so it is not hard to understand a new concept.
I wish I started Bloc earlier. I searched many online/on-site bootcamps before I signed up for Bloc. I was thinking too much about which one is good for me. But I am glad that I started at Bloc and I am very excited to start my next Front-end course in 2 weeks!
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Jason C
Near Excellent iOS Course
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Let me start off by saying that this is an online course and not an in person bootcamp where you have an instructor hovering over you to help you with every little difficulty you encounter. Bloc's mentor model is exactly what it sounds like, you have mentor who can help you and guide you, but they are not there to hand hold you or to feed you. So, if you are self motivated, resourceful and can manage your own workload, this course is great for you.
Anyways, Bloc's mentor model is great. Most of the interactions between you and your mentor is over skype (or another chat service). If you have problems with code, you can share your code with your mentor. You start off by learning revision control and the basics of iOS development/objective-C. After the basics, you are thrown into develping a couple of Apps with just a few parameters. These projects are almost 100% free form, as you get to decide how you want to create your app. There are suggestions to guide you in these projects, but the real gem is here is how you utilize your mentor in developing these apps. You do your own research, you share with your mentor, you get feedback then you make your own decision on how to proceed. With your mentor, you can discuss code, design, career, development environment, ideas about apps, pretty much anything you want relating to iOS field. I dont need a bootcamp to learn about code, i can buy books and watch videos for that. However, with a mentorship and a very self driven course, i learned more about best practices, problem solving, workflow, desirable characteristics in being a developer and different perspectives of iOS beyond the work alone. By being semi self driven, i was forced to research, talk to people. Interestingly enough, i was able to slowly expand my network without me even knowing or forcing.
What I am trying to get is that through the mentorship, i learned a lot of other valuable skills that will help me become a better developer beyond the code itself. While I do not know everything about iOS, Swift or Objective-C, i feel comfortable in talking about iOS development and mentally deconstructing how other people's app were built.
One aspect that I did feel Bloc should improve on is the job support. They did have a resume and job search module in their curriculum, but decided to remove it. This is in no way a knock agasint my mentor as he was able to provide me additional support in jobs. But I wish bloc at least should have at least given some samples or advice for job search than to solely rely on the mentor.
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Jack
Gave me the tool I needed for success.
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I wanted to write a review about my time at Bloc.
I joined Bloc while looking for a remote learning opportunity, as I had some schedule constraints and issues that precluded me from joining a full-time bootcamp.
What started as a decision based in practicality, quickly became one of the best decisions I’ve made in my career so far.
The format lends itself to extreme self-sufficiency in developers, a crucial skill in today’s job market.
You work with a senior engineer/mentor that has a vast amount of experience in programming/coding in a high-level business environment.
You meet with one person, and you deal with YOUR learning struggles. If you’ve ever been in a classroom setting where there was one smart kid who kept asking questions way beyond the rest of the class, or the inverse, sitting there bored while everyone else struggled to keep up, this is for you.
You’ll push yourself harder then you’ve likely had to do in your life (I know I did), but you’ll come out of it extremely strong, and able to grow within this field, a crucial requirement to advance your career in development.
Bloc balances the need for autonomy as a developer with simple teaching format extremely well.
I didn’t feel pressure to keep learning beyond the curriculum, but at the same time, I was encouraged and coached to push the boundaries of what was taught, and try and understand things that were interesting to me. My mentor guided me through the resource hunting process, and taught me how to digest material that was beyond the basics.
I learned best practices while operating within a development team, and I learned how to build things on my own. There’s no better feeling.
The pacing of the program is extremely individual as well. If you’re a night owl, work as late as you’d like. If you work part-time? Do a slower pace. Have some off-time from work, and want to get in an extra session? Speed up your pace for a week.
I had a week where I wanted to “take a break”. I reached out to my mentor, and was able to ‘freeze’ the program.
The bottom line: Bloc is extremely motivated to ensure each and every student’s success, provided that they show up motivated to learn.
My advice: show up. It’ll be the best move you ever make.
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Aaron
BLOC is awesome
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Hey,
I took the BLOC Rails Web Development course. It was very detailed and gave me a firm understanding of Ruby on Rails. The mentorship was what made it a valuable deal. I didn't take the full-stack version because I considered myself already front-end oriented. However, it would have been a much better decision for me because all of my front end knowledge wasn't up to date.
Any time I was stuck, I could message my mentor and I would get help within that day. We also had two skype calls per week where we would discuss any issues I had and go over new topics and ideas. I completed a couple of the BLOC projects and I made my own project too. There is also an active Slack community where all of the students and alumni can get to know eachother, ask questions, and share information.
One of the cool parts about the program is that it is a lifetime membership. So as the curriculum changes, I will be able to update my skillset to the latest and greatest changes to rails. I am continuing to take the strong foundation I recieved from BLOC and also using other online resources to keep myself fresh for interviews. I didn't get any job assistance from BLOC but my mentor did lead me through some mock interviews and it was very helpful. I'm currently interviewing for a rails job and I made it to the second interview so fingers crossed.
Now the real question. "What would make BLOC.io even better?"
I think having more interactivity in the lessons would be helpful. mini quizzes and code challenges in each feature. To the point where it is very repetitive, because repetition caters to learning new things. Whatever prevents "copy & paste" learning. There really isn't much to change though, it is a well designed program.
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Bryan
Finally feel ready to launch a startup
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I struggled with the decision to attend a bootcamp in the first place, as I had a full-time job and two young kids at home. But I am so glad I did. No lighter-weight tutorials would have given me the confidence to move forward on starting a company, which is what I really want to do with my life. Here are a few key points:
a. The curriculum is tough: the Rails foundational project is a fairly serious app for a beginner, not like the many happy-path tutorials that are out there. It cuts no corners, is very up to date with best practices, and will be available to me for years afterward. A "Resources Library" comes with it.
b. The pace of the program allows you to go deep into the "why." I didn't have any peer pressure rushing me along, so when something interested me, I dug into it.
c. Bloc teaches you to teach yourself. My mentors were great because they taught me to fish, as the saying goes. There will always be tons of things to learn, and even though I'm just beginning, I feel confident I can level up.
d. You learn how to deal with frustration. My learning curve felt flat for a looonnnggg time, and then all of a sudden it went vertical - everything fell into place at once because I had stuck with it.
My only regret is that I didn't use the Bloc Slack and Facebook communities to find others who were moving through the same part of the course as me - a buddy would have been great. But if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't hesitate to choose Bloc.
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Adinah Greene
Great experience
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My mentors have been very accommodating with me and I'm able to pace myself in the coursework. Traditional dev bootcamp in-person wouldn't work for me, since I don't have enough savings to live without an income for 4 months, and I also have my doubts anything would sink in within 4 months. Bloc allows me to set my own priorities and schedule. The mentors are always available to me, even outside of regular schedules. It's like having a private tutor. Highly recommend for the mid-career professional with a family (exactly the type that tech should be trying to diversify with! :)
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David
Career change with Bloc
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I began Bloc to change my career from landscape design to web development. I chose to enroll in the Full Stack Web Dev Track which teaches you Ruby on Rails for the first half of the course and then for the second half swaps to front-end development utilizing JavaScript and jQuery. I feel like the overall flow of the coursework was excellent with a hands-on appraoch that fit my learning style well. I am currently still looking for a job but I feel with the tools and knowlede I learned from Bloc I will have no trouble finding a postiion.
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Tatiana Zambrano
Bloc has increased my knowledge
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I'm glad my supervisor suggested for me to take this class. Bloc has changed my life and so many ways. I feel that during the length of the course so far I have learned so much. From designing webpages to creating html pages.
I would like to add that having a great mentor has made my learning so much better. I will recommend Bloc and my mentor, Luca Leone, to anybody interested in taking a class like this.
Tatiana Zambrano
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Thomas
Changed my career with Bloc
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Bloc was essential to my transition from law to Product Design. The program matches you with a mentor and this feature alone makes it all worth while. I met with my mentor twice a week over the course of 5 months. It was a big transition for me and more than once I felt too discouraged to continue, but my mentor kept me going. 2 months after graduation I accepted a position as a Product Designer. Couldn't have done it without Bloc.
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Erika
Got A lot For The Price
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Having been through a previous coding bootcamp that charged and arm and a leg to find my first taste of the darker side of the tech world, I went to Bloc because it provided a means to learn more than just code in a way where the typical brogrammer mentality didn't exist. I found dedicated , with years of experience under their belt mentors that helped shape what the real world was looking for. I took the Design track so it included three months of full time UX work and 3 months of full time Front End Development. My UX portion was invaluable. I was mentored by someone that I have major respect for, for his tactful techniques of guiding me away from disaster into things that were not only aesthetically pleasing but intelligent in their design. I was pleased with my front end course because my mentor let me blaze some new trails doing projects that spoke to me instead of making me stay on a strict track. For that I am eternally greatful because it allowed me to find the fun in code. All in all , there were some minor blips but when aren't there in anything i would give this my full reccommendation for someone that doesn't have the money for a bootcamp or likes to learn in a different way than the typical programming camp does. Their capstone projects also led me into being accepted at an accelorator and starting my own company.
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Dan
Build your Developer Vocabularly
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I took Bloc because I wanted to develop my technical vocabularly with one-on-one guidance from a mentor.
My mentor was knowledgeable, dilligent, and genuinely invested in my success. He responded well to feedback and helped me address numerous pain points. More than teach me the nuances of code, he helped coach me to think like a developer.
The curriculum is an excellent primer for beginners, though it can lack depth. Checkpoints and assignments in the foundation section can be easy to plow through if you're at all familair with HTML/CSS/JS. The real meat of the course is the projects/capstones part of the course, which I thought was great for its flexibility.
At the end of the day - like most bootcamps - you get out what you put in. Committment can be the hardest part, but if you're dedicated and willing to learn, Bloc is a great resource for learning to code on your own time.
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Nicole Johnson
The Bloc UX Bootcamp experience is Awesome!
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I was very pleased with my UX experience because I was making a major career change (from manufacturing/quality to UX design) and have been self taught up until joining the Bloc program. I wanted an experience that would give me some technical skills as well as provide me some personal 1x1 feedback. The curriculum and mentoring experience has done just that. I have a great mentor and we stay connected while I continue to build my business. She offers valuable and honest feedback on how well I'm doing and where I can improve. I received a tuition reimbursement for this course which fit perfectly in the price range of the UX design course so I can't recommend Bloc enough for those who are trying to get started in this industry. Since I'm not quite finished yet, I will have to see how the portfolio and job search components are, but so far, I'm very pleased.
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Matt
UX Course & Front End Course
I completed both the UX and Front End Development courses and really enjoyed my time. I learned a ton and feel like I now have the skills to pursue my dream. The instructors (mentors) were personally invested in my success and the curriculum was all very current and I could tailor it to what I wanted to learn.
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A. H.
Love the UX course
I chose Bloc for a few reasons:
- It was one of the few places the offered a UX course
- It had mentoring
- ... and I wouldn't have to quit my day job to attend.
I'm really happy with my mentor and with the course offerings, though I feel that if I hadn't already had a design background I'd be a little lost.
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Brian
Frontend Web Dev - Learn by building
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I love the Bloc Frontend Wed Dev curriculum and method of educating and training. More than just learning syntax and negotiating tutorials, Bloc gives you the opportunity to apply what you've learned into real world applications built using the tools that develpers utitlize daily. Having a real world, experienced Mentor that works with you pair-programming is beyond valuable in picking up best methods for conceptualizing and actualizing your application builds. Being completely green to programming, I was intitially intimidated until I got into the program and realized that having questions is commonplace and encouraged and is ultimately, the key to learning development. Bloc has great resources to take advantage of with the Bloc Student's Slack channel and the Bloc Hacker Club too. I learned a lot at Bloc and , most importantly, I learned how best to learn development at Bloc.
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Daniel Johnson
UX Design Review
I would recommend this UX Design mentor led course to anyone. I have been a software developer for many years and yet, this course has helped me to become more relevant in my job bringing in the latest UX UI techniques. The mentor was very helpful guiding me through the projects. I have no job hunting in my future but can see how this would help in the job market.
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Anonymous
UX Design Course
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I'm extremely impressed by how current Bloc's curriculum is. I also love how the course builds a slow and steady foundation, breaking every step in the process of designing and coding a web product into bite-size, easily digestible pieces. I think the method of teaching in the foundation course is perfect as you don't have to make a ton of decisions but focus on learning as many new skills as possible (ranging from software, coding to processes). I think that's a great approach, because a lot of designers tend to cripple themselves very early on, bogged down by needing to make multiple decisions, and Bloc solves that problem. It makes it easy to keep moving forward. Also, the mentors here are SUPERLATIVE. They are extremely well-rounded and great at helping you sort through ideas, framing problems and explaining things to you. I can't say enough good things about my mentor. He's been awesome.
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Ingrid
Full Stack Web Designer Track
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I joined Bloc back in April of 2015, before the Full Stack Web Designer track went down for awhile and came back as Full Stack Product Designer track.
I decided to join Bloc as a way to completely change careers, and as a replacement for attending an in-person bootcamp. While I was living in Chicago, I had applied to and been accepted by General Assembly for the Full Stack Developer course. However, before I could start that course, my boyfriend and I moved to Japan. We moved because we acceoted a one-year teaching contract near Tokyo, and I decided that during that year, I would work as hard as I could to gain the skills in order to start a new career once the contract ended.
Before joining Bloc I did a lot of research on different online bootcamps and free courses. I am a highly motivated person, so at first I thought free courses or monthly subscriptions would work well for me. However, I am completely new to the tech field, and I read about how hard it was to work at something without a more experienced person at your side giving you feedback. That's what appealed to me about Bloc. Working one-on-one with a mentor, getting feedback on my designs, and pair coding (when I was in the frontend course) really helped me grow, stay motivated, and feel more accountable for my work.
I am now finished with the program (a few weeks ago) and have already snagged myself some in-house freelance UX design work. For someone who was not previously in the industry, my effort and experience with Bloc was enough to get people to notice me and consider what I've done valid! I really owe it to Bloc for helping me start new CAREER and not just help me get my next job (which is what I've been doing for the past five years).
My only criticism is the lack of real, tangible, products to show potential employers. In all of the interviews I've had for full-time positions, the main criticism I've walked away with is that I don't have enough experience with designing real products. A portfolio full of beautiful (fake) projects is nice, but if future employers can't google even one real-life example, it really kills your chances at succeeding in the interview.
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Toby
Design
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I went into Bloc's UX/UI track with no design experience at all. After finishing the course I can honestly say I am confident in my abilities as a Designer. Bloc teaches you the fundamentals in their curriculum phase, but the student gets to enhance the experience with his/her selected mentor. Not only will you come out of this course with good design sense, but you'll also increase your HTML/CSS and JS skills. Other UX courses out there focus on only one or a few aspects of design, but Bloc hits on all of them: research, UX, interaction, prototyping, and development. You can find a lot of design bootcamps that guide their students to building a portfolio through a website builder only. At Bloc you'll be given that option, but you'll also be pushed and challenged to design and develop your own portfolio from scratch. So basically if you put the time in you can be skilled enough to be on your way to becoming a Full-Stack Designer.
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Alex
Design Track
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I would like to start out by saying that I had no prior design or coding knowledge before attending Bloc. I can say without a doubt that attending Bloc has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I wanted to make the transition into design and web development, but I didn't want to travel to go to a bootcamp. I did some research and decided to attend Bloc. The mentors I had were above my expectations they knew their stuff. I could see myself over the months start to think like a ux designer. I made amazing projects with feedback from my mentors and I made a portfolio. Which I'm proud to say landed me a full time job as a UX Designer. I would reccomend this to anyone who wants to make a career change. It has been one of the best decisions of my life.
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Derrick Morton
Becoming a Bloc'er
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I joined Bloc, in October of last year; I did a lot of research on coding bootcamps before choosing Bloc (General Assembly, Hack Reactor, Coding Dojo, Iron Yard, Fullstack Academy, Flatiron School and Thinkful) just to name a few. The main reason I joined Bloc was the fact that you are allowed to work with a mentor, I really needed that one-on-one time bouncing ideas off of a more experience developer as well a venting my frustrations to. They are also super helpful, caring about you and they want you to succeed. I also needed a program that was flexible, online or had to be local to where I was (Atlanta).
I was already in the industry before I joined Bloc. I started out as a graphic designer in college and slowly moved into the web. I was able to quickly pick up CSS and HTML but struggled a lot with learning the programming dynamic with JavaScript, It was always my Achilles heel in job interviews.
Now that I am nearly finished with my program, I can say that I have a lot more confidence when I am writing code than what I used to have. I believe in my new abilities to research and find an answer to a complicated programming issue that I (and you) will undoubtedly encounter, which I find much more valuable. Everything you need to succeed in this program, you already have within you and that is the desire to learn. Just like taking on anything new in life whether that be playing an instrument or going to the gym and getting in shape, the best way to achieve your goals and get better at it is constant repetition and consistency.
I enjoyed this program so much that I will be looking to join the Software Engineering program once I've completed my current Frontend program.
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Carlos
Bloc so far
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I started at Bloc about 3 months ago, and I have to say that it is a very challenging course.
Your life as a developer won't be easy, so your commitment building habits and daily routines is the most important difference between a good outcome and a bad one.
I personally felt discouraged and lost more than once, coming from a completely different background, and while having a daily job that more than often changes my working hours and weekly days last minute.
Even so, the team has been open to any request, allowing me to extend my course and spread it more in time; my mentor is tough and prepared, and so far he is a good fit for me.
The course, as I said, is challenging; but it is well explained and prepares you for your life on your own in this field.
Just this: don't expect a team of distant people that will not be there. I can message my mentor at any time, and have a skype session with my student advisor if I need to.
I cannot speak for the job assistance so far, but I will update my review as soon as I get to build my portfolio and deal with the career prep team.
I live in a middle eastern country and I could adjust my mentor sessions according to my timezone.
Kind and passionate people.
I recommend it.
PS
Might have some grammar mistakes as I am Italian, hope you get the point tho :)
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Stephen W.
Bloc == Hope
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I am currently enrolled in the 72-week part-time Software Engineering Track and love it! My background is a business degree and experience in banking and insurance so needless to say... Coding is completely new to me. I started with working through some Codecademy courses to see if I liked it and then decided to get serious and that is when I started to consider a bootcamp. Unfortunately I have financial commitments, a life to live and just can't quit to go somewhere for an intensive course like that... and I'm very glad I couldn't because that led me to Bloc.io
The program itself allows me the flexibility to make this big change in life but at my own pace, on my own terms. And through the Software Engineering Track specifically, I can make this change in more depth than some bootcamp would. In short, this program gave me hope that I can find a new career and get out of my current situation through hard work and their help. The curriculum is excellent, my mentor is knowledgeable and personable and I couldn't be happier with both. And on top of that, the customer service has been top-notch. Any minor issues have been quickly and professionally resolved.
In the program you work through foundation courses and then move on to a pre-set project list you can choose two from or even work on your own idea for a capstone project if you want. Once that has been completed you have career-prep work and can build a portfolio. Overall it is a very comprehensive system and I would recommend it to anyone interested.
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David Forero
Great learning expirience
I have been enrolled for over 3 months in the software engineer program at bloc. Awesome learning expirience with my mentor. I have learned so much in so little time. Definitely recommend it.
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Jason Divosevic
Bloc is AWESOME!
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I am currently a student enrolled in Bloc's 48-week, full-time Software Engineering track and 8 weeks in at the time of this review.
When I decided to pursue a career shift into software development I did extensive research on both local and online bootcamps before deciding to enroll with Bloc and have been more than pleased with my selection.
The Bloc experience has been exactly what I hoped and expected it would be. The curriculum starts out quick and introduces you to tons of awesome information which initially I found overwhelming, but by week 3 I started to feel some comfort. Assignments are fun and challenging.
My favorite part about Bloc is having a mentor to guide me through the progam. Bloc has an amazing group of mentors that you get to choose from. My mentor and I have three scheduled calls a week where we discuss current course work, industry related topics and sometimes just life in general. Between calls my mentor is always there for me should I feel stuck or overwhelmed and we comminucate frequently via email, IM and screen sharing.
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Anonymous
Amazing Learning Experience!!
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I've signed up to Blocs new software engineering program, just completed the rails portion of the program and found that it has given me a good foundation to explore the more complex problems i wish to solve.
I went into this program with 0 knowledge or experience with ruby on rails, i have dabbled in html, css and javascript. I found the experience quite challenging, but whenever you get stuck you have a community on slack and your mentor to get you through them.
It is an amazing program and good place to learn the foundations of programming but you have to put in the hard work.
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Tomasz S.
One of a kind.
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I'm currently a student about two months into the Software Engineering track. I've limited prior knowledge of the material. BASIC and Codeacademy was mainly the past experience. I picked this program after reading many reviews of all the new boot camp schools. Doing the 3 month, 100 hours a week program was not for me. Plus, most of those are only in the big cities around the country. Online suits me better as I live about an hour away from NYC. This does cost more and takes more time but it dives deeper into the ever changing demands in the workplace of software enginnering. The advisor is there to help but not to do your work. He will help you, motivate you and show you ways of solving complex problems. You must have self discipline and great time management skills to be successful. The program is designed from scratch, not pulled from another site. The satisfaction comes and confidence builds slowly but the progress is definately visible only after a short time. This is not easy and not for everybody. It will get frustrating but debugging is part of life. Too early to rate the Job Assistance part. Time to code.