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Bloc is now Thinkful
As of 2/4/21, Bloc is now Thinkful; the curriculum and community will not change.
If you graduated from Bloc prior to Feb 4, 2021, please leave your review for Bloc. Otherwise, please leave your review for Thinkful.
To view updated and accurate information, please visit the Thinkful Course Report page.
Bloc is an online coding bootcamp that incorporates 1-on-1 mentorship to prepare each student for a career as a professional software engineer or UX/UI designer. Bloc's apprenticeship approach is tailored specifically to each student's learning needs. In the Web Developer Bootcamp, the curriculum is centered around frontend JavaScript and students can choose whether to learn Ruby on Rails or server-side JavaScript with Node. Bloc’s project-based curriculum is written by expert curriculum developers and vetted by their advisory board comprised of hiring managers. Students work with mentors 1-on-1 to clarify concepts, pair program, and build a portfolio of sites that will demonstrate job readiness as a professional software engineer. Not everyone can quit their job or move to a new city for a bootcamp, so Bloc has designed a comprehensive bootcamp with this in mind. Students can enroll full-time, or complete the program at a part-time pace. Bloc also offers 80 hours per week of real-time access to an experienced developer to answer any questions students may have.
No prior development experience is required to enroll in Bloc, but a strong desire to learn and take on challenges will be important in each student's success! Bloc has a 100% acceptance rate, but is looking for students who are driven, hard-working, and ready to learn.
Career readiness is important to Bloc- their flagship Track programs include job preparation material and career prep workshops. Mentors will help students put together a portfolio and prepare technical interview questions. When ready, students work with the Career Support team to navigate the job search process with an individualized game plan and exposure to Bloc's Employer Network.
Hello All!
Wanted to share my bloc experience so far, but wanted to give some context as to which other bootcamp types of services I had considered and why.
There were a couple of other bootcamps I wanted to do. I had recently found myself out of a job, and had to consider what to do next by doing some soul searching. I had been doing Coursera specializations in Java and Python, but they were highly academic, and I didn't have ANY git experience whatsoever. In looking t...
Hello All!
Wanted to share my bloc experience so far, but wanted to give some context as to which other bootcamp types of services I had considered and why.
There were a couple of other bootcamps I wanted to do. I had recently found myself out of a job, and had to consider what to do next by doing some soul searching. I had been doing Coursera specializations in Java and Python, but they were highly academic, and I didn't have ANY git experience whatsoever. In looking to move towards a software developer role, I poked around different courses I could take online, and by chance stumbled upon the "bootcamp" style coding courses.
There were a couple that were $0 up front, and you would be charged on hire after graduation, 20% of your starting salary. These sounded very appealing, mainly because of the no/low cost up front. However, 80-90 hours a week would make it impossible to work. I have a family, and if I'm not working, health insurance costs would go through the roof every day I was without a job.
So, I found Bloc, and some other coding bootcamps that allowed a more lenient time commitment per week.
Of these, I weeded out the ones with what I considered the weaker curriculums, and the ones that forced you to choose between a slow 10hour a week pace OR an 80 hour a week pace.
Bloc was the only one that allowed flexibility to choose the pace I felt comfortable with, and even scale back IF I found myself a bit too over my head. That is, I signed up for the 30ish hour a week pace. Before starting, I asked if I could scale back to 15 hour a week pace if I found that whatever job I found myself in would require me to. They said that it was OK and totally doable. So, this was also a + in my favor.
I decided to go with them down the Software developer path. They seemed flexible, and also had a curriculum that would go in the direction I wanted to.
Once I started, they did use some 3rd party company for the basic "get to know Javascript", "get to know git", "get to know HTML/CSS", "get to know HTML5", which was interesting in that I didn't expect to get a redirect for this. Don't re-invent the wheel I guess? :)
However, I looked at it as the "Intro" part of the course where the foundations were laid to move on to the more valueable, interesting, portolio building stuff.
So far, I just finished the first Angular section. Not sure if this is indicative of the following sections, but from my experience, it was good. Let me elaborate.
Initially, after the foundation/intro section, there were some projects that were easy in the sense that there was a certain amount of hand holding, and walking through the project. This was great in the sense that it gave you a feel for the code, for angular, for JS, for jquery, as well as building your GIT chops via github, without really having to majorly bust your brains, getting stuck, as well as getting frustrated. There were some places in the hand holding section that I would get stuck, but it was nothing major.
Then came the second section, which was an abrupt awakening. Basically the equivalent of being thrown off of the deep end and given some checkpoints to do on angular.
Here, you test out how much you learned previously. Of course, you realize that you didn't learn a dam thing because you were being guided, and your recourse is to dig through documentation, dig through stack overflow, dig through your previous work and lessons to find hints, and ask your mentor for some help to get unstuck.
Definitely more frustrating because there is the potential to get stuck, and that is never a fun feeling. It's like being stuck in the middle of the ocean with a life preserver that is getting slowly waterlogged. You feel like any direction you swim is not giving you any returns.
But you have to keep at it. I've gotten myself unstuck, and then it's glorious. Why? because after you do this, you'll be dam sure you learned. :)
I have also gotten help getting unstuck from my mentor as well, and... after some really difficult sections, we've had a debrief, and he gives me some perspectives/tips on how to look at the section/checkpoint that had just been conquered.
Also, in between these sections, there have been career checkpoints where you're not coding, but rather are looking at the market, at your preferences, and start to prepare you little by little towards landing a job in software development.
It helps to start to think about this stuff early, given that it starts to give you direction, even though you're not actively thinking about it. That way, you're coding, and thinking of projects that you can develop that are in a direction that you want to go in.
As far as mentors go, I've only had 2 so far. For the foundations section, was enthusiastic and excellent. Always on time, always above and beyond with regards to helping out, giving context, and explaining things.
My second instructor I chose because he had a lot of real world experience, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was in the same life stage as myself (married). In fact, a bit further along than myself (he's got a wife and kids). I thought it would be good to get a mentor who would understand not only working with code to earn a living, but also understand having a family and get direct or indirect feedback on how to balance as well as possible. As for him as a mentor, he has gotten me unstuck with certain problems, and can point me to very good material to get some more context. Because of his experience, the added value that he's been able to give me is that he tries not to repeat things that I can read on my own, or that have been explained many many times in classical programming material. He gives me his take, from a perspective that is not really found online, or if it is, it is hiding in between the lines & behind the bushes of a stack overflow thread. He gives me a different take from a different angle, and this helps in understanding things in a broader sense.
Ultimately I did get a job somewhere else, and Bloc's pace is perfect in the sense that I can work and learn, without having to give up the quality in the time I put into it for either.
I can't really rate job assistance yet given that I haven't gotten to later within the program, however job guidance so far has been great in setting the context to why I'm coding.
This program has many positive aspects to it, but there are some realities that I wish I knew before signing up.
Pros: I am very excited with my portfolio. The effort that you put into work, definitely reflects the final outcome of your portfolio. When I addressed my concerns and frustrations, the program coordinators were very accomodating extending my schedule. The curriculum is constantly being updated and is accessible for students after they are finished with the program....
This program has many positive aspects to it, but there are some realities that I wish I knew before signing up.
Pros: I am very excited with my portfolio. The effort that you put into work, definitely reflects the final outcome of your portfolio. When I addressed my concerns and frustrations, the program coordinators were very accomodating extending my schedule. The curriculum is constantly being updated and is accessible for students after they are finished with the program.
Cons: I went through many different mentors and grading team members and the quality varies. Some are excellent and very professional - others had much less to offer in terms of experience and suggestions. Since the program is online, it seems that the coordination is not in sync between the grading team, the mentor, and the slack coaches - so it feels very disjointed and confusing at times. The checkpoints are often set-up in a way where you need to finish one before moving on to the next one. The grading team is supposed to give feedback within 48 hours, but many times for me this extended up to 4-5 days! This was frustrating for me to keep the momentum going, especially since the grading team usually asks for at least 2-3 revisions. I am a good student and always tried my best, so I found this scenario to be extremely frustrating. With a goal of 3 checkpoints per week (while working and studying), this situation was not maintainable when I was waiting so long for feedback.
Final thoughts: I know the program has grown big quickly and it feels to be increasingly disconnected (especially with recent changes). I was feelling lost in a series of checkpoint revisions between mentors, grading team, and coaches, who would say conflicting things then leave me lost until the next meeting or checkpoint revision feedback. I didn't feel like they were fully there and available for me, but rather waiting for the time to be up. Even the slack coaches who were supposed to be available immediately, usually had a whole queue of other students to help and half the time responded with things like "i'm about to clock out! will forward to next coach." - and very often I just left the question.
These are just some things that I wish I knew going into the program because I could have better prepared myself for the experience. I am certainly surprised by all the solid 5 star reviews - and I do recall being asked to leave feedback about 1 week into the program before I had the full experience of it - so take the other reviews with a grain of salt! I suggest researching deeply into the various programs before choosing, so you make sure that you join a bootcamp with the cirriculum and support system that you can thrive in.
I'm surprised to see that there are so many straight-up positive reviews of Bloc. I'm a graduate of the Designer program, I can say they got some things right and some things still need work. I'll start with the not-so-great. The curriculum around front end dev felt piecemeal and choppy. I had to slow down a lot during those sections to seek out other resources because their lessons were confusing. The self-paced program made it easy to get more time to slow down when I needed to.
...I'm surprised to see that there are so many straight-up positive reviews of Bloc. I'm a graduate of the Designer program, I can say they got some things right and some things still need work. I'll start with the not-so-great. The curriculum around front end dev felt piecemeal and choppy. I had to slow down a lot during those sections to seek out other resources because their lessons were confusing. The self-paced program made it easy to get more time to slow down when I needed to.
I had different 5 mentors in the 14 months it took me to complete the program. Some gave constructive criticism but others just patted me on the head and said "good job". That was frustrating at points, however, it was very easy to change mentors when I wasn't satisfied, and I recommend changing if you're not getting what you want out of your mentor sessions.
I'm the kind of person who likes to collaborate, so I felt pretty lonely in my work for most of the time I was in Bloc. I recommend engaging as much as possible with the social channels on Slack and going to events/meetups early on to connect with other designers.
I appreciated how much emphasis there was on career prep and how much support I got in my job search. Job searching is the worst kind of boring work you'll ever have to do and it takes a lot of energy to stay motivated. My career coach was very supportive and helped me get to the point where I felt confident sending out my portfolio, resume, LinkedIn profile, etc.
I supplemented a lot of the curriculum with my own reading list. Bloc, for example, might just say "make a user survey", but not address how to approach it or what makes a good survey question. There are plenty of books and articles on the subject, so I would suggest building in some time for non-required reading and research.
UX is an emerging field that is changing all the time and Bloc is making an effort to remain flexible and change with it. I appreciate that they are really good about asking for feedback and constantly making changes to improve the program.
Overall, I would say this program is challenging and you have to bring a lot of intention, motivation, and curiosity to be successful. You will probably be frustrated with it at some points, but the people are great and it's a good value for the price point.
Employed in-field | 75.0% |
Full-time employee | 52.5% |
Full-time apprenticeship, internship or contract position | 22.5% |
Short-term contract, part-time, or freelance | 0.0% |
Started a new company or venture after graduation | 0.0% |
Not seeking in-field employment | 0.0% |
Employed out-of-field | 0.0% |
Continuing to higher education | 0.0% |
Not seeking a job for health, family, or personal reasons | 0.0% |
Still seeking job in-field | 25.0% |
Could not contact | 0.0% |
How much does Bloc cost?
Bloc costs around $9,600. On the lower end, some Bloc courses like Web Developer Track cost $8,500.
What courses does Bloc teach?
Bloc offers courses like Design Track, Web Developer Track.
Where does Bloc have campuses?
Bloc teaches students Online in a remote classroom.
Is Bloc worth it?
The data says yes! In 2019, Bloc reported a 0% graduation rate, a median salary of $62,400, and 75% of Bloc alumni are employed. The data says yes! In 2016, Bloc reported a 41% graduation rate, a median salary of $65,411, and 80% of Bloc alumni are employed.
Is Bloc legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 477 Bloc alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Bloc and rate their overall experience a 4.61 out of 5.
Does Bloc offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like Bloc offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read Bloc reviews?
You can read 477 reviews of Bloc on Course Report! Bloc alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Bloc and rate their overall experience a 4.61 out of 5.
Is Bloc accredited?
While bootcamps must be approved to operate, accreditation is relatively rare. Bloc doesn't yet share information about their accreditation status.
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