Bottega

I found that I ended up (and still am) paying for what I felt was nothing more than a glorified YouTube channel. My first mentor was rude and I generally got the feeling that it was better to just figure it out myself. With that being said I fell behind in the curriculum because I felt it was pointless to reach out for help. I got a very strong sense of gatekeeping. This was an experience that opened the door for me yet at the same time set me back 2 years as I can't start school again until I've paid off my loan for this ultimately disappointing experience.

I researched several boot camps before choosing Bottega and I'm glad I did. The instructor was with us every day with the goal of making sure we understood the material. Was it intense? For sure! I mean this is web development! But repetition breeds familiarity so hard work and success in the program go hand in hand. I read beforehand many people recommending part time instead of a full time boot camp. I would say now that is wrong. You want an instructor with you. Go full time. Also, embrace the struggle. You're going to struggle for sure, but that is where the deepest learning happens. Mistakes are fantastic because you remember them and learn a lesson! To sum up, go to Bottega and go full-time! You won't regret it!

For me I am a person who learns best in good environments and good teaching, at first I was scared about doing this. However I have a feeling this is going to be one of the best decisions I will ever do. learning from my teacher Alex was amazing, he is by far the best teacher I have ever had he has amazing patients and is so knowledgeable  it made learning fun.  I believe this a great start for anyone who wants to start learning how to code and I could not recommend this course enough. 

I wouldn’t say that I had a bad experience taking this course but I definitely think it’s overpriced. I took the part time course and the content wasn’t bad. It was Python backend and react front end with some systems design stuff. I ended up graduating relatively quickly and the main reason I signed up for this is because of their job assistance program. Everything seemed to go smoothly until I graduated. Their job assistance program is worthless unless you live in Salt Lake City. I got zero help finding a job. My advice is go to Udemy and learn there and then add a bunch of recruiters on LinkedIn. You’ll have better luck. 

If I could give this zero stars I would.
I attended Bottega almost five years ago, before it was accredited, and I absolutely did not receive the instruction that I secured a loan for. The instructor for the first half of my bootcamp was on meth, having sex with a student, and when he didn't feel like teaching he had us watch a movie. When this teacher clearly had to be replaced, he was replaced with an instructor who couldn't answer our questions, wasted our time in class telling long personal stories, and spent the last handful of days in class trying to teach us how to interview for a job when we couldn't even demonstrate a firm knowledge of coding. I signed up for a coding class, not an interview prep class. I complained to both owners while in the program and both told me that our replacement instructor was "new to teaching so give him time." He had just graduated from Bottega's course not long before so that tells you his level of knowledge. I secured a loan for this course for ELEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS and that was the level of instruction I was receiving in return. I worked as hard as I could, doing extra studying outside of class, and "graduated" (whatever that means because everyone graduated - there was no test at the end to show if you passed or failed or where you needed extra help) without having the knowledge I needed to succeed but I decided I needed to continue pursuing this path because I just took out this giant loan to change career paths.
Bottega promoted a job opportunity with a man, who they allowed to hold meetings out of the Bottega office, who needed someone to assist in teaching a bootcamp at his school. This man held interviews out of the Bottega office for this position and after interviewing, I was offered the job and was congratulated by all of the Bottega staff and told what a great opportunity it was. This man jerked me around for MONTHS telling me the job would start soon and it never did. Come to find out, this man didn’t even have a functioning company to employ me at. How dare Bottega promote someone as a person that they know and trust but clearly had not vetted, and then encourage me to accept the offer. They positioned it as a good first job after the bootcamp but it was a complete sham. I cut my losses with that "opportunity" and decided to pursue other interviews but with the poor level of training provided at Bottega, the only ones I could get were for less than entry level positions with salaries far below what was promised. I was promised that upon completion of the bootcamp I could get a junior developer position starting at a decent salary; however, I had to take a job that is not in the web development industry in order to make a salary comparable to what I had before the bootcamp. Perhaps Bottega has gotten their act together in the last few years since they became accredited, but they were a mess when I attended and they absolutely did not provide the education that was promised.
I refused to pay my loan (secured through the school, not a student loan since the school was not accredited at the time) and assumed that they realized that they could not in good conscience ask me to pay that money because I haven't heard from them in years. Now almost five years later they are sending me to collections.
Don't waste your money on this rip off.

I loved my experience at Bottega. I literally went from zero coding experience to getting a Jr. Developer job in 12 weeks. The course is designed in a way that exposes students to information, and then has them practice with hands on experience the concept they just learned. For me, this was the most efficient and effect way to learn. I loved my teacher, my classmates, and the CTO who made all the videos we watch is great.
The most important thing however, was the honesty and genuine nature of the program. Everyone involved in Bottega I felt was honest and really desired my success. I always felt encouraged and motivated because of the culture created within Bottega. I recommend this program to anyone who wants to get into the tech industry. 10/10!