BrainStation

Faculty at Wyncode Academy was encouraging and gave me all the tools I needed to succeed. Shortly after graduating I received a great opportunity with GE. Every step of the way, from Admissions to Pitch Day, and even after, was filled with support. I had no prior experience in Computer Science before Wyncode. This is an intensive curriculum that taught me to code and share valuable soft skills as well. Attending Wyncode Academy was one of the best decisions I ever made.

"Amazing Experience"

BrainStation's Full Time Full Stack Web Development Program was an incredible experience that helped my skills as a developer grow exponentially.

Prior to attending this course, I had spent eight months self-teaching myself basic web development skills. I decided to take the full stack web development course to build a stronger foundation in web development and increase my confidence in my skills. After having finished this course, I can honestly say that I have achieved these goals and so much more. I learned more from the 10 weeks I had spent attending this course than I did from months of self-teaching. I attribute this success to Jonathan, the lead instructor and the two teaching assistants Nic and Anthony.

Jonathan is an incredibly motivating and inspiring educator that brings out the best in his students. His enthusiasm for web development and technology makes learning from him so easy. The material Jonathan decided to include in the curriculum was well thought out as we covered technologies that are the most recent and relevant in the tech industry. I feel that this has given us a competitive advantage in the job market.

Along with his remarkable teaching ability, Jonathan fostered an environment where we as a class were given many opportunities to learn with each other, as well as pursue our own passions. Through this, I have learned and became friends with some incredible individuals. I also learned more about the joys of being a developer and what ultimately drives me creatively. These outcomes are invaluable.

Finally, Jonathan and the teaching assistants, Nic and Anthony were invested and committed to the students' success throughout the entire program. They have always been approachable and offered support and motivation when any of us were going through difficult times. This meant a lot to us. There were many times in the past 10 weeks where they would stay in during lunch time to help students or answer our questions after hours and during the weekends. While they always were willing to lend a hand, they would never explicitly tell us the answers to our questions because that is not the most optimal way to learn. They know that being a successful web developer entails being able to critically think and problem solve as we will not be spoon fed while working in the field.

Overall, BrainStation's Full-Time Full Stack Web Development program blew me away. I have become a much better programmer and I have created meaningful friendships along the way. 
I would recommend this course to anyone that wants to improve their skills as a developer, whether they are new or experienced. This program is much about what you put into it. This program is not for people who are selfish, close-minded and/or expect to have their hand held. If you put in the effort to be in class on time, work with others and study on your own time this program will be a positive experience for you. With the proper mindset, in combination with Jonathan as your lead educator, you are in a great position to be successful.

I was looking for a school for coding and feel extremely lucky to have found Wyncode. The school is like a family! Everyone is there to help you learn and make sure you succeed. Ed the main instructor is a coding genius but at the same time an amazing teacher that has so much patience for every student. The TAs are always available, guiding  and giving extra help. The school is built around making sure the students are understanding what they are learning but that they are also in a comfortable and happy environment. I strongly recommend Wyncode and feel lucky and proud to be part of the Wynfamily! 

I just graduated from Wyncode and it was an amazing experience. The high quality of the instructors combined with the well planned lectures and the unconditional assistance of the TAs make Wyncode a great school. I feel the tools acquired during the course are super powerfull to getting started as a Web Developer. Thank you Wynfam, especially Ed, Angel, Don, Henry, Israel, Cece.   

My experience at Brainstation has been super great! I was really impressed with the relevant, up-to-date content and overall learning environment. I took the UI Design Course, which taught  best practices on responsive web design. We looked at industry trends, the design process, desinging in Sketch, prototyping in Invision, trends in animation, and passing on files to developers. And, the instructor was super fun, knowledgeable and helfpul! I felt really engaged with the learning material and got a lot out of it. Would highly recommend!

Wyncode embodies "boot camp" to the T. Since day one, they were explicit that the only way to make it out successful is to give it your all. It wasn't possible without their support and push through the entire experience. Their Operations Director, Bianca was a huge support through my experience. She would give us pep talks every morning to push us through the day. She taught us growth mindset and agile practices. In addition, my lead instructor Ed provided us with in-depth information on the topics we'd learn. He provided notes and references and we'd also code along with him. We had homework every day for 6 weeks straight. They provide us with TA assistance every day and weekends. Week 7 - 10 we are working on our final projects. 
The location, environment, and staff make this school ordinary. Its been my most rewarding accomplishment ever! I recommend it 1000%, yes one thousand! 
As for cons... I don't have any, we have coffee, cold brew, tea and snacks on campus 24/hr campus access and 24/hr online support.

Thank you Wyncode for changing my life for the better!

I joined Wyncode because I was very unhappy with the career field I was in and wanted something drastically different. I had an interest in code but did not have the time to pursue it with my work schedule, I thought about joining for over a year until finally the right opportunity came up and I signed up for the full-time course. The experience was life changing, being able to show up every day and work on learning code was the best option for me. It allowed me to completely dedicate myself to improving a skill for 10 weeks. The staff and other students at Wyncode have become like a second family, and I would not have been able to learn everything I learned without them. After the course, I worked with the Hiring Director at Wyncode to secure interviews and get introductions to hiring managers. Within 3 months I was able to land a job as a Front-End Developer for a large corporation. 

Wyncode is great and the curriculum is awesome!  I have to name drop because I owe my success to a few people who went above and beyond.  Angel is an instructor there and is one of the most real people I've met.  Angel strolls in a little earlier than he's supposed to and stays a little later as well.  The man always has a smile on his face and won't hesitate to support you in your toughest week emotionally or technically.  The other two names are the dynamic TA duo Patricio and Keith.  These two will help with any problems you have, continue to help after they've left and will follow up with you even on their days off.  They are another of the most genuine people I've met in my experience. Thank you Wyncode!

A month after completing the full-time web immersive course and I am grateful to be working full time for a tech company in Miami while still learning so much everyday. Wyncode not only taught me the foundations of programming but equipped us with the ability to continue on our solo mission moving forward.

There are definitely moments of frustration and doubt where it is up to you to determine your weak areas and utilize the abundance of resources at hand to get you over the hump - whether it be spending an extra 20-30 minutes with the TAs or supplementing your homework with an online track.

One of my favorite things about Wyncode is how connected it is to the local tech community. I walked out with a good understanding of what is going on in Miami and what we can look forward to in the tech space, in large part due to Wyncode’s contribution.

I had a great experience at Wyncode Academy. The staff at Wyncode are incredibly supportive of the students throughout the course. I had Ed Toro as my instructor and he was fantastic. Ed is very intelligent, patient, and is always helping out his students even after graduation. Wyncode has great teaching assistants and instructors there ready to help out however they can. They teach coding best practices as well as agile development best practices and how to work in developer teams. They also teach business acumen such as how to network, do well in interviews, and what to expect in a tech position. Wyncode assists students in finding employment as well as providing interviews with hiring partners during the cohort. Their job assistance is permanent so a student has it available at any point after graduation. I had an amazing and supportive cohort. My classmates were so supportive of each other throughout the entire 11 weeks, and I'm certain that I'll remain friends with them for years to come.

TAKE THE PRE-WORK SERIOUSLY. It's going to make your time at Wyncode easier in the beginning. And don't stop at just the pre-work. Look at plenty of tutorials on Ruby on Rails, Javascript, HTML, CSS, and command line. Use codeacademy, treehouse, Udemy, as well as other online tutorials (such as youtube, freecodecamp, edx, https://learntocodewith.me/posts/code-for-free/). You'll be able to pick up what they teach you a lot quicker if you have a stronger foundation. Understand that what you put in is what you're going to get out.

There is free parking you just need to walk a couple of minutes around the block. The learning doesn't stop when you graduate. If you want to become a successful developer, expect to put in the same effort and work you'll be putting in at Wyncode after you graduate. Just about anyone can learn to code but, regardless of who they are or how intelligent they are, they have to work for it. I truly had an amazing experience at Wyncode and would recommend it to anyone.

I decided to take the Digital Marketing course at Brainstation because because while I had a peripheral understanding of all things digital - I really wanted to enhance my skills. I thought the combination of the weekly lecture and the self directed learning resources the instructors provided really helped the information to stick in my brain long term. The instructors were very knowledgable and engaging. It made taking this course at my busiest time of year worth it. I've already applied my new knowledge to my day to day work environment and am really thankful I chose Brainstation. 

I was so happy when I heard that Brainstation had a course in Product Management. They also had a few different ways to take the course - I settled on the 5-week all day saturday choice. I liked this structure a lot as I was able to think about new ideas and work on my project throughout the week. The course content was great; would definitely recommend!

I recently completed the SEO/SEM course. I enrolled in order to further my business' presence online, simply because I couldn't afford to hire someone to do it. Immediately after the first week I began to see tangible benefits of the course. Improved page rank, and in turn, traffic to my site.

I think this course would be great for anyone looking to up their SEO/SEM game.. but especially beneficial to those who have their own website they need to promote. Being able to complete each lesson using my own website and content meant an immediate return, which kept me excited for each new lesson.

I did the fall/winter 2017 session of the SEO/SEM course. It challenged me to have a completely new perspective on the topics. The teachers were able to really engage with students one on one in the 'activity' time, which was particularily useful as they encouraged everyone to work on their personal projects. As a blogger, I found the SEO tools extremely useful and am currently working to implement all this new knowledge into my website!

I would highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to 'up their game' in SEO and SEM. The Brainstation community is one I am proud to be a part of.

Annika Friesen

www.fernwehsociety.com

Similar to other reviewers, I had attempted several times to learn programming on my own through various online resources (coursera, treehouse, and codecademy), but I struggled to devote the necessary time. Learning a programming language is similar to picking up any other foreign language, it's significantly easier if you are fully immersed in it. While there are plenty of self-taught programmers, I think this is where Wyncode and bootcamps, in general, offer an advantage. Upon enrolling in Wyncode, you're surrounding yourself in the language of programming, from the concepts to the actual syntax. 

The Positives:

- The staff. I had Auston as my lead instructor, who is immensely knowledgeable and bring plenty of impressive, real world experience to the course. Auston does a great job of teaching the conceptual / theoretical material and then tying it to back to tangible examples using anecdotes or stories from his experiences. The technique is very in keeping with Wyncode’s philosophy of developing successful coders with business acumen. Additionally, Wyncode’s many other instructors and Teaching Assistants are always around and offering help. Their backgrounds range from experienced, senior developers to recent graduates of the program.

- Job Assistance. I was fortunate enough to receive an offer before I graduated from the program as a result of Wyncode bringing in hiring partners for “mock” interviews during the final two weeks. While these are less formal than interviews you may experience after graduation, they are important and can result in job placement. This process does a great job of providing low-pressure opportunities to get experience in interviewing, as well as providing exposure to individuals and companies in the Miami tech scene.

- The curriculum. The course starts with Ruby. While it may not be the newest or most cutting-edge language, it is perfect for beginners. It is easy to read and has light syntax, making basic programming concepts (loops, variables, logic statements, etc.) easier to get comfortable with as you get started. Once you’ve gotten exposure to said concepts, the course moves onto JavaScript and then introduces the Rails framework.    

The Negatives:

- The curriculum. There are aspects of the curriculum which I think could be better tuned. Given the diverse backgrounds of its cohorts, Wyncode’s curriculum can feel overwhelming to some and slow to others. Finding that balance is tough, but something I believe the staff could improve upon.

- The trivial. No parking, occasionally noisy next-door neighbors, potentially long commutes, poorly constructed homework assignments.

Overall, attending Wyncode was a very positive experience and worth the investment of both time and money. It has opened a lot of doors for me as well as providing a great foundation to continue to learn and explore concepts of interest. 

I had been thinking about attending a bootcamp for a year before I started, and to be honest, I was skeptical of doing so.  I didn’t see the value in quitting my job and spending over $10K to learn something I could teach myself via the internet.

Eventually the frustration of only being able to set aside a few hours per week to learn got to me and I decided to attend Wyncode.  I immediately recognized the fast pace of the program, which was a plus for me.  You can’t really expect to learn a substantial amount in 10 weeks otherwise.  It was a sign that Wyncode was legitimate, and not just one of the scammy bootcamps you hear about sometimes.

I had Auston Bunsen as an instructor, and in my opinion he is perfect for his role.  He does a great job keeping the class engaged and he keeps the lectures interesting. First thing in the morning he would often share interesting/important news from the tech world.  He also made it a point to tie in real-world examples to the things we learned in lecture.  He worked with me outside class to guide me on a path towards my personal goals and I also saw him working with others in my cohort in a similar way.

The rest of the staff is great as well.  If you’re talking to someone who works there, you know you’re talking to someone who believes in what they are doing.  Everyone there is willing to put in time to help you personally succeed.

Another thing I value from Wyncode is their transparency, especially in terms of their hiring support.  So far they’ve released a jobs report conducted by a third party agency for the past two years (I think they’re only one of four bootcamps in the US that do so).  Miguel, the hiring director, is also very upfront about his expectations from you in your job search.  He will do everything in his power to help you get a job, but he makes sure you know you have to put in the work as well.  That’s something you should look for in a bootcamp, as you should never expect to be “guaranteed” a job.

As for me, my plan was to teach myself to code until I felt like I was ready, and then get whatever developer job I possibly could on my own.  I have an engineering background and am a good self-learner, so I think I would have been able to do it, eventually.  But with Wyncode, not only did I get a salary 25%-30% higher than I was expecting, but it was also at a great company working on a really interesting project.  I even had a job lined up before I finished the program, as did two others in my cohort.  If I had continued with the self-taught route, I would probably still be working at my old job with no end in sight.

If you’re thinking about attending Wyncode, first try to teach yourself online through codecademy, edX, coursera, etc.  If you find that you still like programming after a few weeks, and you know that you can put in the work (I’d say 60+ hours a week to really get the most out of the program), Wyncode is a great choice for you.

This is a 10 week course designd for novice to intermediate data scientists. Each week is dedicated to a specific tool or theory. There is a lot of material to cover and quite frequently we ended up not being able to cover everything, whether it was the material itself or the in class exercises.

In terms of the material though, it was very informative for me, especially learning about the Tableau tool. I wish there was more than one class to learn how to use it as we only had a brief overview of what it could do. We also touched upon Excel and SQL. At the end of the course, each student either on their own or with a group does a presentation on a set of data that they found interesting, using the tools and theories learned in the previous 9 weeks. 

I think the course is a bit expensive. I've taken continuing education courses at various colleges and universities, and while this one has more of a cool startup environment, it's also more than twice the price of any of the 10 week courses that I've taken in the past.

I would recommend this course to anyone that has an interest in data science. There is actually a data science course at Brainstation that builds on the material from here.