I am a mother of 3 and going to Claim Academy helped to open new opportunities for me to explore in the technology industry that I wouldn't have before coming. I enjoyed my time at Claim and grew to love everyone I was placed with very much we became our own little family and I feel we will always be life long friends. Sahara is the best!!! LITERALLY THE BEST I felt I learned the most from her shes good at explaining the curriculum and is very patience. I was a little dissappointed when we switched instructors in the middle of our cohort who didn't happen to be the ideal teacher, I didn't learn much of anything at all when he taught but he ended up being let go and Sahara came in to help us. I also would have loved to see more employers on our Demo Day because that was the day we got to Shine and really let people know who you are and what you can do. Overall, I am proud of what I accomplished here and am excited to see where me and my friends end up.

You have to be dedicated! You need to be able to put your life on hold for 12 weeks! But at the end of 12 weeks, you will be trained and ready to begin a new career. You will gain knowledge in class, but you will need to do some self-directed learning on your own as well. If you are not truly dedicated, this experience may prove to be too difficult for you. If you don't ask for help (and you'll need some), this may prove too much for you. Coding is difficult! If it were easy, everyone would do it, and it would pay $10/hr. You have to focus! You have to study! You will also receive soft skills training and placement assistance. They're here to help you. You won't be babied, so don't expect that. I cannot say enough about the passion and dedication of the instructors. They want, more than anything, to see you succeed, and they make themselves available at all times of the day or night. So . . . are you ready?

Claim Academy provided a great opportunity for me to begin my career in software development.  Twelve weeks ago I only knew some basic HTML, and now I am a full stack C#/.NET developer.  During my enrollment I was able to hone both technical and soft skills that are essential for the job market.  I recommend Claim Academy to anyone willing to dedicate twelve weeks to learning both front and back-end development.  If you are interested in beginning a career as a software developer, do yourself a favor and check them out.  I'm glad I did. 

Great program. No complaints about my java instructors or support staff. Only problems I had were taken care of before I finished my course. Only things I saw that could have been better would be a clearer communications of expectations. A few times I came up shorter than I would have lked due to not knowing for sure what was expected of me. But, overall a great and worthwhile experience. Special mention to Sahara Datta for her help when I got behind on things. Lamar Myles for late night email hints to keep my project work going. And Travis Mattis for keeping me reminded that I needed to occassionaly stop coding to put in an application or two. 

 I have learned way more then what I knew when I first came. I have learned to set up a database and learned how to use MVC with it!
The Staff there worked with me one on one everyday until I understood what they where talking about. I love how they explain the work to me in
a way that I could do it!

I have received many phone calls and emails from recruiters setting me up for interviews. I can't wait for where this experience is going to lead me.
I have had mock interviews and I had a chance to present my project in front of employers, that was created when I attended the class.  I learned how
to create a Capstone Project.

If I had the funding I would attend the Java Class, but I am already good with what I have already learned.

After working for several years in the public sector, I was wanting to make a career change and get into programming. By the time I started at Claim, I had completed a few low-level CS courses online and done a little bit of self study, and I had no idea what else I needed to know in order to be employable in the field. 

Claim has a number of different instructors, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and they rotate during the bootcamp. If your cohort is lucky enough to have Lamar and/or Vinod, I can say that they are worth every dollar that Claim pays them. Sahara (the Java mentor) is fantastic as well, although she is also one of the C# instructors, so sometimes we had to share her with the C# cohort which wasn't ideal. There was one instructor who I did not think was very good, but last I heard, Claim was planning to revamp his part of the curriculum so his teaching methods may improve in future sessions. Overall, the instructors are very accomodating and helpful if you tell them what you are having trouble with. 

Claim does a really good job of bringing in the higher-ups from some of the St. Louis-based companies to speak to students throughout the bootcamp. During my cohort, we had Express Scripts, Microsoft, and Daugherty come talk to us. Even if those companies aren't able to come to your demo day, Claim often has special application links that you can use to apply there.

Demo days can be hit or miss, depending on which companies decide to show up, so I wouldn't recommend relying solely upon the demo day for job prospects. There have been some demo days where graduates are offered jobs on the spot, but that was not my cohort's experience. Our demo day seemed to have mostly consulting firms and recruiters there. About a month before graduation, I started applying places on my own and working with recruiters, so I was lucky enough to have two offers in hand by the time I presented at demo day. 

My biggest complaint about Claim is that I feel like we could have learned even more. While the program is said to be a "full-stack" program, I think it highly favors the back end. Not necessarily a huge issue, I just don't think it's super accurate to call it a full-stack program if you spend maybe a week total on the front end. My cohort never had a Saturday session, and I think that if all of the instruction time was fully-utilized, it would have been possible to fit more Angular 2 in there. So just be aware, if learning a JavaScript framework is important to you, you'll need to do a lot of self study in order to do that.

At the end of the day, I still learned a ton of stuff during my time at Claim Academy and I don't think I'd be where I am today without having attended. This bootcamp has the potential to change your life if you work really hard. 

Claim Academy is good for networking with recruiters in the STL area who might be able to place you in a job after 12 weeks of coding practice. Of the three instructors who worked with my cohort, two are very passionate and informed. A third left a lot to be desired and ultimately was removed from our cohort. 

I came to CA hoping to learn as much as possible according to the slightly exaggerated syllabus they offer, and already had a job lined up afterwards. I quickly realized that their core ranking is job placement (they boast 95% but wouldn't provide documentation to prove it) and that their emphasis wasn't on providing solid resources. Everyone seemed really strapped for time. Our mentor was the other cohort's instructor and by midway through the summer was teaching a second class too, our time with her, though valuable, was limited. 

I have to emphasise how much those two instructors are passionate about what they do. I have reservations about the transparany and execution of the program, and ultimately for someone interested in learning more than finding a job I would not recommend the program. For someone interested more in finding a job than learning, it could be a valuable, yet expensive, recruitment source.

As someone with very little coding experience, Claim Academy was a great way to get a jump start in the IT field. My instructors, Lamar and Sahara, were extremely knowledgeable in Java, but were also effective in teaching us to program and build applications using Full Stack technology. 

Through the concepts that I learned at Claim Academy, I was able to apply what I had learned, and by the end of the program had developed a complete a real-world business solutions application. 

Claim's career advisor, Travis, also provided terrific career counseling and assistance throughout the program. He was always available, and very passionate about finding the right placements for each candidate.  

If there were to suggest any improvements, it would be to provide additional mentorship support, as sometimes instructors seemed be stretched by the task of providing mentorship to all members of our class. In some cases, mentor support was not available due to instructors teaching other Cohort classes, which were concurrent to our mentorship sessions.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my experience at Claim, and am excited to take what I have learned as I embark upon a new IT career!   

Claim Academy gave a new direction to a disabled veteran that needed a bit of guidance considering my circumstances. It was tough and requires a bit of tenacity, I was here 10 hours a day five days a week. 

In addition to that I also supplemented my learning through other course work because the instructor is available for three hours of the day.

Furthermore the staff is here to help, but it depends on you to reach out and ask per the issue that you have. We are adults and claim expects you to act as such, that being said if you don't speak up they won't know there is an issue.

It can be done, a life changing opportunity that puts you in a position to support yourself and your family for a little under three months of hard work. It's worth it, but you get what you give...

Job placement services are working in my favor and there are a lot of chances and opportunities available and it's an ever growing market, with demo day I was able to network and receive a variety of offers.

I was part of the June 2017 Java class at Claim.  I came to Claim with a little programming knowledge under my belt and they really helped me focus my prior knowledge as well as teach a lot of new material.  The biggest strength of the program is they can tailor your learning to a set of skills that are currently in demand, the main focus of the program being to secure a position.  The teachers and mentors were great.  If you are considering coming to Claim, or any other bootcamp, I would guess, just know that it is more than a full time job itself.  I spent on average somewhere around 10 hours every day of the three months working and learning.  You should also be ready for a lot of self learning... while they do present the material and the syllabus that will lead to success, you have to lock in your understanding with your own research.    Thanks Claim!

Very good curriculum! Within my three months of going here i have learned a lot and i appreciate the one on one help i got with all the teachers.

I was part of the April 2017 Java class.  Class was hard and sometimes unorganized, but I did learn alot.  You need to be willing to put in the work for this course to help you.  I finished in July and am currently seeking employment as a Java developer. I feel like the teachers know their stuff but struggle at times to get through to some of the students. They switch teachers on you half way through the course and I don't think that helps the situation either. Still, I do feel like the teachers and student teachers try their best to help the students as much as they can. Thank you for all your help!   

I loved the time I had at Claim Academy. I was challenged every day and was constantly pushed every minute, but I wouldn't change the experience for anything. All of the teachers and student mentors were incredibly patient (which is what I feared would NOT be the case prior to attending). 

I learned a lot and I am greatly appreciative for the experience that I had.

Claim Academy is an intensive, full-time, java development class in St.Louis, MO. Over twelve weeks, you'll learn all the skills needed to begin a career as a software developer. Through hands-on projects, i was trained to build modern  Java applications. Programming experience isn't required; you will need lots of tenacity and a passion for building cool stuff. Claim Academy has a network of companies that employee its graduates. I landed a job as a software developer on my graduation day at Claim Academy. 

Claim Academy is the mother of Software BootCamps in the United States of America. 

Had a good experience with Claim Academy. Was not easy but the payoff will be worth it.

I am an experienced Microsoft Certified Professional who joined the Claim Academy Java Bootcamp in Jan 2017. I was new to Java and this bootcamp helped me a lot in learning and practicing Java. The instructors were working professionals who gave us wonderful examples. They gave personal attention and we worked on many exercises and projects during the entire duration of this course.

The final project helped me a lot in practicing what I learned. The owner, Ola taught us how to give a professional presentation. During the Demo Day there were many professionals who attended our presentation. I was interviewed right away by one recruiter right after my demo was over.

No complaints. Just wish that class instructions were more structured. Glad I went through this bootcamp. Would highly recommend this bootcamp to professionals who are willing to work very hard.

I am glad I was apart of the Jan 2017 Java Bootcamp.  The instructors and staff all supported our growth and helped us so much. At Claim we learned a lot in the 3 months, it was challenging and very hard. But it was all worth it. On our final project, I really felt like I was a developer. I was amazed at what we all created.  I meet some great people at Claim, and now I have a great support community that will help me in my career. Thanks Claim. I appreciate all you have done for me. 

I went into Claim with no coding background and came out with more than I thought possible. Ola believed in me, the insructors and the staff were dedicated, and my classmates helped to make my time here that much more awesome. This experience didn't come without some serious challanges and it was a roller coaster ride all the way to the end but I'm glad I took the leap to change my future and I have had no regrets in making this decision. I am much more confident because of it. My advice to anyone considering this bootcamp is to take the leap but as you are leaping make sure you do the work before the class even starts so that you are prepared for the amount of information this will be poured into you. It will be more than you think you can handle but it will all come together in the end if you just stick to it! 

I learned so much during my time at Claim.  I was provided with all the training needed in order for me to transition to a career in software development.  It was truly a life changing experience.

The instructors at Claim Academy were the best part about the course. They were extremely helpful and kind to me and all of the other students. I knew next to nothing before the class, but they did not seem frustrated or angry with me at any point. My only complaint would be the overall organization. They had moved to a new location, and this definitely showed during my class, especially for the first few weeks. As we progressed we all got more comfortable and organized. A few classes also were cancelled, one when the instructor was sick and another when he had to leave to repair something on his house. Can't really hold this against either of them though, sometimes stuff happens. 
Definitely a good experience, and I am very happy with my new job.

I was a member of the first .NET cohort, so it's possible things are different now than they were when I was there. Overall, this was a good experience for me. I was not happy with my current job and really wanted a change, and this opportunity came up, so I went for it, since software development was something I'd always been interested in.

We had three teachers that were excellent and one who just wasn't particularly well-suited to teaching, but he ended up parting ways after not real long anyway. The curriculum was a little scattered, but I also allow that this is kind of an impossible field to cram into three months. I think they really did their best and it's certainly no fault of the teachers.

The process for placing graduates is I believe different now than it was when I was there, but when I was there the process needed work. I don't believe doing this course is 100% guaranteed to land anyone a job, but what I did here definitely helped me get my current position. I still had to do a lot on my own to find a job--Claim did help as much as they could but when I was there it seemed like they were still working on establishing the proper contacts.

For anyone considering this, it's a lot of work and you have to be really self-motivated. Consider the monetary cost and definitely also explore other options, and realize what you'll be getting into. This course isn't perfect but it's a good option if you're certain that a coding bootcamp is the way you want to go and you want to stay in the St. Louis area.

I had an academic background however lacked the exposure to industrial practices and challenges. I was introduced to the latest technology stack and after the program was placed with an excellent opportunity! Life changing experience. Would highly recommend it! 

I was working as a junior software developer when I decided to learn a new language and get some good training.  I was self-taught and needed some guidance, and Claim Academy seemed like a good choice.  I decided to moved from Florida to take the course in St. Louis.

This was a true mixed bag.  While many of the things we learned are directly applicable to my current job, it was in spite of Claim Academy and not because of them that I succeeded and learned.  

Instructors:  

We had 2 really awesome teachers and one teacher that was completely unprepared each class.  When he was teaching, we basically learned nothing.  You may have a different experience, as none of the same teachers were used again.  Management was told multiple times about the poor performance of one teacher, but nothing changed.  Don't get me wrong: every teacher was kind, smart, and meant well.  The big break was preparation.  I am glad to know all three of them.

Curriculum:  

There was definitely a plan, but we veered off in a very unorganized way. This was supposed to make the program more organic and fit our needs, but ended up kind of wasting a lot of time.  Also, because of the aforementioned teacher, we basically learned no SQL during the SQL week (Good thing I learned a lot of that before hand).

Job Assistance:  This was a cluster-cuss.  They  partnered with a company that was hiring out people who graduated, and that company pulled out at the last minute because Claim Academy was not providing good enough people.  Very disappointing.  Most people ended up being taken care of, but the entire session was full of anxiety and insecurity due to this massive change.

Overall:

This is great if you have 3 months to dedicate to learning something new, and you MUST be very driven to get the most out of this.

I am very glad I did this, but if I had to do it over again, I would have moved somewhere else.  Also, the fact that the teachers were not paid what the owner agreed really put a bad taste in my mouth.  I hear the president (Ola Ayeni) has gotten city money and has made many improvements, but I still keep in touch with my professors and they have yet to be paid.