Claim Academy

The staff at Claim gives you all the information you need to succeed in the course, but you have to be ready to put in a lot of work yourself to get the most out of your time. Given that the course is only 12 weeks, it's not possible for the staff to comprehensively cover every topic. You still get a lot out of the lectures, and there's always someone to help if you're stuck on something. They also make sure you're prepared to speak with potential employers, and that you have everything you need to give you the best chance of getting an interview.

I'm going to try and keep this short and to the point:

12 weeks ensconced in a school setting that is going to help you learn

You will have projects once the course is completed to prove that you are able to do the work

They will be with you every step of the way during and after class to help you get placed

They go as far as to help with soft skills to help with the interview process.

Our project was completed and presented in front of multiple employers on 12-6-2018 and I already have 4 interviews set up due to their diligent work to sell employers on their students.

Thank you Claim for everything.

BEWARE!!!

1. This is not a Fullstack Java bootcamp and definitely overpriced at $12,500 as the depth of coverage in subjects as HTML, CSS and Javascript is very shallow. The emphasis is solely on Java and which in my opinion is poorly taught. Furthermore, you will receive one (1) evening lecture on HTML and thereafter get web links to study about CSS and Javascript on your own.

2. It is not for beginners as they claim and you should be prepared to do up to 80% of the academic work on your own with very minimal support.

3. You will not receive feedback on your weekly assignments and projects.

4. You will not do any mock technical interview preparations nor receive help on re-structuring you resumes

5.           You will not attend nor be invited to any Hackertons/networking events.

6. You will not get any refunds irrespective of the week you chose to withdraw from the program.

7. If you’re an international student, count the cost before enrolling as they have undisclosed and unstated policies that discriminates against foreigners or people of color.

First and foremost, the name Claim Academy fits this school because that's what it is. A lot of information/pledges and policies on their website are claims but in reality are not in force or honored. I've read most of the reviews of the preceding cohorts and keep wondering if they were forced into giving them either because they received their Certificate of Completion on their last (demo) day or most some are on the Facebook scholarship to study at Claim Academy. During my time, I interfaced with two (2) other cohorts and witnessed how most students struggled with their work due to lack of support and understaffed/shallow knowledge base of the tutors/mentors on key concepts such as REACT and ANGULAR. My review is based on facts and my personal experience or that of fellow cohorts during the June – September 2018 Java cohort.

It is worth noting that my cohort started with seven (7) students but after week one (1) two students withdrew because of the poor quality education. The third student withdrew for personal reasons while I withdrew after four weeks of learning for various reasons I've given below. If you want value for money, please take time to read through it.

The school is very unprofessional and cagey.  Prior to my enrollment, I asked them for the Full Stack Java syllabus but they were unwilling to share it, saying it was against their policy. When I pressed for it and they did share it, I noticed the contents and depth of coverage were shallow. This is one of the alarm signals that should have warned me about their competence. I decided to give them the benefit of doubt but later regretted my decision to enroll had to quit after four weeks.

Secondly, we hardly ever received feedback for daily work assignments and never received feedback for weekly projects despite our complaints on numerous occasions. Before my arrival for the Full Stack Java Developer bootcamp, I was told the student to instructor/mentor ratio is approximately 7:1. This turned out to be untrue as the actual student to mentor ratio during the day from week of June 25, 2018 when I arrived till week 3 was about 25 students to 1 mentor (25:1). This is largely due to the fact that the school is grossly understaffed. Throughout my brief stay (about 4 weeks) they had 1 mentor across the three cohorts to share for support. The main Java instructor works full-time during the day and is only available during the nights for lectures and when he arrives he had to first attend to the soon-to-graduate cohorts who have been waiting eagerly for him to arrive because there isn't anyone during the day to provide support on AngularJS of ReactJS which they're using for their various projects. Our cohort will have to wait for him to finish with these before we can start lectures. Also, during our lecture, he still had to step out every now and then to attend to the other cohorts.

Thirdly, as regards, instructors and mentors at the institution, the information on their website (http://claimacademystl.com/teachers.html) is very misleading. They have 13 persons listed but in reality I discovered that none of these persons are with them except, the president Mr. Ola Ayeni. This is done to deceive unsuspecting members of the public to register for their programs only to find out they’ll be left alone to grind out their learning when they’re enrolled. Ironically, I wondered why and how a Software bootcamp will find it hard to update a single static web page. This further underscores the point that they’re grossly under-staffed.

As regards peer learning, we were told at the onset, that students in our cohorts will be paired into groups. This never happened despite my complaints about it on a few occasions.

Fourthly, after I pulled out at the end of week four, they refused to authorized my refund as stated in their refund/pricing policy. They, at the instruction of the school's owner/business partner Mr. Ola Ayeni, resorted to the use of threats and bullish tactics to try intimidate me into cowering. In thier responses, they made so many false claims and lied that all International students were to pay a fee of $15,000. I clearly pointed that none of these are on their website or in my invoice payments. As at present (Sept. 27, 2018), the school is yet to refund my outstanding balance.  These and many more prompted me to take action by lodging a formal complaint to my bank, the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General for Missouri and the Better Business Bureau (BBI).

After, pulling out of Claim Academy, I had to enroll with two separate online bootcamps for Java programming and Front-End development both of which I completed in six (6 weeks). I can definitely say I learned far much more than I would have had I remained at Claim Academy.

My candid advice to businesses/organizations who value integrity and sound business principles, is to be wary of partnering with Claim Academy because they could be dragged into a litigation case someday. As for prospective students, don't fall into the same trap. Take your money and go find a better institution. They're not worth your time or money.

INSTRUCTORS:
The instructors are competent and helpful when they are available.
During the day, from 12-6, the class had access to one java instructor, one .Net instructor, and zero Angular/React instructors. 
During the evening from 6-9, the class had access to one Java/Angular/React instructor, but not for the full duration of the program(except by e-mail). 
CURRICULUM:
Several of my classmates who were new to programming dropped out. They cited "insufficient mentorship" or "too fast paced" as their reasons. 
You are expected to spend the majority of your time on Google teaching yourself, which is an important skill, but not what you pay other people for. 
Do not expect more than a cursory glance at HTML/CSS here as part of the "Full-Stack Developer" training. 
JOB ASSISTANCE:
My employer sent me to this training, so I have no experience depending on them to find me work. 5 stars by default. 
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: 
I learned a great deal while I was here, by teaching myself 10x as much as I was taught. There are other programs and resources I would recommend for a fraction of the cost. 
Some of us were pressured into writing a hasty and positive review of this program. Since I don't depend on Claim Academy to find me work, I feel that I can be honest here. Take this into account when reading other reviews. 



 

 

Claim Academy was my introduction to hands on coding.  I am a Scrum Master and Project Manager and wanted to have the benefit of a solid understanding of the software development process  as an asset. I feel that Claim Academy provided me with this and so much more. 
 The curriculum was very challenging, and through the understanding of this curriculum I realized what I was capable of.  The late nights and self learning proved that I could excel against all odds. I had never coded before and the staff at Claim Academy offered solutions and encouragement when I came to a brick wall. Our teachers,Sahara and Lamar were very knowledgeable and helped when and where they could. Lamar even came in on weekends and was available any time day or night to answer questions. Overall, my experience at Claim Academy was a positive one, If I could recommend improvements, I would recommend more mentors or teachers since the school is rapidly growing   

My experience here at Claim Academy was quite eventful. As I began my journey here at claim, a significant event took place in my life. My mother passed away unexpectedly just ten days after the start of the program. I was lost, confused, angry and just hopeless. Yet I found a way to channel my emotions from the love and encouragement from my peers and some of the staff. I enjoyed the opportunity to come here and reach my goal of becoming a Full Stack Java Developer. Being that I am new to the tech field, I may add that for future students entering the program without any prior tech experience, a text book provided would be quite helpful for a quick and more detailed reference for beginners.

thank you for the opportunity Jacquelyn