Claim Academy

Change is not easy for anyone. But for those who have the courage to push themselves for three months, Claim Academy will channel your persistent efforts toward a positive career change. 

As a Full Stack Java Boot Camp graduate, I experienced this guided change firsthand. Denish Otieno skillfully and patiently taught us core Java for the first three weeks, with clever examples and labs to push us to experience the important concepts and nuances of the Java language. After this, the instructors built on this foundation with frameworks and tool sets which allowed us to tie our Java data models to persistent databases, control the flow of information here with responsive and data-driven web front ends. This was done with nightly classes and several practical projects which pushed us just a bit beyond what what we knew when the project was assigned, giving us goals on which to focus.

While it remained fast-paced, Alex Duncan and the instructors were on hand to guide us to finding and fixing our errors, teaching us how to solve problems while pushing us to embrace new methods necessary for a full stack developer to succeed in the industry. Alex in particular, tenaciously tackled every bug we brought him and with utmost patience showed us how to move forward.

With our unexpectedly large group, it was difficult to get detailed feedback on our project code, since most of the mentoring time was used for guided troubleshooting.

If you stick with the curriculum, you will be made ready to tackle technical challenges, present a polished resume, interview well, and make that career change/bump Claim Academy claims. The more you put into it, the more drastic and marketable your change will be. Read less

I completed the Full Stack C#  Developer program and loved it. I came in with no knowledge of programing  my instructor did a great job at bringing me and others with no knowledge or some up to build a full functioning application.

It’s definitely a program that requires self-motivation and discipline to get the most out of it but the staff is there to assist you in that journey. Read less

The course was very well structured and gave you so many tools! It kept me on my toes and motivated. I attended online and was still able to connect with everyone. Tom C. my instructor and he was awesome, he really kept us up to date with good information and skills. The staff is also very kind. Read less

I completed the Full Stack JavaScript Developer program and loved it. I came in with some coding knowledge and Manav, my instructor, did a great job balancing bringing the others from no or little knowledge up and challenging me with more topics to explore. 

It’s definitely a program that requires self-motivation and discipline to get the most out of it but the staff is there to assist you in that journey.  Read less

A great place to learn to code!
Hands-on learning and industry standard instruction. Actual programming experience instead of useless theory and time wasting filler classes.


Full time immersive program is 9 hours a day and a huge commitment.  Staff is always helpful and willing to do what it takes to help you if you need it.  It takes a good amount of self control and dedication but if you work hard and push yourself you can really learn a lot about what it takes to be a Full Stack Developer!

The building was always clean and a heroic effort was made to sanitize the whole building every day. 

When we were forced to move to a mostly virtual format due to the St. Louis County requirements they still kept the building open and provide help even while following the guidelines.

Getting grads employed seems to be HIGH on their list and Ola and the team seem to work hard to prepare us for interviews and line up potential employers. Read less

Claim Academy helped me grow my skills and taught me lots of valuable information about Java programming and all of the software that goes into being a Full-Stack Java Developer. It is a lot of information to learn in 12 weeks, and you have to be willing to put in a lot of work to learn the material while applying it, by taking lots of notes, reading the material and coding, as well as learning how to find answers yourself online through Google searches, YouTube, and every resource available, which is an important skill to have as a developer when you are on your own. The instructors were very knowledgeable and able to answer all questions as needed.  I feel the ongoing support that Claim offers their graduates, both in willingness to answer questions and in job placement assistance, is extremely valuable. I did feel that they could benefit from a little more organization overall, but I still learned far more than I could have on my own, and I feel that if I had tried this alone, I would not have been able to put all the information together enough to build a full application as I did by the end of the course.
Another thing I will say is that the pandemic hit in the middle of my time at Claim, and Claim adjusted wonderfully, providing lots of support to keep us going by shifting to online classes, and providing the mentor assistance online during the day so we could all stay home and safe during the pandemic. Read less

Claim Academy has helped me grow my skills in the tech world and allow me to become a Full Stack Java Developer. The teachers and mentors are always there to help and challenge you along the way! The program is quite challenging for the first timer, but it is so rewarding and you meet a lot of great people along the way. Not only your fellow classmates, but the instructors as well. I am happy that I chose this path.  Read less

12 weeks of frustration, discovery, anxiety, and growth. Be prepared for a violent education with ups and downs galore. No one in our cohort was hired before the end of the course, but the time of year that you take the course has a definite impact on that. I believe that the most valuable thing that claim offers is the access to, and support of their business partners. I believe that their visiting alumni nights are important for student moral and to keep them working hard. 

The places I would like to see Claim improve would be: Teaching staff and structure.

We were a cohort of 12 and we were given a single mentor to help our group and the second cohort in the first 6 hours of the day, soo that's nearly 20 people and one mentor... this did not leave nearly enough availability to "depend" on your mentor. Making a lot of what I paid for learning to teach myself on youtube or other avenues... now I by no means think this was a bad thing, as that is a very important step in "Thinking like a Developer", but I feel like I'm paying to be mentored, so it should be available at least more than it currently is. (Please get more teaching staff like Praneeth, Hiram, and Lamaar!)

Also, the structure could use some help... there was a lot of misinformation during my recruitment and enrollment that was not fun... and what they want to be 3 hours of peer to peer and 3 hours of solo work, really just became an "open office" for 6 hours a day...

My overall experience has been positive, but I had to risk a lot to be here so I am also highly critical. I get the impression that if the job leads I have now don't work out, I will continue to have the support of Claim staff to help me in my search, and that is worth a lot. Read less

Claim Academy garnered my interest with a series of bold promises; they would teach me to code, get me well paying job in the Saint Louis community,  and refine the skills I need to succeed in the current market. While skeptical at first, I toiled through the program which gave us an ample environment to succeed. At the end of my twelve week course I am satisfied with Claim's claims and am personally recommending the course to friends and family Read less

Imagine a truck driver creating an application writing lines of code just under 12 intense weeks of study and mentoring. thats what Claim Academy did for me, i was able to acquire sort after skills set that employers of today really need to drive thier business 

i am proud of myself of what i was able to accomplish after three months. My wife and family are so proud of me it gives me inner peace knowing am on the right path 

A BIG thank you to my wife for the support and Claim Academy for teaching me the skill set to change my life 

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12 Week Intensive boot camp was challenging and fun.  Looking forward to putting my new skills to work!  The team at Claim was great and supportive.  I am grateful for the opportunity and the challenge.  My cohort was great, new friends for life! Congratulations to my teammates! 

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Claim focuses on getting you employed, even before you graduate.  They challenege you in all the right ways, just like a real world work environment does.  Some amazing capstone projects and amazing people graduate from Claim.  It's not easy, but it's well worth your investment.  One of the absolute best bootcamps for military veterans as well as they accept the GI Bill and the new VET-TEC program students.

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Claim Academy is a very immersive boot camp.  These last 12 weeks have been rigorous and filled with frustration.  Overall however, it was a positive experience.  That being said, there is plenty of room for improvement.  I really hope claim changes the curriculum around to involve the instructors more.  It is broken down as 5 days a week for 9 hours a day.  3 hours solo programming, 3 hours peer programming, and 3 hours of instruction.  I believe it they changed it to an hour and a half of solo and an hour and half of peer with 6 hours of instruction the instructors could really have the time to educate their students.  With the current situation as it is, it is very easy to become disheartened because students feel like they are constantly catching up.  

They do go out of their way to bring potential jobs your way and the quality of the jobs are pretty top notch for the most part.  And at the end of your time there you present a project to many companies which is intimidating but a lot of fun.

 

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Claim Academy offers a unique opportunity supported by incredible staff!  Claim Academy has condensed an advanced full stack Software Developer education into a 3-month curriculum. Claim Academy is the answer for breaking into the industry of Software Development. 

I studied the C#/.NET program and without hesitation I applaud the instructors for their knowledge on the subject matter and their overwhelming patience. Claim Academy structures the course to include hands-on lectures combined with labs which culminates in the Capstone project - a complete built from scratch web application that embodies all technologies learned in the previous 12 weeks of education. 

Claim Academy exposes its students to multiple employers.  Throughout the program, Claim Academy facilitates relationships with various recruiting firms and companies.

I highly recommend the Claim Academy experience!

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