This program was a very well developed Full-Stack JavaScript course using Mongo, Express, React, and Node.  I learned a lot and enjoyed my time there.  The only problem I had was one of the instructors was still relatively new to teaching this material and it took a while for my learning style to be able to handle his teaching style.  Overall though, I would definitely recommend this school to someone looking to get into software development.

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I also attended Code Fellows for their 201 and 301 classes. Overall, the experience has been spectacular. It is definitely intense, but it's very doable and you get into the groove of the course style fairly quickly. The amount of information you can absorb in such a short period of time is insane. All of the instructors are very knowledgeable and approachable, the curriculum is detailed and I love how quickly they're able to adjust it to include new technologies as the tech market changes. The environment is welcoming and supportive -- no one will ever make you feel inferior or out of place here. It truly is the ideal learning environment, in my opinion. 
Outside of tech, the curriculum for 401 includes a lot of career development -- learning how to properly craft a resume, how to handle "soft" questions during job interviews, and how to pitch yourself to someone you meet at a networking event. Post-graduation, there is a job placement assistance in the form of networking events, mock interviews with industry partners (from both big and small companies), and hookups directly to hiring partners. All of this has been immensely helpful. They prepared me for the market very well, both technically and socially.

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As a small backstory, I have dabbled in tech and code my whole life, without any expertise of note. I had been in the service industry for about 20 years, and always known I could benefit from an immersive environment to really dig in and learn. Code Fellows delivered on that, and then some. 

These people that work here, from the greenest Teaching Assitant, to the admin staff, teachers, and the CEO, really love what they do, and get excited helping students to do whatever is necessary to succeed. The teaching staff - aside from being awesome people you would just want to hang out with - are incredibly empathetic and intelligent. They evolve curriculum to always be teaching what the industry is after, staying ahead of the tech trends so that the information doesn't grow stale. I really don't think I have ever been around so many people who and are stoked about what they do. Someone recently described the campus as 'just having an incredibly positive vibe', and I couldn't agree more. If you are considering going here, come in and see what it is all about! 

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I completed the entirety of the full stack JavaScript courses at Code Fellows in August. 

I immediately began applying for jobs all around Seattle that fit my skill set, entry, junior, and otherwise. 

Companies would not even give me the time of day because I do not have a BA. I even utilized some high-level internal referrals at several companies and would not even get a look.

As a result I ended up taking essentially the same job I had before code fellows and am $20,000 poorer as a result.

The coursework is great. I think if you have a BA it is a great and worthwhile investment. However, if you don't have that BA, avoid at all costs. It's simply not worth it.

Additionally, they do not provide nearly enough follow-up job search support for the sheer amount of money you throw at them.

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I'm a musician, an Army veteran and recently got my BS in audio engineering. When I entered the corporate world, I couldn't find anything that seemed like a good fit for me. I was in a dead-end job when someone sent me a couple links for Code Fellows. When I contacted Code Fellows I really felt like I was talking to a 'real' local person and was immediately comfortable and knew I would fit in. They helped me get set up with the GI Bill and before I knew it, I was on my way. I was excited and the Army really taught me the patience and willingness to work hard and fight through any challenges. My instructor Adam and classmates at Code Fellows were a great support as well. It was a really good feeling to know we were all in it together and wanted to help each other succeed. Code Fellows has given me the opportunity to create a better life for me and my family.

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I was living in LA, planning to use my GI Bill funds to attend a code school that was advertising approval for GI Bill funds, turned out they weren't actually approved. I found out Code Fellows was approved, got in touch with them and it has worked out great. After my time in the Air Force, I became a day trader but wanted something more, there's no community aspect in that industry. In the coding world, it's all about community, it's awesome to be in such a supportive environment. The discipline I learned in the Air Force really helped me understand the time, rigor and dedication needed to code. The instructors at Code Fellows are dedicated and put in a lot of hard work to help you succeed - Brian is awesome. If it weren't for Code Fellows and their approval to accept GI Bill Funds, I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to do this. Now I will be able to find a career doing what I enjoy most - coding!

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I just finished the 401 Full Stack JavaScript class (having also taken 201 and 301 at Code Fellows). My experience has been phenomenal the entire way through. The staff and TAs are dedicated to student success, both in terms of the technical curriculum (web development) and preparation for entering the job market. Code Fellows instructors are not only experts in the field, they are also deeply attuned to how people learn to code, what works and what doesn't, and what students need from instructors to do their best work. Both of the instructors I had genuinely cared about each and every student and their progress. They also shared invaluable knowledge of the many aspects of what it is like to work as a web developer.

The staff and instructors are constantly working to keep the curriculum relevant to current industry practices and making connections and deepening relationships with area companies that hire web developers. Code Fellows also places a big emphasis on using educational strategies that work, and despite already doing a phenomenal job in this area, they continue to strive to be even better in this area. They very much value and use student input to help improve their courses.

It is hard work to get through these classes, but Code Fellows gives you all the tools to do well assuming you are willing to invest the effort and time. For me personally, Code Fellows not only gave me the focus to learn what I needed to learn to become an entry level web developer, but additionally their dedicated and passionate staff made me love coding more than I thought possible. 

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After graduating with a 4-year degree in the sciences, I got a great job at the Fred Hutch here in Seattle. It's a company with a mission that I care about, but I had ambitions to contribute more than allowed by my current role - I needed more skilled training.  So thankfully with the support of my manager, I started searching for code schools that offer night courses, so I could keep working during the day. 

I was referred to Code Fellows by a friend, and after reading about their courses, career development and their great reviews I knew Code Fellows was right for me. I'd been teaching myself how to code using online resources but wanted to work with other people to improve my collaborative coding skill-sets. Code Fellows provided the educational structure and instructional resources in a teamwork-oriented environment that helped me succeed. It took a ton of hard work and dedication, and now I'm graduating and ready to find a new career as a software developer. Thanks to Scott and Duncan for everything they did to help us get through it all - they're great instructors. Code Fellows is an excellent school and I highly recommend it!

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I’m an Army Veteran, and after doing my service, I wanted to get into a career where I could create stuff as well as have a more flexible schedule. I was trying to teach myself how to code, using Code Academy, Team Treehouse,  and other websites. Then after attending a Code Fellows 101 in NYC taught by Brook, I knew this was the school for me, so I decided to relocate to Seattle and attend the school full-time since they took the G.I Bill.  Mindy and Maggi in Admissions were great and helped me get the GI Bill funds and the Code Fellows Diversity Scholarship for their 401 course.

I did very well and I think why I did well came down to a few things:

1.  I wasn't afraid to ask questions

2. I eliminated social media (a lot of students get distracted by social media)

The discipline instilled from my military experience really helped me meet the deadlines for projects and assignments, which was critical to my success. The Instructor, Duncan, and one of the TAs, Judy, were awesome and very tough on grading. Our final project was very cool (if I say so myself) our small team used a Raspberry PI with voice and facial recognition technology to build a security system - the Code Fellows CEO said it was in his top three favorite demos of all time! I highly recommend Code Fellows! They have helped me succeed in getting the skills, knowledge and confidence to go out and get a great coding job!

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Code Fellows rocks. I'm an Air Force veteran, four years in active duty, building jet engines.  After deciding I didn't want the smell of jet fuel on me at all times, and after graduating from college and deciding not to pursue a law degree, I found myself at Code Fellows.  I took Scott's night-time 201 course (Scott is an awesome instructor), and with Gi Bill funds and a Code Fellows Diversity Scholarship was ultimately able to quit my job to take Duncan's 401 (Duncan is also a fantastic instructor, and I had an exceptional TA to help me too, Judy).  I had a great experience.  It was very hard, but I excelled. I think the combination of the discipline I learned from sports (I'm a powerlifter) and the military, the self-learning I did through Coursera prior to starting the 201, combined with my willingness to ask for help when getting stuck, and to work with anyone in collaboration (I enjoy pair programming) all helped me excel.  Now I'm ready for a coding job!  I highly recommend the school, but be prepared to work hard, collaboratively with other students, if you decide to enroll.  Also, any amount of pre-course self-learning will help you immensely. Learning how to use Git and work at the command line ahead of time will help dramatically in your success.

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Overall Experience: Truly a great program, that teaches all the key tools needed for getting started on the JavaScript stack. From the get go, had a great time learning the material, enjoyed really digging into all the different topics, met some great people as well! Your mileage may vary, but if you go with a positive mindset and really try to learn the material, you'll find many helpful people. We were even able to get professionals in the field to come in and give talks/demonstrations on various topics from whiteboarding, AGILE development, etc. Code Fellows really does care about your professional development, but be prepared to work HARD! It's very easy to fall behind because of the amount of information coming to you, but you'll find that it all starts clicking and the topics become easier to absorb. I think it speaks volumes when a graduating clas decides to hold a meetup to help each other with the job hunt and to do lightning talks on topics that help each other (algorithms and data structures, development, design methods, etc.).

Curriculum: You start on JavaScript and you end in JavaScript. That's great because for bootcamps, you really want to keep hammering your skills in a few areas (limited time so master the important stuff). Since JavaScript is still the dominant web language out there, this is key. What's also great is the instructors are constantly keeping track of the latest developments in JavaScript/tech world and are updating the curriculum constantly. This is valuable for such a fast changing field like web development. I really appreciate the project weeks we have at the end of 201/301 and mid-401/end-401. You get some nice portfolio pieces and really get to learn how to code within a group of people.

Instructors: Extremely knowledgable. The head instructor, Marty, was formerly in the field as a developer and has a lot of understanding of professional development. This is extremely valuable to have when it comes to considering a code camp since professional experience says a lot and you start adopting best practices fast. Because of this, the other instructors also produce professional work and teach in a clear and concise manner. They are really cool people and I still keep in touch today.

Job Assistance: Super good. They brought in recruiters on the last day of 401 and we got to show off our projects. I managed to even snag an interview and ultimately an offer from a Fortune 500 company in the area ;). They bring in professionals who are currently in the field every week (during 401 class) who give talks on job hunting and how to present oneself, and even tackling white boarding. There are also a lot of job recruiters who connect with Code Fellows and contacts that are interested in CF grads. The administration also helps us with resume, cover letter writing, etc. as an ongoing process for those looking. Don't give up!

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Summary:

The skills and resources Code Fellows taught got me a great job with promotion potential in the industry where I want to be working. It wasn't easy, but it was well worth the investment.

Background:

I took three courses from Code Fellows at the Portland Campus during their transition to the current curriculum in late 2015:

--Unix and Git for Everyone (now essentially Code 101); 

--Foundations I (a mix of Code 100 & 201); and

--Code 201. 

All the courses I took were nights/weekends, as I was employed full-time.

As a college graduate with some graduate training, I found the Code Fellows instructors and staff very accessible and personable; but most importantly they were enthusiastic about going the extra mile to help their students succeed. The courses are very challenging (but doable), so their willingness to provide guidance, feedback and mentorship off-hours (the instructors for my courses have other full-time employment) was indispensible for my classmates and I.

My IT background was in OS/Networking with no coding experience, but I was working in electronics maintenance at a regional medical center (thanks, Great Recession!) when I decided to improve my skillset to be more competitive in the job market. Code Fellows stood out to me because they had local, resident courses; their website is well designed, easy to navigate, and has informative, plain language content; but, most importantly, they offered both day AND night/weekend courses (which isn't common). ...I needed to keep my day job, so I could keep my house. 

Curriculum:

The coursework is accessible and well presented. The format is generally: See (lecture & examples); Walk-through (guided self/team work); Do (home/group work). Or, for fellow military: Crawl, Walk, Run.

Early assignments were pretty easy, but with the 'stacked module' approach our assignments grew immediately and continually more sophisticated. New assignments built on and expanded previous work. This is cool because you get a lot of reinforcement; it's difficult because you have to stay on the ball and caught up.

A word about the pre-work and homework: It was difficult. The prework made my life during the course MUCH easier. People who struggle completing reading assignments and homework will have a very hard time in Code Fellows courses. I had to dedicate 2-3 hours out-of-class for every hour in class. It was worth it!

Outcomes:

I didn't take the full curriculum because I was obligated to stay at my previous employer for another couple years. Job Assistance is, understandably, only available to students in the higher courses.

My personal outcome is that I was selected for a developmental IT position with the US Forest Service, in a unit that has developed and implemented data acquisition and analysis software and a relational database available for public access. My training with Code Fellows was the deciding factor for being selected for this position.

Not only was the Code Fellows training instrumental for being hired, but it also gave me a very strong foundation for beginning to learn Java and Python, which are required for my duties.

I'm very excited to be begining a new chapter in my professional life, and thankfull to Code Fellows for providing me the keys to unlock!

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Prior to attending the 201 (Beginning JavaScript), 301 (Intermediate JavaScript), and 401 (Advanced JavaScript) courses at the Portland location I was wrapping up a decade-long series of jobs that left me feeling unfulfilled and unchallenged. I wanted to improve my skills so that I could provide my extended design and development services to a broader range of freelance clients and projects.

Despite feeling throughout the 4.5 months of instruction that I was struggling to keep up, the support from the teaching staff and my peers was unparallelled. Once I graduated and began my job hunt it was clear that, while I didn't know everything there was to know about JavaScript, I had a firm foundation to build on, my in-class experiences provided a wide array of applicable examples for interviews and, and all of that stress and worry about breaking into the development world paid off in the end since I ended up landing a software development role a month and a half after graduation.

If you're serious about getting into development, I highly recommend this program!

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I took the JavaScript Dev Accelerator last year before it changed to the 401 course. It was a lot of work and if you're not willing to completely go for it and immerse yourself then you're not going to succeed, but if you can handle a crazy workload and are really ready for a change then it can be the right course for you.

I don't know about other courses, but everyone I know from CF ( I dont' talk to everyone from the class ) is working in the tech industry. We did JavaScript, so  I can't speak to other classes. 

It is for profit and it would be better if it was part of a community college program I think, but that said the teaching staff really cares and wants you to succeed. I don't want to sugar coat it, you will likely have a bunch of interviews before you get a job, but if you keep at it, there are jobs out there and plenty of them will give you a shot and if you can complete their code challenges then you can get the job.

I think the harsh reviews here are too harsh, but the positive can also be too positive. There will be a lot of hard work and nothing is perfect, but I am happy working in tech now and I know my friends from my CF cohort are too. 

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My year long journey at Code Fellows was nothing shy of amazing. I’m 36 and was looking for a career change. Information Security has always been a passion of mine, I’m the IT guy at work but in information security the tools you use will only get you so far. I needed to learn how to code. 

Code Fellows was my savior. The atmosphere there is amazing; being surrounded by like minded people that want to see you succeed is priceless. The teachers and T.A’s are very knowledgeable and make you feel like the priority. The work was definitely challenging; you’re going to be coding a lot, like at least 20 hours a week a lot and that is just for the night classes.

In the end, my experience at Code Fellows was unforgettable. They provided me with the confidence to start my own cyber security consulting firm; Semtex Security Inc. and now I know if I have any questions I’d always be welcome back with open arms. If you’re thinking about a career change and getting into programming I highly recommend Code Fellows.

You can check Semtex Security out at http://www.semtexsecurity.com and look for our first security app [tattle] coming to Android early 2018.    

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I received a fantastic job offer less than a month after graduating from the JavaScript 401 in Portland. After my first week at the job, I proved myself competent and widely productive as I hit the ground running. Most of everything was attributed to the invaluable skills and best practices learned from Code Fellows’ classes.

I jumped right into the company’s Git workflow, no problem. I have also impressed more than a few of my coworkers here (who have taken classes from other code schools) with concise and functional programming skills I acquired from the 301 course. Learning the Angular.js framework in 401 was challenging. However, when I was prompted to learn the Meteor framework for this job, I was very quick to learn it- as most concepts translate in component-based architecture.

All in all, Code Fellows didn’t teach me everything I need to know about web development- but instead gave me the tools, the skills, and the confidence to tackle any future obstacles and technologies that come my way.

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I took the iOS Development Accelerator as it was called before the curriculum was changed to a different format. I completed the course at the end of September 2015 in good standing. I am still unemployed, and have had very few people look my way for interviews. I've had a couple of phone interviews, and not one in person interview. 

I bought into the promise of "you can start from nearly no understanding of software development and become an attractive candidate for jobs within 2 months." Hoooo boy, let me tell you, that's just not how it works. I really wish it did. Maybe it does for front end web dev stuff, but not for actual app development like iOS. A two or three month course is not going to prepare you for that kind of work. I didn't want to believe it either. I thought I was different, that I could make it. Nope. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's the truth. Very few companies will look your way. Why would they? There's so much established talent in Seattle, not to mention they have the resources to recruit candidates from around the country and in some cases from around the world.

If you want to do software development, I would highly recommend getting an actual CS degree. That's what I wish I would have done. You realllllly need to know in depth the way to think like a programmer, which these courses can't do for you. Not in that timeframe. Trust me. You will learn specific programming paradigms and frameworks specific to whatever you are studying, but not the deeper concepts that really need to be the foundations of that other stuff. 

Our instructor was an iOS god, and even with that there was just no way to teach career changers how to be a developer companies want to hire. The only people from my cohort who got jobs were those who were switching stacks - they already knew how to write software and had worked for years in the industry. 

I didn't really get any help applying for jobs besides a resume review and tips on how to prep your LinkedIn page. That's stuff you can find out how to do by googling around for 5 minutes.

I haven't taken a job since I "graduated" to spend most of my time working on becoming a better developer and applying for jobs. Still unemployed. I'm lucky, I have the luxury to do that, but I feel bad for people who can't. Lots of my peers had to go back to what they were doing before to pay the bills.

Please, take some time to think about doing a program like this. This isn't some magic pill, no matter what people say. I don't want people wasting time and money like I did; it set me back a lot. I also don't want to dissuade anyone from following their dreams, I'm just telling you that if your dream is to be a software developer like mine is, this is not the way to do it. Consider it a favor, take care and good luck.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at the email address below (no spaces):

e d r e a s e @ gmail . com

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Just really happy to be studying and learning here at CodeFellows - haven't been here for very long, but I already feel welcomed, included, and safe. The sense of community is really strong, the standards are high, and all of the staff is incredible supportive and encouraging.

I'm currently in 301, and Rick is a really great teacher - he asks you the right questions to help you discover the answer on your own, and encourages you to "break things" as a way to move past where you are stuck. He also sends out links that are super helpful for extra practice (and credit!) with jQuery and javascript. And even though it's been a week of a ton of information to take in, the format of morning lab/standups/lecture/pair-programming has been really helpful in the area of retention.

In 201, Brian and Craig were awesome! Brain is a really amazing teacher - his pace, his intuition for where the class was tracking/not tracking with concepts, his consistent review, and overall knowledge/organization were always on point. It's an intense pace, and a lot to take in, but the teachers are really in tune with where the class (and individual) need more support/review.

My experience here at Codefellows has been super positive, engaging, and beneficial.

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Don't believe self-reported, manipulated job placement statistics published by a for-profit "educational" company.

I took three courses from Code Fellows in 2015, the last of which was an iOS "dev accelerator" (they have since changed their course names) which came with a "money back job guarantee" for a $60,000 a year dev job within 9 months of graduation. Only about 30% of our graduating class have gotten dev jobs. Those who had professional programming experience prior to attending Code Fellows got jobs. No one else did. Don't believe anything these people tell you, and certainly don't buy the hype. Worse than spending $10-20k on tuition, you'll end up wasting a year of your life like most of us did. And in spite of having a "money back guarantee" on the tuition if you don't find a job, they very cunningly found numerous ways to "disqualify" the majority of the students who didn't find jobs from actually ever getting a refund of any sort! Don't trust these people. I deeply regret that I ever did.

Remember, in life, if sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This was a perfect example of that. I deeply regret my decision to attend Code Fellows. I would definitely not do it again.

Their "job placement assistance" consists of someone who reviews your resume for layout issues and typographical errors and sends you a weekly "let me google that for you" list of job ads found elsewhere on the Internet. Their "hiring partners" are companies they manage to rope into attend a meet and greet for students where representatives from companies will try to engage in polite conversations with noobs and career changers, explaining that they're really just looking for experienced devs (i.e. programmers with years--I repeat, YEARS--of experience).

Code Fellows instructors will also repeat various mantras in an attempt to lull you into a false sense of confidence. "How can anyone learn to code in less than a year of coursework?" you'll ask. They'll explain correctly that no one can possibly become an expert programmer in that short amount of time, but that doesn't matter, because what Code Fellows will do for you is get you an entry level job... some sort of "apprenticeship" where "you'll get paid to continue learning!" BS. Total BS. Start ups can't afford to hire someone who doesn't know what there doing and large companies most likely take a chance on you.

You'll end up paying a ton of money for someone to read PowerPoint slides to you and let you use their space to work on your own laptop. Many of Code Fellows' instructors are recent Code Fellows graduates with little or no actual full-time tech industry experience.

I was simply too naive. I even had friends who are experienced developers or grad students in computer science programs at schools like UC Berkeley try to dissuade me from attending any "code school". When I asked them what they thought of the whole code school trend they responded with one of two answers:

1) "They [any code school] will be glad to take your money."

or

2) "What the hell is a code school?"

Worse than wasting your money on a code school, you will waste a ton of time. You'd be better off investing that time and money in a traditional computer science degree. That's all these company want anyhow.

You may think you need a bullshit certificate on your resume to help you land a job. Trust me, graduating with a "Code Fellows" certificate will end up being more of an embarrassment and red flag for employers than an asset. Just don't do it. And if you don't believe me, read on:

http://www.salon.com/2016/09/17/hacker-house-blues-my-life-with-12-programmers-2-rooms-and-one-21st-century-dream/

https://www.wired.com/2016/01/in-2016-the-coding-bootcamp-bubble-is-bound-to-burst/

http://fusion.net/story/303385/coding-bootcamps/

Don't do it. Learn from our mistakes. Do anything else, including just teaching yourself or taking community college courses on the side. But whatever you do, DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB AND ATTEND A CODE SCHOOL. I wish I could have that time and money back.

Don't do it!

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