Protect your data
We use cookies to provide our services, improve the user experience, for analysis and marketing purposes. By giving your consent, you also agree that your data may be transferred to the USA by the use of cookies. You can revoke your consent at any time. You can find further information in our privacy policy and cookie policy.
Codesmith is a coding school redefining the way software engineering is taught. Codesmith offers full-time (13-week) and part-time (38-week) remote software engineering immersive programs as well as a full-time NYC Onsite program. Codesmith focuses on concepts and technologies such as full-stack JavaScript, computer science, machine learning, Dev Ops, React, and more. The immersives are advanced residencies designed to help individuals launch meaningful, high-level careers in software engineering.
The Codesmith admissions process involves a written application with optional coding questions, a nontechnical interview, and a technical interview. Codesmith offers a number of free resources for preparing for the admissions process including in-person and online coding workshops, a 2-week online prep course (CS Prep), and an online JavaScript learning platform (CSX).
Codesmith offers extensive career support that guides residents through resume development, interview strategies, salary negotiation, and more. Residents receive career support for life whether they are on their first job search, second job search, or beyond. Plus, the supportive Codesmith community encourages learners to tackle unique and unfamiliar problems, important when preparing for the ever-changing tech landscape. As shared in the most recent CIRR outcomes reports (Jan-June, 2022), more than 80% of Codesmith graduates were employed in the field within 6 months of graduating. Across all full-time immersive programs during this period the median salary for Codesmith graduates was $127,500. The median salary for part-time remote immersive graduates was $137,000.
When it comes to tuition, Codesmith payment options include upfront payments, monthly installments, and financing through Ascent Funding, Codesmith’s loan partner. In addition, eligible students can apply for several different scholarship options at Codesmith.
Codesmith also offers a two-day JavaScript for Beginners online course, as well as CS Prep, a 2-week program offered online and designed to prepare you for Codesmith’s Software Engineering Immersives. Further, you can join their free CSX learning platform and attend any of Codesmith’s free weekly workshops to learn more about its programs and build software engineering fundamentals.
Codesmith was the best decision that I could have made for myself. I dropped out of NYU at 20 years old because I knew I could do what I wanted without paying $60K more for a degree. I wanted to be a software engineer. It didn't just teach me how to use frameworks and how to solve algorithms. It taught me how to learn efficiently. I left with a life long skill of adaptation.
I also left with really good friends, my cohort was like a big family. The whole team is such an amazing sou...
Codesmith was the best decision that I could have made for myself. I dropped out of NYU at 20 years old because I knew I could do what I wanted without paying $60K more for a degree. I wanted to be a software engineer. It didn't just teach me how to use frameworks and how to solve algorithms. It taught me how to learn efficiently. I left with a life long skill of adaptation.
I also left with really good friends, my cohort was like a big family. The whole team is such an amazing source of support. The instructors and the fellows don't give you the answer but they help guide you into figuring it out on your own. The environment just encourages support and learning together. I looked into a lot of programs that offered similar curriculum but I went to a hard parts and I knew that this was the place I wanted to spend my time learning. And I have no doubt that I made the right decsion.
I just graduated from the most recent April '18 cohort and had a really amazing experience at Codesmith.
Many reviews on here have described the amount of work that is demanded from Codesmith residents, to which I would say it's a given that if you're looking for a complete career change in three months, you're going to have to put in a lot of time and effort. That being said, the community and the support that you get from both staff and other students makes that process much, mu...
I just graduated from the most recent April '18 cohort and had a really amazing experience at Codesmith.
Many reviews on here have described the amount of work that is demanded from Codesmith residents, to which I would say it's a given that if you're looking for a complete career change in three months, you're going to have to put in a lot of time and effort. That being said, the community and the support that you get from both staff and other students makes that process much, much easier. It's obviously possible to learn technologies like React and Redux on your own, but coding is a collaborative process. And that's not something you can learn sitting on your couch with a laptop. I remember all the time I spent on Codewars, FreeCodeCamp, and CodeAcademy prior to Codesmith, studying to get in. I learned a good amount studying on my own, and I'm sure I could have learned how to put together a website myself with a few more months. But the kind of work that you do in order to get accepted has almost nothing to do with what it's like to work on a team, which is what you'll have to do once you go out and get an engineering job. The projects that you build at Codesmith ingrain you with that collaborative process. Whether you like it or not, you'll have to work with people who are stronger than you, and people who are weaker than you. You'll have to decide how to break up a project into pieces so that someone can put together a SQL database while another person adds OAuth to your app. You'll also have to also learn how to merge two, three, four different peoples' work together into a single codebase and not break everything (which inevitably, it will) in the process. You'll learn to code with other people, and that's what companies want from engineers. Someone in my cohort had an interview a few days ago and was asked 'Tell me about a time someone on your team underperformed, how it affected the rest of the team, and how you responded'. That's a question you absolutely cannot answer if you've only ever coded by yourself. Codesmith prepares you to confidently answer questions like that, because you spent months working with other engineers, constantly facing blocks and having to overcome them. To bring this back to the amount of work that is demanded from students at Codesmith—yes, it's difficult, but most of that difficulty comes from learning to work with other people, and that's an invaluable skill to have as an engineer.
When I was applying to bootcamps, I knew that I wanted to go to one of the top programs, and I only wanted to specialize in one language. That basically left me with Hack Reactor, since App Academy still teaches Ruby (at least when I was applying) for the first few weeks of its program. I was accepted into Hack Reactor and was pretty much ready to go, and found out about Codesmith in early March. Being a much younger program than Hack Reactor, Codesmith felt like it was more of a risk. I had never heard of it and I was very skeptical about the promise of getting a mid-level or senior position after three months. What convinced me was attending Hard Parts and seeing the founder, Will Sentance, teaching an introductory Javascript course on the whiteboard and going into an incredible amount of detail, more so than any other intro course I'd seen. After doing more research and reading some of the reviews, I applied and pretty soon bought my flight to LA. I think there is something special about the fact that much fewer people know about Codesmith. It brings together people who are not only incredibly driven and intelligent, but also people who are willing to take that same risk. It brings together interesting people, which is not something you can say about every software engineer out there. Attending Codesmith was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. I'm 27 now and after years of working in different industries, I can confidently say that I've found what I'd like to do for the next decade of my life. If you're also committed to becoming an engineer and you're generally a kind and hardworking person, you'll probably also arrive to Codesmith and feel like you've finally found your people. Some of the friendships I've made here will last me a lifetime, and I'm confident that everyone in my cohort will go on to do incredible things. All of that is only possible because of the level of commitment that people bring to that place, and that commitment shows when you hear about the outcomes that people get, when you hear people talk on the alumni panel about the careers they're currently in, and when you meet other people who have gone through the program. If you're looking for a career change into software engineering, I can confidently say that I can't imagine there being a better place to do that than at Codesmith.
Haley of Codesmith
Director of Product & Platforms
Aug 12, 2020
I had found Codesmith through attending a few JavaScript: the Hard Parts events. At the time, I was a front end web developer but was looking to move into more data-intensive software engineering positions. I had also just moved to LA and didn't have much of a network; JSHP seemed to be a great two for one deal: brush up on JavaScript basics and meet other engineers. What I hadn't expected was just how great the JSHP (and by extension, the Codesmith) community is: everyone around me was e...
I had found Codesmith through attending a few JavaScript: the Hard Parts events. At the time, I was a front end web developer but was looking to move into more data-intensive software engineering positions. I had also just moved to LA and didn't have much of a network; JSHP seemed to be a great two for one deal: brush up on JavaScript basics and meet other engineers. What I hadn't expected was just how great the JSHP (and by extension, the Codesmith) community is: everyone around me was extremely supportive and giving. Couple this with the high techincal standards, Codesmith seemed like the perfect program to effectively up my technical abilities. Having come through the other end I can attest that it did that. A+, would do again.
I was a resident and then a fellow at Codesmith so I think I can give some quick insights on the program. If you are about growth through technical challenge and embrace deliberate practice rather than easy wins, this is the place for you. If you want to be surrounded by determined and brilliant people who genuinely care about your learning experience, you've found it. But keep this in mind, no one will hold your hand and you have to come in with 110% of focus and self-determination to mak...
I was a resident and then a fellow at Codesmith so I think I can give some quick insights on the program. If you are about growth through technical challenge and embrace deliberate practice rather than easy wins, this is the place for you. If you want to be surrounded by determined and brilliant people who genuinely care about your learning experience, you've found it. But keep this in mind, no one will hold your hand and you have to come in with 110% of focus and self-determination to make it through. This is great opportunity to excel yourself as a mid-senior software engineer, so come and earn it.
A few months prior to joining Codesmith I had quit my job with the goal of learning coding on my own in order to switch careers and create a few projects I've had in my head but never been able to act on. (I come from a technical background, but on the Electrical side - so I wanted to get SW skills in order to be more full stack.)
About 2 months into my self-learning journey, I realized I could solve problems but always felt I was "hacking" the answer together instead of just bei...
A few months prior to joining Codesmith I had quit my job with the goal of learning coding on my own in order to switch careers and create a few projects I've had in my head but never been able to act on. (I come from a technical background, but on the Electrical side - so I wanted to get SW skills in order to be more full stack.)
About 2 months into my self-learning journey, I realized I could solve problems but always felt I was "hacking" the answer together instead of just being able to immediately solve them, which I felt slowed me own drastically.
Enter Codesmith...
After the 3 month course I now feel I have a thorough understanding of the key concepts I needed and, in addition, also a deep understanding of the advanced/cutting edge javascript frameworks - ie. React, Redux, Node.
I received all of the skills that I was looking for and can now immediately reason in my head when solving problems on my projects, as-opposed to having to stack overflow every question and 'hack' together answers.
---
In addition, the two things I think really set Codesmith apart are 1) the culture and 2) the projects.
1) A majority of the people that join Codesmith are already solid programmers or problem solvers with technical backgrounds, and they want to take their skills to the next level. This was what was really worth the price of admission, to me. Working on my own I would sometimes hit a wall of frustration and need a break; with the community you're working with at Codesmith, if you hit a wall there is surely someone around who is happy to sit down and troubleshoot it with you. And you're on your way forward in no time. (Not to mention the network of driven people you are now a part of)
2) I don't like how some schools force boring projects on you - I don't think that helps promote true learning because you're not passionately solving through your problems and can just go through the motions. Codesmith lets you choose your own projects (pretty much whatever you choose, as long as the concept is challenging enough and clearly described). This phase was where I really solidified my knowledge because I was working on projects I cared about and that allowed me to spend the extra time to really push through difficult problems, willingly.
TLDR: I'm very happy I made this decision as I now have the skills I was looking for, in only 3 months. Now I can solve challenging problems without help.
Note: It's not easy - be ready to put in the work.
Attended CodeSmith - August 2016 Cohort 9
Background - Chemical Engineering
Currently - Software Engineer (First Job landed after CodeSmith was Nike)
I attended Codesmith back in August 2016 for a 13 Week Program that transitioned me from a programming enthusiast to a software engineer. I understand a lot of things probably have changed since my cohort, but I'm going to assume that it was for the better. Wheth...
Attended CodeSmith - August 2016 Cohort 9
Background - Chemical Engineering
Currently - Software Engineer (First Job landed after CodeSmith was Nike)
I attended Codesmith back in August 2016 for a 13 Week Program that transitioned me from a programming enthusiast to a software engineer. I understand a lot of things probably have changed since my cohort, but I'm going to assume that it was for the better. Whether that was hardening the course material to focus on current in-demand skills or even providing additional staff for the students. It was one of the best paths I could have chosen for my career. Codesmith provides all the necessary tools for you to succeed. I fully recommend CodeSmith as a JavaScript-focused Bootcamp that can get you started as a software developer or harden your skills as one.
In short - If you love programming, javascript and are dedicated 100%+ to pursuing a job in Web Development (that is if Web Dev is your passion), go for it.
*Note* - One thing that Codesmith does well, is the support. I still get my resume reviewed from time to time and Codesmith does a great job in being responsive to their student needs in regards to Job Assistance.
I learned more about relevant technologies and code production at Codesmith than I did in college with a minor in computer science.
Overall it was a great experience. I developed some awesome friendships and am now working as a software engineer at a company that I love.
I do wish there was more back end in the curriculum. I takes extra effort and studying after Codesmith to land a backend position. But that is true for any bootcamp.
I come from a background in PR and Marketing, and transitioned into a role as a UX/UI developer. I wanted to build out the functionalities of these static wireframes and prototypes, but my scope of software engineering was so narrow that I didn’t know where or how to begin. I did a lot of research on bootcamps and immersive programmes, and the amount of polarising reviews put me off any further researching. I decided to try the whole “self-studying” thing, and found myself completing algor...
I come from a background in PR and Marketing, and transitioned into a role as a UX/UI developer. I wanted to build out the functionalities of these static wireframes and prototypes, but my scope of software engineering was so narrow that I didn’t know where or how to begin. I did a lot of research on bootcamps and immersive programmes, and the amount of polarising reviews put me off any further researching. I decided to try the whole “self-studying” thing, and found myself completing algorithm after algorithm, but not really implementing it to build anything useful.
I attended my first JavaScript: The Hard Parts meet-up, and was completely blown away at how in-depth and precise Will went into explaining the JS engine, and how it executes each line of code. There were also a couple of people from Codesmith who volunteered to stay with me past the meet-up event to pair-programme with me until I was at a point where I understood all of the concepts. After attending a couple of more times, I became more familiar with the Codesmith community, and knew that I had to be a part of it. I’ve never been surrounded by such passionate, hilarious, supportive, and talented group of people before, and I still keep in touch with those I’ve met at Hard Parts.
During my time at Codesmith, the hardest part for me was to discipline myself in adjusting to a “new” way of learning. The lectures give you a solid high-level overview of a particular topic, but it’s up to you to put in the hard work to further research how it’s used and how all the pieces come together. Every two days, you’re learning a new concept/framework/protocol along with a unit challenge, and I definitely put in a lot of extra time during and after the programme to ensure that I’ve understood them. During the “senior” portion of the programme, Codesmith really pushes you to explore areas that might feel like impossible to build at first, but when you’re surrounded by such determined and ambitious talent, you pick up on their energy and push through together as a team. My team and I built a real-time text editor with end-to-end encryption - still can’t believe that we worked with encryption!
The last few weeks are dedicated to outcomes and building out your network, which was one of the most important areas of Codesmith. The Codesmith team put in a lot of effort in conducting resume workshops, mock interviews/white boarding sessions, and cover letter/follow-up strategies. You’re in this iterative and refinement phase that further strengthens your technical and presentational skills when it comes to hiring day. You’re equipped with an extensive network of Codesmith alumni that are scattered across major cities, and I definitely took advantage of that by reaching out to them and they were more than happy to meet with me for interview preps. Codesmith built a solid foundation for my career, and I accepted a great offer a few weeks after finishing up the programme!
Haley of Codesmith
Director of Product & Platforms
Aug 12, 2020
Codesmith as a program really lives up to it's hype. I was skeptical at first, as having been a software engineer for 4/5 years back in the late 90's / early naughties I was well aware of how big an undertaking it is to become a competent developer. Having not programmed for 15 yrs, thereby missing the internet/cloud era I found myself drawn to bootcamps as a way to re-immerse myself in programming. I decided on Codesmith having attended JSHP and really liking the community Codesmith was d...
Codesmith as a program really lives up to it's hype. I was skeptical at first, as having been a software engineer for 4/5 years back in the late 90's / early naughties I was well aware of how big an undertaking it is to become a competent developer. Having not programmed for 15 yrs, thereby missing the internet/cloud era I found myself drawn to bootcamps as a way to re-immerse myself in programming. I decided on Codesmith having attended JSHP and really liking the community Codesmith was developing. My instincts were correct. Codemith has developed an awesome community, where students, alumni and the Codesmith team, all support each other fantastically. This really proved helpful during the program, where people all stayed on beyond the required 12hr days to help each other overcome the struggles of learning to code. I feel like the base knowledge the program gives you, really instills an ability to go out and tackle any coding challenge. You come away having learned how to break the problem down, research what knowledge you need in an efficient manner and apply this to any given challenge. This ability coupled with the community, I could not have asked for more.
I'll keep it short since I can't say much more than the other reviewers have already said:
Codesmith was the right decision for me. I graduated with a Math/CS degree and was unsure about whether any of these coiding programs would be useful for me, but I eventually decided on attending Codesmith and I'm so glad I did! The vibe and energy from the people there was always positive, always friendly, and always collaborative. I was free to ask for help and work with others on what I ...
I'll keep it short since I can't say much more than the other reviewers have already said:
Codesmith was the right decision for me. I graduated with a Math/CS degree and was unsure about whether any of these coiding programs would be useful for me, but I eventually decided on attending Codesmith and I'm so glad I did! The vibe and energy from the people there was always positive, always friendly, and always collaborative. I was free to ask for help and work with others on what I had trouble with and at the same time other could always come to me with their questions as well. And that was important because the program was dense and without that kind of community, I couldn't learned what I did, and I wouldn't have been able to built what I did. It felt like we were all in this together and trying to raise each other up to become the best engineers possible.
My experience in the program was incredibly valuable and I would choose to do it again in a heartbeat!
Haley of Codesmith
Director of Product & Platforms
Aug 12, 2020
When I joined Codesmith, I was a cs grad trying to reach for roles that are typically not possible to attain by people who are fresh out of college. I wanted to have the skills and the confidence to be taken seriously when applying for positions that aren't just entry level software engineering roles. I am passionate about engineering and knew that I could do better than performing mindless bug fixes and task/maintanence level engineering. I wanted to build new systems and...
When I joined Codesmith, I was a cs grad trying to reach for roles that are typically not possible to attain by people who are fresh out of college. I wanted to have the skills and the confidence to be taken seriously when applying for positions that aren't just entry level software engineering roles. I am passionate about engineering and knew that I could do better than performing mindless bug fixes and task/maintanence level engineering. I wanted to build new systems and apply cutting edge technology to real world applications.
The community aspect of Codesmith is one of the biggest contributors to the success of all the students that go through the program. You will be surrounded by highly motivated people and learn how to work in teams, mentor others, and work through difficult and interesting challenges together (just like in a real world environment!). AND you make a bunch of really cool friends throughout the program and beyond!
I have to say Codesmith helped me attain all the things I wanted in my career as a Software Engineer. The skills they teach allows you to be able to reach for higher roles solving actually interesting problems as well as have people take you more seriously as an engineer. You get to learn how to learn, how to design solid systems by building, pick up popularly used technologies, and create real projects. There are also various levels of soft skills that you will inadvertently pick up as well as lots of tools for doing well in interviews.
Coming out of Codesmith, in the interview process, I felt that I was taken more seriously than before. Interviewers got excited when I talked about the projects that I created at CodeSmith, especially the senior project that we built as a team (a realtime subscription system for GraphQL before it was even implemented officially in the GraphQL specification and before Apollo released such functionality!). Most of the offers I recieved after the program were well within and above the range of salaries offered to most Codesmith students.
One year later, I am confident in saying that I was able to apply pretty much everything I learned at Codesmith to excel and make a solid impact here at the company I currently work at. I have been an integral part of designing and creating several new backend systems, migrating our backend to microservices, developing an in house branded UI Component library using all the latest and greatest React tooling, and building lots of new features in our product.
Was it worth it? Hell yeah it was worth it! and it was LOADS of fun! It is important that you take this time to work hard and make the most of the experience. It's not magic where you just go through the program and you come out it being able to be treated like a senior engineer. Work hard, get sleep, eat well, read lots, and dive deep into the topics that you learn (and the topics you don't learn!). If you take the time to make the most out of your Codesmith experience, you will come out of it surprising EVERYONE you talk to. I was really inspired by the growth of all my peers at Codesmith who came from non-technical backgrounds. They worked hard, grew to be excellent engineers, and many of them are making waves at the places the landed afterwards.
Enrolling in Codesmith is one of the best investments I’ve made. I had some tech experience, but wanted to make a hard turn into software development. I didn’t want to spend a year in self-study or take a junior position where I wasn’t challenged to grow beyond my limits. This program challenged my limits everyday for three months and grew my knowledge and skill to the level I needed to pursue and make that hard turn into software development.
I came to Codesmith after several st...
Enrolling in Codesmith is one of the best investments I’ve made. I had some tech experience, but wanted to make a hard turn into software development. I didn’t want to spend a year in self-study or take a junior position where I wasn’t challenged to grow beyond my limits. This program challenged my limits everyday for three months and grew my knowledge and skill to the level I needed to pursue and make that hard turn into software development.
I came to Codesmith after several stints of personal projects and self-study. A night of self-study might have included me crouching over a computer in my living room for a few hours trying to get a web server to accept requests while pretending to watch the Bachelor with my girlfriend. The first successful response would lead to an audible, “Yes!,“ at which point I’d feel a sense of a accomplishment, shut the laptop as if it were an interruption to normal life, and get back to the Bachelor (don’t judge). Stack overflow articles and trial/error would have given me a concept of what was going on under the hood, but a lot of the learning actually comes after hacking together a solution. For three months Codesmith takes over your life. There are no interruptions to learning how to code - getting to the audible ‘Yes!’ becomes the first step of solving a problem instead of the last. Instead of closing the laptop, you take it with you to the classroom and start connecting the dots of why it worked like it did and digging deeper into the underlying architecture so the next project you’re focused on optimization as opposed to just getting something working.
The program is structured from a day-to-day perspective but retains a loose and agile feel to it - include its immersive aspect and you’re forced to make the program your own. Instead of simply experiencing a curriculum, you become part of the curriculum - on any given day you can be the student, the teacher, or even the intangible glue that holds your cohort together in times of stress. Looking back at the experience, this was incredibly motivating and helped drive everyone to keep their endurance and tenacity at the crazy levels needed to conquer each day’s/week’s goals. The Codesmith staff also did a great job of bringing the experience of many previous cohorts to bear in helping students navigate problem areas.
I’ll end the review like I started it - Codesmith is a great investment in yourself. That said, it’s not for the faint of heart. This investment is not only tuition and time but also the energy and dedication put into it. The program gives you all the tools and support to succeed - and really pushes you to make the most out of it. If you have a natural curiosity and urge to learn and legitimately give it 110%, you’ll grow enormously.
Employed in-field | 80.1% |
Full-time employee | 77.4% |
Full-time apprenticeship, internship or contract position | 0.7% |
Short-term contract, part-time, or freelance | 1.7% |
Started a new company or venture after graduation | 0.3% |
Not seeking in-field employment | 0.3% |
Employed out-of-field | 0.3% |
Continuing to higher education | 0.0% |
Not seeking a job for health, family, or personal reasons | 0.0% |
Still seeking job in-field | 19.6% |
Could not contact | 0.0% |
How much does Codesmith cost?
Codesmith costs around $20,925. On the lower end, some Codesmith courses like JavaScript for Beginners cost $350.
What courses does Codesmith teach?
Codesmith offers courses like CS Prep , Full-Time Remote Software Engineering Immersive, Global Part-Time Remote Software Engineering Immersive, JavaScript for Beginners and 1 more.
Where does Codesmith have campuses?
Codesmith has in-person campuses in New York City. Codesmith also has a remote classroom so students can learn online.
Is Codesmith worth it?
The data says yes! Codesmith reports a median salary of $133,281 and 82% of Codesmith alumni are employed. Codesmith hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 554 Codesmith alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Codesmith on Course Report - you should start there!
Is Codesmith legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 554 Codesmith alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Codesmith and rate their overall experience a 4.89 out of 5.
Does Codesmith offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like Codesmith offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read Codesmith reviews?
You can read 554 reviews of Codesmith on Course Report! Codesmith alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Codesmith and rate their overall experience a 4.89 out of 5.
Is Codesmith accredited?
Codesmith is approved to operate by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. For more information visit: https://codesmith.io/regulatory-information
Just tell us who you are and what you’re searching for, we’ll handle the rest.