6 months ago I was a security contractor overseas in a comletely unrelated profession, military background and zero experience in tech. I never did well in any math or science related classes in school.

Full stack Java program - html, javascript, Java, MySql.

I researched coding bootcamps off and on for about 3 years before I finally decided to apply to Codeup. After applying, I attended one of the Learn To Code Workshops to get an idea of what Codeup was about. Ryan Orsinger taught the workshop, and his passion and knowledge of everything code is what convinced me that this was absolutely the right choice. It was very important to me that if I was going to pay for a bootcamp it had to have high quality instructors, curriculum, and job placement, and Codeup delivered. Codeup's website has a ton of information on the languages they teach, application process, coding workshops, and FAQ's so I won't repeat that here. This is my attempt to share the information I would've found useful when I was applying to Codeup.

Community: On the first day, we received a membership to Geekdom and Tech Bloc, so you immediately feel like you're part of the tech community. 

Curriculum: I had no experience coding before Codeup. The curriculum is challenging, but that's exactly what I wanted. The instructors are very supportive, but they won't just give you the answers. They push you to figure it out on your own, make sure you're on the right track, and provide hints when you're stuck. The instructors are great and will do everything they can to make sure you succeed, but you have to put in the work. Programming takes practice, and no one can do that for you. You have to want to learn and want to grow in order to succeed in this class. It is very fast paced, and it is important that you do this bootcamp at a time that you're prepared for that. One of the most important things they teach you is how to learn new languages. My job requires me to learn new languages and frameworks frequently, and I'm never overwhelmed by it because Codeup prepared me for this. Class is a mixture of lecture, assignments, projects (some individual, some in groups), quizzes and tests. I believe my cohort started with 25 students and ended with 20.

Job Placement:  Stephen Salas is excellent at job placement. He helped us write resumes, update LinkedIn, and set up interviews. We all went through 2 practice technical interviews with instructors, and received feedback. I received two offers before graduation, one of which I accepted and am happily working at today. About half of my class was placed before graduation, and the rest within the following weeks. A lot of employers attended our demo day, and there is a lot of opportunity to set up interviews during the networking session afterwards. You will get a job. 

Salary: The average salary for entry-level developers in San Antonio is $50,000, but the range of salaries for my class went well above that. Most of my class accepted jobs in San Antonio and Dallas. Before attending Codeup I was a teacher, and I was able to double my salary. 

Conclusion: Codeup is worth every penny. I enjoyed every minute of it, and it is by far the best thing I have ever done for my career. I highly recommend going to a learn to code workshop and reading all off the FAQ's on the website. 

TLDR – No brainer for veterans using the GI Bill or Vocational Rehab.

 

Personal Outcome – Hired with major tech organization.

 

Cohort Outcome – 23/28 Graduated, 21/23 placed within 8 weeks of graduation.

 

         I told myself that I wouldn’t write a review until I was employed and working. I didn’t want “honeymoon haze” to have an effect of skewing my thoughts on the experience as a whole.

 

If you are reading this to decide if it’s worth your time or money, that depends on your personal financial situation. For a military veteran using the GI Bill or Vocational Rehab, it is absolutely worth every cent. Mostly because you’ll get paid to attend class and learn a skill worth having. If you’re paying out of pocket or through loans, that can be a much trickier proposition.

 

Do not be fooled by the ridiculous starting salaries advertised by other boot camps.  Those amounts easily equate to the average of ~$55k San Antonio offers. The primary reason for this is cost of living adjustment. So, if you think you’re going to make $80-$100k fresh out of Codeup with no prior experience or college degree, think again. In fact, due to the enormous talent pool of qualified candidates and limited number of positions, not having a college degree (regardless of field) can really hurt you in the San Antonio market. You have much less in the way of bargaining and have to consider the idea of taking a much lower than desired salary just to get the coveted experience companies crave.

 

Engagement beyond graduation is more than you could ask for and also worth the investment. Follow-on cohorts may have a different experience, but my review is based off working with Stephen who was in charge of employer relations. On top of the volunteer opportunities, job fairs, workshops, and meetups, additional interviews were also coordinated by Stephen. He did everything in his power to find opportunities with employers. In total, I had 8 phone interviews and 5 in-person interviews. Out of the 5, I received offers from 2. I might’ve been able to secure an additional 2 offers, but my interviewing/negotiating skills were rusty and poorly researched (see above about salary expectations).

 

The instructors at Codeup are the main reason to choose a structured approach versus self-taught. Having access to someone intimately familiar with the curriculum whenever you need pays dividends when trying to grasp tricky concepts. The instructors almost make you believe they are wizards with special membership rings that give them coding powers. But with that being said, it is important to curb your expectations. The instructors are experts on the curriculum they teach and their individual expertise outside of the curriculum. This means that trying to test them with obscure coding challenges that have zero relevance to the real world is utterly pointless. This leads into the curriculum.

 

The curriculum is relatively up to date given the breakneck speed development moves. You will learn HTML, CSS, JS (ES5 and ES6), Java 8, Spring, MySQL, and a little bit of Bash. You will learn just enough of each of these to be dangerous, but not even close to mastery. You will find yourself asking why you’re using x framework, or y library, but the truth is, just do it. Development is complex enough as is, you don’t need to try to reinvent the wheel just to say that your project uses no libraries. As the projects get more difficult, no one gives a shit if you use jquery or lodash or bootstrap or whatever to make your project. As long as the final product is functional, feature complete, and relatively bug free, use whatever you can to save yourself time!

 

With all of that being said, manage your expectations. Special wizard rings are not issued upon graduation. You will spend 4 months learning many dialects of many languages. Equate that to learning French, German, Arabic, Spanish, and Japanese in 4 months. Your level of mastery will be reflected in much the same way. You will gravitate towards one more than the other, and become more proficient the more you use it. At the end of the day, Codeup was well worth it for me and several of my cohort mates would agree.

I attended this bootcamp instead of returnig to university to finish a second degree in computer science and really regretted the desciion. I paid 18k and honestly recieved the worst education. Like somone else said they are nice people but they did a horeendous job. I would say everyone left the bootcamp scammed and ridicuously unprepared for the field. I worked hard and decided to teach myself everything from the ground up using free sources throughout the internet and man did I learn more doing that than my entire 4 months at codeup. They are just trying to make money off people trying to make a career change. Also I can see somone else in the reviews shared the same experience. Most of the time the instructors just told you to figure it out on your own and refesued to actually teach. Also I can't beleive they now charge students $27,500.00 for their program.

My advice: JUST GOT TO BACK TO UNIVERSITY OR TEACH YOURSELF via YOUTUBE AND OTHER FREE SOURCES

Final note: I think Codeup should be investigated because they are definiely lying about the numbers they report.  They also fight anyone that tries to express their doscontent with the program and buries their attemps to do so.

Reviewer Context:

Demographics: I am a female between 18-30 years old. I was hired about a month before Codeup even ended as an associate data engineer. It's been a year since then, and I am still with the same company.

Experience before Codeup: I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology. I did a year of Comp Sci classes at university before I dropped out to go to Codeup. Before Codeup I was an Assistant Manager at a major clothing brand. 

Cost: I only had to pay the deposit of ~$1000-$1500. The rest was covered by a city grant and a 'women in tech' scholarship. 

 

Overall Experience:

Life-changing. I can confidently say that Codeup did more for me than years of the university did. I was reluctant at first until I looked up their job placement statistics. 87%! Numbers don't lie. It is a risk for sure, but the incredible payoff is worth it. I would not be at my current job if not for Codeup. 

Instructors:

You're taught by several different instructors throughout the course. It's nice because if you don't vibe with one instructor, it won't be forever. 

It's not for you if you expect the instructors to give you all the answers. You wouldn't expect your manager to give you all the answers! 

 

Curriculum:

The curriculum is something that anyone can learn on their own. The difference is that Codeup provides structure and context. The level of difficulty depends on your prior experience. It is quite intense, with a fast learning pace. With dedication, anyone can do it. There are student-led study sessions and instructor-provided tutoring. Codeup is very good at teaching you the most important aspects of a language or technology and leaving the rest up to you. They give you a great learning foundation and you learn HOW to learn. As a developer, you never stop learning, so this is a great skill to have!

 

Job Assistance: 

The job assistance is extensive and extremely helpful. This is the best part of Codeup in my opinion. There is job placement staff that assist you throughout the process. Your resume is viewed and critiqued several times. You will have mock interviews. You will design your own personal website. Your LinkedIn will be critiqued.

I had a great experience with Codeup and shortly after graduating, I had a job offer.  I think the staff really cares about making their students happy and are always trying find new ways to make the program better.  

I would say that the program is what you make of it.  If you go in with a serious mindset and code on the weekends and the evenings, you'll get a lot out of it.  I can't say the same for some of the my fellow classmates - a few of them just did enough to get by.  

Also, I must also mention that I already have a degree and a background in technology so I looked at Codeup as a way to add to my skillset.  It's a great program but won't replace a degree.  Overall, I had a really great experience and learned a lot.  I'd recommend it to anyone looking to make some changes in their career.  

Unfortunately I don't recommend program to anyone. I had high hopes going in but finished disappointed. Curriculum and class time very disorganized. Most of the time they asked you to figure it out on your own. They don't know how to teach and the assignments don't build on each other. You leave class with a weak foundation and a bare bones portfolio. I've learned more from videos on the internet than at Codeup. Also they pay students for reviews. So watch out. They are closer to a technology frat than an educational institution, since they are better at networking and parties than teaching. All the instructors and staff are wonderful people so no hard feelings. I just think skeptical people should know the truth.  It was the only bootcamp in town up until this year so take a look at the other options. 

Codeup is definitely worth the time and money. The staff really cares about its students, and are always looking to help.

It is a great place to network because Codeup and Geekdom are the centers of gravitation for the San Antonio tech scene.

If you want to learn about Coding, and Tech, Codeup is where to begin.

Covered HTML, CSS in the first few classes and spent a majority of time learning Javascript. APIs, PhP and builders like WordPress were touched on. Overall the instructors were very helpful along with the staff. The class was fairly small making it easier to get your questions answered and have a bit of one on one time. They did their best to make the dullest of topics fun and interesting. It was well worth the cost for anyone trying to break into coding services.

If you are contemplating going to Codeup, don't hesitate.  Great course material and knowledgable instructors make for great outcomes.  Be prepared to work hard and come out prepared for a career change!

I went there after being unhappy and unfulfilled in my current situation. I went there during their Oct 2014 course. It was a great decision. A strong curriculum is provided, ample of time to study and stay after class to concentrate on your work or just do additional studying. It can seem a bit like being in college studying hard with a side of socializing. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a career change or just want to seriously learn the skills for web development

I spent a few years as a computer science major, and I have to say that I learned more practical skills in Codeup than I did in school. 

The instuctors are very thorough and helpful, and legitimately love their job. And best of all, within days of completion, I was getting interviews.

If you are planning on doing Codeup, and have some coding experience, you might find some of the earlier sections slow. However, the instructors will be more than happy to point you to extra exercises.

10/10, would definitely do again.

I have been told by several Computer Science majors that I learned more in 16 weeks than they did in 2 years of university course work!

I chose Codeup out of all the bootcamps in the country because they felt like an actual school - not a for-profit business - who honestly cared about my education and ability to effectively enter the programming career field. The instructors are incredibly dedicated to their students and are constantly improving the curriculum to cater to their students' and the markets' needs. And everyone involved in the program has such strong connections in the tech community that finding potential employers was incredibly easy; I had 2 job offers within a week of graduating, simply because they knew the program and respected and trusted those involved!

I was very hesitant to change careers at first, but this has been a life-changing experience and I have absolutely no regrets. This was 100% the right decision.

I will describe Codeup as an awesome experience. The instructors are brilliant, and the flow of the program was really great. There are also great social events in and around the school you can attend.
I would highly recommend the program if you are serious about learning and have the discipline to stick through it. For anyone thinking of changing careers, it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

After years working as a business analyst for a software company, going back and learning the skills to go from 'Hey this is what we should make' to 'Hey this is a good idea lets start putting it together' is one of the most empowering things I've ever had the opportunity to do.   The work is not easy, but neither is the profession if you want to do it well.   I've been working as a full time developer for well over a year now and don't regret the decision.  Codeup had phenomenal instructors, a concentrated curriculum, and an intense program to help separate the wheat from the chaff.  I would do it all over again with little hesitation.

Graduated from Codeup a bit over a year ago, I had little experience in Web Development and wouldn's have dared applying for a job in the industry. During the course we learned a lot about writing code, but most importantly, Codeup taught us how to learn on our own. To this day I still check my notes from class. The course itself was challenging and covered a whole lot. 

Everyone at Codeup has been extremely helpful, the instructors were always open and insightful, not just dropping the answer but helping me find it myself. Codeup has become a community that I'm happy to belong to. They have made it clear that they are still there for me, in case I need help with some code or if I want to explore other job opportunities.  That means a lot to me! 

I have nothing but good memories from Codeup. Recommended 100%.

I was on the fence about attending a bootcamp and I couldn't be happier with choosing Codeup. Codeup was a fantastic experience. They do a great job of keeping the classes small and filled with smart people with very diverse backgrounds. 

Codeup was an excellent experience.  The work is intense, but very rewarding and does a marvelous job preparing you to become a web developer.  I have a friend who is a 10-year software developer, and after looking at my portfolio, he told me that I am on the same level he was as a programmer after two years of self-teaching.

I really enjoyed the environment and the intense pace. The teachers were all great and dependable. We covered many topics in a short period, but I never really felt too rushed.

I came to Codeup knowing absolutely zero code, and left so excited to continue learning. They not only teach you the fundamentals of coding, but connect you with people who want to hire you. I found a job a week after leaving Codeup to work for an awesome startup. Codeup has an awesome staff that is fully behind you and your success. They have successfully created an awesome learning atmosphere that creates a great network going into the coding world.

Very political, like stupid political. Uses students who love code and learning takes there suggestions without giving correct feedback. Also will try the hardest to get money, if you check any of the offered scholarships from they school itself it never goes to the student. It ONLY goes to codeup. So you dont see any scholarship money really hit student hands. The grants and twf will cover the most of it. And just know they open doors and teach you the basics at bare minimum. Why review anonymously? Because the staff can't handle any negative feedback and are vindictive as high school students.