Coding Dojo Reviews
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David Sanchez
Great stuff! Lots of hard work but help too
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I also studied a lot on my own before, had lots of previous industry experience but was having trouble with interviews and with prospecitve employers feeling confident in my ability to be productive with current technologies. The bootcamp seemed to clear that right up. Intensive work days made sure I was not 'stale' with my experience was fit for the rat race that is Silicon Valley. I was amazed that some folks could start from scratch and make it through but I'm on the older side.
I know its expensive and the job market has adjusted to these 'bootcamps.' It still offers a great way to learn a lot and get a feel for how the job market works. "If you put the hours in" I would think you will get not only a good job but a good career.
Google hired me early in the bootcamp since combined with my previous experience, they knew I could fit in and contribute. If you lack experience you can st
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Edwin
great boocamp experience
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going to coding dojo's bootcamp is one of my great investment for my future. Have been wanting to take up web development for years now and they made it available in just a few weeks. It was hard for me to find time since my job schedule varies from 9-5 to 9-end-of-work-next-day.with some weekend work as well.
The instructors was great and they do their best to make sure that the students learn. and since this is a bootcamp, it is a fast-paced school that requires a lot of advance reading, learning and research. I also saw others prosper and excell in learning even without a background in IT.
They also have assistance on how to prepare your resume. A one-on-one with a consultant on how to prepare resume and portfolio. Their residency program allows the alumnis to continue enhancing their learning and preparing their portfolios.
This is a truly great experience and school.
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Joshua Huang
Life Changing Experience
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Coding Dojo was one of the best investments that I had ever made. I come from a marketing background and was looking for a career switch into web development. After finding out about coding bootcamps and doing some reaserch, I found Coding Dojo to be the perfect fit for me, especially as a person coming from no background in computer science.
The Coding Dojo experience is a three month intense journey to becoming a web developer that is both extremly challenging and rewarding. The motto here is "Strength through struggle." Like all things in life, you reap what you sow. If you stick to the program and put in the long hours practicing and working on the material, you will definatly learn a lot and become a self sufficient programmer. I was skeptical of the program at first, but am not a true believer. During the program, I earned my black belt, and since completing the program a couple of weeks ago, Ive launched my first iPhone and Apple Watch app in the app store, and was part of a group that placed first at a UBER hackathon.
The staff here at coding dojo are extemely helpful and friendly, and the environment is designed for learning. The facities are open 24/7...literallly 24/7, and you have access to resdient TA's and Instructors during the day, and remote TA's during off hours. The learning platform is extremely well done, and allows students to learn or review the material at their own pace.
After graduating from the program, the founder offers a residence program that you can apply to for those that are looking for a career switch. During the program, each student is assigned to a instructor to mentor them in building their portfolio, working on their resume, going through algorithms (one hour a day in the afternoon), and hunting for jobs. In exchange, residents take turn teaching algorithms to current students in the morning and TA'ing duties once a week to help them reinforce the concepts they learned during the bootcamp.
I highly recommend this program to anybody looking to make a career switch. Its a lot of hard work, but its totally worth it in the end.
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Charles
Career Changer
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I came into the Dojo with zero experience in coding. I have tinkered with hardware in the past but nothing formal. The education platform is game changing. I absorbed so much data and so many skills in a short time. And they don't just teach coding they teach you how to learn to code on your own. Yes, we learned 3 full stacks and since graduation I picked up another language on my own and am working on another now. I couldnt have done that just a few months ago. Deciding to change careers and join the Dojo was one of the best choices I've made. -
Hristo V.
Coding Dojo has been the most uplifting, empowering, and educational experience in my life.
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Coding Dojo has been the most uplifting, empowering, and educational experience in my life. If you are ready for a wake up call and a healthy challenge you need to do this. It is a boot camp, so be ready to struggle, lose sleep, and feel like a god when your code works.
Don’t worry, you will not be alone, and you are in good hands. “Strength Through Struggle” is the motto here.
I cannot say enough good things about the staff and instructors here. They have all been through the boot camp themselves and will help you when you are ready to throw your laptop against the wall. This challenging environment is a catalyst for knowledge, innovation, and success. The moment you feel comfortable with one technology you will be learning the next one.
Coding Dojo has created an amazing community. Be ready to meet very intelligent people of diverse ages and backgrounds that are just as hungry for success as you are. By the end of the boot camp you will have a great network of professionals, friends, and perhaps a few enemies ☺.
If there is one piece of advice I can give, I would say enjoy the process. It is truly amazing to see yourself and your peers grow at such a rapid pace. It will pay off I promise. -
Sara
I am a full-stack developer/software engineer from Coding Dojo.
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So I'll keep this short and sweet, since I should actually be working (lol). Also, I don't write reviews. I've written less reviews than I can count on my fingers.
I graduated early 2015. I am employed at a start-up where they pay me to code. I am technically a back-end developer but they throw me on front-end projects when needed. I can confidently say, for the first time, that I love what I do.
Developing is hard work, don't let anyone let you question that. Getting through the Dojo was hard work. Job searching was hard work. Continuing to learn new frameworks and libraries gets easier, but is still a pain in the. But leaving my job, Boston, and going to Coding Dojo was also one of those experiences that I look back as a turning point in my life. I seriously went all-in and carved out a new career path. Sometimes you have to take risks to make changes like this happen.
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Anonymous
DON'T DO IT
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If you are looking for a way to learn that is taught through videos , with no real help from anyone with real experience then this is the place for you. The reason they are ablel to keep their numbers up in the high nineties for employment is because they hire their former students as "residents" and then play favorites to who of those gets actually "apprenticeship pay". If you're not one of the upper tier students, you can forget about being treated with dignity. I fortunately was not one of the slower students but I watched as they were given the cold shoulder, eyes rolled when they asked questionl. One of my fellow cohort members who was pair programming iwth me asked the owner of the school, if he thought everyone would get a job, the owner madea sarcastic quip and a less than positive comment towards those students. This was odd, since it went against everything that they kept saying they were for.l was shocked because the less than flattering quip was said not so quietly and in the main computer area. Once, they have socked you away in your pigeon hole, you can expect to be the last on the list when you have a question. One girl, kept asking for help from the instructor and never received any, since the instructor would ignore her to continue to chat with my tablemates.
They foster this us vs. them mentality and drive a wedge between the two groups with a few of us being able to stradlle both worlds.
I am able to learn from videos , but i could have spent ten grand on a nice bigscreen and sound system and paid a small amount monthly for something like treehouse and done the same.
Job assistance is non existent.
I received two black belts and a red belt. The requiremtnes for them to assist us they said. I was never contacted and when I asked they responded with a tutorial on this stuff
Katie of Coding Dojo
Community Relations
Apr 13, 2016
Thank you for expressing your frustrations so candidly. Your input and the feedback from our past alumni is extremely important to us and we always want to surpass expectations, so we’re sorry your experience fell short.Due to our obsession with constantly improving our student experience, many, if not all, of the frustrations you mentioned have been remedied within the last 2 years. For example, our onsite students are physically in class, learning directly from teachers and working with their peers, for 8-10 hours per day. It's about as hands on as anyone can stomach! We do still provide videos as this allows students to explore even deeper into topics of their interest, but the in-person teaching is where we find success. While we occasionally hire students, the total number has been roughly 1% of our graduates, meanwhile, in 2015, 92% of our graduates found jobs in less than 3 months at companies like Microsoft, Expedia, Google, etc.
We wish you the best in your career. Having 2 Dojo black belts proves you are sharp and very capable! If you would like additional help from our career services, who are very good at what they do, please contact us and we will be happy to dive back in with you, and of course we'd provide this to you for free. :) -
Anonymous
The curriculum is solid in terms of the progression that it takes you. You constantly build on top of what you did.
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I came in to Coding Dojo with a background in finance. I was very young in my career (1 year into the workforce) when I already realized this wasn't going to cut it for me. Having very little experience in coding (Code Academy, Treehouse), I knew I had a lot to prove to everyone and myself. This would be my mantra throughout the Dojo and is what probably got me through the tough times; trust me, there will be a lot.
The curriculum is solid in terms of the progression that it takes you. You constantly build on top of what you did. The next step is always a challenge, but if you did things right on the previous one, you won't be lost for long before you figure out how to solve the next one. Some of the exercises will repeat albeit in another language. At first, I was a bit skeptical of this. Why are we doing the same things again?! Now that I'm working, it helps me tackle new libraries or frameworks because I always have a base to start off with. Most people like to do the classic to-do list app, but beyond that I have a few simple apps I can always fall back on if I want to learn something new. There is always something new to learn in tech and Coding Dojo trains you to adapt quickly. One thing that was a bit lacking in the curriculum was linux commands and deployment. I think there was a course on it, but it wasn't very effective. The topic itself wasn't hard to learn but having practice in this part of the process is critical.
The environment at Coding Dojo is super chill. Michael Choi really wants to make it a very open and comfortable environment for everyone. Participate in sports days even if you suck in sports. Do stuff with your cohort, it becomes easier to ask for help if you're cool with each other. If you're applying for the summer, play sports everyday! Thats what some of us did and it really did wonders for us. Bottom line, get to know your team and don't forget to do things outside of coding!
I was able to find a job less than a month after finishing. The hiring network was just starting to pick up when I was there so I can't comment on that. I will say that the team behind recruiting and marketing have been working diligently to push Coding Dojo to the next level. I was right beside them everyday so I know.
Always be out there to prove yourself. You are not entitled to anything, you have to earn it. Coding Dojo is only the beginning; it will jump start your career, but there is still so much to learn. Never give up! There will come a time when you want to quit, but keep fighting!
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Ahmed Khan
I got a job offer within 2 months of starting the Online Bootcamp at Coding Dojo!
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If that got your attention, then keep reading.
I had been a Web Developer working with HTML, CSS, PHP and MySQL for sometime including server maintenance and everything in between. I wanted to get a solid foundation on OOP or Object Oriented Programming, and wanted to learn the most important stuff to be able to get up and running as quickly as possible. This is where Coding Dojo came into play. I had found that going to google and searching for tutorials were not working for me. With my busy work schedule (yes, I was still working full time as a developer), I had wasted a lot of effort and time trying to learn using this method.
After doing extensive research for online programming bootcamps, I found Coding Dojo was the only place that offered LAMP Stack in their program. Most bootcamps concentrated either just on MEAN Stack or Ruby on Rails, but my goals and the jobs within my region were mostly PHP/MySQL based and it was a no brainer to select Coding Dojo. In addition to LAMP Stack, they also offered MEAN as well as Ruby on Rails which was a bonus.
It’s no joke investing a significant amount of money in an online program, and you tend to rethink your decision. All that fear was laid to rest once the courses started. I found their courses were geared in a way that instructed students to the most important and useful information. All guess work on whether a topic was important or not was basically eliminated. The instructors also consult on real world projects in addition to teaching the students which meant that I was receiving relevant and current information including the latest industry standards.
Even the learning platform, payment systems, helpdesk systems are all built in-house by the very instructors that are teaching the course which increases the confidence that you are learning from the best. They had live support instructors online ready to help when working on assignments as well. The course work included written instructions, video instructions, quizzes and assignments. We also had weekly cohort group meetings in addition to one on one instructor reviews.
The instructor for my cohort was John Supsupin who went above and beyond to help everyone in the program. I have learned so much and wish to thank him for all the knowledge he has provided. Even after the official bootcamp ended, he offered help as and when needed which says a lot about the instructor as well as the bootcamp itself. They really want you to succeed. Couple of my cohorts are already in the coding dojo bootcamp finishing their residency and honing their craft while others are on their way to become fullstack engineers.
As for me, I have gained a newfound confidence in my career and it has opened the doors to endless opportunities. I wish Coding Dojo and John the best and good luck to all you future ninja’s!
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Jesse Z.
I had the most exciting, fun, and unforgettable summer of my life, and brought my web development knowledge into modern times.
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I graduated from college in 2008 with a degree in Software Engineering, but my only experience with building websites was a freshman level HTML course in 2002. Needless to say, my skills were out of date and incompatible with today's job market. Being a software engineer with little knowledge of web-based programming is a sure way to limit your job options, as I discovered the hard way when I decided to leave my job as an SAP developer. The world is moving to the web. I knew this, and didn't want to be left behind, but breaking into the market seemed impossible. I couldn't get anyone to interview me because I had spent over six years as an SAP developer. I was pigeon-holed into SAP and didn't know how to get out.
This is when I found Coding Dojo. The Dojo gives you access to everything you need to learn web development. Most people just picture the learning materials when I say that, things like tutorials and lectures. You do get those things from the Dojo of course, but you also get an amazing support system. This was unlike what I had ever experienced in my previous education. The staff is enthusiastic and ready to help, but the interesting thing about the Dojo is the stress on teamwork, helping out fellow students, and coming to the answers yourself.
The overlap in cohorts is great because it encourages the new students to work with and learn from their predecessors. For each cohort, they build a community that feels relaxed and fun, yet still productive. This is an environment that's very conducive to learning for that reason. You are surrounded by people just like yourself, who are enthusiastic about learning to code and help keep you on track while having fun. This keeps you interested, which keeps you in the Dojo after hours, which keeps you learning.
I was surprised to learn that the Coding Dojo had alumni working in my home city of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I was put in touch with these graduates early, and they helped me with advice and let me know when the company they worked for were hiring. I did not end up at their company because I already had a job before their next hiring cycle, two weeks after I had come home from the Dojo.
In summary, I recommend the Coding Dojo. I had the most exciting, fun, and unforgettable summer of my life, and brought my web development knowledge into modern times. Now I'm a working web developer, who was recently promoted from Jr to Associate. I can't argue with the results.
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Anonymous
if you have prior experience as a CS grad or engineering you may like it
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this is definately not for someone with no previous experience. if you are expecting to be taught, forget it, you are left up to your own devices watching online videos.
they let you sit there and struggle for "twenty minutes" which is not a bad thing, but when they do come around to help you after the twenty minutes, half of the time the instructor doesn't know whats going on , or they just brush you off. If you're not one of the gifted you can forget any type of assistance . they (staff and owner) gravitate towards the gifted already knowledgeable students and focus on them, leaving those struggling behind. We watched this occur over and over again, and even heard the owner making snide comments with one of the other students about the job prospects of the ones in our class that were struggling.
They offer no job placement assistance, NONE, unless you want to work at the dojo as an instructor (if they like you). they keep it all on the up and up by calling you a resident and having you stay for an extra few weeks so that they can technically say everything is kosher.
they have improved their platform for video instruction tremendously, and it better than what we had. that being said, if you are one that requires lectures and let me show you how to do it, we'll do it together and then you do it by yourself style of instruction, forget it.
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Cody N.
Out of all the bootcamp options, I chose Coding Dojo because they do 3 stacks instead of strictly Rails.
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Coding Dojo was really an amazing experience for me. Both the curriculum and the people were fantastic. Out of all the bootcamp options, I chose Coding Dojo because they do 3 stacks instead of strictly Rails. This gave me a chance to try a lot of different technologies and figure out which I like the best. Plus with doing PHP, MEAN stack, and Rails in such a short time, the best skill you're going to take away is how to learn and pickup new languages quickly. These languages may not be the hottest things in the future, but you'll be well equipped to pick up whatever is. I even got an internship as a Rails developer at a startup before the program ended (this is a rare case, but they had me prepped pretty well)
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Greg T.
I came in with general technical aptitude but almost zero coding knowledge.
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I came in with general technical aptitude but almost zero coding knowledge. Now I'm building functional interactive web apps in both PHP and Rails, I love Javascript and I'm learning more of it all the time, and I'm on the road to a new stable career. The intensity of the program was high, but the instructors are positive and calm and encouraging. I looked around me at other students with much more experience and saw them soaring, and I felt occasionally like a complete fraud. But Michael and Trey both kept turning my attention to the mountain I had just climbed. They said, "Time. Practice. Humility. Don't get down on yourself."
I think covering three stacks is brilliant, because you learn underlying concepts. The three stacks handle the same processes in different ways, so you see them clearly. The Dojo is building up its job hunting assistance, which will be a great addition. They also welcome alumni to come back for further practice and coaching and special classes. It's a very supportive place.
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T.W.
Got a job as a full-stack developer within one week after graduating!
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I'll cut to the chase. Within one week after graduating from CodingDojo's bootcamp program, I got hired on as a full-stack developer. I'd say 90% of my success is due to knowledge I gained at Coding Dojo.
Presenting yourself as a capable web developer is all that it takes to really find a good job in this industry. Right now, the demand for competent developers is so high that recruiters and hiring managers are actively reaching out to potential candidates. Don't worry about the hiring network. Coding Dojo will help you ramp up your resume and visibility that you'll be getting about 6 calls/emails a day from recruiters and hiring managers.
The biggest criticism I find about Coding Dojo's program is how self-paced it is. Coding Dojo provides the necessary tools you need to give you the right direction. They're not here to hold your hand throughout the process. If you really want to become an awesome developer, you have to have the drive within you. The process of learning something like programming can be so hard that it'll drive you crazy. But those that succeed are the ones that are able to make it past those obstacles.
I blogged every day of my bootcamp here:
http://teds-coding-dojo-experience.blogspot.com/Feel free to leave me a comment on my blog if you have any questions.
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Anonymous
If you are looking to go from 0 to 100 in 3 months and KNOW the information, then this is the bootcamp you want.
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I recently finished the Coding Dojo boot camp. The best way I can describe the school is, it is really similar to a Japanese cram school. The teachers and staff are very knowledgeable about the information they are teaching. It took me about 3 weeks to a month after I graduated from the boot camp to get a job. Unlike many other boot camps, new students with zero knowledge can become full stack developers in the 3 months. Plus, they can learn multiple frameworks in that time and new technologies, such as, MEAN stack. Micheal Choi is very knowledgeable, and really found amazing ways to quickly and efficiently teach students what they need to know to thrive in the work environment. But this bootcamp is very much a "get out what you put in". If you don't try and struggle a bit, you aren't going to get what you want out of it.
If you are looking to go from 0 to 100 in 3 months and KNOW the information, then this is the bootcamp you want. In my experience, Coding Dojo does not have affiliates with other companies. So you can't be promised a job. However, what you do get out of this bootcamp is a very nice portfolio to show you potential employers. Additionally, the teacher will help and show you how to sell yourself to companies. When i did start looking I was getting 5-6 calls a day for a few weeks with my new found knowledge. -
Eric C.
Attending Coding Dojo was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
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Attending Coding Dojo was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Granted the boot camp was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through, I can confidently say that anyone can be successful in and after the boot camp as long as they put in the time and energy that Coding Dojo expects of its students. That being said, I came into Coding Dojo with zero coding background and, upon completion of the boot camp, I gained the knowledge required to build fully functioning applications.
Coding Dojo covers three full stacks (LAMP, MEAN, Ruby on Rails) as part of their course curriculum. A big portion of the curriculum is taught using the online learning platform that is improved regularly based on student feedback and also has new content added teaching the industries latest technologies. Coding Dojo has really mastered the way they introduce and teach the course material to their students. This is something I took for granted and quickly came to realize once I finished the boot camp and was required to learn a framework on my own without the help of the learning platform. What used to take me a couple days to learn and then create a viable application, using the learning platform, now took me a few weeks to learn on my own and that’s when I really appreciated how good of a job Coding Dojo had done to present course content in a way that any student, even those without a coding background, can understand.
Even with an outstanding program, Coding Dojo would not be what it is without its dedicated instructors. Starting from day one, you can tell how passionate the instructors are in the way they teach and you get a real sense that their main goal is to make sure you learn the material and succeed in this field. If a student seems to be struggling on a certain concept, you can bet to see instructors set aside extra time to make sure the student is caught up.
Never would I have believed that I could reinvent my career in only a couple months but it really is possible. It’s a great feeling to go into an interview and come out smiling, especially when you were expecting the worst, because you were able to answer most if not all the questions they asked and it’s because Coding Dojo has done such a great job in preparing their students for what‘s to come after the boot camp.
If you’re passionate about coding and want to take your skills to the next level, whether it’s to make a career change or for your own project on the side, I would highly recommend Coding Dojo because you will not get a more affordable education anywhere else especially at the caliber of education Coding Dojo provides.
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Matt F.
The Dojo truly provided an industry leading curriculum, allowing me to master three full stacks in a short time.
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Coding Dojo gave me the appropriate stepping stone to accelerate my career. I came to the Dojo with a computer engineering degree from a top university and almost 3 years of prior experience in the software industry. Needless to say, my engineering program provided very little hands-on coding experience. I needed to stay competitive by doing alot of self learning during my time in industry.
I joined the Dojo with an intent to reinvent my career, be able to code full stack applications in record time, to become more proficient at algorithms and to learn to build products for my startup. The Dojo truly provided an industry leading curriculum, allowing me to master three full stacks in a short time. What sets the Dojo apart is not only the comprehensive and outstanding curriculum, but the overall vibe and community of the learning environment. The Dojo cares about the well-being of its students, providing free food and occasional catered lunches. Weekly sports events also proved to enhance learning and efficiency overall. The people are great and very helpful and instructors and TAs are almost always available to help throughout the program. Instructors are sometimes seen still upgrading course content to ensure the courses are up to date with the latest industry practices. I would even go to say that the program offered at the Dojo is better than my Computer Engineering degree program, as I feel I would have been better prepared for the industry should I have attended the Dojo instead. The Dojo deserves to be accredited, and it is a shame that it is not.
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Kyle Halterman
Recent Grad
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I have recently graduated from CodingDojo a few weeks ago. It has been one of the toughest and most rewarding educational experiences of my life.
I came in with no previous coding knowledge. I would say that it is not for everyone. A person has to be prepared to work and come to class with a sense of humility and a positive attitude. The instructors have a deep understanding of not just the material taught at the dojo but of what it takes to build a successful team. You are not only given a relevant education to what is being used in the market place but you are also prepared for what you will need to know after the boot camp to get a job.
Yes there is no guarantee of a job but there is no guarantee of anything in life. The instructors have been there for me after the boot camp to continue to prep me for a job and continue my education.
I would recommend this for anyone who has an interest in programming, doesn't mind working long strenuous hours, and enjoys a challenge.
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Joseph Dillon
Confession
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I'm not a fanboy, but attending Coding Dojo was one of the best educational moves I've ever made.
A few points of countering :
- The instructors are (currently) picked from the best of the previous class. This A) helps keep costs down and B) Helps to grow the course quickly. The instructors, by the way, are not noobs. They were individuals that have exceptional talent and even though they teach full time they are expected to continue learning advanced material and work on the infrastructure. They are juniors, but they are full blown developers.
- The reason the founder wasnt involved was because he was in Seattle setting up the second branch.
- The student to teacher ratio was only 12.5:1? Have you been in a public school? Sorry, unless you hire a private tutor you will not get better than that. Not even at some of the more established bootcamps.
- As far as paying for the course: They ask for a 2k non refundable deposit. On the first day of class you pay for the first half of the course. If you drop out or puss out, they refund it to you if you quit at a reasonable time. Half way through the course you pay the second half. Thats fair.
- Job placement: I got a job in about a month and a half after graduating. There were a good handful that had jobs immediately after graduating. Others took a while. On average, it takes about three months. The key is that YOU have to get out there and FIND A JOB! They (nor anyone for that matter) hands you a job on a silver platter. They are new and are still building their reputation and rapport. It takes time. Sorry if they didnt do all of your work for you.
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Heidi Mason
Connected the Dots
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Coding Dojo made sense of the languages and technologies comprising a modern full stack in a way that online learning had failed to do. The instructors and TAs were great. My classmates were enthusiastic, hard-working, and motivated. I thought I would hate the Sports Days but found them invigorating and great for further bonding with my classmates and staying focused on the intense coding. After finishing, I continued learning on my own, focusing on the front end. Following an internship, I landed a full-time position as a Front End Developer, making the most I have in my life. It was a positive experience, and If I had gone in knowing what I know now, I suspect I would have come away with even more. -
Nathan White
Got hired as a web developer the week after my boot camp.
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I came into the boot camp with a little bit of prior experience. I was about half way through my computer science degree and felt that the learning was going a little slow. I wanted to go somewhere that would boost the speed of the learning and teach me some of the newer web technologies out there. When i went to the Dojo, I realized that they had a great curriculum and a great environment to learn.
Michael Choi, the founder, did an excellent job as an instructor. He gave insight into the real world and how things are really done. He's been a part of a lot of start ups, both consulting and founding, and has great development experience. It was a pleasure to learn from him.
The biggest thing that I can say is, you get out what you put in. I came from a technology background but saw very successful students that had different backgrounds, such as finance. They ones that put the time in (12 - 15 hours daily and sometimes even the weekends) really did an excellent job learning and were able to excel. Others that didn't put time and effort in, didn't do so well. Coding Dojo lets people in from all backgrounds because they believe that anyone can learn this, given they have the motivation. I completely agree with them. They also believe in strength through struggle. When you come to a bug, they want you to try and work it out without asking for help the first 20 minutes. This really helped me and caused me to learn even more, since I was actually surprised at how much I could figure out on my own.
When I couldn't figure something out though, there was our instructor their and TAs to help. The TAs are usually from previous groups, but are still working on personal projects or want to expand on what they learned. They will bend over backwards to help you figure out any problem. It was really great, because if they didn't figure out the problem right away, you were able to follow along with them in the troubleshooting process and help solve your own problem.
The curriculum was great and very up to date, they know what people are looking for. We did modern technologies that really were relevant in the field. They showed me how to interview, helped me work on algorithms for interviews, and even reviewed my resume. After a few tricks that they showed me, I was getting calls daily for open positions, I didn't even need to use their recruiting network. I got hired as a web developer the week after my boot camp.
Coding Dojo was a great experience and as long as you are going to use a little effort to help your future, I definitely recommend it. They teach you in a way that you can pick up other languages, frameworks, and technologies within a weekend. That type of learning quick is what they employer wants, as you can never know everything in this field. So just take my advice, go to the Dojo! -
Joseph M.
in nine short weeks my programming knowledge and skills advanced by leaps and bounds.
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I attended the Coding Dojo to become a better programmer and in nine short weeks my programming knowledge and skills advanced by leaps and bounds. The curriculum is excellent, focusing on teaching students programming fundamentals and the ability to quickly adapt to new technologies, skills which can be leveraged to stay on top of the ever changing field of web development. After finishing the bootcamp I was able to quickly get an awesome job at a small web development firm. All of the people I met during my time at the Dojo were fantastic and there was a real sense of community. I don't regret a single thing about my time at the Dojo and strongly recommend it to anyone interested in computer programming and web development.
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Anonymous
Coding Dojo bootcamp is the right choice for you.
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I rarely write or read other people’s testimonials/reviews due to the fact that I am a skeptic who believes that company conspiracy exist where employees or individuals are paid to write bogus reviews. I know I am not the only person who thinks like this; therefore I want to write a review that is meaningful and give insight to future CodingDojo students.
When I was considering coding bootcamp programs around the country, my two main priorities were the cost and the quality of what I was going to be learning. I’ve been going to school for a long... time and each opportunity was driven by one of the priorities I mentioned above but also influenced by situational circumstances. After years of working in the IT industry in various roles and putting my true passion on hold, which has always been to code , I’ve decided this time to disregard everyone’s opinions and follow what I feel is right in my heart(tough decision, but I have to live with myself).
I should have invested in a coding bootcamp such as CodingDojo a long time ago instead of “wasting” money on my traditional education. With that said, before I get criticize for stating the facts for WHY a bootcamp option would have been a preferred choice of education; I would like to state the opportunities that I knew it would offer me: having greater control of my career and the opportunities I sought after and the ability to challenge myself while working on projects that are revolutionizing the way people interact with in web and mobile spaces. CodingDojo was one of the few programs that I researched and decided to attend because the cost looked reasonable based on my budget, it was offering a fullstack web development program and was located in the heart of Silicon Valley; three combinations I knew I couldn’t go wrong with given any day or situation.
Although I didn’t know what to expect since I had limited coding experience, I was positive that I would give the 12weeks program my 100% commitment since it would be foolish to pay for the program and not give myself the best chance of succeeding in this endeavor. Since starting the program I’ve come to realize that as far as cost and quality curriculum goes, this is one of the best investments and decisions I’ve made in a long time. The quality of the course gets an A+, the TAs and instructors are awesome and very knowledgeable. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to give the impression that this is Disneyland and everything is peachy (there are difficult times), but if you can commit to working harder than you’ve ever worked in your entire career or education journey, then consider yourself half way there because whatever goals you set for yourself, commitment and dedication will definitely get you there; that’s if you’ve decided CodingDojo bootcamp is the right choice for you.
The staff members at CodingDojo are invested in your success because this is the reason the program exists. They will go the extra-mile in helping you define and execute whatever path you have defined as a priority BUT, yes there is a BUT, you have to want this just as badly. So to perspective students, those considering starting a bootcamp journey, here are some of the questions I asked myself before moving to Mountain View, CA:
1. What is my learning style? What are my strengths and weaknesses?
2. If there’s another opportunity that existed and paid me extremely well and I wascompletely happy, would I still pursue this route?
3. Can I commit to a 12weeks intensive training that will change my career trajectory in terms of opportunities?
4. What strategies do I need to be successful in the program and accomplish what I am starting?
5. Is this something I can see myself doing for the rest of my career? Why?
If you’ve asked yourself these questions and can reasonably and comfortably answer these questions, don’t wait a single day because the time is now for you to begin your journey at CodingDojo.
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Bryan Myers
Rapid start into high paying fields
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I had a profound experience during my Coding Dojo bootcamp. I had my doubts that I could learn so much so quickly. Would I leave a poser? Would I be viewed as a wannabe by other developers after leaving? The answer is that there is still a lot I have to learn but Coding Dojo gave me a rapid head start which would have taken me years of frustration to figure out on my own. I've also received a warm reception in the field by other coders who respect the effort it took to get through the bootcamp. The staff at Coding Dojo really treated us with respect and took care of us. This allowed us to focus on what we came for- coding skills. I didn't just gain new job skills but a lot of new friends and valuable contacts who will continue to provide support for a long time. As a result of attending Coding Dojo I'm now working as a web developer for a a major insurance company for $97k/year. This seems to be the entry-level rate. I've seen jobs for double that which I could probably land after a year or two of work experience is added to my resume. I'm valued and appreciated for what I do and I love the work.
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Anonymous
Don't waste your money.
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As a web designer with extensive WordPress knowledge, this bootcamp was a waste of money. It took me over 700 applications to get hired as a Web Support Specialist. The "skills" I learned were not enough to enter into an entry level Front-end or Back-end position. If you are willing to learn independently for MONTHS after graduation - treating it as a FT job then this might be your school. Otherwise - go to CodeAcademy - complete personal projects - enroll in their Full-Stack track and save yourself thousands of dollars. Coding Dojo employees former students as their instructors with no industry experience - same applies for their TA's. -
Anonymous
It used to be ok
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I attended in 2021, I graduated from the software engineer 3 stack program. I was approved for the income share agreement and took it, this was the worse mistake I could have made. It took me an entire year to get a job in tech and that only happened because I specialized. College would have been cheaper and more useful in the long run since the income share agreement charges 2?5 x the boot camp price and takes 10% of your pay for 10 years or until the amount is paid in full (30+k) even if you were never able to get a tech job. To top it all off they were recently bought off and we lost access to the alumni community on discord, which was one of the perks we were promised alongside career services (which suck). If you're able to just get a degree at wgu or something instead, it's cheaper and at least you can look for employment outside of tech if you need to . -
Anonymous
Don't fall for their scam!!!
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Don't fall for their scam. I graduated from their software development program in 2023. Their curriculum was grabbed from free online sources, they lied about the graduated rates and the placement rates. They lied about helping you get a job as well. All the career service managers ever did was provide you with an excel sheet listing links of job sites and resources that any one can find by googling it themselves. Also half the links they provided were from websites that do not exist anymore. They also had limited space for helping you in meetings and then blamed you for not seeing them when "time is available". Coding Dojo sells their program as good for you any age, any place in life, as being able to transition into the tech field when in reality they used inflated numbers. Anyone that could not find a job that ended up freelancing on fiverr or volunteering and working for free was counted as "hired" and "successful" in Coding Dojo's eyes. All my instructors were previous students of theirs that hadn't found a job yet. All our TA's were also previous graduates from which only 1/3 of them were actually any good to help with problems that came up, however, none of them were good when it came to you trying something new for a project. All that the instructors did was read off the online material that you had access to and had to also study on. Essentially, if it wasn't in the curriculum then they did not know anything about it or how to help you. Most of the time, you had more help and learned more from other students after the program ended. I have learned more from Udemy courses, Coursera courses, and free coding websites than from Coding Dojo bootcamp. Now I am stuck with a PRIVATE student loan from a servicing company that Coding Dojo pushes for you to use and that loan servicer does not care about lowering payments, postponing payments more than 3 months for a total of 9 months, or any help at all. Most of us are still out of a job or had to go back to our old job now with more debt. Some of us, including myself, have filed for bankruptcy because a $500 private student loan monthly payment is ridiculous when we can barely afford a living in this economy. Coding Dojo and Ascent Funding should be sued for putting so many students through financial hardship and should refund students their money. -
Anonymous
Complete Rip-off
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The cost of this bootcamp was over $16,000. The instructors for the most part “Coding Dojo” graduates. Not at all IT professionals. Do not buy into the lies that the sale marketing team tells you. They will tell you about all the support, the number of IT jobs out there, how you’ll get hands on job ready experience when you finish, lifetime career services and it is all BS. The curriculum is so broken that you do not learn anything. They build you up while you are enrolled so that you don’t drop out (which means they lose money). The “hands on” that you do is never gone over for you to understand in depth. The assignments were so broken that you are better off using TryHackMe labs (that subscription only cost $15.00 a month). You pay $16,000 for a very vague introduction into Cybersecurity. They do claim that they prepare you for the CompTIA Ssec+ and CompTIA CySA+. Let me tell you that once I finished this Bootcamp in July, I got my Sec+ in August and I got my CySA+ a month after that. Not once did I use the information that was provided on Coding Dojo’s platform because it did not help. Most of the information is misspelled or out of place. One interesting finding that I do want to point out in this review is that I used Jason Dion’s CompTIA courses to prepare for both CompTIA exams and I realized while studying for my CySA+, the EXACT word for word material that comes from Jason Dion’s course was the entire Intermediate portion of the bootcamp!!! The “INSTRUCTOR” used exactly word for word in all of “HIS” writeup slides the exact sentences from Jason Dion’s study guide that is provided to you when you purchase his course on Udemy. His course on Udemy cost $20.00!!! This cost over $16,000! I wonder how Jason Dion would feel about a “tech” school using his material word for word? The lifetime Career Services is a complete joke. They will meet with you 1 time after you finish the program and then after that they ghost you. Complete waste of time to use this Bootcamp and they do say that they do not guarantee employment (it’s common sense that nobody can ever guarantee employment) but that is the cover up they will use for a review like this. This honest review is coming from someone who finished triple black belt in all 3 stacks of the program (Core, Intermediate and Professional). This review could not be more honest and to the point. A coding dojo “ninja” graduate means nothing to anybody. One last thing to mention is I did find out is that they are suspending the Cybersecurity course for the remainder of the year and I believe that I a good thing! Do not believe the advertisements on YouTube and do not buy into the sales pitch that they give you. Coding Dojo is a scam and you can learn Cybersecurity for a heck of a lot less money by using Udemy, YouTube or any other online resources. If you do read this and still think that Coding Dojo is worth it, please read this review again and look somewhere else. -
Anonymous
Coding Dojo Review
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My experience with coding dojo was not great. Most of the material you can get off like for free and the hours they had available for help was outside my work schedule. Web Fundamentals was the best part but once I transitioned into Python it was awful. They cram so many things in such a small amount of time it was difficult to feel that you learned anything especially working 40 hours a week. The instructors had very little experience, just a year or so just out of graduating coding dojo. Most of my frustration comes from how even impacted by Hurricane Ian the company talked me into staying not advising me once you complete 50% you get no refund. Once I was past the 50% it’s like they didn’t care. -
Anonymous
Not a credible college
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Definitely not worth. So regret that I spent that much many while I couldn’t get any job and not even help from their job center. At beginning they talked the way that you will get many job offers after graduation easily however after you graduate your payments start and you need to get a job to be able to pay that money. They are not a credible college and don’t have federal tax I’d do while I just asked for tax return my tax accountant told me that I wound t receive money back even because I’ve been student 6 month. Recommending you go to college and university instead and practice what you learn at home and get job -
Anonymous
Coding Dojo Bootcamp
I am enrolled in Data Science and machine learning course. I am learning all fundamentals and advanced concept deeply. After this course, students will be future ready for professional jobs in companies. -
Anonymous
Certificate Mill!
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First, let me say, if you are looking for an easy way to get a certificate, THIS IS THE WAY TO GO! For starters, you don't even have to do the homework. After the first 'stack', where I busted my ass to get the assignments in, the instructor told me they don't get checked anyway. So I didn't bother submitting any more. Which is OK, because the exam was a joke that I had no trouble passing even without doing the homework. Their claim that the instructors are 'industry professionals' was a lie. I had 5 instructors. Only one had any experience. The rest were just recent graduates with no experience in the field. I admit it was a bit expensive, but, considering I didn't really have to do any work to graduate, it isn't too bad. -
Anonymous
not a great start to a tech career, better options out there
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I attended coding dojo both online and in person as covid restrictions eased. In person instruction was a complete waste of time, the instructor just made videos of the lecture so prevented any interactive learning and would later just tell students to review the video. This really made the in person experience feel like a waste, i spent thousands in lodging/travel costs to get less effective instruction. I cant speak for all the campuses but the san jose classrooms are in a huge cubicle farm so all the extra noise makes it impossible to concentrate, also they teach 3 classes with no separation for sound so you have to listen to three instructors and try to focus. I really wanted to learn how to build and deploy a website for my business but did not end up getting the instruction i needed. if you ask questions outside of the curriculum you will likely be told to focus on the material, it was very disheartening, made me lose motivation when i realized they would only teach the minimum for the test. I ended up attending another coding bootcamp fully online which had much better instruction, wish i had just done that one to begin with. also the instructors tend to play favorites and work with certain students more than others, not all instructors but some.
career services was little to no help, a number of folks in my class rejoined the military and 5-6 months later many are still looking for work. at another coding boot camp the job placement rate was much higher with most of the class having jobs before graduation or numerous interviews lined up. if you do not have a college degree i would certainly take the job placement claims with a grain of salt. having an engineering degree opened up a lot of doors for me but for folks without a degree it was tough.
I would certainly recommend talking with folks in the industry before attending coding dojo, and check out all the other options to make the best choice for you.
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Anonymous
great
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My favorite is the curriculum. As a beginner, there are too much knowledge and resources on the Internet, I don't know how to choose, what to learn, and how to plan. I really like Coding Dojo's learning platform, it imparts knowledge in an efficient way and lets us reinforce the knowledge by doing lots of exercise and homework. If I studied by myself, I wouldn't be able to learn so much so efficiently.
Besides, the instructors and TAs are always willing to help, check the code and solve my problems either with installation or coding. It helps me a lot because I don't have anyone around me to ask for help, after all, I'm not in CS major. -
Anonymous
Overall my experience is good. But when you move from one stack to another one the stack won’t be unlocked for you on time. Which is very annoying to me
At Coding Dojo, One thing I really have had troubled to understand is the fact that when students move from one stack to the next one, the following stack is not unlocked for students on time. The instructors say the the preceding stack will be unlocked within 72 hours which supposed to be Friday morning to my understanding but the stack won’t be unlocked until Friday 6 PM or so? -
Anonymous
Overall Amazing Experience
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Coding Dojo was an amazing experience for me. I loved the structure that it provided, along with the support that I got from the instructors and the TAs. They were pretty kind and open-minded even when they were times that students would ask seemingly 'common-sense' or 'redundant' questions. They understood that not everybody has had prior experience with coding, but they do make sure to gently point you to WHERE you can find the answer so that you can build your self-sufficiency (and as a recent bootcamp graduate, this skill has been really helpful because I now look at language / framework documentation most of the time). Shoutout to John M. and Spencer
Coding Dojo can be better at ensuring that their curriculum is up-to-date -
Anonymous
Hoped for more
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I took the Data Science 12 week bootcamp. Be aware that in a 12 week course, you have 24 actual classroom hours (2 1-hour meetings per week) where the instructor goes over a powerpoint, then demoes some of the concepts you're learning that week. They attempt to get to the point where there is time for a group exercise (of which there is little value) but there is rarely time for that due to the overwhelming number of questions from students (in my class there were more than 25 -- hard to be sure because I wasn't clear how many were TAs of the 30+ that were logged in).
Personally, I expected much more facetime with an instructor and was disappointed by this. I was also disappointed by the heavy reliance on a learning platform that was being built as we went along and was full of errors that I frequently reported.
It's also worth noting that in my course, we had a highly qualified instructor for the first 4 weeks, a new to teaching instructor for the second 4 weeks (who had a backup to help with student questions), and another brand new instructor for the last 4 weeks that was actually a TA during the first 8 weeks.
You should also be aware that they have a monthly drawing for prizes for people that submit reviews.
Now, if you think this kind of experience is worth $8500+ then this is the place for you. I did not, and will not be recommending them to any of my peers. -
Anonymous
Great Bootcamp Experience
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Coding Dojo was a wonderful place to attend a coding boot camp. I had a great experience with every instructor I had, and the TAs were extremely knowledgeable as well. Instructors consistently made themselves available after class hours and sometimes even on weekends - they truly went above and beyond. They designed the curriculum to be appropriate for beginners like myself, and I found success even with no prior coding experience. -
Anonymous
Coding Dojo experience
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It's hard work, but what you decide to input is how much output you will get. Algos in the morning was challenging, yet it's a very supportive environment. TA and instructor teach you to step by step, so we understand it. It's a supportive environment for the lecture too. I wish there were a week break between the stacks and not just the weekend. After the weekend, when I started the new stack, it hit me, and I had to learn to translate it into the new language. -
Anonymous
Great experience from start to end
The bootcamp was well-paced in terms of assignments and such. It didnt demand too much but at the same tine made sure to allow me to push on forward. It introduced a lot of new concepts in a very easy step by step way to learn. The instructors I had were all supportive, understanding, and knowledgeable.