Coding Dojo Reviews
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Anonymous
Fast paced but effective
Even in the part time classes, you can expect to put 30 hours a week some weeks in, especially in your specific stacks. -
Anonymous
Buyer Beware
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Some others have covered it as well, but I'd more or less recommend avoiding the Dojo if you're looking for a well supported education. If you learn well without support and feel like you don't need help finding a job, then this school might work for you as its cheaper than some other self-paced options. I graduated recently and just feel massively unprepared to even look for work as my CS contact essentially ignored me for 16 weeks and provided none of the promised resources despite me asking several times. I gave up about halfway through and focused on increasing my coding skillset hoping that would get me a job or at least put me in the position to get one. So far, no luck- but it is early yet. -
Anonymous
You get what you put in
This program has great teachers and TA's. It can be a lot of work per week (up to 40 hours). If you can't commit to the time you should probably go with a different program. -
Anonymous
Remnants of Greatness
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A lot of the content that is on the platform, especially the videos, are very well wrtiten and explained, and this is only reinforced by the instructors when asked for clarification. However, it is notable that there has been a lot of turnover in administration and instruction staff, and the new content that is added is not up to par to what the previous. There is not enough focus on the content itself, most of the school staff seem focused on getting new versions of the platform up and running instead of updating the content on the platform. Old platform was a lot better, instead they replaced it with a less immersive one and wasted time/effort on that project that could've been spent on updating out-dated content. -
Anonymous
Terrible Bootcamp
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Don't go to this bootcamp. It is really terrible. I was kicked out of this bootcamp for speaking out the truth this bootcamp is lying to get new students. I have proves. I won't be saying my name for my security reasons. Here are a few of things that this bootcamp said which makes it really terrible.
1. They hired their graduates as teaching assistants to hike up their numbers to show that their graduates students get jobs after graduating from the bootcamp. Their teaching assistants are all their graduates to hike the numbers. That also includes somes instructors as well. That's sneaky way to lie the numbers.
2. You can study on your own. Their curriculum sucks. Their curriculum is all self study. There are many courses online that are way cheaper than this bootcamp when you are self studying. When I talk this to VP, he was so rude when I had conversation about this. I'm looking at you ***e**.
3. They said career service is endless. It's true. But that can be done when your career service isn't any valuable & terrible to your students. Endless career service. Give me a break.
I know PR manager will try to fix this. Don't!! OK!!
Saige of Coding Dojo
Community Manager
Feb 25, 2021
We’re sorry you were displeased with your experience. We reviewed our records and no students have been expelled from our program in recent years for anything other than academic dishonesty (plagiarism), which is a violation of our Student Code of Conduct; in accordance with the Master Catalog, page 32. We also want to address a few of the points you mentioned:- Regarding the hiring and success of our graduates, we do have a small portion of students who choose to apply and become TAs. Some students love the curriculum, the environment, and teaching others. We regularly receive amazing feedback from the students they teach and are proud to have them as a part of our team. But the vast majority of our students go on to great careers outside of Coding Dojo -- we have a public and transparent Outcomes Report with in-depth analytics about job placement of our alumni. That can be viewed here: https://www.codingdojo.com/outcomes
- Our curriculum has helped more than 5,000 students from all walks of life and technical backgrounds go onto great careers in the tech industry. While you can study on your own to hone in on difficult topics, and it’s encouraged to do so, our programs offer extensive instructor-led lectures, study sessions, office hours, and more.
- Our Career Services team come from a variety of backgrounds in the technology recruitment space and are available for life, and our career services managers have been able to help with career planning, interview prep, and job placements for countless alumni.
Again we are sorry to hear about your negative experience, and would be happy to discuss how we can help. -
Anonymous
Online
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Over all my experience with Coding Dojo was good, I improved my coding skills significantly. If you do the work the program will work. I learned Django if you are committed and want to improve your programming skill Coding Dojo it’s the place.
Like any other place there is always room for improvement but, if you really want to learn programming Coding Dojo is the place for sure. -
Anonymous
Great Experience that gets you job ready!
Great course! You really learn so much that I never thought I would ever be able to do. The instructors are so nice and very helpful. THis has been a great experience for me and I feel ready for the next chapter
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Anonymous
Great Program for those Ready!
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Pros: The curriculum is very straight forward. They provide instructors who are very good at getting you started and making sure you have realistic goals in learning the material as well as giving you the access to other resources for better understanding and insight. They will sit with you for extended periods of time to help debug and guide (given you don't have them trying to do the entire assignment themself). Their lectures are fun, and even though at times it will be stressful, overwhelming, and or confusing, they make sure to give you ample time if used responsibility to stay ahead of schedule and ready for the certification exams. The key to your success in this program boils down in my opinion to your cohort and the people you can lean on when times are exhausting, and the dedication you have to completing the program as well as the time investment required. Staying encouraged and not being afraid to ask for help will go along way. Overall, they provide the tools and the program you need to succeed. I participated already having a background in computer programming, so I had an upper hand when it came to the learning curve. I still had a learning curve, so keep that in mind. Lastly, make sure you take full advantage of the project time, the experience of actually building something with others is invaluable and the one thing I wish I would have been more invested in. As someone who was looking for a job for a while before entering the program, the experience and assignments I did in this program put me over the edge in the interview process, and I was able to lock in an offer before I even finished the program!
Cons: It at times can be very demanding and exhausting. The program itself is very immersive as it describes, but at the times the platform is not updated or does not break down the concepts in a way that is upfront or clear. The videos are very helpful in my opinion, I wished they had more of them. While I was in the program, there were only two instructors. 30-40 students learning this much content with only two instructors can be stressful not only for you, but also for other classmates who would love to help out, but are barely keeping up themselves. There were times where I had to wait a while to get help, but it was also understandable. I was also that student who would help others, and even that began to take a toll, so keep that in mind. I believe they are hiring a new one (which would make a huge difference) but this is just my experience. Lastly, whereas I am grateful and felt valued by the staff at the site, upper management was another story. I will leave it at that. Overall, I would not let any of these cons stop you from taking advantage of this opportunity, especially if you earned your degree in the field and just having a hard time getting back into field after some time like me.
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Anonymous
I do not recommend Coding Dojo!
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Go to a different Coding school!
Coding Dojo interviews you after you apply to make sure you'll be a good fit for the program but this is just a ploy to make you think you’re special by getting accepted. They accept everyone! They don’t care. They just want your money! I couldn’t believe the caliber of people they enrolled, just to get a cohort started. They are false advertising that they can teach anyone to code, that you’ll make $76k+ when you graduate and that the department of labor will provide several companies to interview you and an apprenticeship program. All lies. No one is going to hire a coder with zero experience for anywhere near that amount. The program will NOT make you stand out when applying for jobs. You can forget about passing technical interviews or algorithm screenings! You will fail entry-level tests even for new computer science graduates because Coding Dojo lacks foundation and does NOT replace a computer science degree. The Boise, ID campus was brand new when I started the program. It was so disorganized, there was a lot of late and mis-communication, we had seven different teachers come in from out-of-state to replace a couple of teachers for odd reasons, no teaching assistant, and the interviews we were promised by multiple companies were never set up. Coding Dojo was supposed to establish relationships with several local companies for interviews and apprenticeships, not the Department of Labor, they totally dropped the ball and they still haven't tried to make it right. It's all a lie. -
Anonymous
Unorganized and Unprofessional
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Pros:
- Facilities are kept fairly clean. The area's nice and equipment is adequate.
- Being surrounded by other determined individuals is a great resource you can't get in an online course.
Cons:
- The pace of this course is unrealistically fast. Most everyone is behind all the time even after putting in nearly every waking moment into the class.
- The learning platform has some major information gaps. Fundamental concepts just aren't covered at all. Many key concepts are brushed over or mentioned once without emphasis.
- The instructors are my biggest complaint. None of them have professional coding experience for starters. They're all just graduates of this bootcamp who couldn't find jobs in the field afterwards. This means they're either the bottom of the barrel in their respective cohorts or Coding Dojo's job search resources aren't exactly the best.
- We received about 90 minutes of instruction in the first week. Keep in mind you take your first belt exam at the end of the first week. You're essentially going to be teaching yourself HTML and CSS.
- Instructors provide zero feedback on assignments. I couldn't even get any on my first exam after asking repeatedly. They admit they can look over and provide feedback on all assignments. They just don't.
- TA's are brought in to help. They are more recently graduated students who have yet to find work. They're 0/5 on successfully helping with any issues I've brought to them.
Overall, I'd say save your money. Go pay for codeacademy or treehouse. It'd be more worth your time.
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Anonymous
Great environment, mainly self-driven learning
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I needed guidance and a good working environment, and that's exactly what I got as a student at Coding Dojo. It's not an easy program, but they're very up-front about how much time you need to put in. The results are mixed, depending on how much work each student puts in, and their amount of previous experience. That is not to say previous experience is required, but it definitely helps make the experience easier. You'll never be the slowest or the fastest student in your cohort.
I personally did two months of free online coding self-study before the bootcamp, and while I was happy I did, that self-study barely scratched the surface of the curriculum we went through at Coding Dojo.
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Anonymous
Full Stack Immersive Coding Bootcamp Onsite
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I came into Coding Dojo with zero knowledge of coding other than the pre-bootcamp prep course that I did. Overall the experience was very challenging and rewarding.
As you can find on their website, the bootcamp is structured for 14 weeks with 2 weeks spent on web fundamentals and 1 month spent on the 3 stacks: Python, MEAN, and C#. The web fundamentals was a very good beginning as the pace wasn't too fast and it introduces you to the fundamentals of HTMl, CSS, and JavaScript. Before going in depth to the different stacks, I'll first talk about the instructors. All the instructors for each stack have been excellent. I personally had Noelle, Navya, and Prescott teach my cohort. All of the instructors are invested in the students and want to make sure that every one is able to succeed. At any time if you fall behind, the instructors are very flexible and encourage you to talk with them to develop a specialized plan to catch up or do the most important assignments. All of the instructors are very knowledgeable with their stack and have plenty of experience. They are all very realistic about their expectations and advise students where the most difficult concepts may occur, potential errors, and the most important concepts to grasp.
Now onto the different stacks, first web fundamentals was an excellent introductory module structured to give the students background on the basics of web development. The assignments on the learn platform all build on each other so there is a lot of structure there. Also algorithms are introduced here, specifically the Basic 13 algorithms which is a good foundation for students to have by the end of web fundamentals so they can build on those algorithm skills in subsequent stacks.
Since the Python stack was the first full stack experience, it initially has a big learning curve especially for students who don't have prior experience in web development. Navya was very helpful in breaking down the concepts of OOP language first starting out with the basic syntax of python, building on those skills to add OOP basics, and then slowly adding on the back-end technologies including Flask, Django and integration with SQL database. Each of the sections are built on each other and the end-of-day goals are reasonable. Even if you don't keep up with the assignments, the schedule is flexible, and as long as you go to the instructor for help, you should be fine.
In the MEAN stack, it was a different gear since MEAN stack is non-relational. Learning MongoDB, Angular, Node.js, Express was all very useful in MEAN stack. The culminating assignments are always full-stack web apps implementing CRUD tasks and RESTful APIs. The MEAN stack content on the learn platform wasn't as good as python or C# stack. The instructors leading the demos and explaining the concepts on the learn platform didn't do a very good job. Half of the videos doesn't have code-alongs or short demos which isn't useful the students. Most of my cohort had to rely on our instructor's live demos to help us with assignments.
In the C# stack, we went back to OOP programming. By the third stack, you pick up the language much quicker. We learned to add .NET Core, Entity, LINQ, and SQL database into our basic web apps. The instructor Prescott, was very helpful in this stack and did so many code alongs and demos for the students that really show us how to write more efficient code and the most common pitfalls when coding an assignment. The C# content on the platform was excellent, the videos were very well done with short demos for each concept presented. There are no complaints here.
A comment on your time spent at Coding Dojo. Successful students that graduate from Coding Dojo generally spend 70+ hours on coding every week. If you're not prepared to make that commitment depending a variety of circumstances, just take a step back and evaluate your goals. This bootcamp isn't cheap and you want to invest the necessary time in it to succeed. Make sure that your family situation is relatively stable and you let your friends and family know that you can't spend as much time with them during the 14 weeks. But I guarantee you that if you put in the time and effort, you will graduate as a self-sufficient programmer who is able to learn new technologies on your own.
A word on the student environment. Students who don't get a chance to visit the Coding Dojo campus before enrolling. I can speak to the Bellevue campus. Each cohort will get its own section and each student will be given a monitor, the monitors use VGA cords so either make sure you have an adapter or check one out from Coding Dojo. Also there is a parking permit pass that you'll need to put a $50 deposit on. As for student life, there are food trucks in the Bellefield Office Park at the entrance of the park and one near the Coding Dojo campus. There is normally a lunch-and-learn on Wednesdays where an instructor will cover a relevant topic of choice. On Thursdays at 11 am, there's activity day where students are encouraged to rest and play boardgames or ping-pong. Occasionally there are lunch events where a potential recruiter from a local company will come by and talk about their company.
A word of advice to prospective students for Coding Dojo. If you do decide to attend, pay attention to the promotional deals going on for tuition. Depending on what month students entered the promotional discount off tuition varies from $500 to up to $4000. I believe Coding Dojo is being unprofessional in this aspect. There were more than a few irritated students in each cohort when we found out about the promotional discounts students received in later cohorts. Also if you do refer a friend to Coding Dojo and they sign up for the bootcamp, make sure to follow up with the $500 discount for your friend and you as there was a little trouble with a few students in my cohort. Other than this promotional discount problem, the rest of Coding Dojo has been amazing.
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Anonymous
April 2019 Coding Dojo graduate
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I completed Coding Dojo's full-stack onsite web development program at the end of April. Here are the top five things I enjoyed most about the program and why you might consider joining: 1) The program encourages you to research effectively and to work with others. I learned the most when I was working with another person. 2) Learning three different stacks. You see how websites can be built from three different stacks. This made me appreciate the number of ways a problem can be solved with technology. There is no one way to do things. Also, the pace at which you learn prepares you for the changing job market. Software / web development is constantly pivoting to new languages, so the concepts learned at Coding Dojo prepares you to ever-ready. 3) Coding Dojo's "learning platform". It is their online portal where you can access resource material, assignments, and take your exam. The platform will be your first stop whenever looking for information. The Internet can lead you down many different rabbit holes. The platform offers guided, concise, and well-structured learning material. It is the first place I search before going to Google something. 4) More on the platform. The assignments on the platform were fun and helped reinforce what you learn. If you can do the assignments then you will do well on the exams too. 5) Lastly, the instructors. All of the instructors and staff at Coding Dojo were incredibly helpful. They will often sit down with you to help work through technical bugs. I can honestly say that I had a great experience. The program challenged me to work harder and I learned a great deal about web development as a whole. -
Anonymous
Exemplary Experience
The 3-month program is fast-paced and intense. The curriculum includes 3 stacks, along with the skills to further your knowledge and understanding in the future.
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Anonymous
Full stack developer
Before coding dojo, I had struggle with finding the job and preparing the interview. Now, I’m confident and determined as I learned a lot from the intensive 3 and a half month program. And I can find excellent job.
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Anonymous
It was fun
It was a good experience for me at coding dojo.
I was able to learn how to code and think like a programmer.
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Anonymous
Coding Dojo Berkeley
My expierence at coding dojo was good. The days would consist of me coming in at 9am for morning algos, to just spending the rest of the day working on my assignments for whichever coding stack we were learning.
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Anonymous
Coding Dojo is NOT worth THOUSANDS!
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To be honest the remote Coding Dojo Bootcamp program is NOT worth $6,000 or MORE! After "graduation", I'm left with NO job in the field and horrible debt! My review is based on the remote experience.
- The remote program value is NOT worth the money.
If I had known that free YouTube videos, free edx.org courses, affordable Udemy, Treehouse, and free Udacity courses were a STRONGER learning foundation than an entire expensive Bootcamp program, I would have SAVED so much money! I wasted both my time and money on this program.
I thought that having direct human interaction with an instructor would be a stronger learning experience. The remote program only includes two live lectures a week from instructors. There are daily online exercises that you complete by yourself. Initially, I was attracted to the remote program because I was working full-time and could do classes in the evening to hopefully transition to a new career change after graduation.
The pacing of the overall program is unrealistic for the working class and the instructors often RUSH the lecture material. The result is that you do NOT get a solid learning foundation but a rushed final product. My fellow Bootcamp classmates struggled to turn in assignments because they had jobs and the lectures didn't cover all assignments.
- The remote program quality is POOR.
The program gives this false perception that you will be fully trained and ready for the software workforce. The program doesn't teach best practices and sometimes the instructors even forgot the basics of setting up an app.
Although I respect and liked the instructors, they do not teach you the core features or basics of a programming framework or stack because they didn't have time. The curriculum rushes them. Something essential and simple like the Django Admin dashboard robust functionality. The MEAN portion also felt rushed and MongoDB lectures were very unclear.
I was told I would never get a job using the code that they taught me! They completely rushed and skipped over what frameworks have built-in and the power of the technology.
It got to the point that I had to PAY outside experts to correct the code quality that the instructors taught me. I also had to pay outside experts to redo code samples that were taught in the program, just to get employers to look at me. So not only did I have to pay the Bootcamp monthly $1,000 installment payments but also additional costs for support that they lacked.
- The remote program lacks support.
AWS deployment was required to pass the final Django exam. No TA knew how to deploy on AWS at the time. With the instructors not available on weekends, I had no choice but to pay outside experts once again!
- The program post-graduation experience.
The remote program's learning quality will NOT make you stand out when applying for jobs. You can forget about passing technical interviews or algorithm screenings! You will fail entry-level tests even for new computer science graduates because Coding Dojo lacks foundation and does NOT replace a computer science degree.
For the remote program, algorithm training sessions are optional and not enforced or structured in a way to help you pass the most basic level algorithms. On the contrary, I was told the onsite program requires students to do algorithms every day and the learning quality is better. I was told by staff that the basic on HacerRank was too hard to do.
In conclusion, SAVE thousands of dollars please! Enjoy cheap Udemy courses, go to in-person meetup events, find a Code Mentor and watch free YouTube videos. You will learn so much more and have better code samples to show jobs. Seek certification from a program that uses best practices in programming stacks and does not rush the learning experience or quality.
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Anonymous
A great experience but not what you think
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Let me start with the good....
My cohort was amazing. The instructors were amazing.
They say you are the sum of the five people closest to you. If that's true, then for four months, I was an effing genius. I cannot begin to gush about the people I have met there and how they've continued to play a huge part in my life, even today. Everyone was diligent, eager to help, and insanely smart.
I was genuinely surprised and impressed by the camaraderie found the in the people here, not just within my cohort. And since the nature of these boot camps is to attract people from all walks of life, each person I met was this amalgamation of interesting experiences. I learned the most from these people.
The resources
For someone like me, with zero programming and technical education/knowledge/foundation, the instructors and the platform will be an immense resource for learning.
You will have to put in the work and the time. Don't think just because you paid $14K and come to class... sometimes... that you will learn through osmosis. GTFO. I spent a minimum of 60 hr/week here and I still know nothing, but I do know a whole $#i&-ton more than when I started. Know what you're getting into. It's a process. I recognized early that I will never be the strongest programmer and that this will be a life long journey.
Do all the assignments - there are a bunch;
Do the research - the platform is painfully incomplete and this will teach you to StackOverflow like your life depended on it;
Do the best you can and then do better - open more than one belt exam if allowed, even if you pass on the first time (You, smarty-pants).
Now The Bad....
The company
A lot of broken promises - they initially said we could open other stacks (outside of the three) at the completion of our program. Lies.
Not a good value for the material you actually get. After graduating, I've taken courses (Udemy, Meetups, FCC) where the course work was much better edited, clear, updated regularly, and cohesive all for really cheap or even free. I guess, though, you're more motivated when you have a little skin in the game. $14K to be exact.
Too much politic-ing. Rules and regulations kept changing, often mid-stream. It's very confusing for students to keep up with all the mess. To Coding Dojo corporate - if you're going to change something, have some consistency and let the last cohort be grandfathered in. It's unfair and makes the company look unprofessional and amateurish.
The resources
The platform is painfully incomplete (*see previous comment. They will tell you it's by design. Um sure, is the outdated information also by design?)
Also, some courses were so poorly written that you could cleary tell they did not car about those sections.
But to be fair, it's been a month since I logged in because they kick you out 6 months after you graduate... which is crap because on MOOCs, you have access to all your courses (free and paid) for LIFE (or the option to dl if the course is to be archived). For $14K I'd expect to have access for at least a few years or the option to download my couse work.
The career services
Vary by campus, so I'm told.
The info we got in VA was mostly generic. It might be really good for someone in HS that has no work experience but if you're switching careers or seasoned, you will find the information laughable. The resume examples are horrendous - these are examples of what gets thrown into the trash by recruiters.
Furthermore, they want all graduates to reguritate the same cultish motto "1,000+ hours of programming" blah blah blah. Be more creative. They need to understand that the pitch, the resume, and the approach will be different for the individual and spend more time with THE individual.
The instructor for career services was late 75% of the time. He also failed to tell us our course would be starting a week late... Causing people to come into the Dojo when they didn't have to. He also didn't update the materials he sent out... Some dating to the previous year. LOL.
Honestly, I was a bit annoyed with the program itself. Corporate did not feel professional or organized. But like I've mentioned earlier, the people and friendships I've made my time awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
And no. I am not a software engineer.
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Anonymous
Programmer/Analyst
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Online Coding Dojo Bootcamp was great but went by too fast. I am an experienced Programmer who was looking to review my concepts and learn new programming languages like Python and ASP.NET Core technology. While the curriculum is well structutred and the instructors are great, it went too fast for me, I did not get a chance to review concepts and felt like it was too fast. I am still struggling on some concepts I did before I joined. I need more practice, more real application to what I learned. More hands on, more testing questioning practice.
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Anonymous
Extremely challenging, but extremely rewarding.
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While my time at CD was extremely challenging, it was also extremely rewarding. It's true what they say, you get what you put in. Me and my close friends at the Dojo spent 10-12 hours a day in the lab, we were genuinely passionate about what we were learning, and now we're all in better places in our life. One thing I would say, don't do it for the hope of attractive salaries, focus on developing yourself and learning as much as you can, because this field of work is already a truly rewarding. Good luck!
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Anonymous
student
I leared a lot from coding Dojo at Dallas bootcamp. The instractors and students are friendly.
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Anonymous
Coding Dojo Exp.
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My name is Arthur and I graduated the Coding Dojo program months ago. I started the program to change careers, but have not yet made my move. I am still working to get comfortable with some new languages and concepts that are currently being used. My time in the bootcamp was challenging but definitely a good experience. If you are looking to learn, be prepared to only get as much out as you get in...hopefully. I really enjoyed the instructors and TAs, but class participation was not mandatory. Therefore, if other students were not working to group up my only resources was the teacher (spent hours picking Devon and Wes's brain). I also got some great support from one or two other students. I would recommend an online bootcamp only if you cannot make in person sessions (which require more teamwork) and also have 25 hrs to dedicate to learning. I would do the bootcamp again!
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Anonymous
Thanks Coding Dojo
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Hi everyone, my name is Dumitru and I went thru Coding Dojo bootcamp together with my brother the same time. I want to start with the fact that if you are passionate of web developing, coding and you are not completely new to programing then Coding Dojo is for you. Coding Dojo offers some algorithms code examples, wich can be found here: http://algorithm.codingdojo.com/ you just have to enter your email and take the test, and if you pass the test then you kow for sure you are ready. I'm telling that because bootcamp is not for complete beginers. So in my case Coding Dojo did a great job, in the morning we had 1 hour of algorithms, after that we jumped directly to the platform. Coding Dojo's platform is very wel designed to teach you the newest techology on the market (they difer from location to location, I went to Chicago IL location and at that location they will teach you Python with framework Django, C# with framework ASP.Net Core 2.0, MEAN with framework Angular 5). At Coding Dojo you become full stack developer but you have to dedicate your self, you have to study full time, you can't have a job while in the bootcamp, it is a lot of material which need to be learn in a short period of time. It is a lot of strugling but as they say at Coding Dojo is rewarding. The greatest thing about Coding Dojo is that after each stack they offer you to connect with 2-3 friends and build a website, so after Coding Dojo you should have at least 3 projects. This projects are very important because the improve your knoledge and the most important is for your job interviews. During my job search I got a lot of interviews and I got a lot of questions on my projects. So if Coding Dojo asks you to do a project, do it, it will help you geting a job. About job hunting, after you finish Coding Dojo you get a diploma and next week you are going to have career service week, during that week you'll get a lot of information how to get a job, salary negociation etc. Coding Dojo is not going to look for a job for you, you have to look for a job, I got my job in 2.5 months after finishing that bootcamp, my brother 3.5 months, some of our colegs got jobs after 1.5 months. I'm working contractor for a big company (Abbott under Cognizant) my borter is also a contractor under another company for Google. My bottom line is that it is challenging to find a job, but that not only because is a bootcamp students from coledges universityes, also have a hard time find jobs.
My opinion is that is worthit, but you have to follow the instructors tasks, they kow what is better for you.
Thanks and good luck with your job hunt.
Thanks Coding Dojo.
Dumitru and Nick. -
Anonymous
Former Student
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I'm a career changer and I would love to share my experience at Coding Dojo.
- What did you do before Coding Dojo?
- I was an architectural designer and an MBA student.
- Why did you decide to join Coding Dojo?
- As I went through my MBA program, I realized that I want to work in the infotech industry. In order to break into the tech industry without a computer science degree was tough. Also, it didn't really make sense not to know what "coding" is since I would have to work with programmers in my future career. So, I decided to take a coding boot camp. I've researched about a few boot camp options (Hackreactor, Thinkful, and UCLA Extention program along with Coding Dojo) in terms of the ROI, proximity, and culture. Coding Dojo fits my need the best.
- What did you get out of Coding Dojo?
- I grasped the overview of what coding is and how engineers think and work. At the end of the program, I was able to build prototypes myself that is a valuable skill to become a product manager.
- What do you do now?
- After Coding Dojo, I worked as an associate product manager for a startup. There, I've learned how to work with cross-functional team and development process of the digital product, especially making the data-driven decisions at every given time. Now I'm a project manager at a data science consulting firm: working with data scientists to build machine learning solutions for various business problems.
- What did you do before Coding Dojo?
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Anonymous
Web Designer
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Coding Dojo was one of the best learning experiences of my life. Coming from the first cohort of a new location was a bit worrting at first, but we got lucky with the postitive and close-knit learning environment. Being a new graduate, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my career or where to start. After learning a bit of html myself, I decided a fully emmersive experience would help me grow the skills I needed to further fuel my hobby.
I'm glad I made the investment to attend coding dojo because I absolutely love what I do. With the large amount oif flexibility and creative freedom in my craft, I enjoy creating websites and apps. If I don't entriely know how to do something, I know the way to think of the solution with the foundations that coding dojo gave me, I can problem solve at work. Even though I still don't know what industry I want to be in for the long run, the techinical and personal skills I gained at coding dojo will allow me to really go anywhere.
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Anonymous
From Zero xp to 6 figure salary
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Coding Dojo Chicago is awesome.
Before the Dojo I was a banker and also never completed my college degree. Zero experience in coding but I knew it was a lucrative career path.
I decided on the dojo because I had enough saved away to make the switch and I wanted a career path that was secure and vital. Everyone wants a developer and the need for great developers is only increasing.
I was really on the fence though. Everyone says 6 figure salary on the ads but I basically thought to myself eh...is it really going to happen to me? I took the leap of faith (backed by lots of self research) and went to the dojo.
At the Chicago Dojo I got a great understanding of 3 different full stacks and a community of peers from the onsite that are still friends today! I even built a mobile app and launched it with people from my cohort after we graduated. We successfully had over 1k users world wide downloading and using our app which may not be a lot but it was great to get through those steps of launching a prodict into the world!
Now I am a mobile developer making that very 6 fig salary that all the ads rave about and so this review is certainly overdue.
SOME IMPORTANT CAVEATS:
1. Not everyone in my cohort is a developer. Many took different paths in tech or dropped tech altogether. Some people just did not believe they could do it. It's a shame but many people for some reason just didnt have the confidence in their abilities and the stress can really psych you out of your success. Please if you take this leave the tears and self doubt at the door. Bring your A game. Listen to motivational videos if your getting stressed, whatever it is that gets you pumped for your success be sure to know what you need to bring your focus back
2. I did NOT get a 6 fig job directly out of bootcamp! Here is the timeline I personally tooke:
-Graduate
-3 months learning and building out mobile app (no job and very little applying)
-Part time Code Teaching Assistant for 3 months @ $15-20/hr (still building out mobile app on my own time with friends)
-Land a job at a startup for $55k/yr, 3months there and the company went under!
-Land 6 figure job (current)
Some people went into 75k/yr jobs right out of bootcamp but I was really passionate about building out this app and I didnt even really try to apply. Others applied really hard but never got a stable job in the industry so moved on to something else. I usually found the people who were less confident in their abilities had a harder time. The people who didnt get psyched out, or at least easily recovered from their stresses got jobs far more easily.
So yea! zero college degree, zero code expereience, and one Chicago Coding Dojo. Life changed!
You can do it! You need to keep your mental toughness about you the whole way through. There is leterally no difference between me and others who took the course, actually some came in with more experience but I did find that the most confident people who came in pumped to learn and took it easy were far more successful than those who came in seemingly stressed out or believing the courseload was too daunting.
Best to you on your journey! -
Anonymous
overall good experience
Overall, My time at the Dojo was enjoyable
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Anonymous
Great learning experience!
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After learning to code on my own, I decided to invest in a bootcamp for the structure and community. Coding Dojo is a big investment, but it was actually less costly than other bootcamps around the area. It’s also one of the few located in South Bay. The curriculum is great — you learn three full stacks (other bootcamps focus on one). The benefit of this is that you start to see common patterns in each stack. The learning platform goes over the basics of each stack, along with assignments to complete as you progress. Once you’re done with the program, you’ll have time to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. Another benefit to Coding Dojo is you’re always welcome back to use the space. There’s a designated section for alumni and there are usually plenty of seats available. Most of what you’ll learn will come from the platform, Google, and debugging with your cohortmates. In my opinion this is more effective than lectures because you learn how to teach yourself new concepts which makes you a better developer in the long run 🙂 It teaches you to become a self sufficient developer. Career services is run by professional career coaches over the course of a week. You also get a one-on-one meeting with them to go over your resume in depth. I’d recommend Coding Dojo to anyone looking to get their start in web development. -
Anonymous
Graduate
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I have learned various programming languages before I attended this program. However, I have not learned anything about the frameworks that the languages until I took this program. Thanks to Coding Dojo, I have a very in-depth knowledge about Python, Java, Javascript, and the frameworks that use these languages, including Flask, Django, Spring Boot, Node, Express, etc..
If you are eager to learn about computer programming and how they are used in various frameworks, then Coding Dojo is the right program for you. The program is pretty intense and fast-paced, however, since you have to complete multiple assignments everyday. Fortunately, the program has plenty of people who can help you. I have made some friends in the dojo who managed to get me through the hardest assignments and clarify things I did not know. I really appreciate their help and the people who have helped me get through the program. I hope the others will have a fun time like I did as well.
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Anonymous
Alumni
Great program. Great staff. I went to the Tysons location. The program took a TON of effort but if you have the time and can dedicate yourself, then you will be successful. Happy to have completed the program.
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Anonymous
Great course but terrible communication afterwards
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As the title says, the course was fantastic and most of my instructors were great. However, I was told by my instructors that they would still be accessible and happy to answer any questions once we grauated the program. It's been about a month since I've graduated and I've reached out to all 4 of my instructors, several times, for a quick question or to work through some bugs and 1 got back to me and then didn't respond after that. It just seems strange and unprofessional that it hasn't been even a month and they go from helping you daily, to non-existent and impossible to get in contact with once you walk out that door on your graduation date.
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Anonymous
Student Alumni
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The most important thing to keep in mind is that what you get out of the program is completely dependent on what you put in. The material you cover will help establish a strong base for exploring a software development career in Python, RoRs or MEAN, but you are going to have to put in the work, in terms of dedicated time spent on learning and solving algorithms (whiteboarding). I am not referring to some group think process, but a 1 on 1 interview practice on the whiteboard, including behavioral, logic and programming questions. Especially, in the BayArea (Silicon Valley) it is a very competitive job market for software developers. Unless you want to compete and challenge yourself to improve every day there is slim to no chance of you landing a Junior Development job straight out of the boot camp. Keep in mind some students have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, and some have a Masters in Computer Science or some other Engineering background. If you are open to relocation outside of the BayArea you will find more opportunities where the barrier to entry is a lot lower.
In order to be successful, in the boot camp, you need to dedicate yourself to mastering the material because what you cover are the appetizers of the Software Industry. There are a ton more things to learn and master. Unless you enjoy learning something new every day and challenging yourself, do not join the boot camp. If you enjoy solving problems, fixing software programs to find out why they are not working (debugging) then join the boot camp. Posting your solutions to the programming exercises you find from the boot camp will not be enough to land a job. You will need to be creative in terms of the projects you do to include in your portfolio. Just as in any other high school, or college, teachers do have their favorite students. However, if teachers see that you are putting in the time and the effort they will make more effort to help you. However, if you leave early and come late this is a red flag for them, and they will talk to you to find out why you are not attending morning algorithms. Invest in a good pair of noise canceling over the ear headphones as at times the Dojo can be loud with people playing table tennis, a meet up happening or open house.
Career Services is helpful in the fact it gives you perspective on all the things you need to consider in order to be ready to find a new job including Resume writing, Portfolio building, and Networking. Besides the resume, networking will be your most important tool in order to land a new job opportunity. I heard from students who applied to 300+ jobs online and had less than a 10% response rate. Talk to people while you are in the dojo, attend MeetUps at the dojo, exchange contact information. You will need to overcome the fear of being rejected. Rejection is a common part of life for most of us, but for those who have not experienced it before, it can be a bitter pill to swallow. Failing fast, and not taking rejections personally is an extremely important asset when trying to land your first development opportunity. Apply to many companies, to keep the pipeline of job applications flowing. Smaller companies will tend to get back to you faster than larger companies but that is not always the case. So take control of what is in your power. Apply strategically, and talk to your neighbor, family members, friends, and ex-colleagues. Let people know that you are doing this coding boot camp so by the time you graduate some of them might willing to help share a job lead or pass on your resume to someone in their network. I wish you the best in this challenging journey. Believe in yourself, and don't give up!
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Anonymous
Coding Dojo DC Grad
This program was a great introduction into the world of Web Development - the curriculum is tough, but if you put in the time it is more than worth it. I've had feedback from multiple employers during the interview process that are very happy with the exposure to so much. The instructors are great and the daily algorithm hour is a great way to get the brain juices flowing.
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Anonymous
Good program
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I went to the Coding Dojo after leaving a job in software sales. I took a few clases in college near the end of my major, and was always interested in coding and mobile web development.
The reason I selected the coding dojo was their offering of full stack development, being new to the field I reasoned that this would allow me to explore/learn different roles at once and from there I could decide where to specialize.
If you're worried about credibility I will just say this, the program is a legit track to break into the IT field, the learning platform is very good, better than anything you will find online and comparable to a college course, but with a more steamlined syllabus.
The standard on-site curriculum includes a 2 week intro, followed by instruction in 3 full web stacks. Each stack is taught over a period of 3-4 weeks. The first two present components of full stack web development and the third ties all of them together. The fourth week is for review or a 1 week sprint project, which can be an invaluable addition to your portfolio and an awesome learning experience in and of itself.
The instructors are great people, very patient, helpful and very accomodating. I would definitely recommend the on-site program vs. online, because based on my experience when you are stuck as a new developer a little assistance goes a long way.
I would recommend this program, it will be a ton of work, for the most part you should expect to be coding 8-12 hrs a day 6-7 days a week. The good part is that the environment at their Chicago location is really awesome. A great loft space to work in, nice people, free snacks, and places nearby if you need to take a break, grab a coffee, etc.
Career support is good, but it will require almost the same amount of work as the program. I've seen some people get jobs weeks within graduation and others are still looking months later, but from what I observed it's largely a matter of personal choices, expectations and even a little burnout. But If you are ready to work hard, Coding Dojo will definitely help you land a job.
Good luck!
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Anonymous
My Coding Dojo Experience
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My experience at the Dojo was an interesting one. I had very little coding experience before starting and I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I realized that the ads and the brochures weren't lying when they said that you might have to spend 70+ hours a week at this bootcamp. I found my self immersed in the work that I was doing and I realized that I was learning more than I ever believed I was capable of learning. About a month after the bootcamp was over I was offered a position at a startup. The bootcamp experience is hard but it's well worth it if you're willing to put in the work that's necessary to be successful.
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Anonymous
Not what I expected
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Before going into this program. I had done research with different coding bootcamps and this seemed like a good fit based on reviews, location, and instructors. Although I didn't complete this boot camp, I can tell you why I dropped out. Having no previous experience with coding, I felt like I was expected to know how to do algorithms without learning the concept of it. The main instructor during the first week was not helpful and I felt as if he had no patience for students who did not know certain topics. It wasn't just algorithms, it was also topics. I was struggling and so were other students I spoke with and we felt like we had little understanding of topics that were given but we were expected to move on to the next topic very quickly. Any beginners signing up, please be cautious of this school, it's only good for people with previous coding experience not said in their website. Remember it's still a business that wants a profit.
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Anonymous
Great
Great experience. Loved it.
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Anonymous
A pretty big letdown
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The Coding Dojo crammed way more students into the cohort than they could handle. Then they fired every T.A and the office manager "to save costs" and the remaining instructors sometimes wouldn't even show up. I can't recomend this bootcamp. I was able to learn a lot by working really hard but in the end the management doesn't care about you, you're basically a dollar sign to them.
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Anonymous
Do not school here, do not collect $200.
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I think that Coding Dojo is on the right track for immersing new students into software development, but I'm hard pressed to recommend the school. There are a few things that they do well, while it feels that most everything else falls into a category of "irrelevant". The communication from instructors is very poor and the course material is a mixed back of inconsistent qualty (either quite decent or very poor).
I've found that Coding Dojo has done well has to do with enrollment and preparation to start the courses. When contacted directly, I've found that the admissions staff are quick to respond and are very helpful. There are a few videos and reading materials presented to ensure that you're of the right mindset to engage in the material. You are expected to go through a preparatory course to ensure that you can at least follow the logic of what's happening in a basic program. You're provided exercises in the pre-camp work to ensure that you understand the new knowledge.
And that's really the extent of it. Currently, Coding Dojo rellies on Slack to handle student/teacher communication. For the uninitiated, Slack is effectively a GUI chat channels, like you might see on IRC or a Skype room. You're expected to ask questions about assignments of your fellow students here before going to the professor. While I agree with this logic, the end result is that communication is very chaotically presented. If you're not sitting at your desk watching the channels, you could easily lose your space. This also means "good luck" if you're a little behind schedule on your assignments.
Another result of Coding Dojo's almost exclusive reliance on Slack instructors are otherwise unresponsive. I think that I've had maybe one productive conversation with a instructor. Beyond that one conversation, I've barely warrented a response from them. I had once gone 48 hours without a response from an instructor to inform him that I'm struggling in a piece of course content that appeared broken. I only received a response because I contacted a member fo the admissions staff and asked him to intervene.
In both circumstances where I've e-mailed instructors, the best that I’ve received was a canned response that could be summerized as “I’ve never seen this problem before, and I’m sorry that you’re frustrated.”
I'll readily admit that I have successfully acquired some new skills, but it’s been a difficult journey. There are a few courses in which concepts felt poorly organized and presented, in which I've had to invest a disproportionate amount reviewing so I could organize my notes to facilitate my comprehension of new concepts. There courses that are poorly presented have a heavy reliance on informal, sometimes ambiguious use of the English language and implied assumption of shared context. That is to say that it can sometimes feel like the course’s progression follows like this: “I’m discussing points B and C now, after which I’ll make reference to point A. Here’s point E. Remember where I buried a passing reference to point D at the start of the course?”
The in-course lectures feel like the usually feel an outline, but are generally unscripted. If the lectures were complimentary to the reading material, this would be fine. Having to transcribe material from an audio format to a text structure for later reference is tedious, frustrating, and inconductive of a learning environment. Their instructors are developers by trade, not instructors. While they are effective at developing assignments and material, their ability to communicate new concepts is in some very dire need of improvement.
As the content is all web-based, it’s not uncommon to receive random (forced) surveys about something that they believe is relevant to what you’re doing – regardless of being at a point to accurately answer their questions. “You’re taking a survey NOW on how your job search is going – even though you’re only half way through our course and you haven’t talked to any of our career advisors.”
So, to summarize, I do not recommend Coding Dojo. You will not be receiving your money’s worth from this school.
