Coding Dojo

I attended Coding Dojo starting in June of 2019. Right away I noticed that I was putting together the dots that I was missing trying to learn this on my own. The course was very demanding, but in a good way. I was very interested in the curriculum, they made it fun with real life applications, and small games. I started off in the Tech industry as a Graphic Designer, and felt like I wanted to do a little more. Coding Dojo made this dream a little more visual and I seen that I could anything if I put my mind to it , it I persevere. After the Camp they helped me reshape my resume, and apply my skills to the job search. Im currently looking but I learned that the Journey isn't over until you reach your goals.

   I enjoyed finding out the environment and culture of programming. I learned so much! I appreciate learning about the immense value programming has for almost every piece of technology. Regarding the instructors, I appreciate how they told our cohort the high expectations, from the very beginning.

   Having finished a master's thesis only five months ago, the daily schedule during this bootcamp experience was more demanding! I learned to sleep less, think about homework more, and often work on coding through the night. If you would like to say "Hello World" to the "crunch time" that game developers talk about, if you would like to know the lifestyle of the programming greats, or if you would like to take on one of the most difficult challenges of your life, an onsite, immersive experience at Coding Dojo might just be the right fit for you. I recommend coming to an open house, talking personally with the instructors, and getting a tour of the Coding Dojo location that interests you.

I have been a student at Coding dojo. I joined the online software developement program. I had some background with computer science, that made it easier for me to further learn and make projects using HTML, CSS and Javascript. With Python I selected C# for my third stack and the instructors helped me understand basic requirements. I would recommemd this program to starters as this bootcamp provides 24/7 assistance from TA's and the instructors are really supportive.

I attended the Onsite Immersive Course, which is a 14 week course. You start in Web Delevopment, going into Python, C#, and then MEAN (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular.js, Node.js). After graduating High School, I was always at dead end jobs. After having my child, I knew I had to do something quick. My brother came up to me asking if I wanted to join this intense boot camp with him and I agreed. On day one we dove head on with code, learning front end development and algorithms. They ask you put in as much time as you possibly can, hoping for around 80+ hours. I myself, at the beginning, put in around that much, but as I became more comfortable, I started attending for about 60+ hours. There were multiple moments were I hit a wall, but having someone close who also attended definitely helped out. At some points, the curriculum would be outdated, or very unhelpful, but they highly incourage you to google as much as you possible can. Google is 100% your best friend during this course. If you are interested in the tech field at all, or just curious. There are times where an instructor can not be found, or they are in depth with another student, which can be very aggrivating. Having the other students around you will help with keeping you moving forward, and are very helpful if you get stuck. I highly recommend you come to this course; even if you do not plan on doing anything with coding, learning how the world around you works is amazing. Many times I will see something where I now think how it could run more efficently, or just how it may work.

I attended the onsite immersive program for 14 weeks at Coding Dojo in the Seattle area. Before I started the program, I had little to no prior knowledege or experience in the field of technology. I spent a lot of long hours, (80+) each day at the Dojo working on assignments. The goal of the program is to prepare students to become self sufficient developers by giving in-depth knowledge of the latest technologies that are in demand in the tech industry. You will spend most of the time learning the language on your own and sometimes with other small groups of people. One thing that sets Coding Dojo apart from other bootcamps is they have a one hour session in the morning that is mainly focused towards algorithims and data structures. The instructors give a mini lecture and students work in groups to solve real world algorithims that could be brought up during a real interview for a job opputunity. Most of the instructors were helpful with guidence and support. One thing to change could be updating the platform to what is current such as the versions of the technolgy. Overall, I enjoyed my time at Coding Dojo, putting long grueling hours was well worth it in the end of my 14 weeks! 

If I had to rate my experience while attending Coding Dojo Berkeley. I would have to say that deciding to attend the bootcamp was one of the best decisions that I have made for myself. The rate at which you learn is phenomenal. The amount of material that I learned in the three months whille in the bootcamp would have taken me years on my own. Not only did I learn all of these skills, I've met great people also. The instructors are really helpful and patient. The manager always makes sure that the students are always accommodated. Overall, Coding Dojo is great! I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

The program is intense. Be prepared to commit the time (80+hrs/wk) and energy. You will get out of the program what you put in. I averaged around 84hrs a week through the whole course, with some weeks being less and others much more.

DO NOT SKIP DAYS. Don't even skip morning algorithms. Get there early, get your coffee, and get motivated.

Your cohort is your team. They will have different backgrounds and approaches. Learn from them and they will learn from you. ALWAYS offer to trouble shoot their code if they are struggling and be welcoming to requests for help. Reading and diagnosing their code is of immense value to you and you have much to learn from the experience.

DO NOT GET HUNG UP ON THE WHY. There are decisions language designers made about languages and modules and libraries that will not make sense, often because their reasoning is beyond the scope of your initial learning. Getting hung up on why prevents you from progressing.

PART OF THE LEARNING IS ERRORS. You will get them. You will need to research them. This is part of the learning experience and it is VERY important to your future career. As I write this, my first software contract is for a machine learning implementation. I anticipate a lot of errors and there will be no one to tell me the answers or course material to correct my deficiencies. Which leads me to...

THE TWENTY MINUTE RULE- Obey. Do not sit there and churn your wheels. Seek help once you've spent the time giving it a good try. You may not resolve every problem in 20 mins and that is fine. You learn something every time. Continuing your progression, during the course, is more important than solving every problem on your own.

You will find errors in the material; you will encounter parts that are not as well-explained as you would like. Guess what. The same goes for technology documentation. While I'd love for ever part of the course to be explained in just the right way for me (and Coding Dojo should always try to improve their material), getting around these obstructions is a learning experience too. Do your part to help by giving good feedback and reporting errors when you find them. Several changes in Windows related materials were corrected post-haste when my cohort reported them and their solutions.

On that note, GET FAMILIAR with your computer. Do not buy it three days before course start. You want to be familiar with the computer and know it will be good to work from. You may find typing for a few hours, the keyboard is uncomfortable or that it is a lemon or defective. These are not things to find out on day one or two nor something to battle continuously through the program. If you can, practice working across two screens. This is very important skill.

MOST IMPORTANT- Your attitude. This program does not hand everything to you on a platter, much less one made of silver. You will work for your knowledge. This is good preparation for the working world. Your fellow cohort members will be like your future co-workers and your instructor will be like your leadership on a project. Learn to function in the environment.

Good luck.

    As cliche as it sounds you really do get out what you put in with this bootcamp. Given that, if you really want to get the most out of it, you should go into this bootcamp with at least some coding experience. If you have never coded before it’s a big risk just jumping into a bootcamp assuming that you will a) have the aptitude for it and b) enjoy it. When I joined this bootcamp I already had some coding experience: I have an engineering degree in another discipline and did some light coding when I was a kid (I believe I had a Geocities page at some point). For me this bootcamp was relatively easy but I definitely had moments where I did struggle. From what I observed from my less technically inclined peers, many of them struggled, but the ones that actually put in the full 70-90 hours a week (closer to 90) really excelled. For example, one of the students I worked with on a project had previously worked as an auto-body mechanic. He ended up taking one of the exams early because he was putting 12+ hour days, six days a week and prepared for this bootcamp weeks in advance. I would never have known he had no experience in coding before. So you really do get out what you put in.

    As to the actual content of the bootcamp, the camp is divided into sections. The first two weeks you learn HTML, CSS, javascript, Jquery, SQL and git. These are going to be the fundamentals you are going to use throughout the bootcamp. Next you start your first stack, the Python Stack which is three weeks. After Python you spend a week on projects and/or test retakes, you do this after each stack. The last two stacks are C# and MEAN which are also three weeks with a project/test retake week after. As you can see they move very quickly here, they probably only spend about two days on language fundamentals and the rest on frameworks. Because it is so fast paced, I personally feel we don’t get enough of a deep dive into each language/stack. Personally, and at least one other graduate has had this idea, I think they should only do two stacks and do a deeper dive into each stack.

    Most of your learning takes place from readings and assignments on their platform. The platform does enough to walk you through the process of creating web apps, however I wish it got more in depth as I mentioned above. After this bootcamp you really are going to have to buckle down and take a deeper dive into each stack to really understand them. Additionally, sometimes that platform is flat out wrong. For example, one of the instructors tried to do a deployment demo using the platform and he had to stop because there were to many issues with it so he said he was going to re-write that section on the platform, which he did. The platform also had videos where instructors would walk through code however most of the time I didn’t find it very helpful so I’d watch them at 2X speed. 

    The instructors are great, it is true that some of them are former students who haven’t worked in the industry before however they are still very knowledgeable (they go through a six month on the job training before they are full fledged instructors) and passionate. My only complaint about the instructors is that there were not enough of them or TAs. For example, because of some circumstances, the entire dojo only had one instructor for three cohorts for about a week. Many of us were not happy about that.

    In summary, while this bootcamp may have it’s faults, this is a great bootcamp for those who are highly motivated, can sacrifice basically almost all their waking time for 14-weeks, have at least a little previous programming experience and are independent learners.  

Although the pacing sounds daunting at first, I was pleasantly surprised with how smooth the bootcamp went! The staff at the Oakland campus are fantastic (Vinson and David, with TAs Drue and Ray) and they always do there best to assist you throughout the program. On top of that, the program does their best to ensure you can work as comfortably as possible by providing a stocked kitchen and some fairly flexible hours for the convenience of students. Speaking of which,  it has also been wonderful working with so many other pleasant students. Overall, the atmosphere of the program is very social and supportive, which makes for a great learning environment. It was super awesome to see how easy it is to take in computer languages after you get the ball rolling (this is coming from someone with no coding experience). Even though I was green in the field, I was able to make it through, which means I’m sure you can too :).

I enjoyed this course thoroughly. I've learned how to apply the CS concepts that I learned in college to actual projects that I learned how to deploy. I did find the course material a bit easy, but that is because of my previous experience, as the course is designed for absolute beginners. Vinson is amazing - get ready to play sports every week and get beaten by the smartest and most athletic guy you will ever know!

Deciding to attend the Coding Dojo onsite bootcamp in Oakland has easily been one of the best decisions I've made. I came into the program with no programming expierence and in just 3 1/2 months I am able to do things I never thought possible. The program is hard and very rigorous but it really changes the way you approcah programming and learning in general. The way the course is designed really gives you a ton of confidence in your ablilities to learn things quickly. They give you all the tools to learn 3 full stacks (Python, MEAN, and Java) in a short period of time. This really prepares you for a fast moving tech world where in an instant you might need to learn a new language. 

The lead instructor Vinson is one of the best teachers I've ever had. He really helps you grow as a developer by giving you the push you need to get better everyday. He is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable which makes the learning expierence fun and something to look forward to. The program manager David is also wonderful and does everything he can to help make the program run smoothly. 

Overall my expierece at Coding Dojo has been amazing. The friendships and knowledge I've gained has made my time there unforgettable. I would highly recommend this program to anyone! 

I came to Coding Dojo with a background in Business Economics and no programming experience.  Joining Coding Dojo was one of the toughest, yet most rewarding experiences I’ve been through.  I’ve learned so much since Day 1 and the learning doesn’t stop.  If you put the time in it and challenge yourself, you will succeed.

How did I decide on Coding Dojo?  After exploring a few different Open Houses, I felt like the instructors and staff here genuinely cared for their students.  Throughout the program, they made learning programming fun and challenged you to think differently when it came to solving problems.  Another reason why I joined Coding Dojo was because they taught 3 full stacks (Python, Java and MEAN).  This allowed me to be well-rounded on a few languages and helped me decide what stack I prefer to work with.  

Coding Dojo’s career services was helpful so make sure to make use of it every way you can throughout the program and more importantly after graduation.  If you’re expecting to rely solely on Career Services to land a job, this isn’t for you.  You need to put in your part too.  As a recent graduate, I can see how easy it is to relax once the bootcamp is over.  After graduating is when the hardest part starts, searching for a job.  You need to work on your resume, portfolio, go to networking events, continue coding, etc.  It took me about 2.5 months to receive that job offer and that was one of the happiest moments of my life.  My hard work is finally getting paid off.

One thing I wished Coding Dojo emphasized on more was making projects a requirement to graduate.  It would be nice to submit the projects to the instructor and have them give feedback on it.  I think this is really important because once you graduate, you need a few solid projects on your portfolio before you apply.  After graduating, I spend about 3.5 weeks working on my portfolio before actively applying for jobs.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Coding Dojo and built so many relationships I will cherish throughout my life.  I would not have been able to do this myself. I’m grateful for all the help and support I received from my cohorts, instructors and staffs, so thank you Coding Dojo!

Coding Dojo gave me direction when I was absolutely lost. It sounds melodramatic but it really is true. I've always struggled with academics. Reading massive textbooks, writing up essay after essay, or finding focus for busy work has never been my strong suit. It's just not how I learn. So after graduating high school and trying to force college to work for me for about a year, I finally realized I needed to look elsewhere. And I'm really glad Coding Dojo is where I ultimately decided to go. The work is hands-on and no-nonsense.

This bootcamp is fast paced but with all the support from your fellow cohort-mates, instructors, and TAs, It's very doable if you have the drive. Their online learning platform makes for a very good reference but in my opinion the real magic happens with their instructors. You can tell they're genuinely passionate about programming and it makes the work so enjoyable. The demos and lectures are very informative and they take little breaks along the way to make sure everyone understands the material and is on the same page. The morning algorithms are also a really great feature of this bootcamp. You get used to thinking about how you can start to tackle a problem, polish it to be more efficient, and code more creatively since after you've taken a solid stab at it you get to look at different students' perspectives. Which are all skills that are definitely helpful for succeeding at an interview. And of course the sheer exposure and repetition of foundational algorithms and data structures doesn't hurt either!

My time at Coding Dojo was definitely incredible. A perfect mix of intense fast-paced learning and fun times with friends I made at my time there. The Dojo as we like to call it provides a great learning environment where the several hours one puts in barely feels stressful. You should do the bootcamp if you're desperate to learn a lot in 4 months and ready to sacrifice a lot on the way, paving a more knowledgeable future where everyone codes!! 

I came to the bootcamp with a little bit of coding experience, that I got from online courses. I recommend that to anybody who's going to attend any coding bootcamp.

Time in Dojo was truly amazing. Super professional instructors with experience working in big companies such as Amazon. Awesome peers from different countries and backgrounds. Information is very well structured in the curriculum, so it's easy to pick up new stuff even for non-native English speakers as myself. The only thing I didn't like is how MEAN stack was presented on the platform, but instructors helped to fill all the gaps and even more.

Another thing which is super cool about Coding Dojo is that how they teach algorithms and data structures. Every morning you solve different problems and learn new data structures, which are essential things to pass a tech interview. These things are also very useful for people that don't have a CS degree.

Lastly, job search. Coding Dojo does not place their grads into the jobs, but they provide good career services which improve your resume, LinkedIn and job hunting strategies in general. Also, they host interviews on site with many tech companies, so students and grads have a lot of extra opportunities to get jobs.

Coding bootcamps are not easy. The more you put in, the more you get out of it. If you are focused and dedicated Coding Dojo will definitely help you to land your first job in tech!

My way or journey into software development ended with 12+ years in the Marine Corps incorporating the art and science of war including use of martial arts with a generalist or “one mind, any weapon” ethos.  Prior to joining the military, I studied Computer Science for two years then transferred into an Electrical/Computer Engineering degree program, graduated then went directly into the military.  In 2016 while waiting to depart the military I enrolled in a Java Full Stack Web Development Boot Camp with Skill Distillery in Denver, Colorado.  During this 4-month resident course I learned Java, Spring, MySQL, and AngularJS 1.6.  Following graduation multiple offers prompting me to relocate to Washington, DC initially for work as a software engineer enticed me with the allure of cyberwarfare–penetration testing, malware engineering, zombies/botnets, and distributed denial of service attacks.  However, though I had originally planned to work for a defense contracting company my first position as a software developer was with the Washington Post in 2017.  This posed a new challenge due to most WaPO teams using Python and ReactJS leading me to the Coding Dojo Online Full Stack Web Development Course.  During my time at WaPO I had also decided to go back to school and pursue a master’s degree in software engineering.  So in 2018 while working as a WaPO software developer, I was also taking my first grad class in Java and starting my second stack at the Dojo.  What drew me to the Coding Dojo was the multiple stacks (Ruby, Python, iOS, C#, React, ect) incorporating time tested techniques (TDD, web scalability, web security, data structures, cloud deployments, wireframes, etc) available and online curriculum allowing me to learn and use Python immediately on the job.  Having Java as a first OOP language also made it easier to pick up Python in an online setting.  Following the Python stack, I was then reintroduced to Angular but version 6 with TypeScript as part of the MEAN stack.  By this time I had successfully completed my Java class with an A and was now interviewing for my second position as a software engineer.  Without warning I receive an email from a Google Hiring manager who noticed the variety of stacks (Java, Python, MEAN) on my LinkedIn page and inquired if I was interested in a summer internship, to which I said “yes”.  Over the course of the Fall 2018 semester with some struggle I complete a second grad course, Coding Dojo’s third stack, and Google’s intern hiring process.  I end up getting recommended for a second round of interviews with Google, commit to learning all of Coding Dojo’s stacks and continue with my software engineering graduate program.

There have been many similarities between my military experiences and path as a software engineer through the Dojo from the mindset of a ninja–first being, master the technique then the weapon (weapons/tools will likely change before the technique).  With Coding Dojo learning multiple stacks trains you to all aspects of a full stack so that you can adapt to every unique application you will inevitably encounter during your career.  Strength through struggle is a paradigm that also includes knowing your weaknesses, resources to mitigate weaknesses, and seeking self-improvement.  Equally important is being a lifelong learner because the techniques, tactics, and procedures will likely change however your effort as a software engineer will not.  Finally like any workout regiment worth its weight–exercising the eco system of hardware, networks, cloud services, security, APIs, and analytics all function to support software as the core organism.   To avoid spoiling the book, my way as a peaceful warrior (ninja with three belts) is far from over in software engineering and like most will not end until all obstacles imagined and real have been overcome.

What attracted me the most to Coding Dojo was its curriculum. They taught three full stacks focused on web development in Python, Java and the MEAN framework. Being exposed to all three languages helped me build a solid foundation on a wide array of languages and decide on which language I wanted to further excel in.

Along with that, learning a full-stack helped me decide if I preferred front-end, back-end, or full stack development. 

These factors along with culture fit with the instructors and the campus were strong factors in my decision to attend Coding Dojo. 

Most importantly, having this solid foundation widened my approach when it came to applying for jobs. I cannot imagine being able to have applied and interview for the number of jobs I completed without the knowledge wide array of knowledge I obtained.

As a former student and now graduate, I have spent countless hours reading reviews and meeting other graduates from this program as well as others and employment post-graduation is everyone's concern. A majority of us graduates tend to place blame on the program but not very many of us take responsibility for our actions. It is up to us as job-candidates, to make our resumes, portfolios, projects, soft-skill and technical skills more appealing and presentable for prospective employers because there will always be competition out there and companies are not just handing out jobs. 

As long as you put in the continuous effort and are relentless throughout the process from beginning to end, you will become a successful and employed full stack developer.

Cheers,

-Ron G.

I think this bootcamp is really what you make of it. Although the cirriculum does offer a decent amount of direction and guidance, there are a lot of opportunities for you to choose branches and projects that are relevant to your background and future plans. I was also lucky to be in a good cohort of people who were willing to put in the energy and persistence to see some results. When everyone is working hard, it also encourages you to push yourself as well, and I came out of the experience learning a lot about what I want in a career going forward.

Was not a big fan of the name Coding Dojo.

But this was the only boot camp that taught 3 full-stacks in 14 weeks, which is a great challenge/accomplishment that isn't lost on future employers.

The Los Angeles campus: a friendly, inclusive environment that was professional, but still a fun place to learn.  Shared lots of laughs with my cohort and instructors in addition to some looooooong days of coding.

Before attending the boot camp, I read somewhere that the instructors were past graduates who were unable to get jobs and didn't teach well.  This was definitely not true with my instructors.  Furthermore, one of the most important things they taught was being a self-sufficient developer; I imagine some have misinterpreted this.  They do gradually ease you into being self-sufficient.

Coding Dojo encourages a weekly sports day and time away from the computer screens that you will be undoubtedly gazing at for a lot of the time during as well as after the boot camp.  Sports day was also great for wrecking the staff at various activities.  Again, lots of laughs.

Bottom line: I was able to land a software developer job after graduating from Coding Dojo without any prior software experience.  Also, I have seen students with little software or technical acumen have success in the program just by showing up on time every day and being diligent.  I am extremely proud to call those people my colleagues. 

I've had several years of coding background, but I decided to come to Coding Dojo do learn more about web development and modern frameworks.

The 3.5 months I stayed here was personally excellent! One thing that stood out to me the most were the instructors. Due to my coding background, I had a lot of specific questions that were sometimes unrelated to the assignments, but they never failed to deliver. They were not just teachers who knew the materials they had to teach, they were actual programmers.

I think that coding bootcamps are what you make out of them. I came to the school with the dedication that I will only focus on learning and studying, and I was constantly with the instructors asking them any questions that came my way, and for that I believe I got much more than I paid for.

One minor complaint I do have is that I wished we had more time on the MEAN stack. Due to the fact that we only had a month to spend on all four technologies/frameworks, coming out of the school I did not feel confident in any of the individual frameworks. After school ended, I ended up taking some courses on Udemy on some of the technologies such as Node, which helped me solidify what I've learned at Coding Dojo. The foundations I also learned from Coding Dojo also allowed me to learn afterwards at a much faster pace. I also do wish that Coding Dojo would teach us React, as I have noticed that most companies are looking for React Developers. However since we learned Angular, it was not too hard for me to pick up on it.

As a final postive I would like to mention: one of the instructors referred me to a contracting company that worked with Apple, and I ended up getting a contracting job with them.

Coding Dojo is one of the highest-rated coding boot camps in the industry to teach three full technology stacks in a single 14-week program. I was surprised to find such a high-level School in Tulsa, OK. The entry process was smooth yet challenging. After an interview, I was given a link to the Algorithm platform. It consisted of a basic familiarization to learning Algorithms then a more advanced algorithm challenge. It was a mere taste of what was to come. Algorithms are a daily thing at Coding Dojo. I initially had some trouble with all the new concepts being thrown my way, but by the second month, I began to look forward to the Morning Algorithm. We would work through them in teams of two which helped with someone to bounce ideas off of. The Curriculum is fast-paced. starting after the first week of Web Fundamentals it truly becomes intense. They aren't joking about the Immersive aspect of the program. you really need to keep up. I was able to do it through coming in early and leaving late. which sounds tough, and it is, but it is fun also. I'm somewhat an introvert in social situations, but at the Dojo, I made fast friends with my Cohort and the Cohort before and after ours. Great people to network with for years to come. The Instructors are wonderful. Supplying clear instruction to guide us through mountains of information. With just enough help to get through, never outright giving the answers, but guiding us to the solution. I would recommend the program to anyone wanting to learn the ways of code!

My time at Coding Dojo was difficult. I struggled quite a bit at first since I had no prior experience in tech. But over time I found myself doing things that I never thought I could do before. Building apps, APIs, and learning the ins-and-outs of multiple software languages. I worked hard, spent the time to learn and understand everything I could. And that's the philosophy of the Dojo, wisdom through struggle. I highly recommend Coding Dojo to anyone. From the newbys to the people with experience in the field, you will come out a better person than when you went it. It’s been 2 months since I completed the course and I am now a working at one of the top rated software companies in Seattle as a web developer.

I came to bootcamp with no experience at all , i didn't even know what HTML is) An immersive 14-week long course that prepares its graduates to be highly competitive with an in-depth knowledge of the industries latest technologies, algorithms, and data structures. For more than 1000 hours taught and applied such programming skills : Front-End Fundamentals, Full Stack Python with Django, MEAN (MongoDB, Express, Angular, Node.js), C#, ASP.NET, HTML and CSS in responsive design. After graduation i found the job within a month .This course help mee a lot and I hope that will help thousand people more.

Question:

When I was 16, I got my first job at a collision shop in Seattle. I'm now 25 and have worked there for 8 years. I held various admin roles, became the I.T manager for our internal server infrastructure, and ultimately became the solo mechanic of the shop. I explored an option to combine computers and cars, the two things I knew I had a passion for and went to school to become a certified Tuner in high performance vehicles. Later in 2018 I was introduced to the idea of a coding boot camp that was located here in Bellevue Washington called the “Coding Dojo.” It didn’t take long for me to be confronted with a huge life decision. Not only would this add another loan to my already existing tool loan, but the recommended hours of commitment was a huge drawback. So, the question was do I risk dropping everything after 8 years with the same company (job security, income, work relationships, over 60K in tool investment, etc..) just to go do something I'm kind of interested in that has no guaranteed foreseeable future?

Decision:

My wife, daughter and I were living with our parents while my wife finishes school which would help ease the financial burden of my not working plus adding another loan. My decision then boiled down to what I was interested in more. Ultimately, I decided to risk it all. I applied to the Coding Dojo, I got a loan, quit my job, and walked in blindly with absolutely no expectations even despite my feeling of uncertainty. Did I make the right decision?

Experience:

A lesson I learned while working at my previous job that I take to heart is: "you get out what you put in." I spent everyday at the Dojo working from 8am-10pm every day. I didn’t miss one single day and showed up on almost every Saturday from 10am – 5pm. That being said, every single day introduced a new level of difficulty. Not every day did I have an instructor as a resource to go to for questions therefore, that forced me to develop the skills to read the documentation and get a deeper level of understanding. I also had to rely on my cohort students which kept my teamwork skills in tune. Not having the resource at my disposal made things super frustrating for me but, I understood why. I have an appreciation for their methods even though in the moment I’m angry and want to give up. Though despite all the frustrations and challenges, graduating makes the whole experience worth it. The Coding Dojo program teaches 3 different stacks, each being 3 weeks worth of curriculum learning and 1 week for you to create your own project with the knowledge you’ve gained. This schedule is very vigorous, and truth be told, you literally cannot learn an entire stack in 4 weeks. That’s why most coding boot camps offer just one language for 4 months. So why teach 3 different stacks at the bare minimum? The answer, Versatility…  Learning 3 stacks gives you what I believe to be the most valuable lesson of all. “Learning how to learn”. Having programmed in 3 different language gives you the ability to learn other languages quickly which ultimately makes your adaptability a super valuable attribute for a future employer.

To go or not to go?

If you do not have a passion for programming or you think maybe you could do it just to see if you like it, then I would highly recommend looking elsewhere to discover your interest in coding. Any boot camp program will test you on dedication, time, patience, and commitment therefore, be prepared. I can’t speak for other boot camps but the Coding Dojo gives you pre-course work to do before you start your program. Do it all, without fail. If you walk in with 0 coding practice, you will be in for a tougher time than you think. In the end, if your interested and believe you can commit the time and energy, the I wouldn’t hesitate to take the opportunity and just do it. It was a ton of fun and super rewarding.

I attended Coding Dojo in the Fall of 2018 in Seattle. I was a product manager for seven years at Amazon/AWS, but I wanted to switch to an SDE role because I'm more interested in technical issues and coding plays more to my strengths. I've had some background and experience in coding, having taken most requirements for a CS major in college, but at the time I was planning for a different career, while programing was just fun. I've continued to enjoy coding, and it's been a hobby over the years since, and I finally decided to pursue it as a career. In transitioning from PM to SDE, I was looking for a boot camp that would immerse me in coding, refresh some of what I'd learned in the past, and teach me new technologies/frameworks. Coding Dojo's 14-week intensive program was a good fit in timeline and topics.

The Coding Dojo experience was great for me and has worked out very well. The instructors and teaching assistants were great. They were engaging, explained concepts well, and encouraged a lot of collaboration. It was a lot of content to cover, but they kept us motivated and pushed us along with the right combination of compassion and sternness when necessary. Aside from a few students who figured out in the first few weeks that the program wasn't for them, everyone in our cohort finished a pretty grueling curriculum, and that's a credit to the teaching staff and fellow students who all helped them along. You learn an incredible amount in those 14 weeks, and it's amazing what students are able to build after a few weeks on a new stack. Daily algorithms was one of my favorite parts, and good practice for interviewing and thinking about coding. I'm also glad that I learned 3 stacks (Java, Python, and MEAN). I primarily use Java now at work, but the others are good knowledge to be more well-rounded and draw on occasionally. I also really enjoyed getting to know and working with my fellow student. It was a great, and fun group, and Coding Dojo encourages activities and projects make it more interactive.

I think Coding Dojo gave me all I could ask for in a 14-week intensive coding boot camp. It’s been just what I needed for my transition to a coding position. I will say that my prior experience has also been important to help me in this transition. Prior coding experience is not required for Coding Dojo, but it helps. For me it’s given me a little more depth in some areas and that has helped. Coding Dojo teaches you all they can, but there’s only so much you can cover in 14 intensive weeks. Importantly, they do emphasize learning how to help yourself and find answers in manuals and searches.

I really enjoyed my time at Coding Dojo, and I definitely think it’s been a good choice for me.

I am about to deploy a beta version of a financial modeling software that will be tested at two real companies that do business globally.  It has been coded with Angular 7 and Node.js.  Development time has been around 1200 hours and is algorithm-heavy.  I was told it would cost anywhere between $250,000 to $1million to do do this by an established software development firm.

Two rules have been broken here.  Financial modeling on Javascript (not Python!!!???).  From a full-stack perspective, Javascript made more sense and where the project is now I think it was the right call.  The extra work of building own financial libraries was also quite rewarding and fun, and that counts too!

The second rule is that I am in my 40s.  Most famous and successful tech entrepreneurs are college dropouts not corporate dropouts with a family.  So out of courage, conviction and vision, I started my search for the best way to make the app of my dreams a reality.  

The decision process was:  a) I have to do this myself ... b) I have to learn --fast, so immersive bootcamp ... c) it has to be good --- Coding Dojo.

I made lots of research and chose Coding Dojo.  Having gone through their curriculum gave me the vocabulary and the technical and mental seeds that have helped me get this far with the project.  Reality will come after deployment, but I’m among friends with my beta testers and still got the juice to keep going!

The experience at Coding Dojo was challenging, inspiring and energizing.  A few months after graduation, it feels rewarding.

As the senior pastor of Bellevue Korean Presbyterian Church, and a faculty member of Northwest Reformed Theological Seminary, I’ve been desiring and planning to develop a online course of Christian Education Program in Korean language and Bible app. Not only learning programming language itself but I wanted to understand the whole span of the LMS: Learning Management System and developing apps from front-end to back-end, I have decided to study the process of software development at Coding Dojo.Another hand, I would like to prepare my post retired life having a part-time job or freelancer in the area of software development.

I met amazing instructors and well developed program at Coding Dojo which is great for me, especially I have learned and being challenged for the way of teaching style of Coding Dojo, called "learn how to learn". After studying at Coding Dojo, I have tried to apply the way of teaching in my own class which is grateful.

Thanks 

Coding Dojo was a great experience. Most of the material was really easy to take in and the instructors and student assistance were available with lots of help. The atmosphere is really what you're paying for because most the time you can find all the help you can online. If you think you can study up on your own save the $$ and do it yourself especially if you've had coding experience. Otherwise this is a perfect place to start as long as your willing to dish out the money.

I truly loved my time at Coding Dojo's Seattle Campus.  I think the biggest reason is because I was "All In" and was willing to put in as much time as I could to succeed.  Throughout the entire 14-week curriculum, I pushed through all the coursework on weekdays and weekends to become as self-sufficient as I could.  Learning all three technology stacks was not only fun but rewarding.  Moving my personal needle of understanding for all the technologies gave me a great sense of pride and the end of section exams were challenging to say the least but if you put in your time and follow their mantra of “Strength Though Struggle”, you will succeed!

Daily algorithms practice also allowed my cohort to learn how to think on our feet and explain thought processes even if the solution wasn’t immediately within our grasp.  That is a skill in and of itself.

The Dojo Instructors genuinely cared about their students’ progress towards success in their own unique ways.  Some pushed you to find solutions on your own and others gave a little more guidance but all of them were invested in your success… very much so.

My experience at Coding Dojo was excellent; insofar as what can be expected from 14 weeks. I expected to burn through course materials and be supplementing with things I found online - but they keep students who get ahead busy with relevant "optionals" that take the concepts learned earlier to a more advanced and real-world level. I programmed for 12 hours a day on average, a minimum of 10 hours per day seems like it could work.

Pros of Coding Dojo:
Depending on your cohort; this is a wonderful experience, everyone helps one another and keeps each other motivated during - and after - the bootcamp. It still feels like a second home. The stacks are very relevant to the current tech industry in the Seattle area; and learning 3 instead of two confers more advantages than disadvantages in my experience. Once you've learned how to set up a full stack project learning on your own becomes a lot more efficient. Which is to say in my experience it's more of an advantage to have three stacks, than two in which you have slightly deeper experience. Not only do the additional technologies look good on a resume, they also help you mix-and-match when you inevitably need to work with stacks you're unfamiliar with. The algorithm sessions were massively useful for confidence and skill in interviews. The teachers were generally very good, and friendly in my experience. The project weeks were helpful after graduation and taught me a lot about programming in the real world - not to mention being fun.

Cons:
The learning platform is mostly good, but a couple spots (I believe in particular the C# stack) are clumsily put together. Additionally; I am going to give the Job Search category a strong 4 star review because the new hire; Mark, at Coding Dojo Seattle is doing incredible work to connect with the community and build opportunities. During my cohort however it was terrible, the Career Services coordinator left on our first week and we didn't get a new one until we were just about out of there so...Quite minimal assistance there.

Advice:
I believe it's getting harder out there for bootcamp grads...That said; I would not be working as a programmer right now if it weren't for Coding Dojo. If you believe in yourself I highly recommend it. If you love coding as I do, I highly recommend it. I can't imagine more expensive bootcamps teaching more...in fact I can't imagine how one could learn more than I did in the same period of time.  But start programming before you arrive, you need to love it - I recommend starting with CodeAcademy and doing a course from the following blog (not mine) http://blog.agupieware.com/2014/05/online-learning-bachelors-level.html. When you leave don't rely on digital applications; you'll need to network. Expect it to take at least 2.5 months; I was a "stronger" student, and I got almost no bites on the proverbial line until 60 days in. DO algorithms, a lot of students get scared around month 1.5 and stop going....But it's a HUGE component of feeling confident and getting a job. Finally; after you graduate, get a startup going with your friends and put it on your resume =D

Five months ago, I decided quite my job and learn to code. I did a lot of research and I started my journey in Coding dojo. In the beginning, I was really nervous because I have zero coding experience. However, during the three months, I learned more than I thought I could. At here, you will get as much as you put in. Especially when you study with the cohort who have a programming background. It will really push you to spend extra extra time to do more and more coding every single day. And it definitely worth the time and efforts when you look back.

Just like anything, you get out what you put in. I attended the program in my mid 30s and was switching careers after 10+ years in healthcare. It was a huge and scary leap, I’m 100% sure I would not have gone through switching careers without attending a program like this.

I looked into a lot of onsite bootcamps in the area, attended open house meetings/ and decided on Coding Dojo one main reason. I attended a few free coding workshops that Coding Dojo hosted and could tell the instructors were knowledgeable and enjoyed their teaching style. It’s always nice to try before you buy and would recommend trying to attend a workshop if they are still offering them.

The instructors were all excellent and were the strongest part of the program. They put in one on one time and all of them went above what I had have expected to help struggling students. 3 stacks felt a little ambitious and during the program it was hard to tell if a smaller scope would have been better. In hindsight after working in the development field I’m glad to have that broader view of the options out there and it helped during the job search to be comfortable applying to more jobs.

One important thing is that the success rate seemed from just my personal observations. About half of my cohort never finished the program due to a slow attrition for various reasons, mostly I think from deciding this wasn’t for them. Just be prepared for a fairly intensive program with a lot of material to go through at a pretty fast pace at times. I wouldn’t recommend a program like this if you can’t spend 60+ hours or more per week to learning.

But in the end I’m working at a great job for almost a year, my work has been interesting, and my career growth has been more promising than ever. It’s been an excellent choice for me.

TLDR: I’m very happy I attended and would recommend it to anyone who is serious about a program like this. Just make sure you’re ready to chew what you’re about to bite off.

Before Coding Dojo I had just graduated with a degree in a completely unrelated field, Communication Studies. I'd done a specialization in computing during college so my interest in programming had been piqued but I hadn't had the chance to really get as hands on with it as I would have liked. Before graduation I did some searching around and found Coding Dojo. I was generally interested in their whole philosophy of learning multiple stacks and learning how to learn as opposed to just 'learning a language'. I do feel like it's helpful to do your own research beforehand and figure out what's popular in your area/areas you want to work just so you can make a more suitable decision. In general, I was satisfied with the way the program went. The curriculum and in house platform was rather nice to follow along with. It provided a nice comfortable base to come back to in case you ever got really overwhelmed searching the net/just saved a good amount of time when looking for things. Their approach to ongoing tech interview prep is solid too. I think algorithm questions aren't really a thing a person should be cramming for a couple weeks toward the end of a program and Coding Dojo fixes that with the daily doses of algos. My main complaints were cohort size and career support, although they're maybe a bit related/unique to my case. I had an abnormally small cohort which I felt hindered the usual networking benefit you get from these sorts of programs. Oh also, some more structure around exam/project time would have been nice. It's nice the you can kind of just test at your own pace but then also it sort of makes projects difficult to coordinate when instructors are more hands off and students are finishing up tests/preparing for tests at different times. But back to career support. Again, a bit unique to my case, but our career services person (who ironically ended up working at a different bootcamp that I TA'd for later) had just left right as we were entering our career week. We had someone come down from the Bay to handle it and overall it wasn't a bad experience. But it was definitely not optimal to just have someone temporary for that sort of thing. Also, I feel like in general it would have been nice to maybe have more career resources check ins throughout the program. Maybe even organize some group networking events/meetup attendance. Set up tours with local companies or something. It's weird, I feel like I've gotten more job lead emails months after leaving/when I've finished my job search (probably an artifact of the previously mentioned change of staff). Overall though, very solid program that will definitely get you up to speed with web dev in a relatively short amount of time. As evidence to this, at my current job I work as a React Native developer. I only briefly played around with React and never touched React Native before starting, but I believe my time at Coding Dojo helped me become the sort developer who was able to get up to speed with this new exciting tech in less than a week.  

It wrote and rewrote this review several times. My Bootcamp experience was intense with many ups and downs. It is good to have some time to reflect on my experience.  

I remember reading reviews on this site when I thought about changing careers. The basics are as follows: Coding Dojo is a fourteen week (15 if you include career week) full-time Bootcamp where you learn three programming stacks. It has an online option, but the bulk of the students in the program are onsite with actual instructors. They advertise that will be working 70-90 hours a week for this Bootcamp, and they weren't lying.  In short, this school is for people who are willing to have their life consumed with coding for 15 weeks. The "three stacks curriculum" is incredibly fast-paced, and even the best of us have felt overwhelmed at times.

I personally loved the challenge. I have taken several online grad school classes and having an instructor physically there to help me felt like a breath of fresh air.  I was also lucky to be in an amazing cohort.  Some of my best memories of my experience was trying to finish difficult assignments with my classmates. I would get stuck, and my neighbor would help me. When they got stuck, I would help them.

I can't speak for all of the locations, but I know that the career services manager in Dallas is fantastic. Throughout the Bootcamp, we had lessons on how to network. I had the opportunity not just to meet, but to present my projects to potential employers throughout the Bootcamp.  When I finished, my career services manager was someone I could talk to about my job search, to give me mock interviews, and to help me negotiate with potential employers.  I never took advantage of it, but if you also want to move to another location, Coding Dojo can help you with that. A student who took his courses at the Coding Dojo branch in Virginia did career week at my location, Dallas.  

I know many people did not have as positive an experience I did. A significant percentage of the students who started with my group did not finish or had to retake parts of the course. Some people who graduated earlier than I have who have not been hired for software development jobs yet.  I don't know how these numbers compare to other Bootcamps, but I can imagine the rushed "three stacks" curriculum probably made it worse.

I wish there were a way to tell you if you are a good fit for Coding Dojo.  I have seen some students who came in with significant programming experience drop out of the program. I have seen other people who have never written a line of code before the Bootcamp thrive in the program. In the end, if you are someone with grit, and are in a place in your life where you can spend 14 weeks to dedicate your life to learning how to program, Coding Dojo likely will be a rewarding experience.

Before Coding Dojo I implemented electronic medical records systmes in hospitals for many years. I was a traveling consultant, so I implemented systems across the country. I wanted to learn some newer and different technoligies because consulting required me to mainly do the same job over and over. It didn't allow for much creativity.

I enjoyed my experience at Coding Dojo very much. I was probably the oldest student in the room (I definitely was) but I never felt that anyone there thought that was a problem at all. It required long hours, but it was fascinating and great to feel and contribute to the energy of my cohort every day. 

Having been a programmer in the past, I felt I was able to understand the basics fairly well but the pace was very rigorous. Also, a lot of information is supplied by the teaching staff, but a lot of self learning is also required. I did spend between 70 and 90 hours per week on average in order to keep up.

I feel that I walked away with a very good basic understanding of full stack programming and some of the details of three separate stacks. I have a lot left to learn, but I feel that I have a good basic understanding.

I completed the boot camp over a month ago. Since then I have increasingly been looking for a development position. I'm starting to get interviews and it seems that the projects I have developed on my own using my Coding Dojo skills are impressing employers. I'm hopeful that I'll land something pretty soon and gaining more confidence every day.

I feel that Coding Dojo was money well spent. 

I began my coding bootcamp journey at Coding Dojo in September 2017. I was unhappy with my repetitive job as a chemist and was ready for a new challenge. I am currently a software engineer at a small company in Denver, Colorado and it took me 1 month of serious searching  & applying to land a software engineering job.
The application process to Coding Dojo was fast and easy, and the instructors were great. Going through this program with a cohort of amazingly talented and determined students made the bootcamp fun and successful. Being continually challenged by my instructors and my fellow students pushed me to work harder than I thought I could.
I must mention though, that I had an upper hand to most of the other students in my cohort. I have a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and worked as an Analytical Chemist for 2 years before beginning this program so I've been trained to think analytically and problem solving skills comes more naturally to me than most. But, Coding Dojo provides an amazing platform to learn from, and all the tools required to get a job (they even help with the job search process). Add in your will and determination to succeed, and you will be a software engineer in no time.

Coding Dojo was definitely worth the money. Our instructors were very knowledgeable and good at guiding us through learning material for ourselves via actual experience/trial and error rather than simply showing us how to solve a problem without any exploration - much like you'd experience learning a new technology on the job. I came in with some collegiate Computer Science coursework and feel like I learned more in a few months at the bootcamp than I would have if I finished my degree. The course is definitely challenging and can take up a lot of your time, but you learn quite a lot. You do have to learn how to keep your own discipline and stay on-track through the weeks, but the end result is worth it. The only negative point is that the text/videos given to us as part of our curriculum were occasionally confusing or difficult to follow, but instructors generally knew where the problem points in the materials were and were able to guide us through rough patches without difficulty. Overall, as long as you're able to motivate yourself to maintain effort even when the material seems difficult, Coding Dojo is definitely a positive experience.

I will be very honest about my experience at Coding Dojo in Los Angeles, CA.  

Ultimately going to the Dojo was the best decision of my life. I was previously an admin assistant and now I am a web developer who loves her job. BUT graduating from the Dojo was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  I was fortunate to have a friend who went through the program and was honest about what to expect.  So, I was fortunate enough to know what to expect going into the program. Hopefully this review will help do the same for others.

In the program each student will learn three different stacks (a bundle of software that makes up a functioning website/application) 14 weeks.  Because a stack is made up of multiple different components you are constantly learning and building on what you’ve previously learned.  This is where the difficulty of the program starts.  If you don’t fully grasp something the rest won’t make sense.

The program is built for students to work together and help each other.  If a cohort fails to gel together or falls apart before the program is done, then it’s nearly impossible for a student to succeed.  Needless to say it is vital you make friends and keep going together. 

As for the program I wish it were three weeks longer, a week more on each stack.  There is no room for an error. Expect to do 60-90 hours of coding a week.  I actually told my friends not to expect to see me for three months and that is exactly what happened.  But the program does teach you how to be a fullstack programmer.  You will not be fluent in any stack, but you will have a working foundation of each language.

As for career placement, the Dojo does have a career service which does its best at connecting graduates with job leads.  But do not expect to get a job right out of the program. Most companies don’t want Junior Developers or they don’t trust bootcamps to produce decent programmers. (I honestly think this is the same with other bootcamps and not just with Coding Dojo) So expect lots of rejection, but do not give up.  I was one of the first in my cohort to land a job and it took me three months. Eventually all my cohort mates landed jobs – at least the ones who put effort into the program did.  So plan your finances accordingly and have realistic expectations. 

Ultimately what you put into the program is what you’ll get out of the program.  I’ve read some of the bad reviews of the program and I know some of the people who wrote those bad reviews.  I can honestly say those were the people who were constantly missing class, not staying late to finish their course work, regularly goofing off, basically not putting 100% effort into the program. So if you are serious about programming and you think Coding Dojo is the bootcamp for you, then expect to work extremely hard and have realistic expectations of job placement.