Devmountain

Really enjoyed my experience at Devmountain. I took the 12 week part time QA Bootcamp course and had a job lined up the same week I graduated! 

I spent a lot of time researching bootcamps prior to landing on DevMountain. The reason I decided to attend DevMountain was the overwhelming amount of positive reviews that coupled with the dramatically lower price than other bootcamps helped me settle on DevMountain. I found out why their price is so much lower so I'm going to give you an honest review and allow you to decide for yourself if it's worth it. 

DevMountain offers several bootcamp courses. Each course is broken into two parts. Foundations where you are given a foray into all the many aspects of the tech world and Specializations where you are supposed to be learning about the technology tree or “stack” you paid for. 
The good: The foundations class was very well structured. The day begins with a morning meeting, then you are broken up into pairs to program through a problem from the previous day’s lab. Then a lecture on the topic of the day, followed by a code-along live with an instructor. An hour lunch, then you are again broken up into pairs to work on a lab activity based on the lecture of the day. Finally there is an afternoon meeting to review the lab and answer any questions. Our instructor was incredible, there was no question left unanswered. Every lecture was well prepared and planned and by the end of the 8 weeks of this course everyone in our cohort had a good overview of the foundational elements of the tech industry. 
The Bad: The second half of the course, “specializations” is a scam. Gone is the structure and elements of the foundations course that made it work. Gone is the comradery of your class and fellow students. Gone is the interaction with an instructor that is well versed and competent. Specializations is a self-driven course. You are provided with a pluralsight account and a list of videos that you are expected to watch. There is no instructor. There is no live code-along.
To begin, you are broken up into your chosen field of learning, i.e, data analytics, QA, web development, iOS design etc. You are provided a program manager. The program manager is not knowledgeable about the field you are studying. They can not answer coding questions. They can not help you if you get stuck. My program manager only had an initial introductory one-on-one session with me and never met with me one-on-one again. They do not follow up with you or ask how you’re doing. They do not review the coursework to see if you are keeping up. Their interaction with the students is limited and when we brought attention to how dissatisfied we were with the quality of the videos, we were given many promises but the program manager failed to follow through or follow up with any of these. 
As to the curriculum, Specialization is simply a subscription to Pluralsight. A website with video modules. The videos that you are expected to learn from are not great at instructing. Some of the videos are over a decade old. Even pluralsight listed these videos as “retired” but there they are in the curriculum that DevMountain is standing behind. The process for watching the videos is to observe the instructor and code along, pausing along the way to keep up. Many of the videos make quick edits to the code or they do not explain what they are doing with the code. Once this happens you are stuck. There is no way to ask questions or probe to find out how the code works.
Once you are stuck, there is only one resource that DevMountain provides. The SME or Subject matter expert is someone that DevMountain employs that is supposed to provide assistance. However, the SME’s do not open the queue until mid day. Which is mountain time. So if you are on the East Coast you will not have anyone available to assist you until nearly 3:00p.m.. Now, as there is only one SME assigned to each discipline,  If someone else has a question you have to wait until they have finished with that student before you can get assistance. That is if the SME can even answer your question. Several students in our cohort had very miserable experiences with many of the SME’s. They were unable to help with the questions and seemed uninterested in helping students to understand the coursework. On multiple occasions one of the SME’s we asked for help told us to simply ignore the lab we were working on as it was irrelevant and never used in the field. We had been working on one module for 2 days and were nearing completion. We got stuck on some syntax and called a SME into the room, the SME said he had only ever seen this language used in this lab and nowhere else. So we had spent 2 days learning this language and two days working on a lab using this language and we were advised to just ignore this lab and move on. One SME came into the virtual room to respond to our request for help and was only concerned with clearing the error we were getting. The code we were working on still didn’t work but once he cleared the error from being displayed he felt he had done his job. We had to abandon that lab as well as we were irreparably stuck and our SME didn’t have the knowledge to help. 
Unfortunately, you don’t know how bad DevMountain is until it is far too late. By the time you realize that you are not going to learn what you need to be able to succeed in the tech field you are already too far into the course to get a refund. Our program manager listened to our complaints and truly did nothing to help. Most of our cohort had to resort to watching YouTube videos and tutorials to learn what they needed. Most of the coursework was so dense and poorly constructed that by the time you had finished watching a 6 hour video you had no more information than when you started. 

I would not and could not Recommend DevMountain, even if they fundamentally change the entire curriculum. They have shown that they do not care about the success of their students or the structure of their course. The fact that they did away with instructors and expect students to simply follow along with pre-recorded, out of date videos with no meaningful assistance from anyone knowledgeable enough to teach you and do not follow up with students in real time means they are simply focused on saving money at your expense. 

This bootcamp teaches less of the basics than you can learn for free at codecademy or w3schools. After 8 weeks, you're also basically on your own. No more powerpoint presentations or rushed demos. You'll get to spent 8 weeks being assigned 100's of hours of Pluralsight videos with follow up assignments that ask you to code material never covered. Want to watch 3 hours of video on React components and then have to do an assignment on the react router dom that was never mentioned? This is the place for you. I have no idea how much a Pluralsight subscription costs, but I'm sure it's not $4,000. These guys are profiting off of self taught people.  

This was most definitely hard. I went into this boot camp with some experience in Manual Testing and no experience in Automation. Like I said, it was hard but now companies are looking at me.. haven’t been hired yet but at least they notice me now. I think it was worth it.

Devmountain is a great Bootcamp. It will feel overwhelming at first with all the information they give you but they also give you so many resources to help you through it.

I highly enjoyed learning through DevMountain. It’s a highly immersive experience that even has you make a personally built website and a group built website, which is more than a lot of other ones do. I do not regret going through the experience.

Seriously the best choice I have made in my professional career! It was such an amazing experience with the best instructors and students alike!

DevMountain was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I had almost no coding experience yet they happily worked with me whenever I needed help, from admissions all the way to graduation, they were more than happy to help me. You code awesome projects and have a ton of fun while doing it. The instructors are crazy smart and awesome at teaching and breaking things down for you. I left a university to go to DevMountain and hands down it was the best decision. I was remote and never felt like I was alone while doing my work.  Their outcomes team is also very dedicated to help you land a job, from working on my resume, job search platforms, as well as sites such as LinkedIn they help in anyway possible. 10/10 recommend DevMountain. 

Overall I'd say I had a great experience at Devmountain. The help I received from alumni was completely unexpected. Be prepared to create projects and start thinking about creating things you are passionate about. I only have 2 things I wish were a little different; first I wish they gave more feedback with the students (even those who are passing or doing well) and sharing more about what they see their skills are, secondly is that I wish they had more resources to help with job placement/assistance.

I’m going to make this pretty short. In a summary, I was looking for a career change in this Trying time of COVID-19. When the world is changing so rapidly, your priorities change with it. Before DevMountain, I had very minimal experience with coding at all. I’m a pretty Blue collar, old school raised kinda guy. Working 60+ hours a week at an aluminum manufacturing plant for the last 6 years, my body and health we’re definitely starting to see a toll. Looking for a career change without going to college for years, I applied to DevMountain. Let me tell you, it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but the overall experience was more than I could’ve hoped for! The staff at DevMountain are completely devoted to making sure you succeed. From the directors, instructors, mentors and everyone they truly take remote learning seriously. I now feel confident with the skills to find a full time web development job, and hopefully change my life for the better! If you’re considering changing your life and learning new skills, or just needing a change of pace for learning new code, I can’t suggest DevMountain enough! 
#babyyoda4ever

My big fear was attending a school in a remote setting going into this. While Devmountain was always primarily in person they've done a great job producing a top tier remote learning environment.

Everyone was super easy to get ahold of when needed whether it was for questions or just for venting. Never once did I feel awkward about asking any questions whether it was in class or during study time.

Every single person from the students to the staff were fantastic. I came away with new friends and a community that I get to be apart of forever. That to me is one of the biggest advantages Devmountain graduates have over someone who was self taught.

Going into this I essentially had 0 coding experience. I've basic tutorials but the program revealed I wasn't even scratching the surface on my own.

Devmountain blasted the door open for me and taught me how and what to learn for my studying after graduation.

I cannot enough as someone who was skeptical going in this is a way better option than doing self taught. I wouldn't have even known what to learn without the program.

Special shout out to the director of my cohort Joseph and my amazing teachers Eric, Matt, Aaron, and Scott.

Eric was my team lead for my group within my cohort and really helped make a totally online course feel human.

As far as pricing goes - Devmountain is BY FAR one of the more affordable programs. Not once did I feel like there was anything significantly lacking. If you're looking at one of those 13 week programs that cost 20k or more take a close look at Devmountain. You'll save money and learn the same stuff.

Disclaimer: I attended DevMountain in 2020 during the pandemic so everything was remote and I never went to a campus once. I actually live a few states away so all communications were done through Discord, Slack, GoToMeeting, Zoom, etc.

Going into the experience, I had a lot of fears. I was afraid that I wouldn't learn enough considering that this was a completely new field for me. I was worried that I wouldn't feel comfortable speaking up in the remote environment. I was worried that there would be endless homework and that it wouldn't benefit my growth in the end. I'm happy to say with confidence that I learned more than I thought I ever could in a short time period, the environment was a safe space where I felt comfortable speaking up, and the work directly related to what needed to be learned. I'm glad that I finally took the leap and pursued UX. 

Pros: 
- The UX instructors are invested in the success of the students and show that they care deeply. 
- The cost is lower than that of competing bootcamps.
- Gain access to (and become part of) the DevMountain network.

Cons:
- Communication was poor prior to the first day of class.
- Events would occasionally be scheduled at the same time - staff still adjusting to the remote environment.
- Outcomes (the team that assists with job acquisition post graduation) means well but the advice is fairly generic, seems more geared toward developers, and is usually location specific; they don't have much information for those living different areas of the country.

I finished and graduated from the QA boot camp at DevMountain this fall. This immense 6 weeks remote program is a great choice for beginners like me, who didn't have any coding/IT experience. The structure is great, it's very hands-on and lets you built an automation experience. I find it easy for me to continue learning other languages because of the foundation I learned from DevMountain. Would totally recommend this to anyone who wants to get into the QA world. Now on to the job hunting! 

One of the decisions I have ever made. It's a hard course, but totally worth the it. You will totally get out what you put into it. IF you really want to change your life and career, then Devmountain can't be beat. They are constantly looking to improve. I did the online remote course. Pro's... the daily lectures are recorded and available to download or viewing later if you need to review anything. There are daily surveys about ways they can improve. I can attest that they do look at those and evaluate what needs to be changed and improved upon. I know this as I watched how they changed the pre-course work to be even more effective and allow for a better experience once started into the normal curriculum.
Being a recent graduate. I can't believe the level of support they offer alumni. Instructor and other alumni or even Guest Instructors will take the time to help you on your app, answer questions, review code, do mock interviews, etc.. Alumni still have access to all their material if needed to go back and review anything you feel you need a review of. Job placement has a whole department dedicated to help find jobs to apply for, foster employment opportunities for employers seeking employees to review and interview graduates. You have periodic checkins to review your resume, LinkedIn and anything else that will help you land a job. However, don't think that once you graduate you are going to have companies lining up to offer you a job. The amount and type of jobs will only become available through the effort you put into find that dream job. 
I can't say enough good about this program. Its really more than the curriculum. Its the whole experience. 
As far as financing goes. I really hate this mentality of getting something for nothing. There are schools which offer "Free" until you get a job. Most aren't worth the words pixels their words are displayed on. Something of value is of value, because you paid for it. Most bootcamps can't get accredited so, federal financial aide isn't available. But there are other alternatives. I partially personally financed mine, and borrowed the rest from a recommended lender from Devmountain. The lender was https://skills.fund. They have been amazing to work with. I do have to payback regardless of the type of job I get post graduation, but I have invested in MY future, and if I am not working a job that I went to school in, then that is my fault for not putting in the effort to get one. I will gladly find intern - temp work to pay bills and my loan back as I pursue my dream.  I am the only one who stands in the way of my dreams coming to fruition or not. 

Great experience! Great staff and teachers!!
Would recommend 10/10

I truly loved my time at Devmountain. My skill set grew measuareably over the course of the bootcamp at a ridiculous rate. More than that however, I have changed as a student. I feel empowered to continue learning on my own-- no longer limited to what courses I can afford or fit in to my schedule. My cohort was entirely remote due to COVID-19, but the enthusiasm of the faculty and staff at Devmountain still shone through. I love Devmountain!

I placed a big bet on Devmountain considering I, as the sole breadwinner in my family of four, stopped working for thirteen weeks to become a developer. Although I had heard about Devmountain for years I still researched multiple other schools and camps. There are so many choices available right now (a great problem to have) but as I reached out to people I actually knew who were working in software and web development, most of them had gone through Devmountain so I pulled the trigger (keep in mind, I lived and and worked in the Lehi/Provo, Utah area at the time which is where Devmountain started and could explain why so many people in my network had gone through it).

Since I was looking to enroll a few months after COVID really became a global concern the tuition was heavily discounted and what used to be an in-person program was being offered in a remote context. I couldn't ignore the value and accessibility Devmountain was offering so decided it was time to make the plunge--and I'm so glad I did. 

From the beginning  I got a sense that Devmountain, which had been around for a while at that point, was pushing to innovate and improve their program. Their student experience and outcomes departments especially were two services I hadn't fully considered when shopping for bootcamps and they delivered beyond my expectations. The outcomes department has been revamped within the past year and provides a huge network of past grads, recruiter networking, mentoring opportunities, career prep resources, as well as job search and interview training. The student experience department reached out consistently throughout my thirteen weeks, just checking in to make sure I was doing well and to be a third party I could talk to beyond the instructional/mentor staff. My student experience manager even responded to some messages I sent her while she was out of office traveling to a family wedding and a I was having a particularly overwhelming day.

The Devmountain staff pushed us as a group yet allowed for us to learn as individuals at our own pace while making themselves available as resources at every point. 

I can't express enough how much I felt like they more than delivered on the their promises. I couldn't have made this change at this point in my life without my experience at Devmountain (or at least made this change as confidently).

There were a few things that could have been better. I had fairly consistent problems accessing lecture recordings for review. That mostly had to do with the platform we were using (GoToMeeting) and the growing pains of switching an in-person learning experience to a remote one. For the most part I was able to work around those hiccups though and access recordings of the same content from other cohorts who were behind and ahead of me.

Devmountain has been a game changer in my life and career. I'm so excited for what I've learned there and I feel like I have the tools to push myself and keep progressing on my own. I can't recommend Devmountain enough. 

Something to consider: The Devmountain instructional experience is heavily dependent on the instructor. I got to try a few "samples" of different instructors by checking out past lecture recordings and on days where another cohort's instructor subbed for our instructor. Luckily the curriculum was uniform but I definitely found that, at least for me, the instructor was the biggest factor on the quality of my learning beyond just my own practice and self-guided study. I never had an experience with a bad instructor during my time, but definitely felt like having a bad or less competent instructor could have easily ruined my experience. Again, from what I can tell, Devmountain is aware of this and seems to provide the best instructors they can find. No complaints, just something to consider when making your choice.

I loved this class! It was perfectly paced, so I felt like I was learning a lot but wasn't overwhelmed. The instructors did a great job of lecturing and making sure I understood. I had a great experience, and had a lot of fun! I learned that I enjoy this kind of work. Communicating with instructors was fast and simple. Everything was very organized and overall a fantastic course! I would recommend this course to anyone who is interested in UX Design.

From what I was capable of at the beginning of the course to what I was capable at the end proves the effectiveness of the Devmountain experience. 

I just want to say how grateful I am to be a part of Dev Mountain. I was realizing the other day, that it doesn't end after graduation. I thought I was paying for a 13-week bootcamp that would further my education and skills. But Devmountain is so much more than that. I realized I have not only gained crucial dev skills in a mere 13 weeks, but I have also gained an entire dev community and friends at my fingertips as well as a way to connect and keep in touch with them. We continue to work on projects together even after graduation. I also realized with the outcomes team that I have gained skills in how to market myself!

This isnt just any 'school' this is a place for lifelong friendships within the dev community and I wanted to say how grateful I am to Devmountain for creating and letting me be a part of such a great environment.