Devmountain

DevMountain put me on the right track to be successful in a field that I have been passionate about for the longest time.

I did a stint at University going to for a CS degree but I got 'lifed' pretty hard and had to drop out. After dragging my feet for awhile I decided to be done with just having a job and start an actual career doing what I wanted to do. I tried some online tutorials and courses but I just couldn't get into them as much as I needed to.

Enter DevMtn.

When you think of the term 'bootcamp' you might think of what you see in the movies: A drill sergeant yelling in your face about some little detail the soldier overlooked. Well I hate to break it to you, DevMountain is nothing like that. The instructors and mentors are nothing but encouraging and helpful.

The best part (in my opinion) about the way the curriculum is set up is that you are accountable for your own learning and success. You have to put in the extra work if you want to get everything out of the cohort you can. That might mean coming to class outside of the regular 9-5 hours. That might mean staying in on a saturday night when all of your friends are going out because you have no idea what a closure is yet (personal experience on that one).

Learning to become a developer isn't something that you can do by just getting talked at for 8 hours a day. You have to go out and build things and try things. DevMountain is set up to where every single day you will do a project (or two!), and each time you start a project it is build upon the conceptual foundation that was laid in previous days.

Would I reccomend DevMountain? Ten times over. There is nothing better than growing as a developer along side a group of others that are in your exact same shoes with instructors and mentors there to help you along the way.

I was very skeptical about bootcamps since you're not getting a certificate or anything to really prove your skills but after going through the program it completely changed my perspective about bootcamps! It was a little rough in the beginning because of the unorganization but I took a lot away from the program regardless. It definitely pushed me a lot, helped expand my network, and gave me the tools I needed to learn and think like a developer. Most everyone I've spoken to had wish they were more prepared before doing this program and you most definitely need to be at a certain level with javascript before doing a bootcamp. I would highly recommend doing a bootcamp once you're decent with javascript, until then you should just get better at it. You get as much as you put into the program, I would highly recommend this program! Also they include housing in their tuition which helps out A LOT since you live in the same building where you work/learn so no distractions or traffic! Everyone at the program is super friendly and very welcoming.

The program was great! I can not use any other descriptive words because great is the only thing that comes to mind. The course was great, the instructors were great, my time there was great.

I got to build several apps that all got increasingly complex over time. I also liked how I could ask any questions to the instructors or mentors or even students in the program if I was getting stuck on code and they would be as helpful as they could.

The mentoring afternoon hours were fun and super effective. We would learn about things that are outside the material because it was a customized mentor session, basically everyday. Speaking and asking the instructors any questions on your mind, even if you don't understand most of what happens, is such a great way to learn.

The group project is awesome because it allows you to apply all of what you learned and beyond as well as working in a team of 4-5 students to build it which gives sense on how web developers work in their daily lives.

I would recommend this program to other people who want to not only learn how to code, but how to become a true web developer.

Know that I had a great experience at DevMountain, so this is coming from someone who had a positively life changing experience and outcome.

Pretty much everything that you read up on DevMountain is true, and so your general expectations of the course will be met. But that is only if your expectation is met with hard work ethic. There were a few things that weren't what I expected going into the course. I would honestly say that some of these things are bootcamp expectations and not specifically just DevMountain expectations.

-Learn how to learn. Yes, I wish there were more one-on-one instruction (dont we all want a personal help buddy 24/7) but understand that coding is a primarily self-driven activity. The mentors are like TAs, and they are there to help you through your most pressing issues, but something I quickly realized was that I needed to learn how to learn. How to teach myself more than anything.

- Pair programming is hard. Sometimes you are paired with someone unlike you. Some who does things differently than the way of doing things. For example, someone who is outgoing, patient, and a fast coder, vs someone who is a slower programmer, and takes more time. This happened from time to time and it was frustrating.

- Fast learning and raw logical-thinking speed. People have different abilities and therefore catch on quicker than others. Just know some people get things right away, and others dont.

- There is no silver platter. What I have noticed is that there are some students who just don't want to put in work, studying, practice, and mastery to get to a point of being successful. There is no silver platter. I learned this on the second day of class when I saw people complaining about work they were asked to do.

- You will get frustrated. The frustration dragged me down mentally, and my attitude totally shifted on days when this happened. But I will say, I improved at my "teamwork" and collaborative abilities through the whole course. But if you're the kind of person who can weather these sorts of things and keep your head up, then good on ya. I think you are more built for a bootcamp.

-The tech culture suits some people and it doesn't suit others. My particular personality jived with it really well. I am very interested in tech. I have heard the tech culture being compared to the "TJ" type by myers-briggs classification.

- You will actually have a fun time. In general, from what I've observed, DevMountain students have an awesome time there. Socially, culturally, and within the education. It is a great environment. Though overworked and mentally drained, you will really bond closely with your fellow class mates and learn from each other.

Overall, DevMountain is definitely a fantastic choice for a bootcamp, and you can't go wrong with it. Hopefully, my assumptions and expectations that were off will be helpful for all future DevMountain students.

Pros:

Awesome facilities 

Experienced instructors who know how to teach

Got my money’s worth 

Cons:

I expected them to have more connections with businesses looking for designers. All of the interviews I got after the course were jobs I found and applied to on my own. 

Conclusion, you will learn a lot and are given the opportunity to challenge yourself. If you are expecting a job to be handed to you, you are wrong. I worked very hard in class and got my money’s worth. As far as job hunting, they help you polish your resume and portfolio, but they have no inside connections to provide for jobs. The only jobs they ever referred us to were jobs that could be searched for online and open to anyone.

Overall, I would recommend devMountain to anyone . It is one of the best boot camps available 

The curriculum was great and easy to follow, although the majority of the exercises were all "copy and paste and see if it works" types of projects.  Multiple times during our cohort, we either didn't have an instructor show up, or they had to text/call one of the cohort managers in order to cover.

The biggest kicker was the Demo Day that we were supposed to have at the end of the course—never happened.  A few months after we were originally scheduled to have our Demo Day, they finally had one with our cohort and another combined.  I, unfortunately, wasn't able to make it due to my daughter being born.  Honestly, it seemed like I paid a few thousand dollars to fork public repos on GitHub and have an instructor (most of the time) walk me through Codecademy but in a classroom setting.

Maybe the full-time cohorts are better than the part-time cohorts, but ours felt like an afterthought.

First and foremost, don't expect a job out of this course.  YOU have to EARN it.  And the learning doesn't end when the course does.  

I was in the after hours cohort, and time was limited.  There was simply not enough time in class to do everything you have to do to get the most out of it.  But, with effort, determination, and sacrifice, I was able to boost my career significantly.  

If you are serious about changing your career and are wiling to put the effort into it, then this program will help you get there.

In my experience in this class it is great for 2 types of students, those already working in tech, and those who are unemployed and can devote 10-12 hours a day to the coursework. Unfortunately I didn't fit either profile. I went into the class very computer literate (worked in graphic design for years), but was quickly lost and overwhelmed. The videos were usually 2-3 hours, couple that with full time employment, it didn't leave much time for actual coding. I finished the course completely lost. I spoke to the instuctors (who were great btw), and they advised me to keep working and learning. I attended class often during the next cohort, and continued working on my own. My hope was that I would be able to get to a point that I could "join" a group project with a future cohort. However the next class totally changed the cirriculum and I feel that is no longer an option without spending months learning another language. Without completing badging (which requires a group project) Dev Mountain will not give any job placement assistance. The mentors were awesome and very willing to offer assistance, however the cohorts start up as soon as one finishes, so they quickly become busy helping the current students. 

I had a hard time deciding on whether I should do a bootcamp or not. I had seen my brother in law excel in his career as a web developer and had talked his ear off about getting into the field. I finally decided a bootcamp would be the best thing for me. When I actually started researching bootcamp options, DevMountain was by far the best option. Their outcomes, curriculum, and free housing stood out to me.

I have now finished their web development program. I put in a ton of work. But I am happy to say I have 3 job offers, and I am literally talking with my brother in law about which one I should take as I type this. I think even he is impressed with my progress over the last 3 months.

I would definitely recommend DevMountain!