Devmountain

This course, or "cohort" as they called it, was riddled with inexperience, lack of preparation, and apathy.

More often than not my class would arrive early ready and hungry to learn.  The instructor would show up 15 - 30 minutes late and start looking for what today's lesson was.  It was not uncommon at all for the instructor to just adlib his way through the material.  Material that he didn't know we would be covering that day until he walked into class.  Instructors would make several mistakes, fumbling around until their code worked.

What makes all of that worse was none of the instructors cared.  It's quite obvious that at one time the provo location was a good thing and people felt prepared to continue in a programming career path after completing it, but those instructors and that curriculum is long gone.  In fact, if you look at the instructors they have listed as teaching their cohorts on their website, you are being lied to.  None of those instructors work for the school anymore, all that is left is assignments they wrote and study sheets they created gone over by someone that doesn't quite understand what the original author was trying to help the students learn.  It really makes me sad.

DevMountain employees what they call 'Mentors'.  These are former graduates that attend the classes and are (in theory) there to assist the instructor and help the students with questions, problems, or just give ideas when they get stuck trying to write some difficult code.  This also was NOT the case.  The mentors would sit in the back working on their own projects and seemed genuinely annoyed if we wanted help.  This caused a few students in my class to reconsider early on and leave the camp with a partial refund.

Their classes used to wrap up with a final-project show and tell night of sorts where all the students were excited to show the project they had built during the last 4 weeks if the camp, as well as see others' projects.  Students learned from what others had done and were able to improve their own work as a result.  Unfortunately this too has become a shell of what it was.  The organizers take all the shortcuts they can so the night feels like a quickly organized intramural meeting where no one really has an idea what the program is.  But hey they brought food right?! 

After leaving this school I really wish I had gone somewhere else.  There are a few opportunities just like DevMountain in the Provo area and I feel like I would have learned a LOT more attending another camp.  I would strongly recommend exploring other options if you are considering attending a programming boot camp.  You CAN learn a lot from other sources, I am not going to stoop to the level of endorsing any of them in this review, but I have attended another camp since DevMountain and it was exponentially better.

As a recent graduate of DevMountain, I thought of writing a review with my experiences only after getting a job! It is kind of selfish of me, but that is a reality. Well, I didn’t have to wait too long! I got a job offer from a reputed company within one week of graduation! This company was amongst many others who had been invited for the employer meet-and-hire event hosted by DevMountain. The event provided me with a great platform to interact with these companies and showcase the applications that I had worked on personally and in a group. 

Their course syllabus is carefully built to give you the most learnings and a joyful experience executing it. I was in their full-time immersive Web Development course. They focused on the MEAN stack that is so in-demand today. This way you can go in-depth with JavaScript across the application layers making you very adept at it. I can attest to their approach since going depth-first helped me become skillful in developing full-stack applications and deploying them. Not only that, I can now quickly draw parallels to other technologies out there and find it easy to conquer them too. DevMountain’s approach makes sense to me, it is very effective and I love it. 

DevMountain’s syllabus also provided a much needed chance to work on a personal project mid-way into the course and also on a group project towards the end. With my personal project, I got a chance to implement all that I learnt from their instructors and mentors. DevMountain’s instructors and mentors have a lot of industry experience and a great passion for teaching. This helped me a lot since I got distilled knowledge and real-world application best practices that otherwise would have taken me years to achieve on my own. I got my money's worth many times over right there. Their group project provided me with an experience of working in a team as I would in the IT industry. There are so many things to learn from the dynamics of a team that you would only when put in one!

DevMountain is also unique in that they provide free and fully-furnished housing! For me, the housing was so close to their campus that I could walk over every day and come back in the evenings. My wife was very relieved to know of this accommodation by DevMountain. It freed up my mind too of all worries with regards to my safety and convenience of stay. I could remain focused on achieving my goals. I am forever grateful to them for that. 

Absolutely nothing comes to my mind that DevMountain could have done better for me and others in my class. I attribute a big part of my success to the learnings I had from their experienced instructors and mentors. They are the best out there. Getting a job within only a week of graduation proved it for me and hopefully it will for you also.

The Web Development job market is so hot right now and it is only going to get hotter. If you want to get in and invest your time learning, you should do so judiciously. There is absolutely no time to waste! So, if you are still on the fence, you shouldn’t be anymore. I believe my experiences with DevMountain will help you decide your next course of action. I wish you all the very best indeed.

I was a student of the first cohort for the 13 week web immersive course in Dallas, TX. Being the first cohort in a new city/location, there were obviously some growing pains at first.  However, things really started to come together and students began picking up more and more skills along the way.  I am quite certain that the next cohort will have an even better experience.  

My favorite part of the program is getting to meet and work with a wide variety of people.  Personally, I think it is cool to meet people from all walks of life and to learn about their beliefs, interests, and goals.  Our class was fairly talented as a whole and I’m happy I was able to work alongside them through the ups and downs of a long and trying "journey" (seems silly since it 3 months doesn't seem that long in the grand scheme of things but it was a journey nonetheless).

I had a great time and am glad I came out here to Texas to be a part of something new and different.  Everyone knows Devmountain in the community and there are people more than willing to bust their tails to help you out.  I landed a full-time salaried job before the program was over due to connections I made while in the program.  These opportunities are out there, so if you want to jump off the cliff with me...come out to Texas.  

I loved being at DevMountain. I learn best when someone is in front of me, helping me, guiding me, teaching me. In a classroom setting. In person. So, DevMountain was exactly what I was looking for.

I was lucky. I was part of a great cohort that all gelled really well. So we all worked together pretty well. Obviously, there were a few people who seemed to be less dedicated than others. I am going to keep in contact with the people in my class forever. A big part of DevMountain is that you get out what you put in. I really wasn't expecting a job because I had heard that some bootcamps actually don't get students a job. But, I worked hard and was able to get a good job after the program. The teachers were amazing and always there to answer questions or give help. I definitely attribute my job now and my knowledge all to DevMountain. 

I live in an area that doesn't have a lot of tech opportunities, so DevMountain really ended up being a great option. Yea, it is in Utah, but it wasn't that bad. Also, with the free housing, the affordable pricing, and the quality, it is definitely the cheapest and best option.

I loved my experience at DevMountain and I would recommend it to people who want a more hands on classroom approach. DevMountain's campus is awesome. Plus they have a sweet coke machine. I loved my campus and the people there - my life has definitely changed because of it, and I can't thank them enough.

Attending DevMountain is one of the best decisions I have made.  I starting building my first website over a year ago not knowing anything.  I was so proud of what I had created and loved coding that I decided I wanted to change careers and become a web developer.  My plan was to go back to school and get a masters in computer science (I have a BS in Math).  Then, my brother told me about DevMountain, and after doing some research and looking into other dev boot camps, I decided to apply.  Way less time and money than getting a masters.  I learned more than I could have imaged in only 3 months.  I do think that having a background in Math helped me a ton.  Now, I have a skill that will help me for the rest of my life.  And DevMountain works hard to help you find a job.  I am very pleased with the outcome and would recommend DevMountain to anyone who has a passion for creating things and solving problems.  I would suggest doing a little coding before applying to make sure it is something you love.  There are students who find out during the course that they don't really enjoy it.

DevMountain was ok, if your looking for a career maybe go to school first. I have only gotten a response from a handful of companies and they all say the same thing "I need more exprience". It's quite a bit of money to spend if your hoping to get a career out of it, which most everyone looking into it is looking to get a new career out of it. If your going just to learn coding its probably worth it, if your main goal is a job it might not take you in that direction. Just something to think about before you spend the money.

DevMountain put all the pieces together to make this an option for me. I was considering leaving the state for several months, without the ability to work and pay $12k+ for tuition. Instead I was able to stay here, still work and pay a fraction for a high quality coding education that has opened the biggest/best door in my life. I never completely understood enjoying a job/profession until I became a developer. Thanks to DevMountain I have a solid foundation and intense passion for programming plus a well-paying career I love!

Maybe I don't make great life decisions, but attending DevMountain was one of the best I've ever made. What do I mean? Well, maybe I shouldn't have gone to law school. Too late now. I dabbled in web dev during my undergrad, but for a variety of reasons didn't pursue it. I finished law school and tried practicing law for a year and decided it just really wasn't for me. Don't know why I couldn't have figured that out sooner. Oh well. I heard of people landing sweet jobs soon after DevMountain. So I decided to embrace the nerd in me who wants to build awesome stuff, solve buzzles, and sit in front of a computer all day and get paid for it. I attended DevMountain in Provo full-time from May to August 2015.

Are coding camps for everyone? No. And DevMountain is always looking for ways to figure out how to admit students who are the most motivated and the most likely to succeed. There are many individuals to whom programming principles will not come easy, or ever, no matter how hard they try, or not matter how hard instructors and mentors try to polish curriculum or devote individual time. So, of course some students will get super frustrated with the material. That doesn't mean they should quit trying after the program is over. And it also doesn't mean that the school is to blame.

There are myriad reasons it may be difficult for someone to get a job in web dev. Experience, portfolio, personality, interview skills, networking. DevMountain specifically states that they do not guarantee placement. Nobody except Hack Reactor does. But hey do promise job prep resources, which they had plenty of and they have more and more every day. Studies show most jobs are landed by way of networking, etc. I got lucky I guess, because I just landed a job from an online application, with the only web dev experience on my resume being from what I did at DevMountain, and working as a mentor for a couple of months thereafter.

For the person who is ragging on placement for DM4, my cohort, they should keep in mind that DevMountain's placement stats are based off of 3-months out, and based off of those who are seeking full-time web development positions. The 3-month mark doesn't happen until next week. I hope this review is helpful, and not too responsive to other reviews. I don't think this place should be a pseudo-forum.

My experience has been that the value DevMountain provides is unbeatable. Was everything perfect? No. Could I put together a list of complaints or things I would do better? Yes. But the 5 stars I am allocating for each category are based off of value. If you have any other questions, I can be reached at /in/mikkelrd

I went to DevMountain part time cohort in Provo. At the time they only had part time and there website stated that they had a 95% hire rate so I figured I would give it a try. It was hard and I put a lot of work into. I did not get a job out of it, and I worked on bettering myself everyday for nearly seven months while applying all over. A lot of the reviews have been stating that its becuase we are trying to better our selves and that we expected to get a job without putting in the work but I went jobless with a wife and two kids living at my in laws thinking Ill just keep putting in the work and it will work out. I did this for nine months and only getting one interview and they didnt want me for the lack of time I had as a web developer. My mentor was pretty good he did help a lot and I really enjoyed him. The first day of class was terrible, the teacher was all over the place and even told us the next day that he was in a funk and was sorry for not making much sense, which is ok mistakes happen, however he jumped right into the next lesson when no one understood the first lesson leaving many of us in the dust trying to figure out what to do, and when you just spent $4000 its probably not a good thing to be in a funk.  The teaching was ok, you got about half and half when it came to good teachers. The owner was by far the best teacher and whenever our class had him the whole class seemed to get back on the same page and progressed in our skills, and he seemed to really care that we succeded. They had lectures all the time for the full time class from people who worked at tech companies in Utah but part time never got any of that, I really felt they spent majority of there energy on full time and part time kind of got left in the dust. They also treat you like your not trying or spending enough time outside of class if your not doing well or if you write a negative review saying you didnt get a job, they make you feel like your the one doing their program wrong. Like I said above I went to the university and studied everyday for almost 7 straight months staying up on what I learned so its not becuase I didn't try hard enough. I did like Devmountain for a lot of things they did give me some pretty good skills. Also there is no job assitance afterwards, they had us all sign up for a website were they would post jobs for us to view and apply for and they did that for about a month with a handful of jobs and that was it for job assistance, once I finished DevMountain it was pretty quiet in the job assistance field. I didn't write this review to bash their were a lot of good things Devmountain did do but I have seen all the reviews and didn't like how everyone with five stars said the people who are giving lower stars is because they expected to get a job and didn't try hard enough. I've put a lot of time and energy looking for work and keeping up on the skills I was taught. I wouldn't go again but if your good at coding honestly it would probably be a good place to learn some things and help on your resume but for starting into it thinking i'm going to change my career and make a lot of money, it might not happen so think about it before you drop the money.

I got my BS in marketing a couple years ago and couldn't stand the shady digital marketing company I was working for.  My wife had come to DevMountain a year earlier and suggested that I give it a shot, as I was starting to become interested in web development myself.

I couldn't be more pleased with the results.  DevMountain isn't easy.  You've got to dedicate yourself and hold yourself accountable for everything you learn as well as everything you don't.  I had no experience whatsoever with web development when I went in, but I came out feeling competent and empowered.  I spent my fair share of nights up until the wee hours of the morning breaking my code, debugging, and just about losing my mind over missing commas and misspelled methods, but it was worth every minute. My mentor and one or two of the instructors made themselves available outside of class hours, when they weren't even on the clock, to help me whenever I came up against a wall.  I've never been in another environment so nurturing and intellectually stimulating.

I currently mentor at DevMountain, but I do freelance work and work fulltime as a developer at an unaffiliated company in Provo as well.  Even though DevMountain was explicitly clear that they don't guarantee jobs, they gave me excellent assistance and helped me meet employers.  They gave me some contract work as well while I was still looking for a fulltime position somewhere else so that I'd be able to build out my portfolio.

The recent negative reviews I've seen here are almost laughable.  Many refer to DevMountain's "marketing team" and most don't give any actual information about the writer's (not writers', I suspect) experience with DevMountain.  Also, in response to another reviewer's question, I do in fact notice a pattern in the review dates, namely that there has been a huge jump in similarly-worded negative reviews in the last week or so after over a year's worth of positive ones.  Best of luck to you, friend.

I am so happy I chose to go through the program at DevMoutain. I've worked too many dead-end retails jobs, or sales positions that pay commission only. I really didn't know how I was going to give my family the life I wanted. So, after living below the poverty line for years, I was talked into considering programming. 

When I found DevMountain, I was really excited with the prospect of changing my life in such a dramatic fashion. I have a 4 year degree. I was taking on leadership positions, and working my way up with my current company, but the hours and pay were horrible! So of course the life of a programmer was really intriguing. And the success DevMountain has had with their students has been amazing.

Here is what I will say for the school:

OVERALL: I loved the experience! I thrive in the type of environment they have created. You have to work hard, and push through the stress, and the intense, accelarated learning curve, but if you do, the sky is the limit on what you can acheive! The top students are those who are putting in tons of extra hours, and really pushing the limits on what they are learning and doing. And I love being surrounded by people like that. It just helped me to push myself even further!

TEACHERS: I loved the teaching style of DevMountain. We would be taught a principle, then we would have a chance to put what we just learned to practice. It is definitely project-based learning, with a lot of hands on practice and experience. I loved it! It does tend to be a little harder for some people, but in the end, even those who have a different learning style than I were doing really well. It just takes pushing through the stress, and the hard moments when you feel like you aren't getting it. The teachers were really awesome programmers, and even though each have a unique teaching style, I learned so much from each one. I love that we got to learn from some of the top programmers in the area!

CURRICULUM: As I mentioned, the class is project-based. There are new projects everyday to work on to practice what was taught in the morning lecture. So each day I was putting to use what I was learning. The projects are relavant to what is going on in the programming world, and I often look back at my projects now, as a mid-level software engineer with a great job, to see how I solved certain problems, or set up certain things, etc. 

JOB SEARCH: This is an area that was really important to DevMountain, and you can tell they are working really hard to constatly improve student success after graduation. I know a TON of grads who are working as developers now, and are very happy with where they are at. I've seen some of the negative posts recently, where people have said that students aren't getting jobs, and that you shouldn't go to DevMountain. I don't think that some people going into a program like this realize that it may take a while to find that first job, and as the time gets longer, if they are not still working on projects, and practicing and learning, it will get really hard for them to find a job. Unfortunately, those people will probably give up, and then try and find someone to blame. From what I have seen, those who are putting in the extra time, and working hard in class, and continue to work hard afterward, and don't get discouraged, find a job within a couple months or so of graduating. That is most of the students, because everyone comes in to the program wanting to make the same changes in their lives. I can go on and on listing grads who are working, and are so happy about their new lives! Don't listen to the haters, and if you come to DevMountain, don't be one of the very few that don't put in enough effort, both in the class and after graduation, and give up on finding a job.

SUMMARY: After my time with DevMountain, I only interviewed with 3 companies, and I got fantastic offers from ALL THREE! I took an awesome job with a really fun team, and I am getting paid about $20,000 more that I expected coming out of DevMountain. I am only a few thousand dollars short of tripling my income. All within about 6 months of leaving my last job! 6 months! I have tripled my income, have awesome hours and benefits, and I wake up excited to work, and do what I do!!! I worked crazy hard to get to where I am at, and I have no doubt at all that anyone who does the same will see the same results. DevMountain gives you the opportunity to be very successful in their program, and afterward. This really is a ticket out. Seriously! You can totally change your life! Here's my warning and advice... Take that opportunity seriously, and give it all you've got. It will totally pay dividends in the end! 

I'm disappointed to say the least. I'm also not surprised about all the negative reviews lately. When I signed up for Dev Mountain they had good reviews and things looked promising. My experience was different. The marketing department blatantly lies and I'm confident is the reason behind a lot of these positive reviews. The lead instructor who I was excited to learn from left a few months ago and the replacement is still trying to get adjusting. Mentors are nothing more than former students and are always busy so it's hard to get their help. Overall I wish I would have come to devmountain earlier on as I think it's best days are behind it.