Devmountain

DevMountain. Where do I start? 

I came in as a business graduate who didn't find luck in the job field. Within my first two weeks, Matt, the campus director, took me and another student out to lunch to get to know us. He said that even thought he was in the admin office, he still wanted to get to know students. Despite being a bit separated from actual coding, the staff here interact with the students daily, and host mini-events to get to know everyone better, whether it's smores out back or an impromptu ping-pong competition. 

Another thing about the administration of DevMountain: they take student success seriously. As a woman, sometimes there are uncomfortable comments, remarks, or questions. The administration takes any and all of this seriously. For example, after hearing about some jokes male students were making about wishing they could be a woman to find a job easier, Matt sat down with each female student at DevMountain to talk to them about it, and addressed the situation with the students making the comments. Everything about the way they handled it made me feel comfortable, respected, and valued not only as a student but as a minority in the tech field. 

The curriculum is rough. It will test you. It isn't easy. But it is so, so, so fufilling to see your code work, to get a project done, to put another notch on your belt. If you study, if you prepare, if you put every ounce of strength you can into this program, you'll be rewarded. If you don't... well, this may not be the program for you. 

I really enjoyed our instructor. One thing I love about DevMountain is how quickly feedback is implemented. For example, one mentor (basically a TA) used a quiz website for a review, and everyone enjoyed it so much that the instructor began implementing this website into his lecture every day to check progress and basic concepts. Student's reviews are taken very seriously here, and it shows. 

I enjoy the curriculum. It, too, is always changing and adapting to students' needs. It's exciting learning a technology and reading about it on twitter and talking to people about concepts. Nothing is stale. 

But maybe the best part about everything is the job prep week. You come into a boot camp knowing you'll learn to code, but DevMountain also helps you build a developer resume, optimize your LinkedIn, learn to network, learn to whiteboard, and learn to answer interview questions. The entire final week is dedicated to prepping students for the job field. 

In summary, my time at DevMountain was revolutionary to my growth as a web developer. If I could, I would enroll again!

My Entire Experience

Before I went to DevMountain, I was doing consulting for 3 years at a software company out of Austin, TX. I was making good money and on top of it; it was a super laid-back job. Everything was chill. 

Until I got bored of it. 

The work got repetitive, I felt like my mind was going numb from boredom, my career projectory was ok but not high enough to where I wanted it to be. I wasn't happy going to work everyday. 

That all changed 1 day in Arizona

I was working a client in Phoenix for a few months and met up with an old friend from high school. He was a software engineer at Amex. He was doing really well for himself. Long story short here, he knew I was a smart guy and thought I would make a good developer if I tried. We sat down, grabbed a few brewski's and a laptop and he showed me some basic Ruby (this was way back in 2014 when Ruby was fire)

I immediately got hooked.

After that for about a year, I put in probably 2 hours a week learning HTML/CSS on code academy. Learned some JavaScript too (super basic) but I was more infatuated with CSS. I was still working the same boring job. 

Early 2015, I decided to step up the pace and completed Thinkful's Frontend course. Not going to dive into how that was but in summary I thought it was whatever. I marginally got better. Kind of a waste of time and money.

In 2016, I took a lengthy break from learning any code (still didn't know that much to be honest). To really force myself to learn JavaScript I took a night course at Hack Reactor in Austin, TX. Now this actually did help. It was 4 nights a week for a month straight. I got accepted into Hack Reactor but thought it was too soon to jump ship from work.

Time passed to early 2017.

The JavaScript gods finally told me it was time to quit my job and take a leap of faith. I narrowed down my choices to Galvanize, Hack Reactor, and DevMountain. Galvanize looked super dope tbh. They have a huge modern space in downtown Austin, TX. And it was 6 months versus 3 months. However that was looking like 30k in expenses! Hack Reactor at the time (not sure what it is now) was known as the cream of the crop boot camp, but even that would put me back 20+k in expenses for only 3 months.

Obviously I ended up choosing DevMountain – Dallas.

It was about 10k when I applied and it COVERED housing. No other school does that. You don’t have to worry about rent, electricity, or any housing bill at all. Plus the housing IS IN THE SAME BUILDING as the Dallas Campus. It’s literally a full immersion experience.

You wake up => elevator downstairs => class => study => elevator back up stairs => sleep. Repeat for 3 months.

If there is one thing to take away from finishing DevMountain it’s this:  it really really really really comes down to how much work you put into it.

Stay up late and code. Seriously, it’s just 3 months and it will pay off in the long run. You’re going to get tired, you’re going to get burned out; you’re going to want to nap and watch Netflix (which is totally needed sometimes) but try your best to keep pushing yourself. There were students in my class who I thought weren’t that strong to begin with but had put in so many more hours than I had that they finished the program way more ready than I was. I really can’t emphasize this enough.

Curriculum

When I completed the web-dev program; the curriculum was mainly in Angular, Node, Express and postgreSQL. I had a great instructor with Dallin Crane and 2 mentors who could have just as easily been instructors. After the first week, everything I had learned up until DevMountain was blown away with how much new knowledge I was absorbing. Having someone by your side every time you hit a hurdle was huge. Crazy thing though, even though I had learned Angular at DevMountain, I ended up taking a React Front End Job (Once you learn JavaScript, you can learn any JS framework). The frontend curriculum today is now React based. I herd its fast paced but done well. 

Job Outlook

DevMountain does not guarantee a job. Their main mission is to teach people how to code from all backgrounds. They will do their part with teaching and helping you out when you’re stuck but it’s up to you to find a job. They do have hiring events with employer’s but ultimately it will come down to a few things in order to land that golden ticket (in my opinion, other people may say differently).

60% personality 40% Coding Ability.

You could be the greatest coder in the world but if you’re a douche bag; no one will hire you (at least not at the company I work at). If you’re a social person and you can code well; you will do great (again in my opinion). If you’re worried about being too old starting this, don’t be. If you think DevMountain is some magical escape to get a job – it’s not. DevMountain is not easy. If you are a logical thinker & good with problem solving, you’ll probably fly through. It’s really important that before you enter any boot camp you know that coding is what you wanna do. Do code academy first, then do an Udemy course online (Colt Steele has some good ones, did his web dev program before I started DevMountain and it really helped). If you’re still interested and find yourself wanting to keep learning then do DevMountain and take the leap. DevMountain is by far the best bang for your buck. I’m certain the top students at DevMountain would be comparable to any top student at any other boot camp.

Life After Graduating from DevMountain.

I was lucky enough to be selected as a Mentor for the cohorts after mine had finished. I stayed on as a Mentor for about 4-5 months helping students fix their errors and teaching where I could. It was a great experience and made me into a much stronger developer. The company I’m working at now came to the hiring event and we got along well.  I was also referred by another student they were interviewing (really important to get along with classmates and help each other as much as you can, it will go a long way in the future).

About 6 Months into my Current Job

The first week in, I had major imposter syndrome and I think that’s completely normal for most bootcamp grads. Looking at a huge code base was daunting and it took some time to adjust. Eventually I got comfortable and it’s awesome now.

Things I would have done differently looking back.

Learn as much JavaScript as you can before starting any boot camp. Learn methods map, filter, reduce, and arrow functions (if this is too much for you, don’t worry about it; it would just really help). Get comfortable with loops. Don’t worry too much about HTML/CSS coming in; just focus on JavaScript. Also build as many side projects as you can during the bootcamp – big or small doesn’t matter (hell build something before you start DevMountain if you can). Take at least 1 Udemy course (or pluralsight or front end masters) before starting as well. Lastly talk to recent graduates and ask for advice.

I could honestly keep going here with my experience but this post is becoming too long. If you have any questions find me on LinkedIn or email me at daanishnasir@gmail.com. Don’t be shy in asking any question, doing a boot camp is a huge investment and you should know as much as you can about it.

Honestly, I didn't look that closely at other bootcamps, because once I started looking at DevMountain and talking to other alum, I knew it was the program for me. Aside from being one of the least expensive, full-time, iOS programs at the time for the duration of the course (housing included), it was located in one of the most vibrant tech-industry-growth areas in the country, and everything I heard about it was positive and real.

One of the greatest things about DevMountain was that they didn't pretend to be something they weren't.

They didn't pretend to be a Computer Science degree replacement program. But they did go over some of the most basic CS concepts, like memory allocation and types and Big-O notation and complexity, so that we could spend most of our time learning iOS specific frameworks and patterns, but also understand enough of what was going on underneath to make smart programming decisions.

They didn't pretend to be the fountain of all iOS knowledge. But they did put us on the right path by teaching us the basics of iOS and of good, clean code and good patterns common to all programming. And they also showed us what we needed to know to continue to learn and develop after we finished the program.

They didn't pretend to be a guaranteed door to a job. In fact, one of the best things they did was to help me realize that the accountability was mine alone, and that "I would get out of it what I put into it" wasn't just a cliche. But they dedicated themselves to giving me all the learning and career resources and time and attention they could to help me rise at the pace I was setting for myself.

And now, as I submit this review from the desk of my great programming job where I've been for the last year and a half, I know that I got here from my own hard work. But I couldn't have made it without DevMountain.

DevMountain has a great reputation for their full time, 40 hours a week courses. However, that wasn’t doable for me, so I took the after hours course, knowing that I’d need to be extra dedicated and a self-starter to really benefit from the program. The program had a lot of strengths, with clearly knowledgeable instructors, and a decent curriculum. But, over time it became clear that our class wasn’t really a priority. Instructors seemed to show up, THEN look at that evening’s curriculum. Some teachers wouldn’t even use the curriculum, instead preferring to wing it, ask us questions, then have quiet study for the last half of class. Once we got to the tail end of the course, all class time was devoted to working on our capstone projects. This is when both the instructors and the students kind of checked out. In fact, one of the students just stopped coming, since there were no more lectures. I think the course would highly benefit from stretching the curriculum to last the entire 12 weeks, while allowing for more capstone time in the final weeks. Having no curriculum for the final weeks was pretty demotivating, especially when it was clear that the instructors didn’t really want to babysit us for 3-6 hours. And why would they? It’s way better when there’s structure and a plan for the evening. I hope they make those changes. If I had paid for the class by myself, I definitely wouldn’t feel like I got my money’s worth. In addition, their website was tough to navigate, and had several bugs, which is insane for a company that teaches web development. 

Attending DevMountain was one of the best decisions of my life! I majored in one science in college, but wished that I had majored in computer science after taking some beginner courses. After a year of self-study, I attended DevMountain. I met some of the greatest people  ever, I learned more than I thought possible, and I clearly loved it because I stayed on as a mentor. Their approach to education is incredible, and really emphasises each student truly learning and excelling, rather than pushing students through to get revenue. And the job prep is incredibly useful.  It is an exceptional program!

As always there are pluses and minuses about every decision.  I loved my time at DevMountain.  The students and the teachers in particular.  Morning coffee and breakfast on Fridays were huge for the budget conscience among us.

Firstly, I wish I had taken 1 to 2 months working on React, Javascript, and CSS before starting the course.  I felt like I was constantly behind when we hit React and I couldn't catch up.

The guarantee that I could come back t retake the classes is one reason I pushed ahead and didn't take an extra month to study.  Also a huge reason I went with DevMountain was they were so close for me. 

OK what could have been better...

I felt like the classses were geared to the fastest learners rather than the middle.  We did no peer programming.  The first two weeks were way too easy and after the third week I never felt like I could catch up... I was putting in 12-16 hour days and it was very draining.  The "job prep" was telling us to find a portfolio template that we liked and write a resume and put it online.  There was help to ensure it looked good and was professional but I wass hoping for a week of mock interviews and whiteboard problems.  I mean maybe the resume is more important but thats not what I was worried about.  I also wish we'd done more projects that were (portfolio worthy but small).

I have only been graduated for 1 week and I feel that once I get my portfolio and resume put together and I begin applying to jobs I will have a better overview of how prepared I am versus "how I feel".  So, the caveat here is that I felt like I wanted to take another 2-4 weeks learning React but ended up deciding to keep pushing through to graduate.  So me not "feeling" ready is also on me because I could have stayed on in another class.  It was MY CHOICE to fly solo a bit early.  I will "audit" a few classes while job hunting and I will continue making projects so if I am interviewing in 2-4 weeks I think thats where I should be. 

Also I think they have great job fairs and really work hard for their students there.  I look forward this next step in my career and life.  

As I final note I thought seriously about trying to be a mentor/teacher at DevMountain because do think they are a great school.  Also they did some major changes to curriculum on the last few classes so I think they care about being the best.  I heard they have peer programming and I like the way the curriculum is laid out now.  Everyone says it and I'll repeat it.  The squeeky wheel gets the greese, let them know you need help, ask and ye shall recieve... ;) Good luck DevMountain is a great school.  If I can update this I will in a few weeks!

I attended an after hours web development in Salt Lake City, Ut. I finished the course 6 months ago.

The most concise I can be:

I was self-taught for 3 months before attending the bootcamp (about 20 hours/week.

I worked part-time during the bootcamp putting in about 30 hours/week.

You will learn how to put together web apps, and you will learn the basics of coding. The knowledge is presented well, with lots of practice. I woud've prefered to learn react instead of angularJS, but even with that small criticism the overall 'how-to' knowledge I gained prepared me to continue teaching myself (learning from others), which is what programming and gaining expertise are all about

I reached a competent and comfortable skill level at around 1200 hours of total programming exposure (about 1 year of programming 5 days a week for 20 hours/week). I've learned the most working on larger apps that involve putting many pieces of web-app architecture together (front-end frameworks, backend, hosting, database, testing, error handling... etc).

Attending Dev Mountain's bootcamp accelerated my learning. It was worth the 5k I paid. programming requires hard work and constant exposure and can be done by most anyone (or such is my opinion).

Job assistance has more to do with the quality of work you can show and after hours students must meet certain requirements to obtain some of the same perks as their full time counterparts.

I would highly recommend attending the Web Dev immersive program to kickstart a new career. I had a bachelor's degree in Spanish when I applied to DevMountain, and I had very little coding experience. Now I have a full time job making 3-4 times more than I was before. 

The first 6 weeks are very fast-paced and require dedication and scrifice to study and prepare for class. However, the second 6 weeks are possibly even more important than the first. This is when the information and concepts really got cemented into my brain. 

If you decide to attend, push yourself. Don't take the easy road for the projects, or you will regret it. 

DevMountain, as a "technical" bootcamp, is the only bootcamp I've attended but its worked well for me thus far.  Four years worth of college feels like a heavy financial burden for such an expensive "receipt" as I like to call it.  Although most coding/technical bootcamps are not "cheap", I would say that my experience with DevMountain far surpasses any I've had with two or four year universities.

My situation was unique in that I started in the Web Development, but didn't have the enjoyable experience I was hoping for.  It just didn't feel right, even though I was learning a lot.  I eventually asked if I could switch from Web Development to the UX/UI program, and I was SO glad I did.  I absolutely LOVE the content, and the lead instructor for UX/UI (Brandon) is an amazing guy!  He is well versed in the field, and has a deep knowledge and passion for teaching the next generation of UX/UI designers.  The curriculum is solid, and I've learned a lot, but my only complaint (a small preference more than anything) is that some of the tools they use to organize the curriculum feels a little "loose", and unstructured.  For me (not the most naturally organized person), I need more structure on dates/times/due dates, and that for the most part, has gotten me lost on more than one occasion. That aside, I figured out how to work with my weakness and be proactive in making sure I was on top of my own education.

As an additional note, after switching to UX/UI, I became quite ill.  I found out that I had a chronic illness that was the cause of a litany of health problems, and I deferred.  The Student Relations counselors, and the Lead Instructor were very understanding, and allowed me to focus on getting better before I came back.  Now I'm back and I'm grateful for their patience, and DevMountain's ability to have that kind of flexibility.  I consider myself lucky to have gone to DevMountain and dealt with so many caring and professional people.  They have a no-nonsense policy on missing class, but they're still providing me the flexibility I need to finish out my treatments, and still continue to learn and grow from their incredible curriculum.

Many thanks to everyone I've worked with at DevMountain.  I couldn't be more proud to become an Alumni of such an awesome Bootcamp, and professionals that care about my educational pursuits!