DigitalCrafts

Digital Crafts was recommended to me by an acquaintance who happens to be an executive at an IT staffing company. I had been looking to make a career change and get into the web development/IT for several years but didn't really know how to start the learning process. I come from a technical theater as well as a learning & development background and knew that having a classroom environment would be critical to my success. After looking at a few other options, I applied to DC. Their admissions process includes an "interview" (I don't know if anyone actually ever fails the interview since it felt more like an information session) with one of their staff. I met with Jake Hadden, one of the co-founders, so that was kind of cool. The second piece of the admissions process is a coding challenge. Now I'm going to be completely honest and say that this felt more like a challenge to find the best place to copy/paste the answers to the problems, but once in the class, I discovered that learning how to Google and find answers to your challenges is a big part of becoming a Developer. So I guess they are helping you down that road early, but it still felt weird. Once accepted, you select your cohort date from the available classes and are given prework to complete. Let me just sat, complete as much of the prework as you possibly can! Now, they do go over everything that the prework covers, but because the class moves so quickly, having a base knowledge prior to class really helps to keep you from getting too overwhelmed too quickly. But don't worry, you'll feel overwhelmed anyway!

I choose to start in March which ended up being when COVID-19 forced everyone to stay at home so my desired classroom would now be a virtual environment. As it turns out, my class ended up being the first to go completely virtual. Let me just say that although I was initially hesitant, the staff did an amazing job of pivoting to using video classes! Of course, we were the guinea pigs, but they, particularly our instructors and DIRs (more on that in a moment) did a fabulous job of providing a great experience in an everchanging environment. Utilizing Zoom with breakout rooms used for personal assistance outside of the main "classroom,"  there would be a lecture and demonstration that students would be able to personally follow along to. Then deeper exercises would be given for us to work on individually. If you hit a wall, the instructor or a DIR (Developer in Residence, basically teaching assistants who are previous students) will work with you individually to help you solve your issue.  Our instructor was Lachlan and he was/is amazingly skilled at his craft and if he doesn't know an answer, can find it pretty quickly and shows you his process for that as a learning experience. That's as it turns out what the whole class is about; it's not so much about learning a particular language, it's about learning to "think like a Developer" and teach yourself how to solve your problem. As the class went on, they were very receptive to feedback regarding how the class was going and things that would help. They even implemented some of our suggestions with the cohort that started while ours was getting toward its end.

The curriculum is intense and extremely fast-paced. Just know that you will feel like you are running away from a tsunami the entire class. You aren't alone. Give yourself some time after class to work on projects and utilize the resources of the DIRs and your instructor as much as possible. They want you to succeed and know you feel like you are barely treading water! Part of the curriculum is personal career prep with resume' writing and portfolio site creation help. In fact, you can't graduate until they see you have a workable set of resources to begin your job hunt. 

They are holding all of their classes online now, and the experience is great. If you want a great school with a wonderful support staff, Digital Crafts is a great place to start your journey. Read less

My experience at DigitalCrafts was everything I expected and more. I met go-getter collaborators in my cohort and obtained some great skills for a career change. I knew that I wanted to get into software development before starting the bootcamp and this program provided everyhting I needed to get the ball rolling. I am still currently looking for a job post-program. I would recommend the course to anyone who wants to learn to code and give it their all. Read less

I did a lot of research on different schools and coding bootcamps, I'm glad I settled with digitalcrafts. They are fully committed to assisting you along the journey of becoming a full stack developer and they do this in 16 weeks of coursework. The instructor is world-class the developers in residence wer wonderful and all the staff outside of the classroom we're beyond helpful. the amount of networking I have been able to do because of this school in such a short amount of time is unbelievable. I truly believe if you are around a campus you should definitely apply to go to the school, even if you aren't they offer it digitally. When I signed up it was for in-person Monday through Friday 9 to 5 however we all know the events going on in the world so that changed. With that said I am utterly amazed at their ability to structure a digital course out of what has always been in person with little to no notice at all. They pulled it off and I'm sure they had no planning for this I head of Time. Any school that can still deliver on their commitments after being thrown a blocker like that is a school worth going to.  Read less

When I enrolled in the DigitalCrafts Flex Program, I was a little apprehensive because I was new to coding and currently employed. I was worried about the time that would be needed to learn the DigitalCrafts coding curriculum. After signing up and starting the program, I soon realized that my instructors and the DigitalCrafts staff gave me so much support that it made going to school and keeping my job relatively easy. I'm now a recent grad of the DigitalCrafts program and I am looking forward to using my new skills in coding to start a software design career. Well worth it!  Read less

This is a difficult review to write, because COVID really wrecked things for everyone. I joined the immersive in-person cohort in Houston, and classes began at the end of March 2020. I learned a lot. I feel like I can really call myself a coder now, apply for positions, and contribute meaningfully toward projects. I am glad I went through this program. I made several friends and I am really a part of the developer community.

All that being said, so many things went wrong because of COVID. We could not attend classes in-person, which was about 80% of the reason I chose this bootcamp and quit my job to go with immersive. I wanted to be immersed! The building was modern and inspiring. I knew I needed that focus and that environment and the support of others. But because that didn't work out, we adapted. Instead, classes were held Monday-Friday on Zoom, with a lecture in the morning and exercises around noon. 

DigitalCrafts did an amazing job keeping us all informed leading up to the beginning of classes. An email was sent out several weeks beforehand explaining that classes were moving online temporarily, and we had the contact information of the campus Operations Manager and CEO. They killed it, really. As we got closer to the start date, they kept us informed and updated and the process of getting everything started in this unexpected and new format was handled really well. We were informed throughout the weeks when the expected return to in-person classes would be, and when that was delayed.

My instructor was, obviously, meant to teach an immersive cohort where we would be together for hours on end and learning. Their teaching style just didn't translate well to the Zoom format. It was really hard for me to code along with the lecture. Some people were able to manage it, but I could never do it. I would miss some words, a line of code, a switch to another file. This killed my progress. The lectures were recorded and I was able to watch them later in the evening (they were posted automatically around 5pm). I would watch the lecture and code along, pausing and rewinding, coding, pausing, rewinding, etc. We had two teaching assistants (called DIRs) the whole time, and they were great about answering questions while we worked on exercises in the afternoon. The instructor was always available to come into the Zoom breakout rooms and assist, as well.

I wish I felt like I could leave a higher star rating, because I know DigitalCrafts did a lot to work with the hot mess that has been the past few months. For the amount of money I took out as a private student loan, however, I just can't say that I feel I got my money's worth. I took the loan out expecting an in-person immersive experience, and I definitely did not get that.

My advice would be: if you're comfortable doing all online classes, then this is a good bootcamp and you will be happy with your coding skills after attending. Make sure you know your learning style and that it will be a good fit with online classes. I do not think the price for in-person immersive and online immersive should be the same. They are vastly different experiences. I'm not able to say how things would have gone differently had we be able to attend in-person, but I've talked with several former students and they all had very good experiences. The feedback I always got was how much the camaraderie made an impact on their experience. The bonding through mutual suffering (because you are going to go on a roller coaster of stress and happiness and accomplishment and frustration) is a big part of being in a cohort.  

If you are like me and need that in-person experience, I would advise you to wait until you feel safe going to in-person classes and then sign up for DigitalCrafts. I really wish things could have gone differently, but these 16 weeks have taught me so much about flexibility and perseverance. That has been a very valuable lesson in itself. Read less

Prior to attending Digital Crafts, I had very little programming experience. You get what you put into it but for me it was worth every penny. I attended the from March until July 2020. 16 weeks is not a long time and I find that a bootcamp is best for structure, networking, building projects that will ultimately help you in landing a job. 
This program is not for thoroughly understanding algorithms, data structures or OOP concepts. It’s more hands-on getting you to build code rather than learning Computer Science concepts. 
Honestly, the material I learn at DC was not unique, I was told many times by different people that I could learn everything I learned at the cohort at home, which ironically due to the COVID-19 pandemic I did but through remote learning at Digital Crafts. 
The difference between self-learning online and attending Digital Crafts was structure, accountability and my fellow builders in the cohort. Assignments and projects have due dates, you must work in teams for projects and there is a sense of camaraderie. All these things kept me on track and responsible, an element that is missing from self-learning (depending on the person).  
Boot camps take a lot of commitment. If you’re thinking Digital Crafts does everything, they don’t. They give you tools to be successful; they offer you all the help you could want and more. Class starts at 9am but class does not end at 4pm. You must commit to reading, practicing and watch videos. Take other tutorials to find a way to understand what you have learned. Otherwise, you’re cheating yourself. 
Class is fast paced; you get 1-2 days on a topic and then you move on to the next. To be successful I would suggest using google and stack overflow, these will be invaluable as you go along in the cohort. 
The Instructor (Azam) was very personable and full of knowledge but he was also a real person. He let us know as developers you won't know everything; it's almost impossible to. You will experience Imposter Syndrome, and eventually you'll get over it. It's normal. 
Even today I'm still googling, still asking questions on Stack overflow and I'm researching new technologies. 
Digital Crafts will teach you how to code, how to interact with other developers and most importantly network. Something learning online for free can’t provide to you. 

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DigitalCrafts was an excellent learning experience. It was a like drinking from a fire hose at times with they amount of new information you have to take in at once, but they maintained an emphasis on what will help you succeed at your first job. This is the highest praise I can give. Based on the skill I acquired at DigitalCrafts I was able to sit down at my new job and immediately contribute to the project in a meaningful way.  Read less

I graduated from DigitalCrafts over 2 years ago. My web development position was put on hold indefinitely as a result of the pandemic, and I reached out to Jake (CEO/Co-Founder) and Angela (Career Advisor). Within a day, I had multiple interviews, and a week later, I accepted a new position! I strongly recommend this program to anyone of any background. Read less

As I write this, it has been 2 weeks since I completed the full-time onsite DigitalCrafts Full-Stack Immersion program so I am still in the process of reflecting on my experiences but I’ll do my best to share my current thoughts.  I recommend doing a lot of research and reading several reviews before committing to a boot camp or other educational platform so that you ensure you’ll get the most out of the learning experience. 

Tuition 

While software developer boot camps cost can vary widely, DigitalCrafts Full-Stack Immersion program seems to be competitive with other boot camps that are full-time. I attended the Houston, TX onsite program which had the benefit of an instructor, a couple of classroom DiRs (Developer in Residences who assisted the instructor and students) and I got to learn along with classmates from many different backgrounds. 

Veterans 

For military veterans, the VA has approved DigitalCrafts for VET TEC.  VET TEC is a government program that funds veteran job training in technology fields.  VET TEC does not subtract from your GI BILL but you are required to be GI Bill eligible to qualify for the VET TEC program. VET TEC covers the cost of tuition plus allots the veteran a monthly stipend for housing during the course of the program. Check out this link to learn more about VET TEC https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/how-to-use-benefits/vettec-high-tech-program/. 

Instructors 

Each class has a dedicated instructor who will be with you throughout your boot camp. The DiRs are former Digital Craft graduates who are very knowledgeable, helpful and understand what it means to go through a boot camp so their assistance is inviable to the classroom.  My instructor Veronica is a former NASA engineer who has many years of being a software developer which allows her to draw upon her experiences. She is also able to speak about how coding is always evolving. She goes above and beyond when it comes to helping her students set themselves up for not only classroom success but for real-world success as well. She covers the course requirements but also covers material that will help you stand out among other new software developer job seekers.       

Learning Environment 

If you’ve never heard of the expression, “It is like drinking from a fire hydrant.” well you have now and that is what Digital Crafts Full-Stack Immersion program is like. It is a boot camp in every sense of the word.  You will wake up with coding on the mind, spend the day learning and practicing coding fundamentals, your evenings & weekends will be filled with coding homework, going over notes, rewrite notes, watching coding videos, speaking with your classmates, etc. 

I thought I knew what I was getting myself into but “Oh My God!” it was that and then some.  I know everyone's experiences will be different, but for me almost every moment of every day for the entire 16-week course I was consumed by coding.  With hindsight, I would have come into the course better prepared. There are lots of good free and low-cost coding tutorials and courses online. Being exposed to basic Command Line, Git/GitHub, Python, and JavaScript concepts would have been a saving grace because the immersion program covers a lot of information in a very short amount of time and all that information builds upon itself.  It is like being thrown in the deep part of the pool.  Sure, there are lifeguards around but having floaties on and the ability to doggie paddle are nice backups to have. 

Learning Onsite (The Cannon Campus) vs Learning Online 

My class cohort started in early January so we got the benefit of starting out in classrooms which for those who like to learn in person like myself, was great. 

Having access to the teachers, aides, and staff in real-time is really nice. Being able to get to know your classmates in a classroom environment is something that is hard to duplicate with an online-only class. A typical DigitalCrafts day started at 9 am and ended at 4 pm. The days themselves were a mix of lecture, note-taking, coding along with the instructor on your laptop, practical application, individual and team projects, along with an hour lunch break and several small breaks throughout the day. 

The campus on which DigitalCrafts is located is made up of several businesses. The main building where the classrooms are located in Houston is called The Cannon https://thecannon.com/. If you’re like me and pictured working in a place that is made up of collaborative workspaces, glass-walled offices, gaming areas, free food and drink, and overall has a cool innovative feel to it, well my friend The Cannon is the place to be.  An amazing bonus of our classrooms being located at The Cannon is that you get exposed to companies who are either based out of The Cannon or have satellite offices located there.  These companies are known to hire DigitalCrafts alumni, some of which got offers before they even completed the immersion course.  

Once the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, DigitalCrafts switched our onsite learning to online learning. While this took several days for everyone to adjust, in the end, it worked out well. Why I personally think that the biggest advantages that DigitalCrafts has over other boot camps are its instructors, DiRs, students being able to learn in a classroom and being exposed daily to companies who need software developers, overall DigitalCrafts adjusted well to a situation that no one anticipated needing to make when the class original started.  

Course Work 

As a reminder, I’m very new to coding but DigitalCrafts curriculum seems to be pretty well thought out and it looks to cover the popular software that companies, where DigitalCrafts are located, are looking for when bringing in new software developers.  

I researched several boot camps in my area and they all seem to have a slightly different mix of software being covered. I highly recommend that you do your research to make sure you are learning something that will be useful in the present and future job markets. 

Areas To Improve Upon 

This could be something that DigitalCrafts is in the process of working on since everyone had to adjust to the new Covid-19 world that we all find ourselves in but DigitalCrafts need more video content that students can reference. Once an instructor has covered a topic, a pre-recorded, edited version of that day’s topics, with resource links, zip files, etc... should be easily accessible to the student. While I feel that nothing can truly replace an actual instructor that students can learn from in real time, resources like these would be extremely helpful for students to refer to over lunch breaks, after school hours, on weekends, etc. 

“It’s not a race” is something that I thought of often while sitting in class as information was being disseminated at my classmates and me at what felt like ludicrous speed. While there is a lot of information to be covered in a relatively short amount of time, going at a pace where students know that there will be pausing for note-taking, troubleshooting, etc... will lessen the likely hood that students have to battle between note-taking (and possibly getting behind on what the instructor is coding), following along with the code (and getting behind on note-taking) or troubleshooting a random error (and falling behind on both note-taking and whatever the instructor is covering). Students need notes to refer to later. They also need to follow along with the lecture and code that is being presented. Allowing students time to do both helps everyone.  Students will absorb information better and instructors will spend less time reteaching information that was already covered. 

Final Thoughts 

I recommend attending DigitalCrafts Full-Stack Immersion program. The instructors are knowable, they care about the well being of their students and want them to be successful.  The information being covered is UpToDate and in demand. The tuition is reasonable when compared to other full-time full-stack programs. The office staff is active and works for your success. The alumni are extremely active and the school is all about networking and leveraging those connections when it comes to getting you exposed to companies that are hiring. DigitalCrafts seems to be willing to adapt so that it is offering prospective, current, and former students a product that has great value. If you prepare yourself for the workload, don’t give up no matter what and be willing to learn, you will make it through the immersion program.  Companies value DigitalCrafts students as evident by how many former DigitalCrafts students are current software developers and engineers.  

I hope this writeup and review helps. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about what it was like going to DigitalCrafts. Stay learning, flexible in thought, and Semper Fi! 

Sean -  Read less

Let me start off by saying that everything you read online about bootcamps comes from personal experiences and does not reflect your experience. 

This is my experience with DigitalCrafts in Houston.

I came from the business world where you have to always be 2 steps ahead. Development requires extensive attention to detail and you always have to be in the now. Veronica our instructor taught us to not only code as developers but to think, act and reason as developers. 

All of the DigitalCrafts staff are here for the students and the connections that are built between current students, alumni and the staff is far better than I've seen in other sectors. The instructors are all professionals. There was never a moment that I felt I couldn't ask a question from an instructor even if they had no affiliation with my cohort. Josh helped my team on our capstone project extensively ,as we developed with Angular and that is his area of expertise. However, there are only a certain few individuals that we cross paths with that make an impression on us that lasts forever . Veronica is one of the few for me. So if you're looking to start .. wait for her. (My only bias statement). 

I've had mentors, professors and bosses who I learned from and to this day use those lessons in my everyday life. Veronica leaves no rock unturned no question unanswered. From the moment you walk into that classroom nervous and anxious on day one she accepts you for who you are and you are her child until the moment you graduate where she has to let you spread your wings and roam free because she knows that your able to succeed.

My class started in the classroom but ended in quarentine. I will say that it is much harder to learn online than it is in class. Not only do you feel like a programmer in class. DC in The Cannon make you feel like you're on the set of silicon Valley. Between all the start up, the complimentary redbulls and lunches. It definitely feels different from other careers. 

The experience is incredible,  the work is hard but nothing worth while is easy. 

Digital Crafts will not make you the next Zuckerberg, You will still be you. What DC will do for you is help you build a foundation of knowledge that you can build on top of to be the next BEST YOU.

Thank you DC  Read less

DigitalCrafts helped me make a career change, and while it was a tough journey, the staff there helped to guide me in the right direction (whether that be a debug issue, career advice, new tech, industry experience, etc.).  They will not teach you everything and you will need to put in work (either in class or after) to really get the concepts, but if you put in the effort, you will absolutely come out the other end a qualified junior developer.  It's the classic trope of you only get out what you put in.

Additional note: my immersive class had to go remote about halfway through the course due to COVID-19 but I commend the DigitalCrafts team for how they handled the situation.  The staff and instructor quickly and professionally adjusted the typical in-class plan, and the course was able to continue as close to normal as it could have! Read less

Before I write this review, I just want to say that the best way to get an unbiased opinion about a bootcamp is to go to LinkedIn and connect with current students and graduates of that bootcamp. Once connected, you can ask them first hand how their experience was. I did this for the top three bootcamps in Houston (according to Course Report), and is why I ultimately decided to go with DigitalCrafts. The current students and graduates that I chatted with at that time (about five months ago), all had mostly positive things to say about this bootcamp, it's instructors, and the curriculum. 
So basically, it's VERY important to talk to actual STUDENTS because a campus director or enrollment coordinator of any bootcamp obviously will never say anything bad about their own bootcamp.

With that out of the way, here are the main take-aways from MY experience with DigitalCrafts...

• I received two job offers prior to graduation. I accepted one, and I've been working with them about a week now.
• My instructor was very well-known in the coding community, was a great instructor, and has a ton of Udemy courses.
• DigitalCrafts is located at The Cannon, a totally awesome startup community in a very new building. A lot of DigitalCrafts students (myself included) find jobs at startups there.
• The course material focuses on the PERN stack. While these are very marketable technologies to learn, they're not necessarily very marketable in Houston if you want to work for a bigger and/or older company. Most big companies here use .NET. The PERN stack is pretty popular with startups here in Houston though, and many companies on the West Coast. Also, PERN stack is becoming more and more popular for companies to use and therefore there's a strong argument to be made for learning it as soon as possible.
• Despite the above point, I know a few former students who got jobs with big companies that use .NET because they convinced the hiring manager that they were trainable.
• The course can get pretty tough. I recommend coding as much as you can before starting, and not just doing tutorials. 
• There is no job guarantee, but there doesn't need to be one honestly. Generally, the job market is hot for programmers right now and that doesn't seem like it's going to change any time soon. If someone doesn't get a tech job within six months after graduating, chances are it's because they gave up on the dream.

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I'm very happy with what I learned and I enjoyed the time I spent enrolled in DigitalCrafts.
A typical day went like this: when class starts, we continued working on whatever we started the day before. Then there was a code-along, lunch, and finally exercises based on that day's topics. That was most days except when we were doing projects--then the whole day was spent on the project.
My instructor was Chris. He and his assistants did an excellent job. Where they really shined was making things that may be unintuitive make sense.
The staff and instructors were really great, and they will go above and beyond to make sure you're getting what you need (Chris, if you're reading this, I still have the thumb drive you lent me and I'll give it back as soon as I find it).
It was great overall and I'd choose them again. Read less

Enrolling in DigitalCrafts Full Stack Immersive program is one of the best decisions I ever made. I came into the program with some frontend knowledge and an eagerness to become a web developer. The instructor was one of the best I have had. Chris is an empathetic teacher who breaks down challenging concepts in ways beginners can understand. The curriculum is current, challenging and reflects the  job market. 
You will get a lot out of this program the more you put in. I supplemented my studies with online courses like Codecademy and SuperHi, listened to podcasts, created assignments for myself, and read some thick programming books.
DigitalCrafts is located in Atlanta Tech Village so there is an exciting energy when you go in every morning. There are lots of events, local meetups, and resources available as a member of the building. Read less

I attended DigitalCrafts full-time immersive program from November 2019 to March 2020. I came into the course with very little development background (could use Excel macros), and leave it with the ability to work frontend, backend, full-stack, etc. I feel very excited about my job prospects and opportunities coming from the program.

The instructor I had was honestly the best teacher I've ever had. They do an incredible job of breaking down a mountain of knowledge into just small tidbits, and I wish that my entire schooling career had been more like my time here. The skills they teach you are definitely in high demand, and DigitalCrafts is constantly asking for and getting feedback and changing the curriculum around that feedback from alumni, employers in the area, and current students.

The decision to go to DigitalCrafts to learn web development is probably one of the best decisions I've ever made. Read less

TL;DR
I was working in financial services in Kansas City and wanted to not only move to Atlanta for personal reasons and also wanted to switch careers into technology. I went to DigitalCrafts in August 2019 for the Full-Time Immersive Program and graduated in December 2019. I started work at an investment management firm in February 2020 as a Junior Software Engineer.

My Background

• Studied Finance and Marketing in college
• Took 1 Python programming class in college. Never used it during my career.
• Was working in financial services prior to DC
• From Kansas City

Pros

• Collaborative Environment
  • Made great connections with some of the other students who I've stayed in contact with after the end of the program
  • Students help other students succeed. I've either helped others when they were stuck or someone would come over to help me when I got stuck. This happened all the time. People were willing to give their time to solve issues and it was great.
• Worked in several teams to deliver a variety of projects. Projects that later were on my resume.
• Work with tools that are used in the "real-world"
  • VSCode, Git, AWS, Terminal
• Exposure to Cloud Infrastructure
  • Really got to benefit from being walked through how to spin up our own EC2 Instances on AWS to self-host our projects. Great first-time exposure to cloud technologies
• Work with Python, get a foundation in HTML/CSS/Vanilla or "Plain" JavaScript before moving to React
• I appreciated the career week time to focus on building up my resume and portfolio and also being able to get that reviewed by the career services team.

Cons

• One suggestion would be to have more exposure to working on and refactoring code someone else had written. In most exercises, a student is creating something from scratch or a base template. It would be neat to have exercises around a project that has already been built where we had to make modifications to it.

Tips to a new student

• One of the things DC Staff told us near the beginning was that we would get out of the experience what we put in. Don't passively consume the information. It really helps to try and do some digging on your own, make mistakes, and then ask for help to get pulled up. I've personally learned so much from making silly mistakes I made on my own and after trying to figure things out, going to an instructor who can guide me to the right direction.
• Listen to software podcasts that give you a real-time pulse of the industry and some of the technologies that are being used today
• Ask Questions, be curious, try to boil concepts down and re-state them in your own words
• There will be a lot of information thrown at you. Don't get overwhelmed by trying to memorize and remember everything. No one can memorize everything and it's perfectly okay to Google and search for answers.
• Please take career week seriously. Get your resume and portfolio created and deployed somewhere during career week. Don't wait.

Last thoughts

• DC helped me get to where I wanted to go and was an integral part of helping me switch careers. I now work as a full-time software engineer in Atlanta. I would recommend the program to any one who is willing to put in the time to learn. The class went by so quickly and I had a lot of fun.

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TLDR:  DigitalCrafts is the top-rated bootcamp in Atlanta for a reason. After my very positive experience there, I would not hesitate to recommend their Full Stack Flex Program for anyone looking for a way to level up their software engineering knowledge and skills.

INTRODUCTION:  When I began looking into bootcamps, I knew that I needed to find one that met several criteria. First, and foremost, it had to be a part-time program, because I have to work full time to support my family (a 15 year old needs all. the. things!) I also needed a bootcamp that offered an in-person option, as I tried several online "teach yourself to code" courses over a timeframe of several years and realized that I definitely needed a more structured experience in order to learn the curriculum. Ratings and reviews were also equally important, and, as it turned out, were probably my deciding factor. Finally, I needed a bootcamp program that would not cost a small fortune, and if financial help was needed, one that offered financial aid options. After going back and forth between several different bootcamp options, most specifically DigitalCrafts, Thinkful, and Hack Reactor, I chose to enroll in DigitalCrafts (Atlanta) Full Stack Flex Program for the April 2019 cohort.

THE GOOD:  My experience at DigitalCrafts was fantastic. I spent 26 weeks (Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Saturday mornings) with my fellow classmates learning all about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Node.js, Express, Sequelize, PostgreSQL, React, and so much more. Our instructors, Lachlan H. and Aubrey R., were fantastic, and our DIRs (Directors in Residence) weren't so shabby either (HUGE SHOUT OUT to Ron C. and Jordan M. for giving so freely of their time, even when they weren't on the clock). Help was never more than one Slack chat away. My fellow classmates became like family to me, and we helped each other along the way, and even shared a few tears together when it was all over. Those 26 weeks of blood, sweat, tears, and "just one more line of code!" were all worth it. The career services offered by DigitalCrafts before and after graduation are second to none in the bootcamp industry. The career guidance counselors constantly provided us with resources, including mock interviews, resume reviews, and portfolio advice.

THE NOT SO GOOD:  If I could suggest a few improvements for DigitalCrafts' Full Stack Flex Program, it would be more data structure and algorithm lessons at the beginning of the JavaScript portion of the course, as well as more opportunities for "whiteboarding." And by "whiteboarding," I mean like the problem solving on a whiteboard one would expect to find during a job interview. In my post-bootcamp job interviews, I've had to attempt "whiteboarding", and didn't do so well. I know this isn't the sort of knowledge/skill that one can just pick up and run with without a lot of practice, but I feel that had DigitalCrafts provided more chances for the part-time students to gain experience with this, I might have been more confident going into my job interviews. (It is my understanding that the Immersive course students had a lot of additional opportunities to practice "whiteboarding," but that could just be based on an instructor's preference for providing that to his/her students).

PS: Jake, Liz, Tasha, Angela, Lachlan, Aubrey, Ron, and Jordan, if you guys are reading this, thank you from the very bottom of my heart for transforming my life into something amazing. It has been my pleasure getting to know all of you on a personal level! Read less