DigitalCrafts

The fact that the full-time program is 16 weeks (compared to the typical 12 weeks) was a huge plus. I felt like there was more time to understand the concepts, ask for help, and more projects and exercises to complete for more practice.

I also feel like DigitalCrafts does a great job of seeing what skills are in demand and teaching those to us as well as practical examples of how we would be using them. The Career Week is sooo helpful in getting your resume, portfolio, LinkedIn, and interviewing skills sharp to feel confident during your job search. And, they are always sharing job opportunities in your area to apply for.

Coming in with just a basic understanding of HTML and CSS, I fell in love with front-end development and also feel strong with the back-end. We had 4 total projects, which were the most useful to me for learning. If anything, they teach you how to be resourceful and figure out new things since you will always be learning in this field.

I highly recommend DigitalCrafts if you are serious about making a career switch since you will learn high demand skills and be able to market yourself well to future employers with what DigitalCrafts teaches you.

I had a really great experience at DigitalCrafts. However, it you want an experience similar to college you will not get it. A lot of the learning and becoming very good at coding is left to the student; which ultimately is a good thing. It may be off-putting at first but trust me, you will be thanking the coding gods DigitalCrafts is set up that way. When you get a development job, it will be expected of you to be able to look up and learn things yourself. If you can't find an answer or are really stuck, then the teachers and TA's are more than willing to answer your question.

Overall I really enjoyed my time at DigitalCrafts and learned a tremendous amount.

I very recently finished the DigitalCrafts 16-Week Fulltime Immersive program in Atlanta. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, the experience stretched me and forced me to grow in ways that I did not foresee before it began. I wish everyone -- or at least lots more people -- could have this experience.

I had had some programming experience prior to enrolling in the course, so I was slightly worried that it might be too easy and I wouldn't learn enough to make it worth the time and money. Within about a week, I knew that this would not be the case. From about the second day, my brain was already being exercised more intensely than it had been in years, as we learned not only programming languages and libraries but also new and improved ways of looking at problems in general and working out solutions.

As the course progressed, we quickly moved into new development paradigms and there were moments when I felt hopelessly lost but learned that, even though the pace was fast and it sometimes felt like drinking from a firehose, if I just kept at a difficult topic long enough, a joyful moment would come when it would suddenly fall into place and I would "get it".

The teaching approach of our instructor, Jonathan Martin, was to ensure we understood the fundamentals of a subject before introducing us to higher-level abstractions. I can imagine that this is not always the case with courses of this type, especially when students are expected to go away with so many new skills to add to their resumes, the temptation may be to skip to past the basics of functional JavaScript, for example, and jump directly into a more "here is the code you write to make this happen" approach. Jonathan would expect us to understand what tools like Express or JSX or even built-in APIs were doing under the hood before we could use them. That way, when we did use one, it was a tool and not a crutch.

Now that I have finished the program and I have a moment to look back and consider the difference between where I started and where I am now and the things I can build now that I couldn't four months ago, I can wholeheartedly recommend the DigitalCrafts fulltime immersive program. 

If you're ready to work hard and to push through some tough times, you'll come out a much better programmer and maybe even a better person on the other end.

I took the full stack immersive program at DigitalCrafts. Before signing up, I contemplated doing the journey on my own and using online free resources. Now that I've completed the program, I'm really glad that I didn't. The support of the DigitalCrafts community was amazing. The students you interact with are all so intelligent, driven and interesting. You form bonds through your shared struggle and encourage each other. It really helped me get through. There is an instructor and TA's according to class size. All of these individuals are so smart and helpful. The course moves really fast. That seems like it should go without saying but there is not way in hell I would have learned this much on my own in this time. This course keeps you moving, keeps you in motion, and the community keeps your motivation going. All together, it's having this community that really makes it worthwhile.

The flex program is way, WAY overpriced. There is value, sure, but it’s not even close to worth the price tag. Sorry, I posted anon. I knew I would get hassled to take it down if I put my name. My breakdown after finishing:

Positives:

1. You will learn… something.
2. The remote option is convenient and usually well done
3. You don’t have to quit your job

Negatives:

1. The classes are fragmented because you never know who’s going to teach
2. Unlike the full-time classes (or so I’ve heard), there is almost no support from other students because people don’t show up or have their own thing going
3. Wherever you are at, the class will go too fast or too slow (this was universal)
4. The final projects were mostly duds.

These criticisms are common of any flexible or online learning, but online learning doesn’t cost 5-figures. This does. When you finish, you won’t be poised to make any kind of career change. REPEAT: You aren’t going to be able to get a different job at the end. You’ll have enough knowledge to feel like you deserve more at your job, but not enough to actually get more. Like I said, it has value, but not enough.

What do you really get? You get code academy with accountability. That’s not worth 10 grand.

The one piece of advice I constantly give to prospective students is to be prepared! I don’t recommend going into such an intense and expensive program as a total noob. 

The course is very intense and fast paced. In my experience, it was pretty much up to you to make sure you had all the material down. Every day consisted of a lecture and lab time for completing assignments. The instructor was present and available to answer questions, which is one of the most valuable parts of the program. I expected the instructor to be a little more involved but never felt uncomfortable asking even the smallest question. 

 The second most valuable part was interacting with students. Studying on your own can be intimidating, lonely and sometimes confusing since you don’t know how you measure up with other beginners. Group projects and collaborations were extremely helpful! 

Overall, I am happy with my experience at digitalcrafts. I learned many different subjects, even if I didn’t end up being an expert by the end. It will always be up to you to continue building your skills once you’re on the path. 

My advice would be to begin working on your portfolio and resume earlier than the curriculum let’s you! Also, Udemy 10 dollar sales are your friend. 

DigitalCrafts was a fantastic experience from the get go. One of the things I liked the most about them was their communication and transparency. From the moment I applied, Jason (Campus Director) was always very accesible to answer questions and quick to respond to my phone calls or emails. I also liked how upfront he was about the program. I never felt like he was sugar coating or overselling anything about it, or that he was looking to just "fill seats". There was a genuine effort to screen potential students out that were not the correct fit, and find ones that understood the most important thing about this or any bootcamp. You will only get out of it what you put in, and because of that my class was filled with like minded and hard working students, which was just as invaluable as anything else DigitalCrafts offered.          

I admittedly went to a bootcamp for different reasons than most, and it showed. I was a good deal younger than the others in my cohort and felt the distance. Despite this, however, I felt as if I learned a good deal and got what I came for. This bootcamp is good for those who need a push in the right direction. It's a great leaping off point to further your own learning and/or get a job. If you're tremendously independent, you probably don't need a bootcamp in general, but if you need help finding motivation or need a jumping off point from which to learn, DigitalCrafts is flexible and very well suited to meet your needs.

Overall experience and feeling:

Before Joining DigitalCrafts, I had a job in a different field. It's a  big decision to  quit the job and join DigitalCrafts. I really hesitated and worried for a long time. But I started feeling good and confident slowly along with the learning and practicing. 

I joined the DigitalCrafts with a purpose of sharpening my coding skills and preparing myself for my interested direction in the computer science field. My objective is achieved, and I can confidently say that I am at intermediate level with Python programming now. 

I got a job offer before graduation, but declined for a personal reason  thanks to the network of DigitalCrafts.   But because of what I learned, I am having a few interviews lined up. I am happy about my decision now. 

Instructor:  

Azam was our instructor, he is patient and knowledgable and experienced. I learned a lot from him. 

Staff:

Jason, Jake and other staff are really nice and provided  great career support including getting potential employers, writing resume, preparing portfolio.   

Curriculum:

I like the curriculum, Python and Javascript were taught in the camp, and JavaScript practice is heavier.  Because my personal interest is a little different (data science/machine learning), I spent extra time on Python personally. 

A lot of people ask, "Why go to code school? All of this information is available online, there are so many great tutorials… Why spend all this time and money just to learn content that’s all available online?”

Based off of this logic, you could learn rocket science online too.

One of the most invaluable parts of attending DigitalCrafts was not learning the content itself. It’s true. You can find all this stuff online in tutorials, documentation, videos, walkthroughs, etc. What you will not find is the community and atmosphere of learning that you enter into every single hour of every single day; you and the others in your cohort will be in an environment that encourages learning and discovery - every single hour of every single day. You will have access to a wizard of an instructor that can help you debug your code - every single hour of every single day.

You can see where I’m going with this. When you attend DigitalCrafts, you’re not paying for content to be shoved into your brain; you can get that anywhere. You’re giving yourself access to a learning environment like no other. Every day for four months, you will be immersed in an environment that allows you to stretch your technological and creative brain muscles, where there is no hindrance of other distractions or subject matters. For all intents and purposes, your job while attending the course is to learn how to code. How awesome is that?!?

This brings me to my next point - The greatest thing you learn in DigitalCrafts is not the stuff you’re learning; it’s learning how to learn effectively in a fast-paced, constantly evolving atmosphere. With many software development/engineering jobs, employers aren’t necessarily looking for someone who knows every single technology the project uses. They’re looking for someone who can learn. At DigitalCrafts, this process and ideology is instilled in students from the get-go.

Now, I know I said it’s not about the content, but, let’s be real, it does matter, and the DigitalCrafts staff have done their homework in that regard. The curriculum is relevant and on top of trends, but also provides the foundations needed to understand how the latest and greatest technologies work.

I will be honest - if you’re not 100% invested or are not interested in software development, don’t take the course. It won’t magically change your view or interest. But if you do have an innate desire to learn, a fascination with technology, and are willing to put in A LOT of hours of learning, debugging, and coffee, this course is for you. And if this course is for you, don’t think twice!