Blaizing Academy

I finished Coding Foundations today and it has been wonderful, hard, at times a depressing and rewarding experience. I had a really great cohort and met some amazing people in this program. We did have our first teacher leave halfway through the program, which threw some of us off a little as they were an amazing teacher and then we had to switch to a completely new teaching style. Our new teacher was knowledgeable and a little faster paced than our previous one. I was fine with the fast pace because it works for me, so I enjoyed him as a teacher overall. We did some great projects and work together. 

Financing wise was the hardest for me being an out of state remote student which is why I cannot continue to Immersions (Software Development) unfortunately. If you are an out of state student just be mindful or have the full tuition prepared because you cannot get the school's deferred tuition or other help if you cannot get a loan for both halves of the program. As the program is split into two parts (Coding Foundations and Software Development) you can be approved for a Climb loan for the first half and not approved for the second, leaving you with no certification or job assistance and a loan to pay back. If you're in state they have many options and resources available to help you. 

In the end it was a rewarding experience and I learning a lot. I am grateful for this experience and I'm excited to continue my journey on a slightly different path than I intended! We had some student services employees taking the class with us and they are phenomenal people so I know students are in good hands when entering immersions and beyond! Thank you to everyone who put up with my silliness you are the best. I may have to visit Indiana someday because you guys represented so well!

I was a student in the full-time cybersecurity program. It was highly intense, and extremely fast paced. You have to learn how to learn quickly, and place priority on classes. For the full-time classes, it may not be possible at all to work while taking these classes, it's that intense. You have to be fully mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared to invest everything possible, but it is possible. I had amazing support from instructors, amazing classmates, and awesome support from career services after graduation. Earned my CompTIA Network+ and Security+, and lots of amazing hands-on training and practice. I job hunted for about 6-8 weeks after graduation and ended up getting an amazing position directly from a suggested listing that I got thru their career services department. You won't necessarily have a job right out the gate, but keep applying, and take any networking opportunities thru the school that you can. They help immensely! I went from working landscaping and customer service jobs, to working on IT and Cybersecurity roles for a major international open wheel racing team. This was less than 6 months after looking at the website and thinking "This might be kind of cool" and requesting more info on applying to attend. Never in a million years would I have thought this was possible. It's not a do all end all tech education. They don't mean or intend it to be. But what it does do, is get you far enough ahead and trained, to get you into a role where you can grow and thrive. Everyone's experience may be different, but for me, it literally changed my life, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

EFA was a total shock. I’ve been in a few bootcamps before, and they all were like “here’s the book, good luck.” EFA gives you a book and so many other tools. They also give a personal touch. Every Instructor is personally invested in you and your growth. You just don’t see that in other programs. It’s a fast pasted environment, but if you need it to slow down, your instructors make the time to help. The CompTIA information is out there, you can get that anywhere. The people make EFA! EFA saved me. Saved me from a life of complacency. EFA helped me grow as a person, as a techie. I have the ability to strive for goals that I didn’t know were possible for me. EFA has helped make a better life for my family. For that I will be forever grateful. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU EFA!

 I found out about EFA in the middle of 2021 when a lot of things were uncertain in this world. I had recently purchased a new home, adopted a wonderful dog, and was helping my family during a tough time involving cancer- so I already had a lot on my plate. I decided to go to EFA due to a need to change things as well as pivot to a new opportunity to help people.

EFA delivered in full. While I am not the best student, I had a drive to learn and a need to help others (as well as a need for a job, but I digress) that I was able to fully form into ideas and possibilities for my future I never thought possible. The instructors, the structure, the classmates, and the follow-up services with EFA have been amazing and I wouldn't be gladfully employed in the tech world now without their generosity, empathy, and compassion for getting people in jobs that they can see themselves thriving in.

Thank you for everything EFA, you are my superhero. 

Eleven Fifty Academy absolutely changed my life. I was a truck driver who hated trucking. I left trucking in October of 2020 to go through the EFA Cybersecurity course. The instructors were amazing, answering any and every question I could throw at them (and there were a lot of questions). They were knowledgeable and patient with me and helped me to become the Cybersecurity professional that I am today. When I left high school over 10 years ago now, I thought I was stupid and incapable of learning anything quickly. EFA showed me that that was not true at all. Not only did I excel at their courses, I then went on to pursue my Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity. I even managed to make it into a sort of Junior Pentesting position where I am able to learn and train on the job in order to become a full-on penetration tester. When I say that EFA changed my life, I mean I went from a job and a life that I hated to having a career that I love, more confidence in myself and my abilities than I have ever had, and a team of friends and now coworkers who are always willing to help me out with learning and continuing to grow.

I had a terrible experience and would not recommend the EFA online school.  I don't know anything about the in-person school, but I have heard some of the on-line instructors have moved to in-person learning, so I would expect a similar experience there.  If you look at their instructor profiles on their website:  https://elevenfifty.org/about/our-team/ , they are all recent EFA grads with no experience in teaching or coding.  As far as the executive staff...ignore them, because they will most certainly ignore you.  One of the Senior Instructor's profile starts with "I attended EFA as a student with no coding background...then became an instructor with EFA."  The instructor for 2/3 of my school was not, and still is not listed on their website and looked like he was teaching from his mom's basement.  We were constantly dealing with barking dogs, crying kids and his computer issues.  My biggest complaint is that they don't provide you the material or the instruction to learn, they give you topics and you are expected to go out and find sources to learn.   They use a "watch me code" approach to teaching, but the instructors don't explain what they are doing, and the examples they use were made up and the "Apps" they created had no functionality.   During the entire bootcamp they never showed how to create and deploy a real webpage or app.  EFA works hard to get funding so your school will be free, and they treat you like a freeloader.  Only 4 of the original 30 students graduated, and each new section of our school was backfilled with people who failed out of previous classes.  The graduation and hire statistics on their websites are not accurate, not even close.  During my bootcamp there were 22 instructor led classes and 34 lab classes with no instruction, 2/3 of the 24 week school only had 8 instructor led classes, 4 hours each.  As far as a Portfolio...it was never mentioned again after the first section (1/3) of the school was completed, which only glossed over HTML, CSS and JavaScript.   After the Bootcamp the staff initially responded to my emailed questions, but never followed up with responses and I have never heard from them since.  Other students didn't even get a response at all.   The only job placement they help with is hiring learning assistants for EFA.   I purchased a Udemy React course from Academind and learned React in 3 weeks, save yourself a ton of frustration and bypass EFA, you'll end up buying a Udemy course anyway!  

I have attended EFA's Python course back in September of 2019. At that point, I was very skeptical of boot camps. I have done a large amount of research and landed between Flatiron or this. I'm glad that I stuck with EFA.

The best part about the academy comes from its instructors. At first, I was concerned that I will be taught by someone who graduated the Academy itself. My concerns quickly vanished when I realized the level of tech acumen the instructors held. Majority of them are prior graduates who have worked as engineers and decided to then teach others. The whole time you're here, you're surrounded by very smart and knowledgeable staff who cares deeply about your success. The curriculum is solid and ever improving. The technologies being taught are current and constantly updated to reflect what's desirable in the workforce. This results in me getting my first tech job in just two months out of school.

The foundations I have been taught also allowed me to quickly pick up additional languages and frameworks which were required of me on the job.

Highly recommend. My only regret is not doing it nowadays when their Finance team has so many wonderful options that can often cover your entire cost of tuition. Tremendous value.

This was a great experience for me. I transitioned from the real estate industry into tech and Eleven Fifty Academy was a great option to help prepare me. Beware, the curriculum is fast-paced as it packs a lot of knowledge is a short period of time! My instructor was a great teacher and was very knowledgeable. They even assisted me on some portions of my project that were outside of the scope for the class. The entire company is definitely focusing on continuous learning. I am know a Learning Assistant for EFA on top of landing another position as a software engineer! 

Eleven Fifty Academy's program is inclusive and excellently-taught. The instructors are extremely knowledgeable and, more than that, are committed to making connections and helping students succeed. Even in a remote environment, the teaching methods are effective. The curriculum is in tune with current technology trends, and students will leave these programs equipped with modern, in-demand skills to land a job in today's tech landscape.

I attended the Web Development bootcamp at 1150 Academy and had a truly life-changing experience. Not only did I get introduced to code, I quickly became immersed in it. I got the hands-on experience of a real world dev environment with the support and accountability that the professors at 1150 offered. The careers team was paramount in getting my current role. I was assigned a personal representative from the careers team that helped me with every step of the process.

Got to go FOR FREE because of the cares act! The whole staff and environment of Eleven Fifty was really great. If you put the work in these courses will definitely pay off. The career assistance did a really great job of reaching out to me and keeping me on track(which I appreciate because I'm the most unorganized person ever) The instructors are very sweet and encouraging + the weekly one on one meetings are nice. The TA's are very helpful and active, there are a lot of resources provided by them to get help when you need it outside of class. My only complaint for this course would be that I felt a bit unprepared to tackle technical interview questions, there was some material covering this however I did feel a bit lost trying to navigate more complex algorithms on my own.

I have worked in customer service and operations my entire career, zero coding experience.  I was skeptical I was going to be a coder, but with intense focus and determination this program delivered.  I worked full-time and have 2 children.  Even with my husband picking up nearly everything, there were still many late nights and a tear or two when I became overwhelmed.  The hardest part was finding the uninterrupted time for practice and assignments while trying to balance life. If I had it to do again, I would DEFINITELY go full-time!

This instructors and learning assistants were encouraging and supportive, they were truly committed to my success.  

I started the Software Development course in the peak of last years lockdown and I was definitely impressed with how seamlessly Eleven Fifty transitioned to offering online instruction. 

The instructors were very knowledgeable and helpful, and everyone was willing to put in work when a question was asked that they could not answer. 

This is an accelerated course, so you have to go into it with the drive and the willingness to work extremely hard, but this was one of the most rewarding experiences for me. I came in with zero coding experience and left with a specialization in .Net development and the confidence in those skills to look for an entry level coding position. 

After a fairly extensive background in IT (systems and networking), I felt the need to change course some and get into a new career path. I had always been interested in coding/programming/developing and had dabbled in it for years. When I first learned about Eleven Fifty Academy I was a little skeptical. After researching it some, I knew I had found an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. I took the full time course in software development and in three (3) months had learned enough to become readily employable and start in a great new career adventure. While you can learn this material from a number of places (and all over the web), one of the great benefits that Eleven Fifty Academy brings to the table is well-planned path to teach the main points of whatever course curriculum is chosen to get the student up-to-speed with what is needed to get a job and start a career. They also help guide and instruct on the skills needed to get a job, and, they teach you how to continue to learn on your own so you never stop learning.

Throughout my whole experience at Eleven Fifty, I felt that everyone was on my side and invested in my success. From the Learning Team, to the Student Success advisors, all the way through to Career Services, I always felt like they had my back. I also love that EFA is dedicated to helping the community and the individuals who are part of it. They've done amazing things for Indianapolis and it's so great to see their reach expanding to other parts of Indiana and beyond. So glad to have had this experience.

My personal experience was first trying to learn "code" on my own through online resources but falling short because I wasn't sure exactly what to research and the application that each language should be applied.  I decided I needed some guide-rails and chose EFA to produce this.  Not only was it an intense program, providing a ton of information, project-based challenges, but it was also clear that the learning team truly cared about the success of their students.
The biggest take-away that I came out of the program was the ability not only to understand the fundamentals of JavaScript, React, and Nodejs; but how to really research and practice building.  Since I've gone through the program, I've seen how the program has not only changed, always taking past experiences and building a better system with it, but track for even more improvement coming.

This is sincerely the best tech bootcamp.  The instructors care and value the success of their students.  The curriculum was up-to-date and prepared me to be career ready.  The Career Services are amazing and help prepare you for interviews and a professional presence, as well as help you to land interviews and a job.  It was an overall amazing experience and I doubt there is a better school out there.

I was extremely impressed with everything that 1150 had to offer and brought to the table. I originally went into this course with zero knowledge of software development. Now I've been a developer for the past 2 years and one of the first in my company to be hired on full time without having a college degree. Now applications for my company say "A college degree, or a trade school equivalent". Simply put, Eleven Fifty Academy works and gives you all the tools you need to be successful. But in the end, it will come up to YOUR personal drive and commitment to making your dream come true.

I cannot say enough about my time at Eleven Fifty Academy. I went in with almost ZERO programming experience and ended being able to write a complete program from beginning to end. The EFA instructor team is amazing! Everyone was always very available for questions and gave effective feedback when needed.
 
But it's one thing to learn programming, it's a totally other  hurdle in getting a job after graduation. The Career Services team is stacked with total pros in the business and are motivated to help each student with their goals after graduation. They want you to get a job just as much as you do! That may seem like an exaggeration, but it's not! They are the best! They are accessible and respond to you super quickly and are always up for a zoom meeting to help you feel confident in entering the workforce. 

Looking back now after having gotten a job as a developer, I see the fruits of the way the curriculum is set up. It sets you up to learn in-demand, job-ready skills. It was really crucial to go into my first meeting already knowing exactly what's expected of me and feeling confident that I can do it.    

Eleven Fifty Academy doesn't only teach you the coding skills needed to land a job in tech. They also teach you the soft skills needed to succeed in a your future role. From how to build a resume, to how to properly google an error to find a relevant solution, to how to work on an AGILE team and nail an interview. You will also learn your language and tech stack with hands on experience from day one, taught by knowledgeable instructors and staff, applying solutions that apply in the real world. Combine all of that with an excellent career services and alumni support system and you've got a combination that will lead you to success in your new career in tech. 

I was working a job where my skills had expired and I knew if I ever wanted to do something new it would require some new skill set. Eleven Fifty was the perfect choice with their part time schedule for someone like myself that needed to continue to work. I was enrolled in the Cyber 24 week program and through the knowledgeable instructors and design of the program, I was able to get the foundational skills necessary to land me a job. The career services team work with you to strengthen your resume and help connect you with someone so you don’t just end up in a pile of resumes. I will say as a bootcamp the learning is fast! But with determination and commitment it is very possible to succeed. 

Before joining Eleven Fifty Academy for their part time Web Development program I was working in the world of Television Broadcasting.  This job industry like others is becoming a victim of downsizing to cut costs. While witnessing this trend I decided to enroll in something that could change my future.

I heard about Eleven Fifty Academy online via random Facebook ads and have looked for free options as well as the price tag was the only factor that was keeping me back from applying. My previous college experience had me hesitant towards inheriting more student debt.  I enrolled just before the Cares Act funding was beginning and due to a delay I was able to take advantage of the massive discount. With a big financial burden lifted I could finally go ahead and dive into the world of tech.

Right away I realized this wouldn't be a walk in the the park as you are thrown into a world where simple typos and the wrong character could leave you in sheer panic and frustration for hours. That's until the great teaching staff at Eleven Fifty Academy throw you a life saver and guide to you to stay afloat. I can't say enough about the great structure the class had from working through the key fundamentals then before you know it you are working on your own projects. There were several moments of utter exhaustion that wanted me to quit and made a me feel like I couldn't do it. The learning assistants and teachers were always there to guide you to get you back on track. 

If you are considering this course or any other course at Eleven Fifty Academy I would recommend setting up a quiet place where you can focus and also use any means necessary to manage your time. Time management was was nemesis in my college years and it slowly crept into my teaching here. Also make yourself code something or do challenges everyday to keep yourself involved in this new world as much as possible.

But as the title suggests it was a great experience where I met some new allies that will help me along the way to getting my feet wet in the world of tech. Always remember you aren't alone even after graduation with friends and collogues always ready to throw in a life saver to keep you afloat.     

I attended the JavaScript bootcamp as a student and then was hired to part-time teach the next year. I can say these people are extremely devoted to what they're doing and truly know what they're talking about; seriously, they're exactly the type of individuals I want to be learning from and working alongside the rest of my career. I came in knowing more than most people do but I've learned so much and I credit that completely  to the staff and the environment they create for the students (as well as the faculty). You can really flourish here.

I took a course teaching iOS app development using Swift back when Eleven Fifty was just starting (Fall 2014).  I'm sure they have changed and improved a lot in the past six years, but I will speak a bit about my experience.  The philosophy is very much about immersive coding.  The days were long hours of learning and working on code projects, but at the end of the week, I felt my aptitude was at another level.

It's been six years since I've taken that class.  I haven't done much with mobile development, but I was able to apply the learning philosophy to learn Python and C++ effectively and efficiently in the same way that Eleven Fifty taught with swift.  To speak to the power of this learning approach, I start at one of the "Big Four" tech companies next week!  I am very grateful for the opportunities that have opened up with programming, and attribute much of that success to Eleven Fifty and their immersion philosophy.

One of the best decisions of my life was attending EFA. Went from no coding experience to my first job as a Jr. Software Engineer in less than 6 months making almost double what I made previously. It's a fast paced program and you really need to spend every moment of it that you possibly can learning but it is well worth it. The staff and corses are incredible and easy to follow if you put in the effort. Can't think of a better experience in my life than EFA, and proud to have been a student!

I decided on EFA after comparing them to Hack Reactor and App Academy because I thought they had the most caring people, and thankfully I was right. The instructors were extremely helpful because although they help up a standard, they were flexible as long as you were trying your hardest. I put in as many hours as I could put in and in return I succeeded and got a job 4 weeks before graduating. Career services will tell you exactly what to do and and how to do it in order to get a job. If you are able to do it and follow a plan, I don't think there's a way to mess it up. Also, the curriculum is good(4/5) but for learning .NET they definitely are the top place to be. Many schools only focus on javascript or a language specific to their area, but I liked how they had a well rounded full stack curriculum using a technology from one of the biggest companies on earth. Overall, I thought EFA is a school that is innovative in their teaching methods and that coupled with caring and useful instructors they provide one of the best pathways to success as a software developer. 

 I was in the second cohort for the cybersecurity course. With that being said it was very well put together and presented. The Staff are true subject matter experts. They not only know the material that they teach, they have real world experience doing it. The course is far from easy, and it will challenge you. If you're looking to make a change in your life and get into cybersecurity, I would highly recommend this course 

I am very happy with my decision to change careers and thank Eleven Fifty for all their help along the way. One of the most important lessons I've learned from them is no matter how long you are doing something the technology will change and you will have to learn a different and hopefully better way of doing whatever it is you do. I've transitioned from .NET to Java to a couple of different content management systems to JavaScript. I continue to use what they taught me every day to continue on my path to becoming a better software developer. Bottom line I took a big chance 3 years ago but things are so much better now and I couldn't be happier.

1150 Academy has changed my life. I owe them my career transition as a factory worker into technology. Some things you must know is: it's not easy, you must come into the academy fully committed, coding is not for everyone, if you do everything that is asked of you to the best of your ability there is no way you can't succeed. Any negative reviews that you see are more than likely prior students who didn't do what was asked or did not give their full effort. The one thing i disliked was that career services didn't help much after graduation. Its entirely up to you to go to meetups and make connections. I put in 50 applications before I got a job. I currently work at Agilify Automation and owe that to 1150 Academy. I was not the best coder but I was definitely one of the most determined. Attending the .NET cohort at 1150 Academy November of 2018 was the best decision I've ever made. It truly changed my life. 

I have a tendency to be verbose so I'll try to keep this somewhat brief- just rest assured that the topic of my recent career transition is one I could gush about nearly endlessly.

I was interested in pursuing coding for a few years before attending Eleven Fifty, but thought I would have to put a lot of time and money into going back to school and getting a CS degree. The fact that I was able to break into the tech field in just twelve weeks? It feels like cheating, but I couldn't be happier with the results. I'm in an amazing career that speaks to both my interests and skillset, I'm with a great company that is extremely supportive of my continued learning, and I nearly doubled my salary over the course of a few months.

The experience was great, from the friendly staff devoted to our success up to the warm reception of the Indy tech community. The curriculum constantly evolves as the Academy figures out new ways to make the most out of the twelve weeks, and it is structured around learning how to learn. The tech industry is rapidly changing, there's no way they could cover everything that's out there, but the best way for them to equip their students is by helping to equip them to think like a programmer and be receptive to continuous learning. Which they do! I was in completely new territory when I started my current job, but I had the practice under my belt to be able to know how best to tackle the challenges that continue to present themselves.

I can't recommend this course enough, I would just make sure that any prospective students have the aptitude and interest before beginning. I took out a loan for the full amount of tuition, but felt secure in that commitment because I was certain it would be up my alley and I would be able to make it through. There are plenty of online resources to practice and get a good taste for programming before diving in!