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Epicodus is closed
This school is now closed. Although Epicodus is no longer accepting students or running its program, you can still see historical information and Epicodus alumni reviews on the school page.
Epicodus is a coding bootcamp offering part- and full-time courses online and in Portland, Oregon. Students learn everything they need to know to get a job as a web developer by learning JavaScript, C#, .NET, and React. More important than any particular skill, cohorts are taught how to think like a programmer, write good code, and pick up new languages and technologies in this fast-changing industry. Epicodus focuses on collaboration and inclusivity. Students work together in pairs and teams almost every day, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion approach is a core part of the program design.
Epicodus's courses also include job search preparation for students. Career advisors meet one-on-one with every student to review resumes and cover letters, practice interviewing, and even go over job applications in class. After completing the coursework, students are placed in hand-selected internships with tech companies at no extra cost, allowing them to begin their job search with coding experience already on their resumes.
I joined Epicodus based on their assertion that I could expect to come out knowing how to code and that I would start off making close to 80k a year. I had some very basic coding experience and I thought it would be a fun way to start a great career.
There is a lot to learn in just 5 months even though it's full time, Monday through Friday. But hard work pays off, right? Let's use an analogy that may or may not work: Ferraris are powerful. But they are only as fast as the rub...
I joined Epicodus based on their assertion that I could expect to come out knowing how to code and that I would start off making close to 80k a year. I had some very basic coding experience and I thought it would be a fun way to start a great career.
There is a lot to learn in just 5 months even though it's full time, Monday through Friday. But hard work pays off, right? Let's use an analogy that may or may not work: Ferraris are powerful. But they are only as fast as the rubber on the tires pushes the pavement. If you have bald tires on your Ferrari, you aren't going to get anywhere. An old Pirelli tire ad had the tagline 'power is nothing without traction', or something to that effect. Finally...the point:
Epicodus prides itself on pair programming. As others have mentioned, that can work when you and your partner just happen to be at the same level. But in the real world, you aren't. Many times someone who is struggling will be paired up with someone who has years of professional experience and wants to do things their way, quickly, without following the course material. That benefits neither student. The pairing usually falls somewhere between these two cases but is rarely beneficial when it's not the first one.
When pair programming at Epicodus, you as a student follow along with the curriculum which is openly and freely available at www.learnhowtoprogram.com. This is it. There is no special content available to paying students only. Check out some of the videos. If you have never seen a learn-to-program video, you might not think they are too bad. On the other hand, if you have worked through instructions on a top-notch site like www.teamtreehouse.com, you will quickly notice a few things. First, the instructions are clearly not pre-written so what you get is a highly-capable programmer showing you how he or she does things. I could watch Top Gun 10 times in a row but I'm not going to be able to fly an F-16 because of it. Incredibly important concepts are constantly glossed over. The production value is very low with constant "oopsies", background noise (are they really creating professional instructional videos at a coffee shop???), and inconsistent visual training methods (usually just a game of 'try to follow the cursor'). The videos are bad, okay? But at least they have a text version, right? Again, these text pages are written by excellent programmers who think like programmers...in disjointed blocks. Longer programs are never shown in whole, often contain glaring errors, and are not presented in any sort of obvious order. Students spend a significant chunk of time googling basic instructions. This should absolutely not be necessary in a paid program.
The program bites off more than it can chew. There are 4 modules of 4 weeks of instruction (plus a project week) with Fridays being reserved for, essentially, a test. So 4 days of instruction weekly. Each module is essentially a new language (with some overlap). Imagine trying to learn basic English in 4 weeks. You would have to learn sentence structure, basic vocabulary, word types and punctuation in 4 days. Not just be introduced to these huge topics, but know them enough that you build on them while adding new vocabulary and new rules every day. Now imagine if English had little to no room for error and you were being taught by reading a book that was written by someone who was an English major but had no teaching experience and you see what week 1 looks like. The second module had us learn the language in the weekend before class started and 5 days BEFORE we set our computers up to be able to use that language.
I always like to say that Epicodus is a great place to learn how to program if you already know how to program. The internship could be worth the price of admission but if you don't know how to program, it's not likely to pay off.
But say you do excel at teaching yourself massive amounts of concepts and rules and come through the tunnel as a great programmer, ready to take on the world and start a great career. Remember supply and demand. 5 years ago, before 'coding bootcamp' was a thing, there was a lot of demand for programmers. Therefore, the pay was impressive. Now camps are everywhere. There are already 2 Epicodus' and they are planning on opening many more in the near future. This site shows that within a half year of finishing this program, only 56% of graduates are employed full time doing what they went through the camp to do. The school even admits that you won't come out as a professional, yet you will be vying for jobs with ever-decreasing rewards against experienced professionals who are willing to accept ever-decreasing pay. The market is already flooded and Epicodus is actively working to create more supply.
None of this means that you shouldn't pursue a career in IT. It is still a great field. But I would not suggest committing a lot of time or money for a bootcamp if even its successful completion is your main qualification for landing a decent job.
Before joining Epicodus, I made a market research about coding bootcamps in Seattle area, and Epicodus was one of the best options on the market with affordable pricing for 27-week intensive program, curriculum including front-end and back-end technologies as well as the opportunity to have internship experience after the course.
In Epicodus, I went from basic knowledge in programming to being able to write code in such widely used languages as C# and JavaScript. And by the end o...
Before joining Epicodus, I made a market research about coding bootcamps in Seattle area, and Epicodus was one of the best options on the market with affordable pricing for 27-week intensive program, curriculum including front-end and back-end technologies as well as the opportunity to have internship experience after the course.
In Epicodus, I went from basic knowledge in programming to being able to write code in such widely used languages as C# and JavaScript. And by the end of the course I learned how to build complex web applications from the ground up using different programming tools. But most important, having 5 weeks of real world work experiences was worth the value of the course.
I would say that Epicodus is great start for prospective developers and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a career in tech industry.
I started Epicodus with a goal of learning enough about coding to create opportunities to change my career. Naturally, changing a career means that I need to know enough to get a job doing this. I can say upfront that Epicodus helped me accomplish that goal. I graduated from Epicodus in June of 2019 after having completed an internship and the company with which I did the internship offered me a position within the next few months.
I was brand new to coding when I started at Epic...
I started Epicodus with a goal of learning enough about coding to create opportunities to change my career. Naturally, changing a career means that I need to know enough to get a job doing this. I can say upfront that Epicodus helped me accomplish that goal. I graduated from Epicodus in June of 2019 after having completed an internship and the company with which I did the internship offered me a position within the next few months.
I was brand new to coding when I started at Epicodus. I had never worked in the IT industry. The majority of my career I spent in the medical industry. Like other students with no coding experience, I found the subject of programming to be extremely challenging with plenty of days full of confusion. In fact, I had thoughts at multiple points that I wasn’t going to be able to do this. However, I am proof that having the right educational opportunity and support system as Epicodus provided makes it possible.
I really enjoyed the learning environment and especially that it was onsite. It’s very helpful to have the support of others around you who are going through the same learning curve and the same challenges. Epicodus structured our program by having us work directly with others in a project-based learning environment and this naturally encouraged the formation of relationships that were important for me to make it through this program. The pair programming was often very helpful because there are people with varying degrees of experience and this enabled those of us with less experience to learn from them. Additionally, I thought it was helpful learning to work in real-life scenarios where we as people sometimes agree and sometimes don’t. It definitely helped me learn how to get the work done regardless of the difference in perspectives and to deliver on time. I also really enjoyed the support of the instructors. They were very friendly and encouraging at all times. This goes a long way when you are having a rough day learning to code. They had enough experience to help get me on the right track when I got lost.
Throughout the week there were other real-world skills that we were learning including how to work with source control (Git), how to conduct a scrum stand-up and practice solving algorithms on a whiteboard. I needed to know something about all of these aspects in the various interviews I had. There are times when I would have liked a little more one-on-one coaching but there was a silver lining to that. I was increasingly getting used to the idea of relying on myself to find the answers. Each day as I go to work now, I find that the ability to seek out and find the answers yourself is a crucial skill to do this for a living.
After I graduated, I had no shortage of interview opportunities around the Seattle area. I applied to just about everything even when I wasn’t sure I was qualified for it. Epicodus helped me polish my resume and my LinkedIn as part of their career support. This was especially helpful since I was new to IT.
All said and done, Epicodus was a great value especially for the price and I would recommend this school to others who are looking to get their foot in the door. Key things that you need to know before you start this is that determination and grit are the most important things. There will be days when you are sure that this is too hard for you. It will be much easier to quit. The important thing to understand is that you only need to survive. You will learn enough to open doors if you don’t quit. If you’ve never done coding before, expect it will likely be the most challenging educational curriculum of your life. When you get your first job, it will feel worth it. And I want to say it’s very nice to make the most money I’ve ever made while having a career that allows me to be creative on a daily basis. I really appreciate the opportunity that Epicodus created for me.
Employed in-field | 58.8% |
Full-time employee | 44.1% |
Full-time apprenticeship, internship or contract position | 8.8% |
Short-term contract, part-time, or freelance | 5.9% |
Started a new company or venture after graduation | 0.0% |
Not seeking in-field employment | 2.9% |
Employed out-of-field | 0.0% |
Continuing to higher education | 2.9% |
Not seeking a job for health, family, or personal reasons | 0.0% |
Still seeking job in-field | 17.6% |
Could not contact | 20.6% |
How much does Epicodus cost?
Epicodus costs around $8,700. On the lower end, some Epicodus courses like Intro to Programming (Part-Time) cost $100.
What courses does Epicodus teach?
Epicodus offers courses like C# and React, C# and React (Part-Time), Intro to Programming (Part-Time).
Where does Epicodus have campuses?
Epicodus has in-person campuses in Portland and Seattle. Epicodus also has a remote classroom so students can learn online.
Is Epicodus worth it?
The data says yes! In 2019, Epicodus reported a 72% graduation rate, a median salary of $75,000, and 59% of Epicodus alumni are employed. Epicodus hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 181 Epicodus alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Epicodus on Course Report - you should start there!
Is Epicodus legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 181 Epicodus alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Epicodus and rate their overall experience a 4.68 out of 5.
Does Epicodus offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like Epicodus offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read Epicodus reviews?
You can read 181 reviews of Epicodus on Course Report! Epicodus alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Epicodus and rate their overall experience a 4.68 out of 5.
Is Epicodus accredited?
Epicodus is licensed by the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission and Washington Workforce Board.
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