Flatiron School

I'm currently 60% through the prework at Flatiron Coding Bootcamp. My experience has been very positive so far. The prep work is really intensive and I'm learning a lot. The lessons are well structured with plenty of hand-on coding exercises to help solidify new info. Flatiron has a proprietary online learning platform called Learn.co that students have to use for the prep work. I find it extremely user friendly, and it makes online learning much more structured. I was able to easily follow the step-by-step instructions to setup my local development enviroment to work on the lessons. The lessons are then submitted to github. All lessons are checked for successful completion through Learn.co before they are checked off as completed.

I'm very impressed with Flatiron online learning platform so far. This is also one of the reasons why I chose Flatiron over other bootcamps. I'm looking forward to attending class in July 16, 2018!!!!

I completed Flatiron's online bootcamp prep course to see if coding was for me - and I loved it! 

The course gives a fantastic introduction to Ruby and Javascript, with just the right mix of hand-holding as concepts are introduced, followed by challenges which require you to put what you've just learn to the test. I learnt a lot in a short space of time, and found it very rewarding. The online environment in which you code is easy to use, but advanced enough to allow you to think about the file structure of coding projects as well as the sort of command line interface you might use in the real world to manage your project.

As a result of the course I'm going on to study in-person in London for the software immersive course, and throughout the admissions process everyone I've spoken to has been friendly, quick to help, and passionate about what they do - I'm now very excited to start the next course!

Great for beginners who want to get into the field or developers with some knowledge but want to get to the next level.

The Flatiron Bootcamp sets you up for success with the help of a great team of teachers, TAs and a well structured learning program.

Over the course of 15 weeks, Flatiron teaches you the fundamentals of learning how to build the back end (Ruby on Rails) and front end (Javascript/React/Redux) of an application. Each section is broken up into 5 modules (3 weeks each). The first two weeks of each module includes a lot of labs, pair programming and smaller projects to get you accustomed to the new material. The final week of each mod allows you the freedom to build and showcase your newly found skills by buidling a small project. The last module is a fullstack project that you have full control over and can build whatever you like.

After you graduate, Flatiron connects you with a coach to help with all the things that are not code related. You will get weekly meetings to prepare you for the job search, interviews, and the paper work such as resumes/cover letters.

I highly recommend attending Flatiron. It has helped me in my career and it may help you as well! 

The bootcamp prep course was my first official lessons I took in programming. I've done self teaching a bit and the structure and clarity of the bootcamp helped expedite learning and retention. I would recommend this to anyone interested in seeing if programming is something they'd like to explore, whether it is for fun or for a potential career change. I worked through the prep course for my admissions process into the In-Person Software Engineering Immersive in NYC. It definitely helps set you up for being ready for the prework if you are accepted into the program. Overall, it's a well-made online prep course with clear explainations and a smooth guide to learning.

Flatiron School's data science prep course is a fantastic tool for anyone considering starting a career in the field. The course starts with python basics, and then covers simple plotting tools and machine learning algorithms. I found the prep to be particularly useful for putting techniques into practice after I had learned them in books. There is a very vibrant community around the school and help is easy to get from various slack channels as well as the online platform. Perhaps most importantly it is FREE, and has far more content than similar free offerings at dataquest for example.

The bootcamp prep course was challenging, but I feel it gave me a -real- glimpse of coding. "Coding is hard", and in the past I've felt that other bootcamps have held my hand enough to make it seem easier, but is that realistic in a job scenario?  Flatiron's bootcamp prep quickly gets to the point and teaches you great skills. I feel much more qualified in my pursuit of being a coder by just having completed their bootcamp. The support offered with the bootcamp is fantastic. They're available (almost) all hours of the day and respond generally within seconds of you posting a question.

I'm honored to say I'll be attending the software immersive program in a few weeks. The interview process is thorough and compared to other schools I interviewed with, they really make sure you are serious about this. They want to see demonstrated dedication and passion. Everyone I spoke with throughout the process was incredibly kind and helpful. I can't say enough about their kind, friendly, open & helpful demeanors!

Honestly I'm having so much fun going through this bootcamp prep course, that I feel like it's a disservice to call it a bootcamp or even a course. The material is challenging, but really engaging. I think I completed like 100+ lessons within a week, yeah I'm pretty hooked. If you find yourself stuck on a problem for too long, there's a robust community and easy-to-use platform to ask for help. Overall, out of all the prep courses that I've tried, this is probably by far one of the best ones. I hope the in-campus course is even better.

Best decision I ever made was completing the in-person program.

I freelanced as a web designer/developer for several years, and I hit a plateau on what I could learn online. I interviewed for full-time dev jobs and faced rejection after rejection. Everyone said my foundation was solid but I didn't have enough experience.

This was the closest thing to on-the-job training I could find. From Day 1 I was surprised to discover how little I knew about programming after all the Udemy-type courses I completed. Flatiron School exposed and then filled in the gaps.

Talking about code all day with other people of varying skill levels brought me from codealong/copy-and-paste type of programming to actual understanding and fluency. I learned how to learn about coding, which is a skill unto itself.

At Flatiron School I got experience working with other developers and reasoning about code. They taught us how to think like programmers, and then they provided effective resources for actually landing a job.

In my post-Flatiron job search I managed to completely avoid the soul-crushing trap of submitting resumes into the nether-world of online portals. They got me comfortable going to developer meetups, which quickly led to interviews and then offers. It wasn't immediate, but it was swift.

Oh oh oh- and on the job I accepted, their counter-offer was more than I asked for. Can't make that up. I'd say that probably symbolizes my entire Flatiron School experience.

The first significant thing that struck me while taking the Data Science Bootcamp Prep course was the way the instructor broke down complex subjects into their component parts and explained them in layman's terms. This, in my opinion, shows true mastery of the subject matter.

The second was the confidence and spark it gave me to approach and learn new things. When I began to understand topics I had previously found difficult to comprehend, I realized that with the right approach anything can be learned. This brings about a whole new outlook on life is my most valuable takeaway from my experience.

For anyone still on the fence about taking Flatiron's courses, I recommend diving right in. It is an awesome experience.

Though the lessons vary in quality, I was very happy overall with my Flatiron School experience. I got good value out of both the Bootcamp Prep and the Online Full Stack Web Developer course: with just my scholarship and a whole year of free WeWork hot desk membership, I actually came out ahead financially. Add on top of that the enormous value Flatiron School provides in terms of career coaching and, most importantly, training in how to work as a software engineer (it's not just about coding! It's also about learning how to talk about code, collaborate with others, decipher documentation, etc.).

OUTCOMES

I was able to land a job just a month after graduating - delayed only by the month-long vacation I took to celebrate my graduation.

Plus, Flatiron provides you with great resources post-graduation too. Graduates get free access to all their curriculums forever, not just the one you enrolled in. I now have access to courses on algorithms, mobile development, Java, node.js, and the ever-evolving curriculum on full stack web development.

CAVEATS

Note, however, that passing each Flatiron lab doesn't guarantee a job. Flatiron School is just the beginning of a lifelong journey of mastery. It's important to go beyond your current curriculum: do more than the bare minimum on final projects, learn about algorithms, learn about deployment, and to keep working on outside projects to practice coding, learn new techniques, and hone your problem-solving skills. Meet people who are already software engineers and ask them questions - sometimes the documentation for an API or library are wrong, leave out too much context, or just aren't written clearly.

Another way to put it is: you get what you put in. Flatiron provides resources, but as an online student with no one watching over you, you need to be self-motivated enough to actually use them and ask questions. The instructors available to chat online or through study groups and web conferences are all knowledgeable and friendly, but you have to reach out to them. They can't read your mind to know how they can help you.

COST

Of all the bootcamps I checkout out on Coursereport and Switchup, Flatiron seemed like it would provide the best bang for the buck. Caveat: I was awarded a scholarship that halved my tuition, drastically undercutting any of the other bootcamps I looked at, even if I qualified for any of their measly scholarships. I also preferred Flatiron's upfront monthly payments instead of what other school do, which is to let you pay nothing while you're in school but then give up 10-20% of your first 1-2 years' salary when you get a job. Yeesh. With the salaries I see in the SF Bay Area, it was cheaper for me to pay a max of 12 x $1500 (I was only going to give myself a year to finish) instead of losing 10-20% of what I expected to be a 90k average annual salary for the first 2 years of my career.

PEDAGOGY

I thought the amount of structure was just right. The lessons were modular so I could work around my full-time job and other obligations, yet regular check-ins, engagement strategies (like the "you're on a 10-day hot streak" notice on your dashboard), and of course, the pain of monthly tuition payments, kept me committed to finishing the course as fast as possible.

Some of the lessons can be cryptic - particularly the ones on React, Redux, and Closures in Javascript. But maybe that was intentional? After all, they want you to learn to use the docs - something you'll be doing a lot on the job (even the senior engineers still do it). Anyhow, I ended up doing some Codecademy lessons on React to help me get through the React section. Sometimes I just need to hear the same thing said a different way in order to really get it. 

As for their career prep, I loved my coach Shari! She was so friendly, compassionate, yet brutally honest like a good friend. She gave me just the kind of feedback I needed to polish my resume and perform better in my interviews. No one's ever told me what I could improve during interviews - HR never seems to never have time to explain why you were rejected. It was refreshing to finally get a thorough review from an HR pro with decades of experience.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I recommend Flatiron School to anyone that is...

1) looking to learn programming

2) and does not give up easily

3) but needs a little bit of structure to stay focused

4) and has saved up some money to invest in themselves

As with many other people, I had poked through a number of bootcamp preps, both in person and online, and gleaned useful knowledge from most of them, but none had the conversational tone and easy explication that Flatiron's Bootcamp Prep did.

Often times in other programs, I was told the how, but not the why, or introduced to concepts beyond my knowledge that were never given a context I could apply, but the Bootcamp Prep explicitly told me when it was mentioning ideas that would be important to know, but not of concern in this moment. This kind of transparency was incredibly useful to me; as sometimes I think it is hard for well-versed teachers to remember how little they might have once known and to explain in the bare boned way that might be necessary for a beginner.

I would recommend Bootcamp Prep to anyone looking for an approachable environment to learn, even if to simply try coding; there's no obfuscation or mystification, just pragmatic and helpful readmes and labs with readily available help should you need it.