Hack Reactor

I'm apart of the HR part time program and my experience to say the least is disappointing. the first half of the program is pair programming which you are matched with a random pair weekly who most often is "too busy" to pair with you, prefers to work solo or is flat out working ahead of you. When you reach out to address the issue of pairing, you will be told that it's normal and everyone seems to be having an issue with pairing and that staff will try to be more mindful of pairing. I mean come on its a part time program and within the first 3 weeks the structure of the program was clear so if you choose to stay, you should be able to follow the guidelines! How can you be set up for success when the first half of the program you are dependent on a partner that has anti pairing behaviors? However, If YOU work ahead and leave your partner behind, you will be reprimanded for it surprisingly. At this point because it continues to happen, I'm not sure ALL students who do this get reprimanded if you get what I am hinting at. That's not to say you won't meet some great people here. There are always diamonds in the rough. The curriculum needs a lot of work, and honestly some of it comes off as culturally insensitive. Hiring outside POC isn't going to change that, the curriculum needs a whole reboot. Some of videos is full of what they explain as "Bro-y" language but really the lecturer is an insensitive douche. In one of the videos the lecturer actually told a student they hadn't bothered to remember their name. WOW! The class was told they forgot to cut that part out. YIKES. Considering the cost of the program on top of my current experience only a few months in, I wouldn't recommend HR to anyone else to spend almost 20,000 on this bs. You would legit only be paying for the network. 

I wanted to go to hack reactor as soon as I failed the entrance test to enroll in their program. I had applied to other programs before, and after their tests they would only tell me I failed. They wouldn't give me any feedback - but hack reactor did. Hack reactor told me I almost passed - and they offered me tutoring before the next entrance exam. I met up with someone through zoom who helped me practice until the next test (at NO cost) - and I passed. I started going to the NYC campus. Due to COVID we were zoom only, but that didn't matter. My teachers, tutors, and classmates were the most amazing people. My teachers were smart, helpful, and truly just wanted us to succeed. The lectures were spectacular. My classmates were friendly, supportive, down to pair program whenever. We felt like family. I never thought I could get this close to a group of strangers, especially through zoom but it happened - I'm friends with most of them today.When it came to career search I had a lot of support, and a career manager to guide me. It was a great experiance and made it easier for me to find employment. I love Hack Reactor and what they did for me. However, I will say - they changed their model. They now do regional classes with ~70 students. More tutors (around 15) and less teachers (about 5-7 mentors). It's less personal, less support (you have to actively seek it out). I don't think it's the same. It's much more autonomous - you will get the education you seek.

I was sooo enthusiastic and super happy to go to workshops and open houses, working on javascript and to hear such goods results of these bootcamps until I had my experience and I would say - never again! 
Starting from those events, the word from bootcamp staff was always: 'You fail only for behavior', up until you start the immersive.
I was part of oct 2020 cohort and I have to say, it's been very exhausting, starting from the pre course and along the way there is not really a way to gauge if you should remain or you'll be given a second chance. The residents / seniors were encouraging to stay saying that everyone is very tired. and they are all struggling. I really wish there were a better communication on that aspect.
Now of course you see that "the repeat of junior portion is not guaranteed" in the contract or "if you don't pass some technical assessments", but by the time you did all that preparation for many months and pre paid 2 k for pre course, of course the student will sign the agreement. Nothing happened to your friends who graduated.
And after how many assessments that you don't pass you should quit so you don't loose your money? Not clear! 
When is it time to just give up because you don't do well? Nobody knows!!!
And if you say that you were told differently in the campus, they through a letter at you to acknowledge and sign so they can keep your money after. 
Now, if I had a hard time with all of that, wait until you depart and have another nightmare trying to explain to this Associate general counsel from HR, who's handling these cases, armed to his teeth with education in procedures and succesful with similar cases . 
It's just not worth it. Who signed up for all this horrible experience? 
If anyone was reading this, and wanna go the safe route, I would recommend the 6 or 9 months version instead. It's really not about, "I have the time to do the 3 months full-time immersive".  
I would think rolling over students in 3 months course is better for them but Have a normal life, be able to sleep, and honestly digest better the material and get better ready for job. That is everything!
And really, many students from the 3 months have to repeat the junior half. So by the time you do 2-3 times the pre course, repeat eventually the junior half, maybe go back to pre course, it will end up in about 1 year anyway.
Better go safe people and if you don't make it, there is still lots of other options out there, but don't give up on your dream .
 

Hack Reactor was NOT an easy course - 5 days a week I was 'in class' (I did the course virtually due to pandemic) for 12 hours per day, and then on Saturday I clocked out after 8 hours. Be prepared for the rest of your life to basically come to a grinding halt while you devote yourself entirely to this program over these 3 months. I came into the program with NO coding knowledge (besides what's taught in the BootCamp prep courses), and honestly felt like I was in a wave pool the entire time - where I would just manage to get my head over water, and then the next second the next wave would hit. However, not only did I learn an extreme amount throughout this course, but enduring this feeling gave me the skill to be comfortable in a constant state of uncomfortableness. This was a terrific program and one I would recommend to others. It has already drastically changed the trajectory of my life, and I know it's only going to get better as I continue with a software development career!

This is an incredibly rigorous program, so you have to know that this will be the entirety of your focus for the full three months (and you will be putting quite a bit of time doing prep work in the month and a half or so before it officially begins). "Drinking from a firehose" is the way a fellow graduate put it, and it definitely felt that way. If you are up for it (and why wouldn't you be? this is your life and it's yours to do with it what you will!), it does deliver on its promise. I graduated in April 2021, spent a couple of weeks enrolled in their new-ish "job search program" (really useful structured assistance, offered cost-free to graduates), and landed a (paid) internship that began in June. It is now the beginning of September, and I have just recently been promoted to the role of a full-time associate engineer; this was the finish line I knew I needed to cross before I could truthfully review the course for a site like Course Report. While I do have minor quibbles/gripes about certain aspects of its structure and pedagogy, these concerns are rendered moot in the face of the real-world results they've provided. In sum, I couldn't be more pleased with the decision I made in enrolling in Hack Reactor. Like many others, I came to coding incredibly green (I was forced to make a career change due to the pandemic). The fact that within half a year of completing the program I can now say that I am a full-time (and well-paid) associate software engineer is sort of all that needs to be said for this program's effectiveness. Buckle up and change your life!

My experience at Hack Reactor was undoubtedly one of the most, if not the most challenging academic experience I've had to date. This boot-camp is incredibly rigorous, and the full-time program demands that you devote essentially 100% of your waking life to study. There were times when I felt I would not make it to graduation, but that is not for lack of support on Hack Reactor's part. The instruction team is excellent, and clearly has a genuine desire to help their students grow and succeed. 

The curriculum is very well curated, and has a ground up approach which focuses on teaching students skills and technology which are relevant in today's development world. When I started the program, I knew next to nothing about software engineering, and only 3 short months after graduating had a job offer in hand. I would not hesitate to recommend this boot-camp to anyone, granted that they are resilient, have a growth mindset, and are committed to putting in the time and effort required.

I really enjoyed my time at Hack Reactor. The first week or two, I felt so behind that they moved so quickly and the hours were so long. I was under some of the greatest stress of my life. I pushed through and was learning so much, eventually that stress transformed into excitement. I started to have fun between the frustration. I made friends I still hang out with, learned about so many people's unique experiences, and learned so much about programming that I could never have learned on my own. Sometimes it's less about the content being taught and more about having someone provide you the path. In some ways, Hack Reactor paves a path for you, and for many that may be a path out of the infamous "tutorial hell". You also gain real-world experience working in teams and managing productivity and tasks. Overall it was great, and I wish I could do it again with the knowledge I have now. The only thing I would change is the ending. When I give job assistance 3/5 it's not because of my career services manager who was fantastic and certainly the most valuable resource during my job search, but rather the careers week. I think one extra week of focus on job search and practice would've been great. It felt really jammed in at the end. I wanted more personal resume reviews, interview practice, maybe talk with alumni about structuring job search days, etc. I really only feel like I refined my job search to an art months after graduation and I think another week in the program with a focus on that would've put me on that path sooner. In the end, it all worked out though, and I'm so happy with the friends I've made and the knowledge/skills I've obtained. 

Hack Reactor was truly an incredible experience. It challenged me to learn quickly, build teamwork, and communicate like an engineer. Not only did I learn the tools that I needed to succeed in the industry, but I also created a portfolio that impressed hiring managers and recruiters. Autonomy is highlighted in this course. You get what you put into it. I entered Hack Reactor with zero background in coding (other than their basic prep) and was able to succeed due to the guidance and help of the staff and my peers. I would recommend this bootcamp to anyone who is willing and able to put in the work. This is not an easy course. If you have anything else going on in your life, it is nearly impossible to accomplish. For the right person, this bootcamp can get you a job that you will love just a few weeks out. 

I planned to go to grad school to make my career transition to software engineering but was told Hack Reactor might be a good boot camp to help me do it all faster. In the end, in only 5 months, I was able to sign an offer at a company working on something I really believe in. 

If you are incredibly driven, sure about your goals, and value your time, Hack Reactor is the right pressure cooker to get you what you want as fast as possible. The curriculum is highly curated for your development from first principles and the technical support is super valuable. The program becomes a little more hands-off later in the course as it forces you to become a fully autonomous engineer. Trust the process.

It isn't for everyone. If you have other commitments in life currently, it will be hard to find balance during the boot camp. 

I lost my job in the early stages of COVID-19.  I decided to give programming a shot with my downtime.  Hack Reactor was a major component of my path from zero programming experience to an amazing job as a developer within that span of a year.

The style of the SEI program at Hack Reactor suited my needs exactly, but I don't know if that would hold true for everyone.  I had a basic handle on javascript and was starting to apply javascript to web development.  The topic was so expansive that I did not really know where to focus my time.  Hack Reactor focused my attention on a very specific set of skills and concepts that were necessary to build full-stack applications.

I'm fairly certain that I could have self-taught myself the majority of the raw development skills I learned at Hack Reactor.  The really amazing part of it is the compact amount of time it all happened in.  The way the curriculum is structured just worked for me.  You would be introduced to a new topic and get some high-level concepts and best practices that apply to it.  At the same time, you would be assigned a "sprint" on that topic with some vague instructions and some features or functionality to implement.  I think they struck a great balance in providing just enough of a nudge to set you down a good path at the start.  From there it was on you to research the technologies/patterns/libraries being used and develop your solution to the prompt.  It really allowed for a lot of ground to be covered very quickly.

***ACCOUNTABILITY***

There are extremely strict attendance guidelines at Hack Reactor.  They make sure to keep you engaged from 9am-8pm, 6 days a week, for 12 weeks straight.   I definitely would not have been able to maintain that consistent schedule if I was trying to study on my own.  Conservatively I would estimate that what I learned in 12 weeks at Hack Reactor would have taken a minimum of 30 weeks of self-teaching.  That's assuming I was able to stick it out for that whole time.  Also, if I went the self-taught route I would not have had the chance to interact with subject matter experts and develop team-based development skills like pair-programming.

***AUTONOMY***

I cannot stress enough the importance of developing autonomy while at Hack Reactor.  If you want someone to tell you the correct answer or the definitive way to solve problems.... you are in the wrong place.  This program is really about giving you the tools and the mindset to solve the problems yourself.   You will feel incredibly lost again and again while in this program.  This can be incredibly discouraging and frustrating for people.  The key is to develop a sense of autonomy and the skills to seek out and find the answers yourself.  Eventually, that sense of discomfort will become the welcome precedent to finding the solution you were in search of.

The assignments you will receive have some vague requirements to complete.  That said no one will look at your work and say "you didn't do x, y, and z, shame on you".  Conversely, they will also not say "good job doing all that stuff!".  I remember finding this infuriating for the first few weeks.  The lack of direct/pointed feedback was hard to digest.   Eventually, though I saw it as a great parallel for the work I would do as a professional developer.  No one is going to look over your shoulder and police you while you write your code.... except for you.  In this way, I became the judge of my own work.  I was able to identify my weak points and identify any anti-patterns in my code.  This sense of autonomy was the greatest lesson I got out of the whole program.

***COMMUNITY***

When I attended Hack Reactor all classes were remote via zoom due to COVID-19.  I remember being extremely worried that I would feel very disconnected from the community due to the remote nature of the course.  It's crazy how wrong I was.  I felt so welcomed by the staff, senior students, and my cohort mates from day one.  My campus did an amazing job creating community among everyone in the program.  There were weekly social/game nights and tons of mixers so everyone could get to know each other.  My cohort ended up being very close and we even met up for drinks in person a couple of times.  I have no doubt I will be friends/colleagues with the people I met at Hack Reactor for years to come.

***JOB HUNT***

I don't think Hack Reactor advertises much if any assistance with actually finding a job after the program, but either way, don't expect much here.  It is 100% on YOU to find a job after you graduate.  Of course, they will give you plenty of tools and strategies to set you up for success in accomplishing your goals.  You will get help building your resume and online presence as well as how you present yourself in interviews.  That is about the extent of it though.  A major benefit is access to a massive network of alumni that can help you get your foot in the door at a lot of companies.

***GRIPES***

I only have one real gripe which is that this is simultaneously one of the most expensive programs like this out there while also being one of the shortest.  It really is a ton of material to cover in the amount of time and I think it would really benefit everyone to stretch out the program a bit to give some more time to absorb the material.

 Joining Hack Reactor was hands-down one of the best decisions that I could have made for myself. The program does an extraordinary job of providing students with the tools they need to be successful, both technically and professionally. In-depth lectures, supportive campus staff, exciting challenges and projects, and all-around amazing people. I came into the program with a decent amount of coding experience and was surprised to learn much more than I was expecting to. The program is dedicated to the success of each student and will do everything they can to help you land your first job as a software engineer. With that said, be prepared to put in the work. As helpful and dedicated as the staff members are, nothing is going to be handed to you on a silver platter. The assignments are tough and it’s not uncommon for students to be coding late nights. The environment is fast-paced - expect to learn something completely new every couple of days for the first six weeks. It will be up to you to reach out for help or find additional resources if you’re not understanding something. But in return, expect a fantastic support group from both local and program-wide staff, a powerful network of alumni for you to connect with, your own Career Services Manager that will push you through the job search, and friends that will last a lifetime! 

I had been eyeing hack reactor for the past 5 years and finally decided to make the switch and attend in fall 2020. I'm so glad I did! I attended the Austin campus (remote due to covid) and the staff was amazing. While yes, everything they teach could be found online for free - the path, support and friends that I found with hack reactor made it worth every penny. It definitely wasn't an easy program, about 11 hours a day, 6 days a week - but it was packed full of lectures, practice, projects and career advice. While I'm still starting the job search, the amount of support after the program is over is also great. I have constant meetings with my Career Services manager and he always gives great advice and is constantly available to answer questions. It was a lot of work to get admitted, and a lot of work to get through the program, but I'm really happy I did. 

Hack Reactor is a great place for very little or no computer science background people to start their journey to become a professional software engineer. I was a complete outsider in the software and computer field before HR.  From a little knowledge about Javascript when I started my cohort, I graduated being able to create full-stack applications and then got a job as a software engineer a month and a haft later. I also appreciate the soft skills I got from HR. From small things like explaining problems clearly when I need help, to pair programming skills, to be autonomous in learning new technologies, all of these skills help me so much in my day to day tasks. The career week and the job search program are big pluses since they keep you sharp with your tech skills and help with job search materials like cover letters or resumes. HR's staff is really great. From cohort leads to tech mentors, to residents, they all really care about students and try their best to help. Enrolling in HR is one of the best decisions I have made.

If you are here reading this right now, you've probably already done extensive research on Hack Reactor's Software Engineering Immersive program and now you're wondering, "Is it worth it?" As someone who have been through the bootcamp and have pursued a degree in Computer Science at a credited University, I can assure you that this twelve weeks bootcamp is worth a lot more than two (or more) years of college. Let me break down my ratings for you:

Curriculum:
I won't dive too deeply into the tech stacks because technology changes everyday and great programs should adapt to those changes and provide you with the best curriculum to keep you updated on the current tech stacks. What is really important is not WHAT you learn but HOW you learn it. Hack Reactor instills autonomy into its students and at first you might feel like you're just thrown to the wolves but trust me, it is a valuable skill to have. Hack Reactor provides a professional experience in an educational environment by putting you in the same situations that you would find yourself in the professional career and they prepare you by forcing you to learn autonomously. You are going to have vague lectures, vague assignment requirements, vague directions, vague answers...well, you get the point. If you are like me then your first thought would be "I didn't pay $20,000 to learn and do everything on my own" and you would be kind of correct. Hack Reactor wants you to learn and do MOST of everything on your own (or in a team) because you are not going to be handheld in a professional working environment, but this is where Hack Reactor shines. They provide you guidance and show you HOW to figure things out on your own so that when the time comes and you're at your first engineering job and you have no clue what to do, you're going to be able to overcome those moments of uncertainty. Hack Reactor provides students with all of the technical support a student needs to not only excel in the program, but in their future career.

TLDR; You might definitely will have moments where you have to learn and figure things out on your own, but Hack Reactor will help you figure out how to do that efficiently and effectively. 

Job Assistance: 
"Does this program guarantee me a job?" No, it does not guarantee you a job and I've had to explain this to my fellow friends a few times. Hack Reactor can't force a company to hire you, give you an interview, or read your job application. What Hack Reactor does is help shape each student into an ideal candidate and shares best practices to strengthen your chances of being seen by companies. Hack Reactor will provide you a Career Service Mentor along with Career Services to guide you during your job search and provide support before and during your job search and it extends after you graduate from the bootcamp! Hack Reactor also introduced its new Job Search Program that any graduate can opt into but I did not opt into it so I cannot provide a review. My Career Service Mentor, Marah, is a game changer and she helped open my eyes on how the technical world works in term of job search. After you graduate, you will still meet up with your Career Service Mentor weekly then bi-weekly and you can always talk to them when you have questions!

TDLR: Hack Reactor will make sure you graduate with an all-star LinkedIn account, a job ready resume, a well revised cover letter, and other materials that will help you stand out during your job search. They also provide support before and after your graduation because they truly care about each and every one of their students. 

Instructors:
(Bare in mind that these were my instructors for the LA campus)

Hilary Upton - Cohort Lead:  5/5 stars. She truly cares about every student and she makes sure to provide a safe space for all students to voice their concerns. We would have weekly retrospectives where Hilary would get our inputs/thoughts on how the week went and if we had any concerns/comments that we wanted to share. It made us feel heard and it showed how much Hack Reactor values its students and their well-being.

Julian Yuen - Program Lead:  5/5 stars. Julian might show up to the first day in a suit but don't worry, he's not scary at all. Whenever Julian taught/led a lecture, it would feel as if my brain was being cuddled and nursed to health with amazing, well explained information. Julian will refer to himself as "Uncle J" and that's what he really is, the kind loving uncle that cares about his nieces and nephews. I remember not feeling so great about myself, my skills, and my work and I remember some of my cohort mates feeling the same way. Some of us started to succumb to imposter syndrome and when I brought it up to Julian, he immediately made time out of his busy schedule to have a personal talk with us. Honestly, I wanted to give up at one point because I felt like I was not good enough but Julian was the reason why I stayed. Going back to why I only pursued a Computer Science degree but never finished it, the reason was that my professors (and the department head) instilled in the class and me that if we were not in the top 10% of the class, that we were not good enough to make it in the field. It was demoralizing after two years of hearing "No one is going to hire you if you don't get an A. Change your major." and I honestly felt like my efforts during college was all for naught. My professors never saw my passion, my hard work, my desperate attempts to stay awake in class because I stayed up all night to finish an impossible assignment, and they placed me as (and most of my class) "unworthy". During the bootcamp, I started to feel that same feeling of "unworthy" and Julian stopped me in my tracks when I humorously voiced my concerns. He shared his personal experiences with imposter syndrome, assured me that I was enough and that I deserved to be where I am. It wasn't a "one time thing" either because every single time Julian sent me an email, he would remind me to not let imposter syndrome get the best of me and he made sure to remind me that I am enough. That should go to show the dedication and care that the Hack Reactor staff has for its students and I am forever grateful for them and Julian. Thanks Uncle J and sorry for the cheesy description if you are reading this. You really changed my outlook on myself and it has kept me motivated throughout my job search and I know it will keep me motivated for the rest of my career.

Anthony Kim - Tech Mentor: 5/5 stars. Anthony runs the junior phase during Hack Reactor and he does his best to make sure that every student makes it to the senior phase. Whenever I struggled with the material, I would bombard Anthony with questions and he would always answer me with kindness and guidance. He made time to review code with me and to further elaborate on topics that I was not 100% sure of and I am forever grateful for his dedication. Anthony, if you are reading this, I'm sorry for asking so many questions and I don't think you're scary! (maybe a little)

SEIRS / Other instructors: 5/5 stars. The staff is well picked and they're all caring and attentive to you. They just want to see you succeed!

Overall Experience:
Hack Reactor not only strengthened my skills as a Software Engineer, but it also strengthened me as a person. From the staff to the curriculum to the job assistance, it is a well versed program that provides you will all of the tools you need to succeed in your professional career. "Is it worth it?" That is up to you to decide. I came in with an open mind and I took the program as more than just a classroom where you learn the fundamentals and ins&outs of a technology because Hack Reactor teaches you how to be a strong engineer that can take on any technology and that to me makes Hack Reactor worth it. 

I started prepping for Hack Reactor with the intention of joining the full-time, in-person immersive in San Francisco. COVID changed my plans along with everyone else's, and I delayed my start by three cohorts hoping for an in-person experience. I finally gave in and did the program remotely, and in the end I'm so glad it all worked out this way. The remote program completely exceeded all of my expectations, and Hack Reactor as an organization as really nailed down how to grow and foster community through Zoom and Slack. Each cohort is assigned a set of staff that includes technical mentors, psychological/social mentors, a career coach, and a team of recent grads selected for both personality traits and technical skills, and they do a fantastic job selecting all these people. There are tons of free resources you can use to teach yourself Javascript, so why pay so much for a program like this? Far and away, what made the experience for me was the people, and Hack Reactor absolutely nails hiring support staff who are the right combination of tough, caring, honest, and helpful to keep you on track while still letting you pull your own weight. 

An example: On more than one occasion our tech mentor had almost preternatural patience with me when I was struggling with certain concepts and asked him for help understanding them. A lesser mortal would probably have broken down in a frustrated rage and just given me the final answer after enough time had passed, depriving me of the chance to make the connection for myself, but he gave me all the time I needed to get there without betraying even a hint of frustration. From the top down, the staff genuinely wants to help you learn, and help you learn how to learn, and they do it with just the right amount of assistance. 

This program pushes you, and pushes hard. This was a formative program for me because of how stretched I felt, which was a new feeling. I am still in the job search process now, and while it can alternate between being demoralizing, terrifying, or just a plain slog to get through, I feel very well supported by both staff and the alumni community. There is an active community of alums who offer motivation, encouragement, tips, and sympathetic ears, and between direct conversation and getting to be spectator to some of their conversations, I feel like I'm constantly being buoyed by the system. The support during the job search and alumni community might alone be worth the price of the program.  Whenever I get an offer I know they'll have my back for the negotiation process as well. I'm really glad I found this community and I feel like I'm in good hands going forward. 

Unlike most applicants and my cohortmates, I decided to apply and attend the Hack Reactor program as someone who graduated with a computer engineering degree and had a bit of software developer experience. At the time it was two years after I graduated and my job search wasn't going well due to behavioral issues I had.

Hack Reactor not only allowed me to move up but importantly to move out of where I was. The staff in the San Francisco campus were very respectful of everyone's needs and contributed to a bootcamp culture and curriculum that is challenging, rigorous, yet also personalized for everyone through weekly one-on-ones with the cohort lead. When I attended the program there was another cohort that started at the same time and both cohorts had incredible diversity. There were people from all sorts of backgrounds including two PhDs and a few others with computer science backgrounds, yet all motivated as prospective software engineers.

Naturally, Hack Reactor bootcampers don't always know the solution to problems they're facing and seek out help. The program has a help desk that handles this pretty well. It's a ticketing queue that gets responded to by Software Engineering Immersive Residents (SEIRs), and they are guided in such a way that steers them towards the right direction and being encouraged to follow techniques such as timeboxing and web searching instead of being given an answer.

Before I found my first position after graduation, I decided to apply and become a SEIR near the end of the program, because I was very motivated to share my knowledge and to help my peers. Thus I worked part-time for Hack Reactor for three months to interview applicants to the program, to run the help desk, and to engage with students. The SEIRs make up much of the teaching ability in a cohort, but they don't necessarily have software engineering experience beyond the program. The tech mentors for each cohort may or may not have that as well, so I'm giving 4 stars for instructors because they could be improved on especially at a time when most or all of HR has gone remote.

Although the program explicitly does not guarantee any student a job after graduating, the resources you receive are well worth the cost of the program, whether paying up front or after the program. In the first six months after graduation you are assigned a career coach and given resources for a job seeking routine. More importantly you are given access to the alumni Slack group to be able to connect with thousands of other graduates. I am starting to truly appreciate the value of the alumni group a year after I started my position and am looking to make a second job search.

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. I even came in with previous software development experience, and still learned much more than I originally hoped for. They don't just transform you into a competent software engineer, but also help improve your all-around character. I've learned to present myself better to both employers and friends, and have become someone that (hopefully) anyone would love to work with.  I graduated 5 years ago now (summer of 2015), but still keep in touch with everyone from my cohort, and I am fairly certain I speak for all of them when I say that Hack Reactor transformed their lives for the better. I myself have been working at Facebook now for 2 years and love it - and my others cohort-mates are at Google, Uber, LinkedIn, Lyft, Square, and other top companies! The alumni network is especially outstanding, and I want to call out Marlene Tang for always being responsive and available to help. She helped me land my first job right out of Hack Reactor at Pivotal Labs by introducing me to another alumni that worked there. Even years later right before I landed my job at Facebook, she helped me through my interview prep and introduced me to other alumni at Twitch and LinkedIn to help me get strong competing offers. I don’t live in the Bay Area anymore but every time I visit, my cohort-mates and Marlene always come out for a reunion and make me feel right at home - you really do develop life-long relationships over the course of those 3 months.  Speaking from my experience, I would definitely recommend Hack Reactor to anyone looking to make the switch to software engineering. 

It’s been almost four years since I’ve graduated from the program (SF onsite, June - September 2016), but enough people have reached out to me since then that I felt like it was worth the time to summarize my thoughts and experiences for others. 
Hack Reactor was, by far, one of the best decisions I’ve made to jumpstart my career. I did pretty extensive research beforehand to try to figure out which bootcamp was right for me, and HR stood out immediately because of how structured and intense it was. I was serious about making the career pivot as quickly as possible, and I wanted to be surrounded by people who would push me to be my best. 
The curriculum (and industry) changes enough that it’s probably not worth me focusing on the education side of it, so instead, I want to talk about the job placement support afterwards. Both jobs that I’ve gotten since graduating are due to the Hack Reactor network, and specifically, the alumni support program. I truly believe that the resources available after graduation is worth the entire financial investment and more. I was assigned Marlene as my career coach, and I seriously lucked out. She truly goes above and beyond the scope of her duties to ensure that she is accessible at all hours and under all circumstances. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve reached out minutes before phone interviews for last-minute pep talks, or spent hours of her time getting her help to draft the perfect response during salary negotiations. When I started my second job search, I reached out to Marlene on a whim to see if she might be able to give some job search advice, but she went even further to connect me with other alumni, the corporate partnership program, and personally coached me through each one of the offers I landed. I was one and a half years past my graduation date, and she wasn’t even a full-time career coach anymore, but it didn’t matter to her. However, it truly made a huge difference for me to not have to go through the job search and interview process on my own. 
Everyone’s post-graduation experience is different, but what I truly think makes Hack Reactor stand out is that they actually have dedicated resources to make sure your successes don’t end after you finish your classes. Having Marlene by my side during the most life-altering job search of my career is something that I will be forever grateful for and why I consistently recommend Hack Reactor to others who are seriously considering coding bootcamps to make the career shift. It’s worth the investment a thousand times over. 

Going in, I had set the parameters of my expectations somewhat strictly. I simply wanted to learn what it takes to become an employable software engineer- some who removes, rather than contributes to, technical debt.

Hack Reactor was so much more than just that.

Of course, the curriculum gave me enough experience that I could figure my way around any web development projects. The junior phase strengthened my confidence with various specific technologies through challenging sprints. The senior phase allowed me to consolidate my understanding of web frameworks + database technologies into viable products, as well as flesh out communication skills by coordinating development with peers, who at this point were working with me as partners.

But it takes much more than only technical expertise to excel in the tech industry. Hack Reactor provided networking opportunities and informative talks from experienced software engineers that grants new grads with the assurance of mentorship and community, making even life-changing transformations far less scary.

Something I deeply appreciated about the organization of the cohorts was the stimulating diversity of my peers. People truly came from all walks of life. This aspect of the program sets it apart from traditional university programs in that you are no longer immersed in your same age stratum. I was the youngest in my cohort, so I went through the program with the mindset that I'll have the most to learn from the life experiences of others. This made Hack Reactor more than just an education. It was a life experience.

I went through Hack Reactor in 2014 and had a great time back then. My original experience with the program is less relevant than the more recent reviews you see, so I want to talk about job and negotiation help that I received 6 years after graduating during my third job search in 2020.

I received offers from Amazon, Box, Facebook, Google, Netflix, and Square and was having a hard time making the final call between joining Facebook and Netflix. I'd been discussing my decision in the alumni Slack group, and Marlene, the alumni director, reached out to me to see if she could help. It's definitely nice to have a total pro on your side when you're talking with recruiters. Marlene gave me some invaluable advice over the final week of my negotiations and helped me seal the deal with Netflix. Before all of this, I gained huge benefits by practicing for interviews with members of the alumni community. I can't think of a better group to be in to get such a good pulse on working in the tech industry.

All this to say, Hack Reactor isn't just a one-time thing you go through for a few months and forget about. There's a huge and growing community of people who want to help you throughout your career, and every year, I'm more glad I joined this community.

I have done a lot of educational programs, but this was by far the best educational experience of my life. The program is so hands on and concrete--there's no extra stuff that you can just coast through. Instead, you learn actionable skills and apply them immediately on projects. Staff is brilliant and very good at what they do, curriculum is well-tailored for anyone trying to get into the coding field, and facility was clean and well-maintained. You graduate with a body of work that you can use to start applying immediately. It's all full-stack JavaScript, which is good for applying to start-ups and more "high tech" (Google, Paypal, etc) but they teach you fundamentals well enough that I actually ended up with two Java developer job offers in the middle of the pandemic! Best part of the program is the people though--just incredible and smart people who you get really close to. Can't wait to see what they end up doing!

I'm halfway through the remote part time program and I am 100% happy with my decision to go to Hack Reactor. The staff are fantastic, the curriculum is challenging, you learn rapidly, and fellow students are great. The culture and community aspects are even better than I could have hoped for. The staff are equal parts demanding and encouraging. The organization is constantly tweaking the curriculum and teaching methods to improve student outcomes. Above all they genuinely care about each and every student and are so supportive. 

That said... it's HARD. Even if you are a working dev who wants to level up your skills I promise it will be challenging. I came into HR as a beginner so for me, meeting the basic minimum requirements is plenty hard. But each project has advanced content and if that isn't enough there's another section called 'nightmare mode.'  The staff will make sure you are being challenged - but for most of us the basic curriculum and speed at which you need to finish things is plenty.

I love the part-time program. Some of my cohort mates have kids. Some are working full time. Some are managing both. The part-time program is the exact same curriculum as the full time program but instead of doing it over 13 weeks you do it over 36 weeks. There are 20 hours per week of time required. So you can keep your job and do Hack Reactor at the same time. Personally I'm not working while going through Hack Reactor. I'm an older student (almost 50) and having more time for my brain to absorb content is helpful. 

HR helps prep you for coding interviews by requiring you to practice toy problems. For full time folks you'll do one every day. For part-time you usually do two per week. By the time you finish HR you will have done 60 of them. So they build in interview prep into the entire program. 

The curriculum is frequently frustrating but I have to admit it's absolutely necessary. Having studied the best way to teach coding, HR has learned that it's through doing not lectures. There are some lectures which will give you a base to jump off of but every new project you're jumping in the deep end. So frequently students feel frustrated. But it's also in that frustration that you learn. There are plenty of tools to help you get unstuck and they teach you to use them. You can schedule office hours with staff or call the help desk when you're stuck. Help desk is great. It's staffed by recent graduates who just went through what you are going through. They are trained to not take away too much of your pain (since that's where learning happens) but rather to help point you to documentation or ask you questions about your code. 'What is line 12 doing? Why do you think that? Have you checked to make sure it's really doing what you think it's doing?' etc. You also do pair programming in most of the junior phase (first half of the program). This brings its own frustrations but also joys as you work with a partner to complete a project. You learn how to work with people who think differently than you do. 

I was skeptical at first about the remote program. In fact I went to the in person program in Seattle in Februray 2020 to start. After three days I decided I needed to bone up on my JS skills more. So I rolled back to the next cohort. Then COVID hit and my housing situation changed and I was no longer in commutable distance for the in person program (and they ended up having to go online b/c of Covid anyhow). Well I have met some amazing friends in the remote program and I think it's just as good as the in-person program. I probably would not have believed that if I hadn't experienced it for myself. There are some big pros too - like you don't have to commute so the time you save packing food, traveling, etc can be used for sleeping. This is especially important if you do the full time program. And you really do get to know people, not just from your cohort but from the 5 other remote part time cohorts as well - watching people from more senior cohorts graduate and get six figure jobs is inspiring.  

HR's #1 goal is to turn out autonomous engineers and I believe they do a great job. Is it the best bootcamp out there? I think without going to more than one bootcamp it's hard to say. But is it a top, even elite, bootcamp? Absolutely.

If you're already working in tech, and are concerned about the opportunity cost of taking time off to deepen your technical expertise, I suggest that you take the leap. Prior to Hack Reactor I worked in a traditional software sales role (in the marketing automation space). I chose to go to hack reactor primarily out of curiosity, and looking back 5 years, I am happy to say that the ROI was definitely there for me. 

Coming out of Hack Reactor, I did a short stint as a programmer at a small startup and then went on to work at GitHub as a Solutions / Sales Engineer. I've now been at GitHub for the last 4 years, and Hack Reactor was an amazing launching point for me to develop the skills and curiosity that I use in my job every day. 

The community I gained from Hack Reactor has also been huge for me — I still talk to several of my fellow students almost daily. It's been a great resource for continued learning and idea-sharing. I'd like to also give a special shoutout to Marlene Fong, who is a cornerstone of the Hack Reactor community. Marlene helped me with my two job hunts coming out of Hack Reactor and has been there as a great alumni resource for negotiating promotions / other offers. 

To truly provide my experience, let me start with some context: I attended another boot camp and felt like I was pumped out of a factory. I was able to obtain a job but I was creating personal technical debt. I was barely getting by with the skills I gained but with no foundational knowledge. It was creating a huge stressor in my life that I had decided to attend another boot camp. An advanced boot camp. I truly mean it.

There is an unofficial motto that I heard about Hack Reactor. "We don't take you from 0 - 60, we take you from 20 - 120."  Truer words hasn't been spoken about a coding boot camp. From the moment you reach out to the program to the day you graduate, you are familiarize with the process of applying and working within the software engineer industry. As a veteran, I was able to use the newly introduced Vet Tech, which saved me from using my own funds and my GI Bill. To be recognized by the VA as a prestigious school definitely reassured me, as well.

Prior to the being admitted to the school, there is a prep course, a technical interview and pre-course work. The school shows that they are looking for a high-level of commitment and allows like-minded students to be together for 13 weeks.

The students' dedication is definitely tested with its' 6 days a week and 11 hour days. The course is split into two phases: junior and senior. In the junior phase, it lays down exceptional, foundational knowledge regarding data structures and algorithms that you will utilize for the rest of your career. Senior phases does not just focuses on entry-level skills but it covers senior-level skills from infrastructure to operations and system design. The curriculum adapts to the current market needs understanding that technology changes frequently while maintaining the core foundational classes..

The instructors are the same instructors that teach every cohort with its' rigorous curriculum, which establishes a strong baseline amongst graduates. It allows collaboration/mentorship across multiple cohort graduates, creating a vibrant and progressive alumni community. For veterans, At one point of the course, there were administrative problems with the VA and I was concerned about my enrollment... One of my instructors took on the additional responsibility as the company VA liaison to ensure I continued my education. Wouldn't you want to be in a community like this? (Thank you if you're reading this!) Even today, I can reach out to my instructors and they have never turned down an opportunity to assist me.

The alumni community is active, all the time. There are topics about forming study groups to re-solidify their base knowledge to prepare for an interview, collaborate on a new technology such as AI or ML, or even just network for happy hour. I may not have met a lot of them but I know they are hard working, smart individuals just from the fact that they've passed the assessment to be admitted into the course, in the first place.

I put N/A for job assistance because I was able to secure a job during my senior phase with the new added knowledge from Hack Reactor. Today, we are right at the 6 month mark from graduation and we are at 95% employment rate as software engineers. In my previous boot camp, it has been a year out and only half were employed and out of those half, majority were not employed as software engineers. 

I don't regret taking another 3 months to attend Hack Reactor. It was well worth the investment. Make the right choice, if you are reading this as prospective student!

I graduated from Hack Reactor in late January 2020. For context for this review, I came into the program with 8 years of work experience in a STEM field. But basically no code experience outside one intro class in college a decade prior. My classmates had a large spectrum of past experience, from those with months or years of exposure to people without college degrees who had never coded before.

Curriculum: The curriculum is broken down into two halves - "junior" and "senior". In the "junior" half, we pair-programmed in 2-day sprints. Looking back, I think the topics of the sprints were spot-on for learning the important topics in the job market. The structure of the sprints also emphasized the right mindset - figuring things out yourself (being autonomous without spoonfed instructions/answers) and working collaboratively with a partner. On the "senior" side, we worked on 3 meaty projects that served as most people's resume centerpieces upon graduation.

Instructors: The instruction in the program included Zoom conferences by very experienced senior staff that we did not interact with outside of those lectures, as well as occasional workshops by the cohort's Technical Mentor(s) who were the assigned staff for our cohort. I found most of the Zoom lectures to be high quality though I found the electronic format less effective than in-person could have been. The cohort staff were supportive and really cared about students' success, but the philosophy of the bootcamp was to learn things on your own, so while I learned some from the cohort staff, it didn't become a centerpiece of my experience. I actually felt like a lot of learning was through interacting with my peers. So I would give 5 stars to our wonderful, hardworking staff but 4 stars for the program structure which I felt lacked direct interface with senior technical experts that could provide code review feedback (our cohort staff were recent graduates of the program and very sharp but lacked the battle scars to convey best practices from years of coding in industry).

Job Assistance: They will not get you a job. That will be on you. But they will provide lots of support in the form of a job coach, support group, and active Slack community that posts resources and word-of-mouth job postings. The job hunt was grueling and in my opinion, in some ways harder than the program itself, because there were so many factors that were more about luck and timing than skill, and especially exacerbated due to the exceptional circumstances of trying to find a job amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic (hiring freezes, a flooded candidate pool due to recent layoffs, fully remote processes negating hard-earned whiteboarding practice/skills).

Overall Experience: Overall, Hack Reactor was a great way to learn all I needed to pivot into Software Engineering. I personally would not have been able to get to where I am now without it. And one of the best parts for me was meeting a group of new lifelong friends.

I recently attended the Hack Reactor Extended Immersive program in the Fall of 2019. (HRR41) Prior to this, I have been and still am a professional musician and teacher. Originally I was set to attend the onsite program in Los Angeles, but the commute was rough and I had already met some awesome people in the initial extended portion who were doing remote, so I took the plunge. I decided quite late and the cohort was already full, but the remote team was willing to accept me. I met the counselor, Annah, and right away I knew I had made a good decision. She was so welcoming along with the whole team and I felt like I was in good hands. When we met Robin, the lead tech mentor, we all were immediately blown away. This guy is smart. He doesn't just know code. He knows right away the weaknesses in YOUR code. He knows how to push you to learn the hard parts that you may be struggling with. In this way, the program felt very tailored to ME. In addition, Annah was right there to push me on my soft skills. I tend to be a perfectionist, and she made me realize that coding can be a challenge, but it is about the long haul. She taught me to pace myself and to keep calm and centered. Hack Reactor is not an easy program. But if you find you have a passion for coding, or just find it fun, you can succeed. In addition, the career services are amazing at Hack Reactor. I consider myself to be a self-motivated learner, but I would never have had the confidence to enter the field if not for this amazing part of the program. Shout out to Lena, she is so amazing. She helped with my resume, confidence, and gives you the tools to succeed in your job search. She really imparted a "make them say no" approach which I believe helped me land my first job. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a coding challenge for a position at Amazon Game Studios. Immediately it felt like a Hack Reactor sprint, and even though I didn't really know how to start, the feeling was familiar. I worked hard, got through the interview process, and ultimately got the position. It has been such a rewarding career and I love what I get to do for a living. If you have a passion for coding and are considering a boot camp, Hack Reactor is amazing. It literally changed my life. Big thank you to Robin, Annah, Lena, and Hack Reactor for helping me reach my goals.

If you are looking to break into Silicon Valley, Hack Reactor is a great way to do it. 
You master JavaScript, learn how to best work as a team and deep dive into data structures/algorithms to pass tough interview processes. On top of that, Hack Reactor takes many hard-working, dedicated students, so the connections you make along can be even more valuable than the coursework.
Once you graduate, the school just doesn’t forget about you. Hack Reactor has an excellent Alumni Director in Marlene Fong, who stays with each student the entire way in finding employment. Just wish I didn’t take this long to say thank you to her, because she and the school overall made unbelievable difference to the direction of my career. 
Keep up the great work.

Simply put, Hack Reactor's Software Engineering Immersive program in Seattle in my opinion was and still is the best bootcamp out there.  After speaking with numerous grads and students from other bootcamps in the area I feel absolutely comfortable in saying that it's curriculum provides a far more in-depth study of both fundamental CS concepts as well as work on software engineering projects in the senior phase actually mimic real on-the-job engineering work.  This program requires you to actually to work in an agile-like environment implementing full-stack core concepts on a daily basis instead of just being told about them, which may not seem like a difference between other schools but I have yet to see another program that works this way.

I will put in some words of warning however, that this program is not a suitable option for everyone who is deciding to attend a bootcamp to switch careers or brush up and hone their previously existing skills.  The coursework is rigorous and seemingly never-ending.  On one hand you cover so much material this way that it puts you in a fantastic position for your job search, but on the other, no matter your skill level, it does require 100% percent of your attention and focus for the entire time that you spend in the program.  You will have late nights.  You will code through your lunches.  You will work an absolute bare minimum of 60 hour weeks (I have never seen a student across several cohorts who spent that little time each and every week.). You will be required to pick up and retain core concepts at lightning speed.  You will be overwhelmed.  You will struggle.  But, you will ultimately pick up so much more information this way.

What truly separates this particular bootcamp from the rest besides the material covered and the manner of the course's educational model is the staff, specifically for when I was in the program - the tech mentor/campus lead.  Because of the low acceptance rate and the program's relative infancy physically located in Seattle, class sizes are low which allows for much more interaction with the on-campus instructor.  Each location exercises a considerable amount of autonomy in coursework across all of Hack Reactor's campuses and I believe that the Seattle campus truly provides a better overall experience because of it's instructor's ability to directly interface with students far more often than on other campuses.

The only minor quibble that I have with the program is that while the career services instructor is very accessible, and a fantastic resource, they inherited a broken system from the previous program that Hack Reactor took over relatively recently that they are in the process of constantly adding to. The networking in both the physical location as well as through a nation-wide alumni is great though.  Many of the people that I met through the Seattle campus have gone on to work with the likes of some of the big players in the industry (Amazon, IBM, Atlassian, etc..) while others have gone on to smaller companies (with some eye-popping salaries.)

If you are serious about putting in any amount of work required to switch careers, are confident in your ability to completely dedicate several months of life to learning the skills required to actually navigate a very competitive job market, and have a detail-oriented, disciplined, but creative analytical mind, then this program is for you.  If you do not match up to each and every one of those criteria, or if you are looking for a program that allows you to have a balance with your personal life then I would suggest to look at other options.

For context, I graduated in 2015 and I realize the school, curriculum, and even the industry have changed since then.

Hack Reactor radically shifted the entire trajectory of my life in the most positive way. I was able to go from being a "failed" artist to beginning my career as a Software Engineer. I look back on the time spent there as one of the pivotal moments in my life. 

I had expected the program to be challenging, but honestly, nothing prepared me for how much of a whirlwind of work it would be. It was easily the most challenging educational endeavor i'd ever taken on. While it easily pushed me to my limits, being surrounded by equally motivated, driven, and enjoyable cohort-mates helped me tackle the challenges presented by the curriculum. 

More importantly, the ongoing career support through the Alumni program, facilitated by the one and only Marlene, has been an absolute game changer that continues to pay dividends all these years later. Marlene isn't just one of the most caring and compassionate people I know, she has more experience helping people prepare and secure jobs than anyone I have ever met. Every question, concern, and anxiety that surrounds the job search are deftly answered by her and often with suggestions of entirely different approaches I never would have imagined on my own. 

Hack Reactor gave me an opportunity and a career I would have never imagined for myself and I will forever be indebted to the program for what it provided me.

Hack Reactor was unlike any education I've experienced: it teaches you autonomous learning and you still get support after graduating!

Hack Reactor provided the foundational work and community necessary to learn at a faster rate than before. When picking up a breadth of technical concepts in a short period of time, this is key! 

The meta-skill of learning that will quickly outpace the utility of whatever library/technology you learn when you attend.

Post-graduation support! I've always gotten help from Marlene whenever transitioning roles. More than that, she knows and anticipates your needs on the job search. Whether it's connecting you for algorithm practice, finding the right warm intro to make, or giving you the right negotiation move, she is out to guide you for career success.

Consider how many offer letters she has helped secure and negotiate: she's becoming AlphaGo for job market/support.

Hack Reactor is such a unique and structured immersive course. I came from Hospitality which was not STEM major. From the beginning, they help us out how to start with programming but as we go further, they guide us but let us know how to find the resources by ourselves and search the materials to solve real-world problems. Daily data structure & algorithm toy problems were extremely helpful as well. Last but not least, my favorite part was the active help from the HR. It was my first job searching but I knew that I could always ask people at HR to discuss how to make my resume more competitive and how to keep working on projects and interview preps during my job searching. Even after the first job searching, I still keep in touch with the people I met from HR and getting advise which is amazing. I highly recommend Hack Reactor for people who has passionates in tech but have not get a chance to start it yet.

I wanted a bootcamp that offered a rigorous program that would teach me the skills and knowledge needed to become a software engineer.  Hack Reactor definitely delivered that. Since the program is only three months, there were many things I didn't learn during the bootcamp and had to learn on the job. However, Hack Reactor taught me how to learn and problem solve on my own, which, I believe, is the main benefit of attending. In addition to teaching the technical skills and knowledge, they provide great career services that prepare and support students for and during their job searches. Marlene supported me a lot during the negotiation process for both my first and second job. She coached and advised me on what to say and how to counter, which was super helpful since I had never negotiated an offer before. Lastly, Hack Reactor has a large alumni network and community, which is very beneficial for career opportunities or advice.

Hack Reactor was an exhausting but wonderful three months. I really enjoyed the semi-structured aspect of the sprints (first half) and being able to dig deeper into the things that were interesting to me. The pairing was useful as well - I frequently learned tips from my classmates and was able to reinforce my own understanding by having to talk about code. The second half was much less structured, and while I enjoyed it a little less, it was a great opportunity to practice developing in the same repo with other engineers and tackle more complex problems. I found the interview prep that occured throughout the program to be well aligned to interviews that I experienced in the job search.

While Hack Reactor didn't teach me everything I needed to know to do my eventual job, it provided great foundational knowledge that I was able to use to learn other things, and in a shorter timeframe than I would have been able to do all by myself. The things I use most today (5 years later!) are the deep dive into JS internals and the debugging process.

Instructors were super smart and were great at breaking down concepts. I'd happily take more courses from Marcus or Fred in the future. The career search staff was energetic and invested in our success, and while most of the staff from my cohort are no longer with the company, Marlene (who does alumni job support) is awesome - no-nonsense, caring, and focused.

Overall, if I could go back and time and do it again, I would. :)

I graduated from HRSF in September 2018, right as they were acquired by Galvanize. 3.5 stars. It was an overall rewarding experience and I don't regret it, but my general opinion is that the experience left a lot to be desired. I'll spare you the details of what you hear over and over (hard work, cameraderie, life changer) and provide you with my unabashed opinion on what was once considered SF's premier immersive program.

My Hack Reactor journey took place over an entire year. I started the part time structured study program in Jan, got admitted into the April cohort, attended for a week and was (rightfully) deemed underprepared, attended the HREXT program for 6 weeks and got readmitted in June, graduated in Sept, and held fellowship that finished up in Dec. I was fortunate enough to have an entire year (plus months of job searching) where I could dedicate my time and energy in going from someone who enjoyed programming but had little knowledge outside of online free courses to a graduate. So my first caveat is that your journey may be longer than just 3 months; be aware of your learning pace and take your time, because it's better to do that than get by with the "C's get degrees" mindset.

That said, one great thing about this program is that they won't let you through the gates unless they deem you to be ready (in the beginning, anyway. Will get into more details later). They were able to catch the fact that I was going to fall through the cracks within the first 3 days(!) and suggested that I enroll in the HREXT program to get back on track for the next cohort. I am SO thankful for that, because I knew that I have a high learning curve and still felt shaky with the fundamentals when they admitted me--I was pretty sure that I could catch up by putting in extra effort and extra hours, and they gave me a chance to prove it.

The biggest flaw I've found with the program is the unrealistic amounts of autonomy that are expected from you in the program, especially in the second half. When you're a junior engineer at a company, you are usually not expected to "know everything" and will generally receive some sort of mentorship beyond "just Google it". Yes, it's true that HR wants to emphasize becoming self-sufficient as an engineer and I totally support that, but some things just can't be Googled without priming. Things like bugs, error messages, function signatures, etc should definitely be independently researched, but certain things (design patterns, best practices) are much harder to research. One example: business logic should generally not be stored on the client; this idea didn't come naturally to me, and as a new engineer, I wouldn't even have known the term "business logic." Since we had such a high emphasis on client-side work, it seemed logical to me to have the client handle it, and my group mates and I didn't even realize that it could be handled by the server! It wasn't until I had friends who work in the field who code reviewed me and pointed out this antipattern. The TL;DR is, by the second half, no one looks at your code besides your equally inexperienced teammates, and no one will inform you if your code is full of antipatterns, inefficiencies, and other bad practices that aren't intuitively searchable.

Lastly, I want to say that your cohort-mates make all the difference. As I mentioned, I got the rare experience of being in two cohorts (granted, only a week with the first one), but the difference was night and day. My first cohort was <25 people, mature, and most people were considerate. The cohort I graduated with was a wreck. I really wanted to avoid the summer cohorts because I knew it would be flooded with college students on summer break, and I was right to make that judgment. It was ~40 people, rowdy/loud, and ridiculously difficult to learn. People were terribly behaved and I felt bad for our cohort lead, who had to spend time disciplining our cohort as if it were middle school detention. Maybe half the students were serious about working and learning, the other half were being outwardly inconsiderate, playing DoTA, chatting on the phone, vaping indoors, leetcoding, and doing phone interviews. I don't care that these people were doing other things, but I DO care that I spent 18K and was being bothered left and right by people who don't realize that they're in a common space and lack the courtesy to not be disruptive to others who actually take their work seriously. Imagine if you were in a college lecture next to someone blabbering on the phone and you'll get the picture. If you think I'm some ol' curmudgeon...I was 23 at the time.

Lastly, job searching. I knew I would take longer than average to find a job because of my low confidence and learning curve, but I promise if you put in the effort it can be done! The job search behavioral tip lectures were helpful, but I didn't really get much out of connecting with my career coach after graduation. The micromanaging, constant checkin thing just didn't work out for me and I am glad my coach respected my decision to go at it at my own pace. I think they focused too much on the "behavioral" side (seriously, there's a calendar for how you should spend your job search days) and not enough on the technical aspects of getting a job (aka what really counts).

I would like to give a shoutout to the HREXT team though--that program was AMAZING. You'll learn and get actual support and encouragementand actual advice on coding cleanly and idiomatically rather than some hand-wavy non-answer.

Background about me: taken HS programming course, BS+MS in Biotechnology, some college work. Shy, introverted, low confidence, not particularly well inclined toward math/engineering and slower learner, but love learning about technology and algorithms nonetheless.

I started the Hack Reactor prep program (then called Structured Study Program) in November of 2018, entered the full-time immersive in February of 2019, graduated that May, stayed on in an associate instructor role until August, and started my position as a full stack engineer in September. I hadn't touched or read about code before November of 2018 (unless a few lines of HTML in middle school counts). If your plan is to put everything else on pause and give the program and job search 100% of you, it works.

I think the critical pieces to the success of the program are: its emphasis on both hard and soft skills, its focus on community-building around shared goals, and the pivot into career readiness and support as students approach graduation. 

Students spend as much time and energy leveling up their ability to communicate and collaborate with others, verbalize their technical work with accessible language, and iterate on their workflow and project planning as they do on leveling up their technical abilities. This is huge for both nailing technical interviews and performing on the job as a software engineer (which are two different beasts). It's not enough to be great at coding or communicating; both are necessary. Students are guided by technical instructors and counselors, each of who are passionate, dedicated people who genuinely care about their students' success. They do a great job of fostering a community, which certainly helps with motivation/morale, but also improves technical growth through collaborative approaches to the material. It also translates to professional networking. You're likely to meet amazing people going through such a rigorous program that places such high value on people skills. I certainly did.

The curriculum is iterative; both students and instructors are in tight feedback loops, and schedules and assignments are flexible to match the needs of students and industry trends. Side note: I think it's important to view the curriculum as a tool rather than a transformative environment-- you won't move through it and level up into a software engineer. You'll use it, along with Google and your peers, to figure out how to solve a million tiny problems and a few big ones. It (the curriculum) has some shortcomings, but I think the overall system works, and I think it serves its purpose. 

The career support is huge. The career counselors meet with you regularly after graduation to coach you through the job hunt, working on/vetting doc's like resumes, covers, emails, etc., and practicing interview talking points, compensation deflection and negotiation, and general mental model/strategy work. I found this critical to my success in the job hunt. Special shout out to Lena Johnson in the Remote campus.

Overall, the program provides what it says it will: the environment, tools, resources, and people for you to figure out how to software engineer.  

I graduated from Hack Reactor in May 2015 from the San Francisco location. At the time, I had just graduated from undergrad with a non-technical major and a CS minor.

 

Hack Reactor was one of the best decisions I've ever made. In my college CS classes, other students just wanted to get an A whether they understood the material or not. At HR, there are no grades and the students genuinely want to learn and help each other. It's such a collaborative learning experience that it changed my entire perspective on what education could be like. To give a quick example, I took a semester of Data Structures in college, then spent one week learning data structures at HR and thought "is this what they were talking about all semester in college?" HR has figured out how to teach what you need to know.

 

After graduation, I became a Hacker in Residence (basically a teaching assistant) and taught a few pre-camp classes (for students who have never coded before and want to eventually apply to the program) because I appreciated so much what the community did for me and I wanted to give back.

 

Even years after graduation, I still get help from HR when applying to new jobs and negotiating salaries. Shout-out to Marlene Fong, an awesome career coach/alumni director who is incredibly supportive and super helpful for alumni figuring out their careers. This is the kind of support that even a university (which is many times more expensive!) will not give you.

 

Is it possible for you to save your money and learn all of this for free? Of course. Are you going to know what to study, in which order, and have an entire network of other motivated learners by your side? No, and that's exactly what HR gives you. Will you learn the same amount as you would in a typical 4-year degree? Of course not, but you will be able to apply it better. CS degrees teach you theory, HR teaches you application, which is much more important for a job.

 

Overall, I highly recommend this program. It's a life-changing experience.

 

I was a chef with only a hobby level of experience with computers and coding, decided to take the course after hearing about it from a friend. Easily one of the better decisions I've made in my life. I'm now employed as a Software Engineer in New Hampshire making astronomically more money than I ever have in my life and loving my job. Would recommend this course to anyone (which I do just about every time someone brings up hating their job or not making enough money).

pros:
  -no fire and forget curriculum where you just get assignments and sit on a computer alone
  -emulates a real work environment well
  -great staff
  -rapid pace
  -blends autonomy with accountability and social engagement
  -support is available but not as a crutch
cons:
  -I actually found this to be a pro but the pace is breakneck and this program is not for the faint of heart, this lends to the program's gravitas.