Hack Reactor Reviews
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Jesse DeOms Verified via GitHubAwesome Community and Curriculum
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If you are looking to join a community of people that are working really hard to break into web development, look no further than Hack Reactor. By learning some of the popular JS frameworks while also learning solid principles of programming in general and full-stack development more specifically, the HR curriculum will accelerate your learning of the technical concepts as well as help you develop the mindsets and workflows necessary to enjoy modern web development as a career.
I completed the program remotely. As a former educator with an undergrad engineering degree and masters in secondary education, I was consistently impressed by the instructional choices made throughout the curriculum and by the efforts that went into building community in our cohort. Most of all, I won a great network of awesome people who are all working to break into web development (and having a lot of success in doing so). Their support has made all the difference in affirming this career decision and pursuing my interests in development.
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Doris Chiu Verified via LinkedIn
Amazing Experience
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I had chosen Hack Reactor (Makersquare at the time I was introduced to it) after hearing about it through at least two of my friends in the Software Industry. I had originally considered getting a degree from a university and was working towards that at a community college. But when I heard about this program and it's amazing reputation in the industry, I decided to go this route. By the time I enrolled at HR, I had taken an Introduction to Programming course (coded in Python) at a community college to see if I like programming before committing. The knowledge I gained from the course helped me through the prep and the first week or two of the programming, after that it was an unfamiliar, challenging but exciting territory.
Hack Reactor is great for learning programming and about yourself as an individual. This intensive 12-week program is great for those that are able to pick up things after doing the hands-on learning for 2 days and then pivot to another concept afterward. Although this type of learning style may take some adjusting on your part, after this section (first six weeks) is over, you will have a pretty good idea about how you learn as a student and how much research/practice you as an individual needs in order to understand a concept or new technology. Moving into the second half of the program, you'll be put into teams of 3-5 to work on building apps. Here, you're able to work on teamwork skills such as communication, organization, accountability, and problem solving as a group. You'll learn how to balance each team member's style of work and personality as you're going through this process.
Overall, my experience at Hack Reactor was amazing and I would definitely recommend it for prospective students!
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Guillermo Blanco Verified via GitHubWorth it
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If you want to start a career in web development, Hack Reactor is a great and easy way to do it. That doesn't mean the curriculum is easy, all I am saying is that once you get in, all you have to do is breathe, eat and dream code, and you will get your dream job, an awesome peer network, lifetime job assistance and a great increase in your salary (about 300% in my case, although of course it depends on your initial salary, duh).
When I started Hack Reactor, I had some academic programming experience with C++, but had spent the previous 2 years and change working at Burger King, Papa John's, etc. On top of that my English wasn't good since my native tongue is Spanish.
In Hack Reactor I learned about algorithms, JavaScript, lots of JavaScript frameworks (their materials are awesome, you learn technologies in two days or so with them), Databases (SQL and NoSQL), unit testing, integration testing, TDD, systems design, etc, and not only do you get all the required technical background, but you also get other skills like how to build your resume, write cover letters, conduct in an interview, negotiate salary, work in teams, communicate effectively, etc.
The decision is clear: if you go to college, you will spend much more money and for things like History, English, Calculus, Simulation, Combinatorics, and others that, although interesting, you don't really need as a web developer; if you want to teach yourself, aside from the fact that you wouldn't really know what to learn, since you have limited access to the industry trends, you will spend much more time, time during which you could be making a lot of money in a real job. If you go to a bootcamp, you need to choose Hack Reactor, since it is the best.
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Yuriy Lemberg Verified via GitHubAwesome Experience, Awesome Community
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My experience at Hack Reactor was fun, informative, hectic, engaging, depressing, rewarding, and a range of even more emotions. The 3 months 11 hour a day, 6 day a week immersive was everything I could've asked for and more. I wanted a program that would challenge me and it did that every step of the way. On top of that probably the best part of the experience was having a friendly and engaging community that was struggling at the same steps that I was.
Probably the most rewarding part of the experience was bouncing ideas off other students. I not only learned through my own progression but learn through other students progression as well. During the program, there wasn't an hour where I didn't learn something new by communicating with other engineers. And I think that's the great power of Hack Reactor. There are a wealth of technically strong and extremely helping engineers always around you. You still have to put in the work but it helps the motivation to be able to talk with other people around you with the same pain points as you and figuring out the solution together.
The program isn't for everybody, it's rigorous, technically challenging, and you have to work well with people. But I am forever grateful for my entire time at the program and wouldn't change my process of the program in a single way.
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Alonzo Alden Verified via LinkedIn
One of a kind experience with successful results
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I've now been employed as a Software Engineer for 1 month, and things are going better than expected...
Less than a year ago I entered Hack Reactor's Remote Prep Program. I didn't know a line of code before entering, and somehow I survived stumbling out. It gave me enough clarity to understand basic Javascript fundamentals and common algorithms. It also introduced you to pair programming, and to really get a feel of what being a coding is like.
A couple of months later after having been rejected previously for the Hack Reactor Immersive, I managed to get in with tons of codewars practice. It was a hard interview to pass but getting rejected/failing the first time helped me mentally prepare for success. Hack Reactor is big on this ideology.
The bootcamp begins with more computer science oriented topics as well as advanced JavasScript concepts. They cover things from Big O notation and Data structures. Toy problems / Algorithms are given throughout the course and are required daily. By week 2, you begin learning JavaScript frameworks and libraries, and start learning to build apps... from here, just try not to fall off. It's an intense process and requires true commitment.
On the second half of the program, theres a big focus on the job market and how to take software engineering interviews. The support is excellent and you get lots of practice. You also get support from a whole team dedicated to the job search after the program.
The atmosphere is great. The staff does a great job at trying to maintain a certain vibe which revolves around positivity. Because of the nature of having to constantly pair program, I was able to adapt better soft skills and communication.
Overall, if you're truly commited into changing your life 180 degrees be a software engineer, this course is for you. It helps to come in with empathy and an open mind. The cirricculum updates often as does the industry, and Hack Reactor does a great job and keeping up to date with industry standards.
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Eric F. Verified via Linkedin
Front-end Software Engineer
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I came into Hack Reactor with no real professional software engineering experience. I came out in 1.5 months with a full-time position and a great salary.
I attended the Remote course and it was the most challenging few months of my life. In order to get the most out of this course you will have to set your comfort to the side. With that said, three months is a pretty short investment for the payoff.
I am pleasantly surprised with my ability to now keep-up with individuals haiving years of professional web development experience in my new position. Learning the ins and outs of Javascript is tough, but ultimately that is not the greatest value you receive from Hack Reactor. The course taught me how to take on daunting technical challenges, break them down piece-by-piece, and ultimately find a solution even if it isn't perfect.
Expect to be humbled in a big way. You probably won't be the most techincally apt person in the course and that's a good thing. You will be pushed and challenged more and get more value from the course if you have to struggle to stay afloat a bit.
I also weighed doing the on-site program with doing the remote program. For me, I had a set-up that worked well for the remote program. The only thing tough about the remote program is that it can be isolating if you don't make an effort to interact with your classmates. In that way, I think it could be even more challenging than the on-site program at times.
Like I said before, this course is extremely intense. For most Hack Reactor graduates, their job after will be much less demanding than the course itself. Understand this going in and you can set yourself up for great things in a short amount of time. Good luck!
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Ryo Wheatley Verified via LinkedIn
Absolutely Worth It
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Hack Reactor is a daunting undertaking, to say the least. My experience was probably similar to many people out there - the novice programmer, the excitement of building and creating slowly budding in my chest as I explored the surface of programming, growing more enthralled with each new step I took into this marvelous new land until I finally decided to make that dreaded 66/hr a week/3 month plunge. It was exciting, but utterly terrifying, and I had no idea whether I was really going to be able to do it or not.
I've been out of Hack Reactor for 8 months (wow, that's a lot longer than I thought!) at the time of writing this review, and I can honestly say it was the best decision I have ever made. I am happily working in my preferred field, with my preferred techs, and I'm loving every minute of it. And I wouldn't have been able to do it without Hack Reactor.
Now, the school is not exactly what some might think. Those 3 months are not about cramming as many technologies into your head as they can manage, though they certainly do that. It's not about teaching the fundamentals of programming, or design, or data structures. It's about making you a good programmer.
Well, what the heck does that mean, right? Isn't a good programmer someone who knows the technologies?
Oh, it's so much more than that. What Hack Reactor does, better than any other school I've seen, is teach you to learn on the fly. This isn't some Business degree, where you learn the tools you're going to need for the rest of your career, and the rest is up to your own ingenuity. No. Programming is constantly changing, remolding itself, producing new tools and technologies that you need to learn at lightning speed. Just the other day I was handed a project to work on using a technology I had never touched before. And I knew I could do it.
Hack Reactor gave me confidence in my ability to grow and expand in whatever role I was given. Their teaching methods are rough, to be sure. This is not a school that you can float through on minimal effort. And you're not going to be spending just 66 hours a week on this, to be sure - not if you're going to truly experience the course. But that forced work ethic, the speed of the course, the amount of work that is asked of you - it drowns you in the material you're being taught. And if you're really trying, then it's impossible to not absorb it.
You have to be willing to put in the time and effort. You cannot expect the school to do everything for you, though they do everything they can to make sure you have no choice but to immerse yourself. If the idea of spending every waking moment on coding and learning and problem solving is tiring to you, if you cannot stand to be separate from your family for extended periods of time, if you cannot miss your weekly double movie nights out with your friends - then this is not the course for you.
If you are willing to put forth that effort, then you will be rewarded with the staff's unyielding patience and support. Every step of the way, I had support from numerous staff members, who were always there to offer help when I asked for it, and truly seemed to care about my success in the course.
Now there is a fair chance that I was simply lucky in the staff that I got. Every person is different, and it's entirely possible that some of the staff is not up to the standards that I experienced. But I can only write this review based off of what I went through, and the people I was lucky enough to be involed with.
As for other pluses of the school, the community was incredible. You will know everyone in your cohort by week 6, and many of these friendships can stay far beyond. I've made several very close friendships from my cohort, and I know that I can turn to them anytime I need them. Many of us work with fellow grads, with companies that were impressed after hiring their first Hack Reactor student and who decided to keep hiring. The staff does a great job of building a fun culture, with regular events to help ease the stress of the workload.
I would also say that the technologies they teach are fantastic choices for making any student an enticing job candidate. My company was ecstatic at my React knowledge, compounded with the other techs I had to back up my strength there. They know that if they have a problem anywhere in the stack, there's a good chance I could help them with it.
Above all, they gave me an experience that translated well into my new job. It wasn't like back in college, where I came out of my biology studies with no idea what my work would actually look like. Every thing they do is catered to the kind of pattern you'll be following in your everyday life in your new career, and though the job search, and starting a new job, are still daunting, it was incredibly easy to settle into my new role.
This may have come off as an overlong love poem to the school, but I honestly believe I could not have gotten where I am now without Hack Reactor. The support was incredible, and extends to this day. And I know if I need them, they'll still be there to help me. Not because their obligated to, but because they care.
So take this for what it's worth. If you're willing to stick with it, if you're willing to throw your all into this program, it can change your life.
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Daniel Chang Verified via LinkedIn
Worth it if YOU are willing to put in the work
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I recently graduated from Hack Reactor Remote. I will say, I didn’t expect to learn so much through the process. If I had known, I would have made the jump instead of letting life situations somewhat force me into it.
Background
I was an Applied Math major at UC Berkeley, but ended up going down a more business oriented route. I got into online and mobiles games at an early stage and was able to progress pretty decently in my career through that. Still, I always had a passion for building things and if a few things had gone a bit differently would probably have ended up being an engineer down a different path.
Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but I kept wanting to make the switch. Of course I gave myself the same excuses; switching careers is a pretty big risk, I’m too old (mid 30’s), etc.
Fast forward many years, many things happen but I find myself in a position where I’m considering some bootcamps. After a lot of research, I narrowed down my choices to App Academy and Hack Reactor.
Why Hack Reactor
I got accepted to both App Academy and Hack Reactor Remote (didn’t actually finish the application to Hack Reactor onsite because of scheduling). Ultimately I chose Hack Reactor Remote for two reasons (keep in mind this is before starting the program). (1) It was remote and (2) six days a week.
I was initially concerned that I wouldn’t feel as connected with my cohort mates because it was remote, but Hack Reactor does a great job of providing an awesome space to build connections and friendships with others you’re learning with. Also for me personally I’m super open to moving away from the SF Bay Area in the future, so it’s nice to have built relationships with people in other regions.
On top of that, by being remote I saved a good 2 hours a day on commuting. Now, if you are moving to a new city to go do a bootcamp, this probably isn’t a concern for you but it was a realistic concern for me.
When I first heard that Hack Reactor was 6 days a week, I was honestly kind of turned off. As I thought more about it though, If I’m paying for this opportunity (and you are paying even with bootcamps that take a percentage later on), I best get the most out of it. The entire course is only 12 weeks long to begin with, that extra day per week does come in handy.
Also Javascript
Finally, it’s Javascript. There are many other studies out there, but when I was doing my research Javascript clearly was the language to learn. On top of that, once you get into asynchronous calls and such, it just seems natural to be using Javascript.
Material & Learning
Hack Reactor doesn’t just teach you how to code, but they teach you how to become a Software Engineer others want to hire and work with. With that, they teach how you mindsets and mentality needed to grow as a Software Engineer for now just your first job afterwards, but second, third, etc.
Hands down, you are going to learn so much.
The Bad
This isn’t for everyone. Getting in itself a pretty decent challenge. Unless you already have a good backround, be prepared to put in work just to get in. Once you’re in, it continues to get hard. I’ve been in long hour, high stress work situations but nothing really compared to the mental challenge this program was. The plus side is when you come out of it, you know you can take anything on.
It isn’t for everyone. The only promise is you will get out of this what you put in. If you are not willing to put in the work before, during, AND after the program, it may not be for you. However if you are serious about moving into or leveling up your Software Engineering game then there is no better place.
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Emily Jones Verified via LinkedIn
I still can't believe how my life has changed.
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I graduated in September from the Hack Reactor Remote program. Since then I’ve been an HiR doing personal tech coaching and interviews, and I recently accepted a fantastic offer from a really cool company.
I really can’t recommend HR enough. What really stood out to me early and often was the amount and quality of the career education and support. I attended a reasonably good 4-year public university and never received anything near the quality or quantity of fantastic career support as I have at Hack Reactor. Even early in the course, there are lectures going over the qualities that make a successful software engineer, what to expect, how to navigate the job market, how to market yourself, etc. Then, once you’ve graduated you’ll receive amazing continued job support. When I got my offer, I took it to my fantastic career coach and she helped me with the negotiation process. Negotiating is really hard for me, but she coached me through it, helping me script questions and responses so that my nerves wouldn’t overtake me during the negotiation. We did mock negotiations with role-playing so I could get used to phrasing the sentences correctly. Ultimately I negotiated an already great offer up a bit, and I was happy to accept at that point. I cannot put into words how valuable this is, what’s the good of learning the skills if you can’t get past the application process? Hack Reactor gets people’s butts in jobs, and that’s partly due to the fantastic career coaching and outcomes team who help you put the cherry on top.
They’ll also help you A LOT with resume writing. That’s also the bane of my existence, but with their coaching and help I produced a fantastic resume that got me in to a phone screen easily with several companies. I didn’t even need to attend the last week of the program (since I got a job :D) that goes really intensely over writing cover letters, resume review, job application support and white boarding practice.
Ok, aside from the job stuff, the quality of the course is amazing. You’re working on functioning code bases, mostly to add new features or implement required ones. You’re building web apps from day 1 (Ok, maybe not until day 7 when the sprints start). You are really plunged into the deep end from day one and forced to swim. Be warned: you must be an autonomous person who is goal oriented to take this course. Yes, there is guidance and structure, but it’s ultimately up to you to get what you need done to succeed in the course. There will invariably be extra work you need to do outside of class in order to keep up since it is so fast-paced.
I found the sprints challenging, but not overly-so. I found week 4 to be particularly challenging, and really doubted my skills, but the counseling and tech mentors helped me get where I needed to be. It seems crazy that 12 weeks is enough to get people all the skills they need to succeed, but I found that it was more than sufficient to get me into a job. I was even a bit over-prepared. I barely sent out applications; I applied for one, and was asked to interview for a second that I met at a job fair who had seen my resume. I received an offer from both, and ultimately went with the first one that I had applied to. I’m still completely astounded at how easy, painless and quick the job search was, but that’s because I was impeccably prepared and supported throughout (mix some dumb luck in there too). Granted, the jobs I applied for were both to startups, who value more practical skills to get you in the door. I didn’t have to do any white boarding or algorithm problems, just really practical stuff that I found (frankly) really easy.
By and large, your classmates will be fantastic. Hack Reactor goes to great lengths to make sure it admits people who are not only intellectually capable of the rigorous pace and difficult concepts, but those who will be enjoyable to collaborate with. I had so many helpful classmates that made a huge impact on my success in the course.
I would recommend that if you take the course, you set up after-hours study groups early and often. They were instrumental in helping me understand the material.
I’m a female in tech which isn’t always easy, but the support I received from Hack Reactor makes that much easier. I’ll be the first female engineer at my new job. If you’re wondering if you’ll be a good fit for Hack Reactor specifically because you’re a woman/unconfident about your skills or your ability, don’t worry. If you can get into Hack Reactor and get past the pre-course work, you’ve got what it takes to succeed in the program and on the job. You might be judged by dumb guys from time to time, but that just helps you build up a thick skin. For the most part everyone has been great.
This course is HARD and it will kick your ass. But (at least in my case) you might go from zero coding knowledge, to teaching yourself coding, to Hack Reactor, to an amazing job in less than a year. I can confidently say it was the absolute best decision I have ever made in my life, as well as the hardest thing I have ever done. I am incredibly grateful not only to the founders for starting the school, but to all the tech mentors, counselors, coordinators and cohort mates who put in so much hard work and care to make the program amazing.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to respond.
TL;DR:
Unbeatable job support, insane value for the money, challenging but doable sprints, awesome cohort mates, fantastic tech and morale support/mentoring, insane outcomes (yes, those numbers are accurate). The most difficult thing I have ever done, and the best decision I have ever made. DOOO IIIT! IT WORKS! Regarding a few negative reviews I have read... really? 98% employment after 6 months is not impressive? Do you have any idea what the rate is for a 4 year college? I went to college and NEVER got a job in what I studied, let alone 6 months later.
And yes, there's a lot of self-teaching during the program -- they're trying not to set you up to need your hand held through every bit of code you have to work with. I've been working as professional frontend engineer for 6 months now, and I can say that the real world is very similar to how life feels at hack reactor -- you're thrown into an unfamiliar situation, without any expertise about the code, and you need to figure out how to find your way out of the problem. I'm grateful that they didn't hold my hand through the course-- it would have been a rude awakening to move into the job and suddenly have little support and no skills to figure things out by myself. -
Alexander Leo Verified via LinkedIn
Beyond 5 star experience
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Like you, I was extremely skeptical of attending a programming bootcamp. The thought of it just seemed way to good to be true, there had to be a catch, and there is one. The catch is hard work. The only way to achieve success at a bootcamp is the same way you achieve success anywhere else: putting in 100% effort and persevering. I was unsure of the remote experience and whether I would like the structure of the class or not, so I attended the remote prep program. The prep course was worth the money and gave me a great preview of what the Hack Reactor environment felt like and I loved it. I wasn't sure if the full program would be worth the money (spoiler alert it TOTALLY was) or that it would really be enough education to get me a job with zero experience. I read dozens of reviews from alumni saying that Hack Reactor was the best choice they ever made. Finally, I decided to go for it, got accepted, and never looked back.
Even in a remote environment the staff finds ways to bring the class together for an unrvialed sense of comradery and collaboration. All of the staff and students I encountered during my time in the course were, without exagerration, the nicest and most intelligent group of people I have ever met. I didn't have a single negative interaction. Prior to Hack Reactor, I didn't have any professional programming experience. All of the material covered in the curriculum is accurate and relevant, containing all of the most in demand skills in the Javascript ecosystem and delivered in an effective (but really rapid) manner. After graduating Hack Reactor in December of 2016, I got a job offer in January of 2017 for a Full Stack Software Engineer role that has gone above and beyond my expecations.
I got an amazing job, thanks to the skills I picked up during my time at Hack Reactor. Some of these non-technical skills include writing a resume, how to ace job interviews, and tips on how to be effecting during the job search. I was able to get an amazing job, that I still love, at a very reputable company. Hack Reactor prepared me extremely well for the path that lay ahead after I left the program. I still tell everyone I meet how much I love Hack Reactor and what a great experience it was. The education that Hack Reactor provides is so impressive and it was doubly as apparent once I was on the job able to keep up with experienced engineers.
All of the team members and management I interact with at my current job are honestly quite amazed at the efficacy of the program and the amount I was able to learn in 3 months.
Hack Reactor is by and far an amazing overall experience, and I would go back and do it all over again if I could.
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Michelle Carter Verified via LinkedIn
Totally Worth Every Minute!
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I was part of the Hack Reactor NYC campus cohort #5 (HRNYC5) that finished in March 2017. I think most people who will read this review are considering a career change on some level. I was in your shoes about a year ago. Whatever brought you to the point in life where you are looking at leaving your safe but unsatisfactory current circumstances and spending a LOT of money and time on an entirely new adventure. I have one thing to say to you. DO IT!
I started out doing some market research and figured out javascript was a great place to start learning to code. So I worked on Codecademy and FreeCodeCamp. I met with a couple devs I knew and got their advice, dug all through the reviews here on on CourseReport. The best program close to me in Utah is DevMountain. Great group of people there. I started working toward admission there, but in the meantime, I heard about the Grace Hopper program in NYC that was for women only. For my circumstances it made a lot of sense to look at programs away from home so I could really focus my attention on the learning. So I headed out to NYC for the FullStack Bootcamp Prep program in September 2016. I had of course heard of Hack Reactor but just dismissed that I would be able to get in since I felt I was too much of a beginner.
Before I left for NYC, I decided to apply to Hack Reactor for a throw-away practice application. I did, as expected, fail. Quite well, actually. But I was completely impressed with the HiR who handled my interview, and with his willingness to spend time with me, teach me, and encourage me even though I was so clearly not ready for a Hack Reactor bootcamp experience. While in NYC, I decided to take a second look and took a few tours at the then MakerSquare(made the name change to Hack Reactor around October 2016) campus. I also asked to sit in on a lecture and they said that was okay too. I tried that at FullStack and was told no I would disrupt the class.
The story was only beginning there. Hack Reactor is constantly working to improve their curriculum and nurture new learners, so they invited me to participate in multiple pilot programs. I was offered 4 weeks worth of mentoring sessions with an HiR, and also got the chance to participate in 2 phases of Intensive study groups that became the current remote prep program they now offer partially for free. All of this was at no cost to me, and gave me the opportunity to interact with many different people in different capacities. Never. One. Negative. Experience.
So it took some extra work and a little extra time, but I eventually found myself accepted to Hack Reactor NYC and started in December 2016.
The team at the NYC campus is fantastic. From Jeff the counselor, whose job it is to keep you from losing your mind while you work through the hardest 3 months of your life, to Joseph the supersmart primary instructor for the first half and John, the king of Tech Mentoring and then all the different HiRs along the way, every single person is helpful, willing to teach, supportive, and has your best interest at the heart of their decisions.
You don't spend 66+ hrs per week for 3 months with people without some drama and conflict along the way, but that turns into this crazy side benefit of the experience. You are working to change your life around entirely and along the way you make a group of friends who shared this intensity with you.
The Hack Reactor experience does not stop on graduation day. There is a very well-built out curriculum and program for supporting you throughout the job search. I have found the Outcomes Team to be every bit as concerned for me and what is best for me as everyone else. There are cynics out there who will not believe me and won't trust that HR's #1 motivation is the individual student, but I have zero evidence to the contrary.
I have a new career as a software developer! I will be starting my first full-time job in the next week or two, about 6 weeks after leaving the program. If you are thinking about it, look very hard at HRNYC and trust that these folks are the real deal.
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Richard Boothe Verified via LinkedIn
Most Challenging and Rewarding Experience of My Life
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Let’s begin by getting the dirty details out of the way to relieve some curiosity. I’m going to attempt to give those who are looking for an honest and insightful review a full understanding of my perspective, so they can possibly make an informed decision about their future. I’d first like to present some facts about me, since it seems to be relevant for the sake of context when reviewing the opinions, perspective, and respective nature of those providing reviews provided here or anywhere for that matter. My name is Richard Boothe, I attended Hack Reactor in Austin during the cohort of 2016 that went from February to May. During my time as a student I decided that I’d like to be a Technical Fellow/Hacker in Residence, and thus went on to do so at the New York campus from June to September of the same year. After my time at Hack Reactor it took me 5 weeks to find a job in web development, my salary is above the average of Hack Reactor graduates.
As of the writing of this review, I am working for both Ksquare Solutions Inc. and also the Boy Scouts of America in Irving,TX as a Senior UI Developer/Software Engineering Contractor respectively. I am 33 years old and before attending Hack Reactor was a bartender/bar manager for 10 years. Hopefully that’s enough info for you to find me on LinkedIn if you’d like to ask questions or just want to absolutely know I’m not a fake person like a majority of the anonymous one-star reviews seem to suggest.
My experience in regard to software and web development prior to Hack Reactor was limited entirely to Team Treehouse, Code Academy and Coderbyte. I had discovered that I really enjoyed the algorithmic nature of solving problems and was tired of my career behind the bar, so I began researching bootcamps and university options two years prior to my time as a student. The majority of programs at that time were advertising a 0-60 acceleration in learning, meaning having an absolutely zero amount of knowledge in the field of web development to knowing enough to get a junior level job. Meanwhile Hack Reactor advertised an education that would accelerate future web developers with a 20-120 acceleration, leaving their graduates at a mid to senior level upon entering job search. Furthermore, at the time none of these programs offered outcomes assistance besides Hack Reactor, which was a selling point for me for the obvious reason of avoiding retreating back to the bar scene after investing the admitted high cost of a bootcamp like program. I decided completely against the idea of investing in a University program upon realizing it would cost me a minimum of $80,000.
I decided on Hack Reactor for a seven reasons.
- First, I looked at the reviews on sites like Course Report and Google just as you are today.
- Secondly, I appreciated the honesty that was provided in regard to the level of understanding in coding/analytical thinking that was necessary to attend and succeed at their program, I will address this further later.
- Third, I felt that while the price is indeed high and certainly unarguable, it was worth the personal investment that is my time and future when compared to the other programs and what they had to offer. I didn’t want to spend my time learning HTML and CSS because I already knew those mark-up languages from my previous studying, the majority of the competition in bootcamps invests a lot of the students' time (some of them spend as much as a month!) teaching HTML/CSS which are concepts that can be acquired and understood independently quickly. I was on a budget and was focused on learning JavaScript concepts that I found difficult to grasp on my own, Hack Reactor focused on those specific concepts.
- Fourth, their is an emphasis on acquiring soft skills and learning to pair program. This skill has provided me with an enriched ability to communicate in an amicable and concise manner with my peers at work that has absolutely helped me advance quickly in my career.
- Fifth, the continued enrichment of the program keeps the topics fresh. I’ve read a few of these reviews that speak about how some of the instructional videos are old. Yet the concepts and the technology hasn’t changed in the last two years, at all. I'll discuss ES6 momentarily.
- Sixth, Hack Reactor enforces the basics first. This is the entire reason for the first six weeks.
- Seven and most importantly, Hack Reactor provides a community feel that inspires a drive to learn. This was crucial to my success during times when I felt overwhelmed or frustrated with my progress.
As a prospective student, an actual student, and later a Hacker In Residence, I never felt that any of those reasons were abandoned or less than what was originally presented.
Hack Reactor is *NOT* a bootcamp for students looking for an easy ride into a six-figure job, it never has been. Furthermore, it is not a program that one can easily jump into without prior experience and exit with a maximum gain. For this reason I warn anyone attempting to game the admissions program that you are doing yourself a huge disservice. If you review some of the poor reviews, you will notice a trend that most of those students providing 1 star reviews had failed the admissions program several times, or had ‘memorized the admissions requirements’ rather than take the time to learn the concepts that are recommended for admittance.
It took me a year to get to a point where I felt confident enough to take the admissions interview, and that was after performing self-study with the concepts of conditional statements, scope, closures and higher-order functions. For those that gamed the system and feel cheated, I feel sympathy for you but also wonder what you expected when time and again the expectations presented before admittance and during the cohort were that you needed to have a fundamental understanding to succeed. The reason Hack Reactor focuses so heavily on fundamentals to reinforce the understanding that students should already have is to insure that more advanced topics like frameworks, API creation and consumption, data manipulation, and database structures can be taught. FYI, the admissions system has been changed to avoid unknowingly allowing students into the program that are not yet ready. So while learning the concepts of higher order functions such as each/map/filter/reduce is great and will help you be a better developer, memorizing how to type those functions out without knowing the reason for the code will probably be a waste of time.
Without the core concepts of basic javascript, it is unrealistic to assume that the advanced topics can be taught, which is primarily a reason ES5 is focused on prior to teaching ES6. Why teach arrow functions, spread operators, destructuring, classes, constructors, map, set, block scoping etc… if you don’t have a proficient understanding of functions, arrays, basic iteration (for, for-in, for-of, while loops), scope, objects, the ‘this’ keyword, the paradigms of Object Oriented Programming versus functional programming versus using OLOO tactics, when and how to use coercion etc…? That being said, as of now ES6 is being taught in at least the New York campus under the great direction of instructors Joseph Martin and John Michelin.
My experience as a student was excellent in the fact that it primarily focused on JavaScript, with some time spent learning SQL (not nearly at the level I did with JavaScript but enough to be dangerous). I don’t think that I could have spent the roughly 3 months learning more than one language proficiently as I did during my time at Hack Reactor. In fact, in regard to my job I only use JavaScript. This is due to my use of Node on the Server/backend and React/React Native on the Client/frontend. So I think it’s a little odd to read some reviews by anonymous individuals who attended Hack Reactor that make the claim that they felt regret over learning only one language. Especially since SQL is in the curriculum.
I will admit there were absolute moments of stress and frustration, with my own lack of understanding at times, or the lack of understanding from a Hacker in Residence, or from a partner who was less than helpful. However in hindsight, this was an extremely accurate representation of the employment I currently engage in daily. There are times now at my current employment where I have a problem that needs a solution that is not immediately available or obvious, a colleague who isn’t particularly helpful, or a more senior figure who is less than willing to help find a solution. The environment I experienced as a student provided me with a vast toolkit that was primarily based on problem solving, that just happened to be in the realm of coding in JavaScript. If I were to land a job that focused in a Ruby or Python environment, I would not have any trouble acquiring the knowledge to code in those languages. This is solely due to the fact that I learned how to learn how to code at Hack Reactor. If you can think logically and algorithmically in one language, you can learn the syntax and code in any language. So once again, this is an optimization of time and investment, with all the above mentioned fundamentals that need to be acquired to succeed at Hack Reactor, learning multiple languages and their respective syntax would be a waste of time to you as a student.My thoughts on the program overall are great obviously, I rated everything five stars across the board for a reason right? The instructor Gilbert answered any and all questions I ever had about the content of the curriculum, and always did so humbly and with patience. My Technical Mentors/Hackers In Residence were always willing to help me reason about toy problems, or help me find break-throughs in my understanding. Of course there is the chance that I got lucky with a great group of folks as mentors and instructors, but given the nature of the Hack Reactor program, and my experiences at two separate campuses, I highly doubt it. Linden, my wonderful and amazing counselor was a godsend at times I felt overwhelmed and disheartened about my self-confidence in regard to my own progress. The support of a student counselor is one that is not mentioned very often in regard to the reviews on Hack Reactor and it should be, this role is crucial to the students having an ear to speak to and a voice to listen to. Shout out to Jeff in NYC for being equally amazing!
During my time as a student I decided I wanted to be a Hacker In Residence as I have always enjoyed teaching, and also wanted to enrich my understanding of more advanced concepts in web development. This decision, which frustratingly, insultingly, and inaccurately has been posted in prior reviews was not due to a lack of ability to acquire gainful employment, but rather a desire to teach and further my understanding in advanced topics related to web development. The Hacker in Residence program is something that students apply for during their time as students, not during their job search or after they "decide they can’t get a job". If you are reading this and decide to attend Hack Reactor, I highly encourage you to apply for this position as it is incredibly rewarding on so many levels, I’ll spare the details as that’s a different topic all together.
Lastly, the community that I still engage with today is one that continues to grow and flourish as I carry on with coding and my career. I am extremely grateful and proud of the accomplishments I have achieved because I am aware of how difficult the task was, and is. And with that I’d like you to keep that in mind when making an investment in Hack Reactor, as with any life changing decision for yourself. Most things worth doing of any magnitude are not simple, or easy, or quick. Don’t try to cheat the experience. If you really want to invest in something, attack the goal with a hundred percent. Please reach out to me if you’d like, and thanks for reading the novel ;)
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Christopher Hlass
Not what it says on the tin
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If you already have on the job experience ith JavaScript, back-end web development, or have worked with other languages extensively, it's a great certification to get for your resume. If you don't, this program will not provide you with anything you couldn't do on your own. The curriculum after the first month boils down to "here's a 15 minute talk about a subject for the week. If you run into anything you don't know how to do, Google it." The help desk (student volunteers) are instructed to only answer questions with canned responses: 'try looking it up with different phrasing on stack overflow,' 'try thinking about the problem in a different way,' and my favorite, 'go back and study the basics again.' Instructors can be reached out to, but on the rare occasion they make time they're more likely to tell you to spend another night googling than give advice or guidance. If you aren't meeting every deadline around the halfway point -- which was most people in my cohort that weren't already experienced in the field -- you might get what I got, which was a call from the staff suggesting I restart the program to make sure I wasn't under-prepared for the back half. Not the worst suggestion, until they mention that you're paying for the entire program twice if you do that. I ended up taking their second piece of advice, which was to drop out before taking the mid term since you save a couple thousand dollars if you give up before you know for sure that you should. -
Green Z
Don't waste your money
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The curriculum is out of date and disconnected from industry. The program is shorter than it used to be so they can squeeze in another cohort and rush people through the program and make 1/3 more revenue in a year. Their employees are former hack reactor students who aren't employed in industry.
A significant part of their energy and resources goes to internet marketing and advertising / PR campaigns, where it should be focussed on quality of education and outcomes for its students. I find it cruel and disheartening that students are expected to search for jobs for 2x the length of the program they attended. The organization simply has not attracted a proportionate amount of industry attention in comparison to the number of students they output.
I regret spending $20,000 on a half-formed concept of a mostly self-guided "education" that doesn't have a job on the other end. -
Brenton Hershner
If you love software and come from STEM, do it!
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Tl;dr if you have a similar background as me and love to code, enroll in Hack Reactor. You won’t regret it.
I have a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering. I worked as a ME for 8 years then earned an MBA and worked as a Product Manager for 2 years. I always had an interest and passion for software and tried to integrate it into my job and side projects as much as possible but felt if I was going to make a switch to be a professional Software Engineer, I needed a few things: A structured curriculum to learn specific things to make me employable, a mechanism to learn best practices which would set me apart from people who just figured it out on their own, and a network of fellow graduates and career coaches to help me find a full time position. Hack Reactor absolutely provided those things and I fully believe I wouldn’t be working at a FAANG company today without that support and education.
I picked Hack Reactor because it seemed like the most challenging, was consistently ranked high, and the network of alumni is broad and well-rooted in the industry (because it has been around for a long time). I was not wrong and they exceeded my expectations. Hack Reactor is brutal. Say goodbye to your current social life. Your new friends are fellow students. Just don’t get too attached because many will not be able to make it.
Lectures are great but don’t expect a deep dive into CS theory. They just teach enough fundamentals so you can sound knowledgeable in an interview and a lot of applicable knowledge so you can actually build things.
The first half of the program is a lot of pair programming. They generally pair the strongest students with the weakest. Weaker students face the challenge of the stronger person moving faster than they can keep up and the stronger student faces the challenge of being held back by the weaker student. Fortunately if you don’t like your pair, they are rotated every two days. I STRONGLY believe they should separate students into a higher performing group and lower performing group so that the unique needs of each group can be more accurately addressed. The second half of the program is longer, group projects, but individuals typically work on their own features, somewhat alleviating the challenges of the first half of the program.
Two staff individuals I would particularly like to highlight were Josh Elder and Liz Martinez. Josh was the Technical Mentor for the Seattle campus. His technical knowledge far surpassed anyone else in the staff. Josh was the goto person for any bug anyone experienced. I personally saw issues go through three other staff members before being escalated to him and he was able to solve the issue within 5 minutes. He also taught many of the lectures where he was energetic and engaging. It’s very obvious that Josh loves to teach and his passion for it shows. I’ve talked to many students who said that they chose to attend the Seattle campus specifically because of Josh’s reputation.
It was REALLY scary to quit my full time job and join a boot camp. I really didn’t know if it would work out or not, but it definitely did. I get to write code and learn every single day, which is great, but I also doubled my total compensation. I couldn’t be happier. I can’t recommend Hack Reactor for everyone, but if you have a similar background and similar passion for software, I couldn’t recommend Hack Reactor enough. -
Chris McClelland
Software Engineer
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I started with their Premium Prep Course ($250 tuition, goes toward full course tuition if accepted). Before this, I had no experience with JavaScript or web development. The prep course was easy to follow and the support offered from the Premium option was very helpful. I highly recommend this route because it's essentially free as long as you pass the entrance exam and the staff really was incredible. Coach Kathy gave some solid pep talks every morning and the tech mentors were great when helping with any issues.
After you pass the technical admission assessment (TAA) you get enrolled in the Precourse. This is about 3-4 weeks of work to get you prepped for the real course. Again there is lots of support from the staff and helpdesk. I received help several times from the helpdesk staff and they were always very helpful in guiding me to find the answer rather than simply answering.
Now for the main bit. I was enrolled in the Remote Eastern cohort (though everything was remote at the time). The course is split into two phases, the junior and the senior. During the junior phase, there are one or two lectures every day. These were "blended learning" lectures meaning that there were multiple cohorts in the zoom call. The lecturers were all great. They explained relatively complex topics in about an hour, setting us up to use put that info to work in the current sprint. The sprints were two-day projects that you work on with a partner. These are projects to learn the principles of the current topic. You switch partners every time so you'll get to know many of your classmates, which is difficult in the beginning due to the remote environment. All of these lessons lead up to the Technical Assessment which is a gating midpoint exam. You'll have to pass this to go on to the senior phase. As long as you are putting in the work and asking for help when you need it, the TA shouldn't be an issue.
The senior phase is all about combining all the junior lessons to start building real applications. There are four projects, three in groups and one solo. This was the part where I started feeling like I might actually be a software engineer.
The staff was incredible in every aspect. The lecturers did a great job remotely (as a former teacher I was always impressed). The cohort lead always brought her inspiring attitude for the morning announcements and was always available for any support you might need. The tech mentors were great as well. They had regular office hours to go over any tech topics you might be struggling with. Most of my interaction with staff was with the helpdesk or the SEIR (software engineering immersive resident. All the helpdesk staff and SEIRs are recent Hack Reactor grads so they have experience with whatever issue you might be having. The helpdesk helped my various partners and me get through many struggles in the junior phase sprints. My cohort was lucky to have the best SEIR. He was super helpful and highly skilled at explaining difficult concepts as if to a child but without being condescending.
The final week of the course is spent with the Career Services team. They help with your resume, cover letters, salary negotiation, and much more. This is crucial because obviously, the goal is to get a job. After graduating you're assigned a Career Services Manager. This is the person that will help you individually with any job search questions or concerns. Also there optional is the Job Search Program which provides some structure and guidance for your job search.
I had a great experience at Hack Reactor and definitely recommend it. I want to emphasize though that it isn't for everyone. It's a lot of work. Expect to put in a minimum of 60 hours a week for three months. They provide what you need to be successful, but ultimately it's up to you to do the work. -
Ricky Marasigan
Hack Reactor Full Time Immersive
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I think it's safe to say that Hack Reactor was the most challenging, yet rewarding experience of my life. Based on conversations I've had with graduates from other bootcamps, it seems that when compared to other bootcamps, Hack Reactor is considered to be one of the most challenging and intense programs in terms of technical curriculum. However, despite how intense of a program it is, I always felt supported by the staff at all times and that made the experience much easier. I've recently accepted my first offer as a Software Engineer I at a well established company and it feels amazing to know I've come this far in such a short amount of time. I will always wear my Hack Reactor hoodie with pride as I progress in my new career. -
Daniel L
Graduate
Program was great. You learn a lot in just a few weeks. The staff is really supportive and helpful whenever you need help or have questions. Special shout outs to Julian and Hilary for always being such great program leads. -
Sarah Baek
Awesome if you want a career change
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I self-studied front-end software engineering for almost a year but eventually realized self-studying wouldn't be enough to land me a decent job so I decided to join a bootcamp. I've heard that Hack Reactor is the best bootcamp from my software engineering friends and decided to give it a try. That was the best decision I've ever made! The HR software engineering immersive is VERY engaging and forces you to be AUTONOMOUS (a word you'll hear every single day) which is important in your growth and prepares you for the real world. It's definitely not easy and you'll be slammed for 3 months (12 hours a day, 6 days a week), hence the name "bootcamp", but you come out of it learning the same material as a 4-year degree. Another huge benefit of this program is the friends and connections you'll meet. My cohort of 14 have become extremely close and will probably stay in touch for years to come. After the immersive is over, HR has a job search program that helps all students build their resumes, portfolios, cover letters, outreach info, basically everything you would need to land a job. This program really wants everyone to do and be their best and succeed afterwards, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND! -
Helen
Wonderful Experience
I came into the program with an IT background and a degree in applied math. I'd been wanting to get into software engineering for a long time, but after many failed attempts it became clear that I lacked the hard skills to really make an impact. Hack Reactor taught me tricks and tools that I either would have never learned at all on my own, or not to the level of comfort I now have. -
Jake
Great value
Heard about Hack Reactor from my older brother and was very impressed. Learned more in 13 weeks than in the full year I spent trying to self-teach programming. Highly recommend it to anyone interested in software engineering, no matter what their experience level is coming into it. -
Liam Olson-Kenny
TLDR; Should you choose Hack Reactor? Yes. Without a doubt.
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If you're reading this, you're probably where I was 5 months ago. Trying to decide whether or not to enroll in a software engineer bootcamp and deciphering which one to pick. Well lucky for you, I can answer both those questions (see tldr).
Why did I choose Hack Reactor?
I did my due diligence. I reached out to my network, talked to friends in industry who referred me to bootcamp grads they know or work with. The majority of bootcampers I talked with were HR alumni, and had nothing but good things to say about the program. And a number of those HR graduates were now working at FAANG companies. Will HR get you a job at a FAANG company? Maybe. But my main takeaway from those conversations + now as an alumni myself, is that HR will give you the tools to be able to work anywhere you want and that is why I initially chose Hack Reactor and recommend you do too.
Loan vs ISA?
I chose the loan route because of the "relatively" (lol) low interest rate on the loan (dec 2020). Most people in my cohort chose the ISA route. The ISA program is an awesome program (basically start paying back your tuition after landing a job in industry) and definitely a a great option. My advice, do the math. Figure out your total cost for the ISA vs a loan w/ interest, what your monthly payments will be, then weigh the pros and cons based on your situation. HR has partnerships with 2 different companies that make applying & getting accepted for a loan very easy (cosigner options available for those with little/no credit as well). I chose SkillsFund, and after being accepted for the loan they paid my tuition to HR directly, and I never had to worry about a thing.
The pros (listing things I think set HR apart from other programs)
- Interview prep - technical & behavioral, you'll know how to walk the walk, & they'll teach you how to talk the talk too.
- Career Services + Job Search Program (thanks Marah). Coaching on how to network, how to get referrals, how write a technical resume + cover letter, plus a program after the program to help you on your job search. A network of alumni who regularly post job opportunities at great companies + are potential networking opportunities. (I just attended a private info session with a former HR grad who works at Twitch).
- Hands-on practice for a real work environment. Pair programming, agile team environment, tickets, stand-ups, sprints etc. And all of these hone the soft skills you need for any workplace.
- Help Desk + Faculty. Each cohort has designated staff that are available during working hours + often times before and after. Shoutout to Hilary, Julian, Eric, Johnathon, Anthony, & Matthew <3 IN ADDITION, you also get Help Desk, basically a tool to schedule office hours with staff from across every HR campus. 1 on 1 help during the times you get stuck. And i mean it's fuckin fast. I think the longest I ever waited for someone to pick up my help desk request was 5 or 10 minutes. So you get great personalized guidance (technical & non technical) with you local staff, plus the ability to get 1 on 1 technical help from smart people across the country @ a moments notice.
- The program + curriculum itself it as well oiled machine. Lectures, sprints, projects all compound on each other, reinforcing concepts while introducing new ones at the same time. They teach HOW to learn, not just WHAT to learn, and that framework is extremely valueable.
My only "con" would be that I personally felt like there wasn't enough focus on solo projects. Out of the entire 13 week program there was only one, dedicated two-day solo project, and one more "group" project that you could pass off as solo work on a portfolio. Now you can and will come out with plenty of project experience, and a number of GROUP projects you COULD put on your portfolio. However, in my opinion, the inclusion of group projects on your portfolio can open you up to some potential risk in the job search. Can you directly pinpoint the things you built on each project and justify why decisions by other team members were made? What if members of your group wrote really dogshit code? Do you want on your portfolio / github for a potential employer to see & immediately "no" pile you because of someone else's code? What happens if you get in an interview and are asked the question, "Why is this on your personal portfolio if you didn't create it by yourself?" or "Why is a certain part of this (that you didn't write) project done this way?" These are all things you will need to able to justify, and talk about in an interview. I'm not saying you can’t or shouldn’t include your group projects on your portfolio, or that "my way" is the right way. There plenty of people who include only their group projects on their portfolios. Just giving you my opinion and transparency. The takeaway, build something you like on the side, so when you graduate, you have something more to show than just group projects. That’s the great thing about Hack Reactor, by the end, if you can dream it you can build it.
If you made it this far congrats. I highly recommend Hack Reactor to anyone who is seriously considering it. It's by no means easy, but neither is being a Software Engineer, which is why they get paid big bucks right? But seriously, Hack Reactor will take you from zero to hero in 13 weeks if you put the work in.
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CC
Hack Reactor helped secure my dream job!
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In the middle of covid I made the decision to change careers after investing 5 years and a masters degree into my previous career. Obviously I did not make this decision lightly. I had a friend who went through Hack Reactor and he highly recommended it. He also warned there is little hand holding and they pride themselves on churning out autonomous, gritty but team-oriented software engineers. Four months from starting at Hack Reactor I was able to secure my dream job as a full-stack software engineer making $100,000 per year, already a higher salary than I was making in my previous career! I highly recommend Hack Reactor and they have a Job Search Program when you are done with the immersive to help get you that job! -
Antoine Balaine
Well worth it.
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Great curriculum, especially the first phase of the immersive. The process involved:
-a pre-course section about programming-basics that lasted about a month (at $250, it's the best-priced prep-course you'll find in all the boot camps)
-a self-study section (1 month-long) once you were accepted
-a first phase of the immersive (6 weeks) split between the javascript specifics & coding some small apps
-a second phase of the immersive (6 weeks) containing three big projects (an e-commerce page, a cloud infrastructure, and a student-chosen project)
-a job-search preparation-week (setting up resumes, cover letters, etc.)
-a job-search support program (up to 21 weeks) containing talks & tech-interview-prep sessions.
During all of the preparation phase and the immersive, you have access to a helpdesk (generally composed of graduates) 6 days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Downsides/reproaches:
-The immersive program gives introductory tech-lectures at the beginning of every new sprint. Some of the dry-extract of the lectures can be very light on the content, with guest lecturers sometimes showing up without notes and just reacting to what they see on their slides. Though this doesn't take away from the rest of the program, I often left the lectures feeling hungry for more.
-the e-commerce-page project was too long and could have benefitted from concept-recaps. This is the only section in which we were left unsupported, which resulted in us being unable to complete the last section of the project. My cohort complained, and afaik the staff is updating the curriculum to fix the issue.
To sum it up:
At $19k, you're actually getting a lot more than just three months of training. On top of the tech skill, I feel like I came out of the program with a strong ability to autonomously figure out new tech in time-stressed environments, and I'm confident I'll be able to find a job in the upcoming weeks.
I recommend Hack Reactor whole-heartedly and would take it again without hesitation. That being said, put your seatbelts on, and keep in mind that this program can't work without you giving it your 200%. -
Andy P.
Awesome accelerated program!
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Like many people during the Covid-19 pandemic, I wanted to pick up a new skill to fill up my time. I slowly started picking up some Javascript and thought "Hey, maybe I can change careers with this route". I took Hack Reactor's Pre Course program which is free in order to gain some more knowledge and eventually tested into their Full-Time Software Engineering Immersive Program. With the amount of skills that I picked up in the pre course, I thought the program wouldn't be too difficult and I was wrong about that.
The immersive program was by far the most challenging program that I've been to, and the most fulfilling one that I've gotten the pleasure of accomplishing. If you asked me at the beginning of the program what a data structure was, or how could you scale a full-stack application, I wouldn't be able to answer you at all. Through those twelve weeks, I've learned many things about myself, and with the support from my cohort mates, technical mentors, technical lead, and pretty much all staff that I've encountered during my time at Hack Reactor, they've helped make it possible for me to grow into the software engineer that I can be proud of.
Not only does Hack Reactor dive deep into the programming world, but they also help prepare you for job search by introducing networks and dedicating an entire week to prepare you for the next step after graduation. And for that, I am grateful that I suddenly came across this program and decided to stick with it.
All in all, if you're someone who likes a challenge everyday for a 12-weeks/40hr-week program, Hack Reactor is the one for you. -
Russell Esperanza
Great Program and Great Staff
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Hack Reactor provides just enough guidance while still allowing students to be curious and autonomous. You will learn certain concepts by completing two-day projects/sprints during the junior phase. During the senior phase you are put into teams and are tasked with completing 3 capstone projects. These projects put you in a simulated work environment that allows students to self-organize and get hands on experience with agile software development with limited guidance. I made the decision to switch careers and started learning JavaScript about 6 months before I started the immersive and I'm amazed at how much I've learned from the program. They did a great job of covering not only technical skills, but soft skills as well. The staff are wonderful and very much invested in your development and success. -
Andrew
Hack Reactor @ Galvanize
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I attended HR in 2018 at their SF campus. It was an experience for sure. I did not come from a CS background but had some experience doing QA at a small web dev shop. I will say that if you can / are willing to put in the time, Hack Reactor will support you. They will not hold your hand the entire time or even half that, but they will give you the resources and more importantly (at least in my case) the community to help you best leverage those resources. There was a common joke at the time that all of us had migrated to SF from far away places and paid a large amount of money to just sit in a room and struggle for 3 months. What that experience taught me is how to communicate thoughts to others in a relatable way, how to ask the right questions not only of others but also to google, and how to learn things quickly. I think these things are some of the most important skills that you can have going into the tech industry. HR will tell you to ask questions if you don't understand something, please do me a favor and listen to them when they say that. There is honestly no better space I've yet found to feel so comfortable not knowing the answer.
At least when you're in person, the additional resources after you complete HR are incredibly noteworthy. At the SF campus, I could schedule mock interviews with other students and instructors, talk to career coaches, and get inspired to keep pushing as many of my cohortmates were also searching out of the base of operations that was located at the galvanize campus.
I will not lie and say that it is easy. Sure it'll be easier for some, but not so much for others. I am others. I spent the next six months after graduating, juggling work and a job search in a foreign and expensive city with no contacts other than classmates. And I ended up finding work not in SF. It was a draining process. But I have to say it was worth it in the end once I'd finally accomplished what I'd set out to do.
Enter 2020, I lost my first job to a reorganization and was back on the search in the middle of the pandemic. There is a whole network of people that I was able to contact via a HR alumni's slack group and an extremely talented alumni career coach that put me in touch with some alumni for interviews. When I finally was in the final stages of my negotiations with another company that same career coach gave excellent advice on how to properly negotiate for what I needed from my new employer.
All in all, I think it's a worthwhile investment, but by no means is it a guarantee of success in a particular amount of time. -
Connor Campbell
Life changing
Hack Reactor was one of the most challenging experiences of my life. It really put me on an entirely different trajectory. Even after 4 years I can still ask for help in negations for a new job. The staff always goes above and beyond. The students are top notch. -
Alon R.
So worth it! -- 4.5 years later
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I went to Hack Reactor Remote Beta in the fall of 2015. I had no coding background and it was one of the hardest, and most rewarding things I've done. We worked 6 days a week, 11+ hours a day (a lot more during project phase). I graduated in December of 2015 and became a Hacker in Residence for a few months before starting my job search. I was able to land a job in about 2 months.
When I came on the job, I expected it to be just like Hack Reactor, long days, very heads down. What I realized though, was that Hack Reactor made doing my job very easy. Since I was used to working so hard and having to solve unknown issues quickly to make it through, getting in on my first corporate job was pretty smooth sailing. I felt confident that whatever they gave me, I could figure out. It is still like that to this day. The skills I learned at Hack Reactor have translated into every area of my life!
I went from working menial jobs to a high paid software career extremely quickly and I'm so grateful. My career coach was amazing, the community of alumni is amazing, and I would recommend to anyone looking to get into the field quickly. You can absolutely learn on your own, but I found that the instruction and community was top notch and gave me a leg up on the job. -
Derek Sakamoto
Life-changing experience for anyone
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Hack Reactor was one of the most life-changing experiences of my life for the relationships I made and the life lessons it taught me. I joined Hack Reactor after the start of a successful career as a Management Consultant, and I already had a degree in Computer Science from a highly selective college. There was something that told me I just needed a life-change.
What I found was really the most talented group of peers I ever come across. My cohort and the neighboring cohorts had some of the brightest people I met in my life coming from all walks of life. This diversity really pushed me to form great relationships that turned into life-long friendships and valuable career connections. This was my favorite part because my relationships with the staff (Marlene Tang and Blake) and my peers are the most valuable thing to me.
For a curriculum, I felt that HR taught me everything I needed to know to be a full-stack software engineer. It gave a high-profile startup in the autonomous car & IoT industry the confidence to make me their first software engineering hire, where I built the MVP for their fleet management app: the company now has a private valuation over $1B.
As I mentioned above, I also made lasting relationships with the staff Blake and Marlene Tang. Marlene looked out for everything and held people to be accountable to what they said they were going to do. Her care for each student is reflected in how much we all love her, and she is a driving force in keeping the alumni group together.
While I only spent a short stint of my career as a software engineer, before moving onto Product and Founder, Hack Reactor was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and changed my already charmed life for the better. -
Katherine Manning
HR Software Engineering Immersive
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I attended the Hack Reactor in-person software engineering immersive in late 2017, graduating in January 2018 and it was one of the best choices I ever made. At a high level: I got quality instruction, made lifelong friendships, and prepared to start in a brand new industry. Let's break it down:
The Challenges:
1. Programming is not for everyone. If you're looking at attending a bootcamp to get into the industry, so that you can make lots of money, then think again. Not everyone who graduates gets a job and not everyone who gets a job makes a huge salary, especially at first. Also, coding is a mind-numbing job if you don't already love it. If the prospect of spending days figuring out a tricky bug doesn't fill you with delight and excitement, this isn't the career for you.
2. Bootcamps are not for everyone. Learning at a bootcamp is like drinking from a firehose. You get a ton of information in a very short period of time and you have to do your best to slot it into your mental model at an insane speed. If you're the kind of person who needs to read every word in a book or understand every single line in a program before you're comfortable moving on, then this is not the kind of learning for you. You might do better with a part time program or courses through a university or community college. A full time bootcamp will cram a year or more of information into your brain in 3 months or less. Time to process is a luxury you will not have until after you graduate.
3. The hours are long and hard. You're present for a minimum of 11 hours.a day 5 days a week and 8 hours a day on the 6th day (63 hours minimum). That doesn't include after hours study time, which you will need if you want to succeed. If you can't commit to 80 hour weeks (plus commute), then this probably isn't the right option for you.
4. You get out of the program what you put in. If you do the minimum, skip days or exercises, and generally act like you're cool with getting just enough done to finish, then you're going to be woefully underprepared after graduation. There are some gatekeeping exercises to remove those who just can't keep up, but passing those isn't a measure of success, just survival. The staff and curriculum are very good, but they don't have the time to make you care. If you're not motivated to put in the necessary time and effort, you'll probably just be wasting your money.
5. Jobs are not guaranteed. Once you graduate, you have to find a job. While there are career coaches to help, they work with lots of new grads and most of the effort is up to you. Job hunting is a skill completely separate from coding -- there are lots of great engineers who interview very badly -- and you won't have the same benefit of the doubt or track record to point to when you're a new grad. Career changers actually tend to do better than recent college grads because they have previous experience they can point to and draw from, even if it's not engineering experience. Soft skills matter just as much as technical ones and they're largely transferable from previous careers.
The Benefits:
1. The instructors are great. We had some amazing instructors with lots of real-world engineering experience teaching us. They helped us debug our code and guided us on our projects. They put in long hours to make sure we understood recursion and sat with us while we figured out why Elasticache wouldn't run on the t2.micro we set up.
2. The curriculum is best in class. I know a lot of bootcamp grads (I'm married to one, in fact -- he's the one who convinced me to try this out) and HR grads regularly outperform the other bootcamps in the area. I graduated with a better knowledge of dev ops (CI/CD, AWS, Docker, etc.) than some mid-level full stack devs I knew at the time.
3. The alumni network is great. We have a Slack instance with more than 5000 alumni registered. While not everyone participates, there are lots of us who do. You get lively debate in the #bikeshedding channel, help in the #career-advice channel, and job leads in #whos-hiring. We have grads who are senior engineers who help the newbies, both with technical and life decisions. Many of us who didn't attend the program together (different campuses, different cohorts) have still become friends through the alumni network. (And this also helps you find jobs, especially after your first -- our friends are always going to be our strongest referrals and leads.)
It's been 2.5 years since I've graduated. I'm at my 2nd engineering job, which I love, doing work that I'm consistently happy about. I'm well paid and valued by my company and given lots of opportunities for continued education and growth. I can see a bright future for myself in this industry. It took a lot of hard work and some luck to get here, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Does this mean that you should go to Hack Reactor? Only you can answer that. Attending a bootcamp is always a risk and hard work, while a requirement, is not a guarantee of success. But if you've truthfully looked at the 5 challenges above and believe that a coding bootcamp is the right choice for you, then there's no better place to do it than Hack Reactor. -
David Goldberg
Best decision I've ever made. Changed my life!
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I went through Hack Reactor's software engineering immersive program in 2015 and it was hands down the best decision I've ever made. The program is world class in terms of quality, structure, and preparing you to hit the ground running as a software engineer at your job on day 1. Not only did I develop the skills needed to hit the ground running but I met several of my closest friends that I'll have for the rest of my career and life. The alumni network has been valuable as well. Would highly recommend to anyone and if you're trying to get into software engineering the program is amazing. I found my job within weeks of graduating. It does take a lot of work and effort and I tell people that you get out of it what you put in which is relevant here. -
Luke Davis
A portal into another world
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I graduated from Hack Reactor in 2015, and have since then worked at startups (Planet and Patreon), tech giants (Google), and even started my own company (Babylon House), and I can say with no reservations: Hack Reactor is the best of the best. The instruction is top notch, the leadership is excellent, and the alumni community, thanks to the endless energy and enthusiasm of Marlene Tang, is better than even an Ivy League school or Google. Had I a chance to go back in time and advise my high-school self, I wouldn't tell him to get a CS degree; I'd tell him about Hack Reactor. -
Fawn Bertram
Most impactful thing I've done in my life
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Back when I had my mid-20s career crisis, I decided to narrow down the industries I was interested in to Tech and Real Estate. Discovered Tech was far easier to enter and earn high pay in, and it dominated the area that I live in, SF, so I chose Tech. I figured the most valuable skillset in Tech is programming, and the best coding bootcamp was HR, so I went to Hack Reactor. Google even paid for 2/3 of the cost due to our educational benefit, and the fact that I didn't leave long enough to lose my benefits, and then I came back to do a rotation as an engineer. HR had a great curriculum, teachers (Alan and Frank), impressive peers, and an extremely valuable outcomes team that taught me how to job search before and after my rotation was over. After my rotation was over and long after I graduated, I still got support from Marlene Fong on the outcomes team, even though she wasn't assigned to assist alumni, in order to find my new job at Adobe. HR is one big family in the end, and I'm so grateful to everyone I encountered along this journey for making my life possible. -
Matt Conrad
One of the most positive, practical, and stimulating educational experiences I've ever had
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Before Hack Reactor, I'd gone to some great schools for undergrad and grad school, but Hack Reactor provided some of the best instruction I've received and placed me among some of the smartest, most engaged classmates I've known. I loved my time there and have remained close to my classmates, who are working across some of the largest companies in the Bay Area and some of the coolest startups.
I was impressed by how quickly my classmates and I found jobs--within a month or two. It's amazing to think about how much Hack Reactor was an inflection point in my life, when I learned to put together all of the things that fascinated me. That 3-month period and the tuition are easily some of the best investments I've made in myself--and this is after going to an ivy league school for undergrad and a top-14 law school. Learning to program takes a lot of self-guided study, but Hack Reactor taught me how to find what I needed in order to get started. I'm very grateful to the Hack Reactor program and its inspiring, energetic, and tight-knit community that stays with you after you graduate. -
Paul
Great Experience and Alumni Support
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I attended Hack Reactor back in 2014 and had a great experience. It was quite a while ago so I can't really speak to the quality of the program now, but I will say that I have been very impressed with their alumni support. I went through a job search recently and I was not really sure how much support the alumni program would offer to someone who finished the program over 5 years ago. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Marlene Fong, the alumni director, was extremely helpful. Through her network, she was able to connect me with Hack Reactor alumni at companies I was interested in interviewing which led to me getting some first round interviews. When I started receiving offers, Marlene guided me through the negotiation process, going out of her way to help me even after her work hours. Her advice was invaluable and I can't thank her enough.
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Stephen Saunders
Graduate Job Search Support after 4 Years
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Nearly four years later, attending Hack Reactor has proven to be one of the best decisions I could have made for my career and personal life. As time passes, I get to see the immense value of what the Hack Reactor community provides to its members and the marketplace of employers.
I went to Hack Reactor to level-up in my software engineering career. As a junior developer and someone that benefits from a classroom environment, it was the perfect springboard to understanding programming concepts that eluded me during my year and half of 'on-the-job' training. Upon graduating with a combination of industry experience, technical training, and job search support, Side, Inc. hired me as one of its founding engineers. Within three and a half years, the company grew from four to nearly 125 people; from barely seed-funded, to well-funded series C.
Fast-forward nearly four years. I hadn't interviewed. I am back on the job market for the first time since I graduated. I let my interviewing skills and algorithm design skills atrophy. I had been all in on the startup life and didn't invest time in my ability to re-enter the job market. I scarcely even updated my résume. I didn't notice that I was making progress on developing an application for a company without at the same time keeping my tools sharp.
The time came to find another job. Frankly, it was daunting. It was at this moment that I called on my Hack Reactor network. I reached out to cohort-mates, but more importantly, I reached out to the Alumni network through the Alumni director, Marlene Tang. She was by far the most supportive resource available to get oriented in the job search. I was able to reconnect with fellow grads who had recently returned to the job market. I was even able to receive mentorship from another grad to help me with algorithms and whiteboarding, a skill which feels like it had all but disappeared. I received in-network leads of opportunities for which I could apply. The Alumni director had a keen sense of who was where and could essentially facilitate matchmaking with companies that were looking.
In the end, I found a new opportunity that really is a dream job. It so happens that it turned out to be one of the companies where another Hack Reactor grad was working. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the ongoing perks of being part of the Hack Reactor community. This next move is a big step in my career, unlocking doors to tracks that didn't exist before.
Interviewing is grueling, even if you are experienced and well-connected. The interviewing process for engineers involves all sorts of assessments. There are short, automated, timed coding challenges. I have experienced technical trivia questionnaire and odd thought experiments. I have spent hours on takehomes; I have devoted days to multi-session technical interviews; it is as though the list goes on. It is tiring and discouraging. I cannot overstate the privilege of having a support system like the Hack Reactor Alumni Network, and being able to work with someone like Marlene.
This relationship I invested in four years ago has made all the difference for me. The success I have experienced is in no small part due to the support of a fantastic community, led by a passionate, competent leader, Marlene Tang. Thank you, Hack Reactor. Thank you, fellow grads, for being awesome people and making the community what it is.
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Alex Kim
The premium boot camp experience
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I attended Hack Reactor back in early 2017 before Hack Reactor was acquired by Galvanize.
Back in 2017, the program praised the concept of being an autonomous problem solver. I believe that this concept alone is what separates Hack Reactor from any other boot camp out there because of how well Hack Reactor simulates the 'on-the-job' experience without skimping out on the material to kick start your Software Engineering career. However, from my experience, I felt that the curriculum felt too short... Especially the career week portion of the curriculum. The job search is a grind and even with experience, it is hard to transition from job to job due to the market being saturated. Because there is a lot of competition at times, and because the hiring process is difficult, Hack Reactor provides life-time support for job assistance which I believe is what makes the investment worth it. I had the pleasure to work with Yu-lin and Marlene, and without them, I don't think I would have survived the job search let alone even attempt to apply to some of them due to the imposter syndrome that many would face during the search and even while on-the-job.
Hack Reactor is an exhilarating experience especially if the student attends the on-site cohort. You establish lifetime relationships with your cohort mates that can make or break your career and with continuous support, you are already ahead of the curve. I would highly recommend attending Hack Reactor for the experience if you are serious about becoming a Software Engineer, it is not for everyone but if this is something that has been on your mind, Hack Reactor is the place for you.
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Akul Aggarwal
Very effective
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Review of Hack Reactor from 2016 Fall alumni
I tried for a while to self-teach coding. I knew of Hack Reactor, but hesitated to throw in the towel and fork over the tuition - I wish I hadn't waited as long as I did, I lost a lot of time. I did make progress on my own, but it was undirected, and at best, likely would have led to jobs which weren't very good in terms of learning, impact, or even work-life balanace.
1. Confidence - Their comittment to helping you stay motivated, and belaying fears of being unemployable after the program, is an indespensible part of the program. Many students suffer from imposter syndrome, especially those starting to code more or less for the first time, and HR's staff is not only great at handling this, but they have dedicated people who help manage this. It really helps a lot.
2. Alumni network - My brother attended HR as well, and he commented that the alumni network and support are worth the tuition alone. I agree: through HR, I have become a part of a network of highly motivated people in IT comprising of thousands of people - and it's constantly growing. This opens up tremendous opportunity for your career, and for people who don't have a network of coders (say from taking college classes or a previous job or two), looking to get into IT, this is very difficult to quantify, and hard to build independantly.
3. Learning - The most important part of HR is what they teach you. Through this program, I got an understanding of different parts of the application layer - from database to server to client. The program is a little more geared towards front end, as we learned multiple JS frameworks, and everything was taught in Javascript (nodeJS for server, and SQL and Mongo for DB), but you get hands on experience in all parts of the stack, and have to hook everything up. The teaching is done exceptionally well: The course starts with lots of instruction, and transitions over time to fullt time hands on coding. The very first week, you work on coding sprints with your peers, to deliver assignments. The senior project at the end was extremely valuable. This combination of instruction, private support, and lots and lots of coding assignments, is the way to go. By the end, you deliver a fully functioning app, available to use through a public web address. This is direct evidence to others (and yourself) that you are employable.
Life after HR - I found a job within about 3 months (definitely under 4). I had the ability to learn everything I needed after the course for interviews, to build whatever potential employers wanted. It was a leg up, though still a lot of work. HR also helped me a lot with salary negotiation. But if you're looking to get into some of the best tech companies, or build useful stuff for customers at a fast paced startup, then hard work is an expecation anyway. This course prepares you for that as well. After my first job, the wonderful HR Alumni support network (directly employed by the institution) helped me land interviews in no time, and matched me to companies which matched my preferences. I had a 2nd job within weeks of starting my search, and have been very very happy with my current employment since.
One comment - This program is very challenging. I liken it to my last few months in my Engineering curriculum in college, during which we had to build an actual usable device for a company. Suffice it to say, it's rigorous. You're coding a lot, at least 6 days a week. But, you will get out of it what you put in. If you choose to do the bare minimum to contribute and pass the midterm assesment, that's what you'll get. If you choose to optimize your time, learn the most challenging stuff in painful detail, you will come out of it better.
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Naomi
2015 Hack Reactor Graduate
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I attended Hack Reactor in August-November 2015 (HR33), and then stayed for another cycle as an HIR (hacker-in-residence, essentially a TA for the next cohort). I got a job as a full-time programmer three weeks after finishing HIR, and had two other offers. I'm still in the field and am 1.5 years into my current job, and loving it.
The pros:
- I loved the teaching staff and the curriculum; Fred and Alan were some of the best instructors I've ever had. The tech mentor staff was also great and helped us in our day-to-day work; Beth was one of the best explainers and kept me sane.
- The Outcomes staff was amazing. Way more of the course than I had expected was devoted to interview prep and how to conduct a job hunt. Marlene was my guide, and she made sure I was applying to at least 5 jobs a day, and would hunt me down if I didn't! She will kick your resume and interviewing skills into shape, and she helped me negotiate through some tricky offer conversations, literally helping me compose emails to get me a higher salary.
- The curriculum was challenging and taught me just enough to get jobs. It was very rigorous (6 days a week, ~12 hours a day most days), but when you're with a bunch of other people going through the same thing, it's really fun.
The cons:
- When I was an HIR back in 2015, it seemed like they were effectively lowering the admissions bar by introducing the Fulcrum & related programs, which I assume was to get more "qualified" applicants through the door to make money. I genuinely believe that most people can learn to code, but not everyone can do it at a breakneck speed in just 3 months, and letting in people who are unlikely to succeed in a 12-week program is doing a disservice to the bootcamp, and an even greater one to the students themselves. I have no idea what admissions are like now, especially now that they've been acquired by Galvanize, so it's probably pretty different these days. It's hard for me to draw any conclusions, but when people ask me, "Should I go to a bootcamp?" I always tell them that they should do all the prep work on their own (without a program) and make sure they can pass the admissions test, because if they can't pass the admissions test on their own, I'd have a lot less confidence that they could make it through the program successfully (not to say students who do pre-programs can't be successful! Just that if you can't make it in without doing the program, it's an indication that you might struggle in the real thing).