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Hackbright Academy is a software engineering school for gender equality in San Francisco, Dallas, and Lehi founded in 2012. In addition to in-person classrooms in the US, Hackbright Academy also offers their courses online. The school offers a 12-week, immersive full-time software engineering program and a 43-week, part-time program, both of which cover the fundamentals of computer science and modern web development such as the command line, Python, JavaScript, HTML & CSS, Git, Flask, Django, pair programming, SQL/ORMS/NoSQL, and deployment. The part-time program covers the same content as the immersive program, but is designed for students who want to maintain their jobs. Hackbright also offers a 4-week part-time prep course, which teaches the foundations of programming; and a week-long immersive prep course.
Prospective applicants will need to fill out an online application detailing their interests and personality, then complete a coding challenge and two interviews. Hackbright's ideal candidate has a desire to learn software development and has prior exposure to programming.
Hackbright Academy provides students with mentorship, tech talks, and career services. After graduation, Hackbright Academy connects graduates with Silicon Valley companies looking to expand their engineering teams as alumnae work at companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Slack. Hackbright Academy offers deferred tuition, limited scholarships, and payment plans for qualified students.
I enrolled in Hackbright's full-stack bootcamp after completing their Python prep course. I had done some self-learning prior to that but the prep course gave me the confidence in their curriculum and their guidance to dive into a job transition that I had been hesitant about prior to that. A bootcamp is a big investment both financially and in terms of the time and energy required, but after testing the waters with Hackbright's prep course, I was completelly sold.
With Hackbright,...
I enrolled in Hackbright's full-stack bootcamp after completing their Python prep course. I had done some self-learning prior to that but the prep course gave me the confidence in their curriculum and their guidance to dive into a job transition that I had been hesitant about prior to that. A bootcamp is a big investment both financially and in terms of the time and energy required, but after testing the waters with Hackbright's prep course, I was completelly sold.
With Hackbright, I found that coding could be fun and done in a supportive, non-competitive environment where everyone was excited to share ideas and see one another succeed. I also felt confident enough in my newfound skills to start applying them at work almost as soon as we covered them in class (I was enrolled in the 24-week Part-Time Bootcamp, so I was employed full-time throughout), which meant I got to have some real-world experience of writing code and seeing it work in a job environment even before I graduated.
Some elements of the bootcamp did feel a bit awkward; for example the instructors were relatively junior, and not all had much direct experience either as instructors or working as professional software developers or engineers themselves. I think this was largely because of the challenge of finding instructors whose schedules could work around the odd hours of the Part-Time Bootcamp may have limited the pool of instructors who were available. That said, they were all lovely, personable people who were willing to go above and beyond to find the answers to questions if they didn't immediately know them, and I think the curriculum was sufficiently solidly constructed that the material we covered did not suffer overmuch. Another (possible) negative was that some of the job-hunting resources and events felt a little cookie-cutter and poorly timed. However, I think this was largely because they were still figuring out how to adjust the syllabus to make sense in the brand new 24-week format (e.g., our project demo night happened long before we were ready to start seriously networking or applying for anything). Regardless, I felt that the majority of the career-support resources, such as site visits, guest speakers, and whiteboarding with real live engineers in real live partner company offices were by far the most helpful aspects of the bootcamp, as they gave us the chance to interact with potential future colleagues and be treated as peers, which was tremendously confidence-boosting.
The place where Hackbright really shines, however, is in the community of women who surround it. Every single alumna we spoke to, every single current student we interacted with (across all courses and campuses), and every single instructor or admin at Hackbright (many of whom are alumnae themselves), was thoughtful, encouraging, and frankly, loving. I am not normally a very sentimental person, but the community of women at Hackbright is the perfect antidote to much of the negativity around tech and diversity initiatives that has been in the public dialogue lately. I feel inspired to give back as much as I have gotten, and hope to stay involved with the great work Hackbright is doing moving forward.
I won't beat around the bush--completing a bootcamp is HARD, especially if you have a life or a job outside of class that you can't step away from. But if you have the passion and the discipline to get yourself ready, ask for the help and resources you need, and to keep knocking away at it week after week, you will be amazed at how quickly you can learn and the awesome things you can build. There are many ways to learn coding, but there are not very many ways to connect yourself with an amazing community that can help you carry yourself forward at every stage of your engineering career. Hackbright is both!
I chose this bootcamp because of the comfortable atmostphere and focus on work-life balance, which other bootcamps seem to lack. I had gone through the prep program and knew the quality of instructor and the environment.
I found the curriculum to be very well thought-out and organized. My software-engineering friends were often surprised and impressed by the topics covered - "Wow, you're learning that?!". During my very first onsite interview a CEO of a tech company was looking t...
I chose this bootcamp because of the comfortable atmostphere and focus on work-life balance, which other bootcamps seem to lack. I had gone through the prep program and knew the quality of instructor and the environment.
I found the curriculum to be very well thought-out and organized. My software-engineering friends were often surprised and impressed by the topics covered - "Wow, you're learning that?!". During my very first onsite interview a CEO of a tech company was looking through my capstone project and expressed his shock that I was able to learn the concepts to complete such a robust project, and complete the project itself, within such a short time span. The curriculum itself is constantly being updated and refined based on what is going on out in the field and feedback, but the great thing is that all the old lectures are available as a resource, even as an alum. I used some of these as extra resources while completing my project and while preparing for interviews.
The lecture followed by lab format was invaluable in cementing the concepts covered, and the pair-programming in labs helped us to get comfortable talking in 'tech-speak', a valuable skill for interviewing. Not to mention helping each other over stumbling blocks! I loved the back half of the program which focused more on building our projects. We would have a comp science lecture in the morning followed by open project time. The instructors were available for help during that period and were always patient and knowledgeable. I learned a great deal during this period as it was almost like having a one-on-one tutor. And when the projects were done we had the opportunity to present in front of several companies, which was excellent practice as well as an invaluable networking opportunity.
The career support was also incredible and well-balanced. There was a career lecture once a week focusing on a new topic throughout the entire program. These included small weekly assignments (such as practicing our stories, revising our resumes, how to research companies, and updating our LinkedIn profile) to prepare us for the job hunt in a calm and methodical manner. We had two one-on-one strategy sessions with the career services staff during the program and one after graduation to figure out what types of companies might suit us best and to help us strategize how to find a job. The last two weeks were almost entirely focused on the career journey. Lectures focused on different aspects of the interview process, fieldtrips were organized to practice whiteboarding with engineers in the 'real' world and gain exposure to different environments, we even got a practice take-home coding challenge which was then reviewed with tips and tricks on tackling these problems (which severely reduced my anxiety about them), and we learned tips for applying to positions.
Perhaps the coolest thing was the mentor program. All of us were assigned two mentors. Our mentors were able to help us with our projects, provide career advice, and be there for anything we needed. I found it helpful to talk with mine about their 'real-world' experiences in software engineering, particularly when it came to things to consider while designing a webapp. Most mentors are willing to continue the relationship beyond the program end too!
I'm so glad I chose Hackbright as my bootcamp. It was an amazing, supportive environment, my cohort-mates are amazing people I am proud to call my friends, and the quality of education is top-notch.
I wish we'd gotten to dive deeper into some of the topics and covered some others, but at the end of the day it's a 12-week bootcamp, not a 4 year comp science degree! I would not hesitate to recommend this program to anyone considering a bootcamp.
How much does Hackbright Academy cost?
Hackbright Academy costs around $12,900. On the lower end, some Hackbright Academy courses like Hackbright Prep Course cost $249.
What courses does Hackbright Academy teach?
Hackbright Academy offers courses like Full-Time (12-week) Software Engineering Program, Hackbright Prep Course, Part-Time (24-week) Software Engineering Program.
Where does Hackbright Academy have campuses?
Hackbright Academy has an in-person campus in San Francisco.
Is Hackbright Academy worth it?
Hackbright Academy hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 108 Hackbright Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Hackbright Academy on Course Report - you should start there!
Is Hackbright Academy legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 108 Hackbright Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Hackbright Academy and rate their overall experience a 4.51 out of 5.
Does Hackbright Academy offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like Hackbright Academy offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read Hackbright Academy reviews?
You can read 108 reviews of Hackbright Academy on Course Report! Hackbright Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Hackbright Academy and rate their overall experience a 4.51 out of 5.
Is Hackbright Academy accredited?
While bootcamps must be approved to operate, accreditation is relatively rare. Hackbright Academy doesn't yet share information about their accreditation status.
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