Horizons School of Technology

I joined Horizons without a technical background and not really knowing what applying for technical jobs entailed. A couple months in Horizons changed all that and gave me a whole new perspective on what it was like to be in the industry.

Horizons starts off with the basics and ramps everyone up to a comparable skill level through detailed tailored courses. The TAs during the program were also an invaluable resource and guided students along masterfully during this period of time. 

Being located in tech central also means that you are able to tap into Horizons' deep network in the area and be fully immersed in the tech culture and understand the inner workings of different firms. The founders are also incredibly helpful in looking at resumes and making sure every student knows how to present themselves in this increasingly competitive environment.

Most importantly, the post Horizons experience has been incredible as well, with many lifelong friends made during the program and an ability to connect with alumni as well. It has been an incredibly useful resource and an amazing social network.

Oh man, I could write a whole novel about how much I loved my experience.

Horizons has given me the tools to grow my skills and passion for technology and entrepreneurship in a way that I never anticipated.

The summer of learning cutting-edge web/mobile dev, networking with amazing companies and fellow Horizonites, and bonding in a community of amazing students with like-minded interests (who have also gone on to intern at the best tech companies because of Horizons) gave me a solid leg-up in my tech career. 

Because of the amazing things you build (replicas of Facebook, Yelp, Trello, are just among a few of the projects you build each week) and the extremely talented and brilliant instructors, you'll come out of this school feeling like you learned more in 2 months than you've ever learned in college.

Seriously, once I started recruiting for a software engineering internship, I realized that because of Horizons, I not only was getting way more interest from companies than my peers, but also I was much more prepared for the technical interviews. It was in large part because of what I learned and built at Horizons that I have now gone on as a software engineering summer intern at a Fortune 500 company and have also transferred from my liberal arts college to Northwestern's engineering school for CS.

Mainly, the network you build for both life and entrepreneurial ventures is invaluable. I have met lifelong friends and potential startup co-founders and out in the tech world at recruiting events, I have realized that Horizons alumni look out for one another and are proud of their shared experience at Horizons.

Also, the co-founders Abhi and Darwish are some of the kindest and most caring people I have ever met. Abhi has mentored me continuously (whenever I reach out to him, he always finds time to talk with me), and I have even asked him to my school to give a talk because he has so much to offer in terms of solid career advice. Abhi and Darwish are very good people who work very hard (they're always the last to leave the building because they're so dedicated to Horizons), and how they manage to maintain mentoring Horizonites while simulatenously keeping Horizons so efficient and productive is beyond me.

This has truly been a cornerstone experience of my life and education, and I can't recommend Horizons highly enough to anyone who is interested in entrepreneuship, learning web/mobile dev, or just want to stand out and get a leg up on technical internships/jobs.

Definitely apply - you seriously won't regret it. 

At the university, you can gain a lot of knowledge but not much practice. 
As a student of computer science and neuroscience, I learn a lot of theory but don't gain any practical experience. 

The summer at Horizons allowed me to get relevant experience, meet top students in the country and make a lot of enthusiastic friends. Horizons is much more than just learning how to code. It allows you to build the right connection for the entrepreneurship world. 

I would highly recommend anyone interested in tech field or product management to take a summer at Horizons.

Before Horizons, I was a typical business student with an interest in tech. Horizons transformed me into a leader with a strong grasp on technology and a powerful network. There are 3 key advantages I gained from Horizons: Skills, Network and Mindset.

Skills:

At Horizons I developed a strong competency in web development with JavaScript, and walked away with the ability to code my ideas into reality. I went from never writing a line of code in my life to developing software solutions for start-ups and winning Asia’s biggest student led hackathon HackUST.

Network:

Beyond the valuable skills I learned, I developed an extraordinary network of friends and mentors. In addition to meeting peers who now work for the top companies in the world, I met lifelong friends who provide me with constant support and encouragement.

Mindset:

Horizons helped me unlock my true potential. Before the program, top tier jobs and internships didn’t seem to be in reach. Now, and in large part due to the support of Horizons colleagues, I am interning at McKinsey & Co, one of the most highly sought after internships in business. Being  surrounded by the best students from around the world at Horizons helped me reach beyond what I thought possible.

Feel free to reach out to me at anytime if you have any questions about this amazing program:

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/maxwellnicholson

As a business student and product design enthusiast, Horizons helped me complete my knowledge of software products and the tech space. The education, community, and opportunities propelled me in my work at my university as a leader of a software organization as well as my current work as a product manager at Atlassian. I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in tech, pursuing careers in tech, or seeking a stimulating and motivating summer to do Horizons.

When the engineering department at SMU sent out an email to its students about the Horizons’ fellowship opportunity, I was intrigued. For me, learning how to develop mobile apps has been a lifelong dream of mine. However, two years into college and I still had no clue how to do it.  I knew that I wanted more and perhaps I could find it at Horizons. After establishing that they would accept a 15 year old college student (if I could pass the test, etc), I decided to go for it! I am very pleased that I did. Horizons has truly been one of the best experiences of my life! Not only were my CS abilities elevated but they were raised to an entirely different level.  They taught us how to find the resources needed in order build whatever we desired. Although the knowledge we gained was superior to any other courses I have taken, the relationships I attained are really what I loved.  The people were great from the founders, TA’s and my co-fellows. Everyone at Horizons was not only very intelligent, but they all had an interest in what they were learning. Being in this environment really pushed me to surpass my limits and accomplish things I did not know I could do.  And they were fun too!

The connections made at horizons extended beyond the classroom.  They brought in young successful entrepreneurs who specialized in some of today's hottest topics: machine learning, social media, etc.  After they spoke, we were given the chance to speak with them one on one.  Getting their insight may have been one of the best components of Horizons and the speakers’ words still hold a lot of value to me.

Participating in the summer Horizons program was an incredibly rewarding experience, both in terms of personal growth and career development. First and foremost, the instructors provide a challenging and practical education in software development that I believe is a great supplement to or replacement for a traditional university CS degree. Most if not all of the other reviews will express the same sentiment. Additionally (and more meaningfully to my career path), Horizons gives students a broader perspective on technology, entrepreneurship, and the startup ecosystem. The impressive lineup of speakers offers inspiration and advice to those students looking to enter the tech industry. While I chose not to pursue a job in software development, I was motivated by my experience to consider a career in software investing. The Horizons team was incredibly helpful in offering connections and advice for the job search process. I'm now happily employed at a software-focused venture capital and growth equity firm. Whether you're interested in refining and expanding your software development skillset or exploring the tech industry in a broader sense, Horizons is an incredibly valuable experience that I would highly recommend. 

*Warning: this review is pretty (very) long-winded, so brace yourself

The summer of 2017, right before my senior year of high school, I decided to take a leap of faith and jump on the Horizons bandwagon. For the first time, the program was opening its doors to high schoolers, so that in and of itself made my experience quite unique. Perhaps that also makes me uniquely qualified to address my fellow high schoolers, who may or may not be considering Horizons as a summer option too.

First of all, as a general statement for anyone and everyone: this program was definitely well worth the time and money. Despite coming in with some familiarity with programming, I still learned a great deal about web development and always felt inspired, challenged, and ravenous for more, all the way from nine in the morning to six in the afternoon. The exercises involved not only plenty of critical thinking but also creative problem-solving, meaning you and someone sitting right across from you could very well have completely different solutions by the end of the day.

My favorite exercises? Our personalized spin offs of popular web-based applications like Amazon and Trello (Homazon and Horello respectively, in Horizons-like fashion). A Horizons Facebook in which everyone in the classroom posted celebratory and/or troll comments, crowing that their Facebook code had finally worked. Minimalist iPhone applications that we could test out on our personal phones. The list goes on.

As for the instructors, they explained abstract concepts so thoroughly, with the help of examples in CodePen and fiddling around in the command line and JavaScript console in Google Chrome, that I quickly grasped the material. Throughout the day, occasional review sessions held by TAs, along with focused discussion with my classmates, only cemented that confidence.

Being one of seven high schoolers in a cohort of fifty college students, which ran concurrently with a cohort of perhaps two-hundred college students, I (remarkably enough) never felt singled out for my age or shortage of technological/algorithmic savvy. I don’t think my classmates even knew I was a high schooler unless I explicitly told them, which made collaborating with them easier and elevated my personal standards and level of diligence. Knowing my classmates hailed from Princeton, Berkeley, Northwestern, and the like pushed me to ask them questions about college life and made me seriously consider majoring in computer science.

Another major contributor in my growing interest for computer science as a potential career was, of course, Silicon Valley itself. Daily, my walk to and from class inundated me with the sights and sounds of casually dressed employees on their way to work, high rise buildings towering above, and familiar tech companies I’d never thought I’d see in person. Every morning, strolling past Twitter’s headquarters on the way to class renewed my sense of awe and admiration. Over the course of my time at Horizons, I even had the fortune to not only visit but also enter the headquarters of Twitch, Quizlet, and Stripe, which allowed me to witness startup culture for myself. In the end, the bustle of inspiring people in and around Horizons made me wonder what it’d be like to be among their ranks, further motivating me to learn as much as I could.

My in-class bootcamp experience actually peaked towards the end of my seven weeks there, when all of us high schoolers divided up into two groups and had a culminating project: creating a website or phone application of our choice. We pooled our accumulated knowledge and applied it to useful and interesting end products, which we proudly pitched to our classmates and instructors. My partner and I ultimately created an app for tracking service hours, complete with place autocomplete and electronic signature. All in all, Horizons gave me the power to turn my imagination into functional solutions for real-world problems, a power my high school could never have given me, whether due to a lack of resources or lack of faith in my young age and inexperience.

While I have nothing but glowing praise for the curriculum, instructors, environment, and overall learning journey at Horizons, I do wish other aspects of the program were done differently. This first point is a no-brainer, but Horizons comes with a relatively hefty price tag, especially for high schoolers. Even with my $1000 scholarship, my parents still paid $8000 (not including housing, food, and travel), four-fifths of my college counterparts’ tuitions for five weeks less of content.

I remember talking to one of my college classmates, who was complaining to me that her Ivy League school only paid for maybe half of her tuition. I also remember thinking, regretfully, that my not-so-well-supported high school would not have shelled out upwards of four or five thousand dollars to finance my summer pursuits. So although I love the initiative to start computer science young, I hope Horizons can in the future make it more affordable and accessible for passionate high schoolers such as myself.

Secondly: food. I think my parents paid approximately $800 for my meal plan, which covered breakfast and lunch. For breakfast, an underwhelming smoothie capsule of ice, spinach, assorted frozen fruit, and oats, which you had to blend yourself in the morning before class (sometimes, latecomers even started the blenders during a morning lecture). For lunch, a healthy but cold lunch that you had to microwave yourself, which I never did since two cohorts shared one microwave per classroom for two classrooms. Owing to the fact that the delivery man always laid out the lunches on the table for meal plan students to take, some students who were not on the meal plan decided to help themselves as well. Consequently, I passed most of the summer in envy of the non-meal-plan students, especially those who simply hopped over to the nearby Costco for lunch. Then again, I don’t know what I expected in terms of food from a coding bootcamp.

Turning from student life to the classroom, I would like to underscore that finding TA assistance, let alone instructor assistance, could be really difficult. The instructors set up a queuing system in Slack for requesting help, but the bot sometimes kicked you back several places for no reason. Or people simply raised their hands for help, effectively cutting the Slack queue. Or when you finally reached the front of the queue and a TA finally responded to your SOS perhaps ten minutes later, they couldn’t work their magic on your buggy code and had to consult their own code (aka the solution). In my case, one of my TAs was a high schooler who, when randomly assigned to me, would only ever scratch his head, squint at my screen, and eventually call someone else over to aid me. Needless to say, asking for TA/instructor help was at times more burdensome than helpful.

My last observation concerns the speaker series, one of the supposed highlights of the Horizons experience. Nonetheless, I remember little, if not nothing, of what my speakers talked about. The only speaker I did enjoy and do remember was the only female one, Payal Kadakia, the founder of ClassPass, who painted a vibrant picture of her rise to success and infused her presentation with the most personality. If the speaker series aims to broaden students’ horizons (no pun intended) and give them perspective, as the Horizons website states, it is critical to include more gender diversity in that perspective, especially given the gender gap in tech.

Though Horizons inevitably has room for improvement, I would not hesitate to do it again, from the fast-paced and comprehensive curriculum, to the enthusiastic and knowledgeable instructors, to the challenge and freedom of exercises/mini-projects, to the inspiring and refreshing atmosphere of Silicon Valley. Thanks in large part to the valuable lifelong lessons I took away from this bootcamp, I am now on my way to Cornell Engineering in the fall, excited to continue what I started at Horizons.

Horzions School of Technology is similar to many "summer"/semester programs. The results gained are a lot on you. What differs comes from the potential.

Horizons does a great job with how they work with you on a personal basis. Each person is unique and their program is shaped on their own, but the basic mold provided by them is already so advanced. The education is strong for people experienced in web development and those who've never coded in their lives. Though, the difficulty may change.

Along with the amazing education, indivudals get to meet amazing peers. Half the experience is the city and people. Currently, they could build an entire campus if they move to a cheaper location, but they understand the value of being in the center of SF. They've made much of the experience through their learning process as a company. 

I can't say enough great things about the whole company and program.

The title says it all. Horizons was the best three months I have had and will be for a while. Horizons may be a coding bootcamp and you may go with the intention of learning how to be a full stack developer. But the coolest part about Horizons is, it will give you way more than that. It will teach you the most important skill one can posses as a coder. It will teach you "how to learn". It will give you so much confidence, that your learning will not be restricted to what you do in those 12 weeks, but it will go beyond that. Right from the way they have structured the course, to the environment they create, everything will  accelerate your career in tech and is bound to give you a jump start amongst your peers. Web dev will be at your fingertips, and you will not believe the rate at which you will grow and learn in those three months. It's truly life changing and it will be one of the best experiences you will have. 

I did Horizons last summer and found it to be well worth the investment. I had concerns before the program started about what could be learned in three short months, whether I’d enjoy myself during the program, and whether the skills I’d learn would be worth the cost.

First, I was very surprised about how effectively put together the curriculum was and how quickly we could learn new material. Although I like to think of myself as someone who is motivated to learn on my own, I have to admit that the environment at Horizons pushed me far past the rate at which I would have learned this material on my own. I learned an incredible amount in an incredibly short period of time, and for the most part have maintained and built upon all of this knowledge because I use it daily still. A few months after the program, I watched a youtube video on what web dev technologies someone should know to be relevant in 2018, and I was surprised and pleased to see that Horizons had taught us every single one of these skills. It is impressive how the structure of the program allows such rapid learning.

Second, I was surprised how much fun I had. The grind was definitely real, but it felt far more meaningful and fulfilling than school - simply because it was practical and exactly what I wanted to and needed to know to be able to build cool products. I met some of my best friends in the program and we are still working on projects together. The teachers and founders are incredibly kind and well connected and can really help you if you spend time connecting with them.

Finally, I’ve decided that Horizons was more than worth the cost. Keep in mind that the cost of the program is generally a fraction of what you pay for a year of college, and in my case has been far more helpful for my personal and career development than school has been. With the skills from the program, I launched a fitness startup (which failed quickly lol) and have almost made up the cost of the program doing freelance work part-time. I’m taking a year off from school to travel and freelance, and that would not have been a possibility for me if it weren’t for Horizons. I have heard people who have completed the program that have said it wasn’t worth the cost and they could learn all of it on their own. But I would argue 1) these are the people who aren’t using their skills anymore; obviously it’s not worth if you aren’t going to continue coding. 2) you may be able to learn all this on your own but its doubtful you’d do it as quickly without the motivation and excellent teachers at this program.

I spent the summer in San Francisco learning at Horizons and I am still amazed at what an incredible experience it was! I learned practical skills at a rate that vastly outpaced that of my CS classes at UW-Madison. In addition to this, these were skills that could be immediately applied, unlike some of the non-practical skills that college CS programs require you to spend time on. Another thing that shocked me was how well Horizons instructers were able to teach students who had never programmed before. There were plenty of Business and Economics students who were able to solve complex problems and build the front-end and back-ends of applications all by themselves or with teams easily in a matter of weeks. When someone got stuck, there were a wide variety of teachers who were happy to help and that could each explain a concept in a different/unique way that was fitted to the student's needs. They truly cared and loved helping students learn. Some instuctors even took time out of their weekends to go over more theoretical concepts or advanced applications with students who weren't needing review sessions (which were also offered for those who needed it). Finally and perhaps most importantly, I gained an immense amount of future work and business connections. I spent plenty of time interacting with succesful engineers and founders of companies, asking plenty of questions and gaining great advice. These people gave me their emails and phone numbers which is truly invaluable. In addition to all of this, the founders of Horizons have done a spectacular job helping alumni find jobs and get advice. Horizons is truly a unique and remarkable experience that is far better than any alternative.

I loved my experience at Horizons. It was one of the best things that I've ever done. I learned so many different skills and concepts from the exceptional instructors as well as peers. The learning environment was supportive and friendly, but not too easy; it kept pushing you to do better. The practice projects always made sense. I never went "when will I even use this?" The fast pace kept new content fresh and me always being excited for the next day. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I urge anyone who wants to learn web development to give this program a shot.

I did Horizons two summers ago after my Freshman year. I really had no idea what to expect when I started the program but I knew that I was considering computer science as a major and I wanted to solidify that decision before I realized I had gone down the wrong path. Horizons summer program was everything I wanted and more. While the program is definitely one of those experiences where you get out only what you put in, if you work hard it is truly a transformative course. I came into the program with an interest in programming and came out a confident web developer with multiple projects to show. I also ended the summer convinced I wanted to continue with CS at school. The summer gave me the confidence to transfer into engineering and pursue a career in development. Not only were the instructors extremely inspiring and invested in my technical education but they were also more than willing to give me resume and interview tips as well as help me network. This past summer I interned at Google as an Engineering Practicum intern and this summer I plan to intern at Palantir as a Forward Deployed Engineer. I am so excited to have these opportunities and it all started with Horizons.

If you have the slightest thought of enrolling in a coding bootcamp, do yourself a favor and go for it! The instructors were incredible, the material was engaging, and the oppertunities which opened up to me were invaluable.  I went from having nothing to show employers on my resume, to having three soild programming projects which I was able to talk about when approching employers.  Aside from the technical experience, there is a strong sense of community formed with your fellow classmates.  We had BBQ's, went on trips, out to dinner, and Horizons scheduled class trips for us on weekends! (Bubble soccer!). 

I went to Horizons last summer and had a pretty transformative experience. I had very little prior coding experience so I learned a lot very quickly. The sheer amount of information could be sort of disorienting at times but it's clear to me that it was incredible growth experience both personally (coming from the Midwest and living fulltime in SF was very different and sometimes difficult) and academically (I learned a lot, I know I can learn anything I want in software or data science and I didn't have that confidence before the experience). They were clear about the curriculum from the frontend and they followed it well. I felt like it was very comprehensive and it covered a lot of what a software developer could need. However, I wish there was a bit more emphasis on pure comp sci--we had a week on algorithms and basic coding etc. but I would have appreciated a little more depth on that. I also realized during the camp that I am not that interested in software development full-time, so while that kind of soured me on parts of the curriculum, the team at Horizons was very understanding and flexible. They figured out how to provide us resources for what we were really interested in if we didn't attach so much to software itselfwhether that is venture capital, product design, or just general consulting and business. All in all, the instructors and founders are hands-on and helpful, you can tell that they want to provide people a good experience. That supportiveness is really what made the camp for me.

Coming into Horizons, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t a CS major in college, but I took a couple CS classes and did plenty of coding in some projects on the side and in different research labs, so I had the basic fundamentals down (data structures and databases mainly). Horizons completely surpassed all of my expectations. I learned a completely new stack (NodeJS + React/Redux) that was geared towards industry and completely different than the things I learned in an academic setting. Everything they taught was new, and I learned a ton over the summer. All the instructors and TAs were super great and were ready to help whenever I needed them. It was pretty straightforward coming out of Horizons to find a job in the tech industry but more importantly, Horizons really gave me the confidence that I could build anything. Can’t recommend this bootcamp enough.

I took the summer course offered in the summer of 2017, in lieu of exploring internship opportunities. It was a risk from my perspective, as I was a rising senior in college - but it was well worth it. Not only did I have an incredible time meeting so many new people, but I got a chance to delve into development, an area that I had no experience in. Taking my background with the more creative, this program gave me the technical skills to bring my designs to reality. 

Specifically to the curriculum itself, it is pretty comprehensive and covers a wide spectrum of topics. What is great about the structure is that, in many ways, it allows for anyone to maintain their own comfortable pace and the support is there to help if you do fall behind. The instructors were helpful and there to assist if any problem arises. Something to keep in mind is that a lot of the information presented is the foundation and so to make most of this program is to keep pushing oneself further and going beyond what is required - this program is equipped to help you make that extra mile. 

In terms of the entrepreneurship, a lot of interesting speakers are brought in to talk and give their perspective of the industry. It was very interesting to see these different views and just a great way to decompress after staring at a screen. 

My advice for anyone interested is to make the most of your experience at this program - how much you learn depends on how much you apply yourself and how hungry you are to grow. Horizons provides a great community and a vast array of resources, so make use of it while you can. 

I attended Horizons as a 2017 Summer Fellow (tuition and housing covered). I had a very positive experience--here's some things that stood out.

• Relentless focus on practicality: Horizon's syllabus is packed with topics directly relevant for developing modern mobile and web apps. Little to no time is spent on more theoretical CS concepts. The result is that you can start making tangible projects really quickly. For example, many of our early projects were implementing imitations of popular web apps: Twitter clone for learning HTML/CSS, using Twilio for learning API calls, mock Facebook chatroom for implementing servers, to name a few.
• Choice of tracks: In my year, Horizons offered 3 tracks in the latter half of the program, allowing us to curtail the program towards our specific goals. You could complete some guided week-long projects (most popular), prepare for job interviews (primarily recent grads), or work full-time on your project with a team.
• Community: I felt a really strong sense of community at Horizons within the first week of the program. Part of it is the fact that most Horizonites are college students or recent grads. This helps you bond with other students, because you're all looking to learn about tech and potentially start tech-related careers. At the same time, I found Horizonites highly energetic, collaborative, and innovative--I always looked forward to spending time with and learning from my fellow students.  I'm guessing most other students felt the same way (just read the rest of the overwhelmingly positive reviews on this site). I'm not aware of any other bootcamps that are similarly focused on college-aged students.
• Exposure to Silicon Valley culture: Horizons gives you a sense of life in Silicon Valley and the broader tech industry. Besides being situated in San Francisco blocks away from such impactful tech companies as Uber and Twitter, you also learn from regular speakers working in tech. I learned so much from these speakers, not only about careers paths in tech, but about different ideas for improving lives through technology. Last year, we had venture capitalists, product managers, founders and CEOs, and software engineers, with several high-profile speakers including Keith Rabois, Cyan Banister, and Balaji Srinivasan.
• Availability of teachers and founders: I generally found the founders Abhi and Darwish as well as the head teachers Moose and Ricky extremely supportive and accessible. I never hesitated to ask for coding help or career advice from these knowledgeable individuals. After the program, I frequently went to Sunny and Darwish for advice about the recruiting process, and they were extremely helpful in the process of securing a tech internship for the next summer.
• It's really fun: Horzions is just objectively a fun way to spend a summer. You're spending all day coding and building with 100 different diverse, energetic college students. And outside of coding, you have the entire city of San Francisco to explore with your fellow Horizonites! 

Horizons was one of the best summers I've had so far. I would recommend it enthusiastically to any college student looking to learn about tech and start building things quickly.

I did the 12-week summer session at Horizons because I wanted to get a job in tech. In college I studied Economics and Math, so I wanted to get some coding skills to be more competitive in the job search.

Here's Horizons in a nutshell: 

smart people + lots of work + great resources = extraordinary amount of learning 

Smart people: Your classmates will be brilliant students from around the world who are committed to learning how to build things. You'll also be able to meet potential cofounders, which is vital to launching a successful startup or even working on fun projects. 

Lots of work: Expect to work a lot at Horizons, especially if you don't have a background in coding which was the case for me. However, there is no busy work. All the work you do is valuable. What you put in is what you get out. 

Great resources: The team at Horizons has put together a superb cirriculum. Horizons also employs Teaching Assistants who there to help you learn. The speaker series helped us to learn how to turn the coding skills we were learning into tangible results out there in the world. I'm always impressed with the caliber of people that Horizons manages to bring in. They even took us to Founders Fund (Peter Thiel's venture capital firm) for a panel Q&A with three Founders Fund partners. My friends and I spent a lot of time talking about ideas from the speakers. 

Extraordinary amount of learning: If you want to learn how to code and you're willing to work hard, you can do no better than Horizons.

I now work in Product Operations at a fast-growing tech company. It's an incredible job, and I woulnd't have gotten if it weren't for Horizons. I rely upon skills that I learned in Horizons on a daily basis. When I was searching for jobs, the Horizons team bent over backwards to help me.

Abhi, Darwish, Sunny, Moose, and the whole Horizons team have created something very special. They are completely dedicated to helping their students realize their dreams--I know because they did it for me :) 

Horizons is a coding bootcamp, and it excels at that: a low student/instructor ratio with qualified and experienced instructors, a top of the notch, ridiculously refined curriculum, a very very high potential network, and an ambitious management team. But it is much, much more than just a place to learn code. 

I took a considerable risk to do the Semester immersive course, left a paid internship at a tech start-up in NYC and flew to SF with practically no safety cushion. I was also worried that the curriculum wouldn't be challenging enough since I was already writing code at work, had taught myself some programming languages and learned some CS related concepts in college (I studied engineering in college). Also had a bias against JavaScript at the time, because I didn't have the key to its powers. One week into the program, all of those concerns were completely wiped away: many of my classmates were CS majors/grads and were definitely learning as much as the rest of us, I was very much challenged intellectually allbeit without any negative pressure, and I discovered the almighty omnipotence of JavaScript. Before I describe the non-coding components of this experience, I want to stress how good Horizons was strictly in terms of technical education. I learned to build the front-end of a website in a million different ways, SQL and NoSQL databases, the basics of computer networking and of the Internet and how to practically utilize those concepts to set up a full-stack application, Shell scripting, algorithms and data structures, software design paradigms. And this was just in the first month. The TA's were obsessed with teaching us the best technologies, seeing us implement best practices, etc. The instructors were bottomless tech-knowledge pits (thinking of Demi in particular here #legend). 

Now that I've hopefully hammered home the quality of the coding education, let's move on to the fun (or boring depending on your personality) stuff. The network. This is a one of a kind web of high achieving, ambitious young individuals. It's impossible to objectively define success and satisfy everyone with the definition, but I have seen so many different takes on that word in my time at Horizons. You will be part of a diverse, gender-balanced mix of amazing individuals from all walks of life, and you will create strong bonds with them. You will learn from and debate with hard-working, thoughtful VCs, entrepreneurs, investors, C-level execs from wildly successful organizations about topics ranging from product design, to the meaning of life. And then you will realize that these people aren't very different from you, an adventurer, and knowledge hunter attending a coding bootcamp in SoMA, SF. You will connect with Darwish, Abhi, Demi, Moose and other fantastic human beings who will do whatever they can to help you become better and achieve your goal. You will be in the cradle of innovation, Rome of the 21st century. While grabbing a drink at a bar 2 blocks away from Horizons, I met the CEO of Dropbox. We were blocks away from the offices of the tech companies that people in South Africa, the UK, Chile and Singapore all use to get by every day.

I strongly recommend this experience to anyone interested in the tech industry and entrepreneurship - future software engineers, product managers, entrepreneurs, investors and unicorn CEO's to apply. And if you're selected, don't hesitate, do it!

Many aspiring Horizonites ask me: 
Has the program changed your life in any way?

I applied to Horizons around July of 2016, about a year before the actual program. Horizons emailed our school’s email list, and I was deadset on nabbing that fellowship.

I got it November of that year and committed to starting the program June the following year. I committed to it before committing to any other post-grad plan and banked on the hope that whatever company was going to employ me would be willing to accommodate the Horizons timeline. I committed to it because I knew it was only going to change my career path for the better. It's changed me in reinforcing my abilities and my commitment to entering the tech industry. It's given me confidence in my skills, commitment to a career in tech and a solid and strong community.

In CS classes in high school I always told myself I wasn’t good enough, especially when my (mostly) male classmates told me how early and easily they finished. I never thought I could fathom becoming a software engineer because people were always better and smarter than I was. But going through this program has built my confidence in my technical capacity. I’ve also found so much joy in coding – it’s like a giant puzzle that I MUST solve. I get into flow so quickly now, and it’s hard for me to snap out!

I’m now confident that I can build things for myself and others. The instructors, TAs & founders themselves were extremely kind, caring and helpful. They have your back and you can trust they'll help you grow in any way they can. Horizons is not just any other bootcamp - it's a community. The program and the people in the program have definitely changed my life, and they continue to do so. What more could you ask for? 

Full review here: https://mikareyes.tumblr.com/post/163309869682/horizons-faq-from-a-current-horizonite

Horizons was one of the best educational decisions I ever made. I studied traditional computer science in college. I am an entrepreneurial person motivated by product and people, and I was frustrated that after studying CS in school for 2 years, I still could not easily build my own web and mobile applications. Horizons fixed this in 3 months. I build websites all the time for fun/ projects/ anything now, and I have a mobile application in the iOS App Store. I am also developing a user-facing, social web application in my free time. None of this would be possible without Horizons. If you here words like "Node.js," "API," "node modules," "framework," "back-end," and "SQL" all of the time, but you are still confused about what they mean, you need to do Horizons. I am so much more confident in job interviews after the program, and I am able to code whatever I want in my free time. 

Has anybody ever got into Horizon one?? They were supposed to send me a coding challenge to see if I am eligible for Horizon one. After 1 months of waiting, I scheduled a call to see what is the status of my coding challenge. They canceled the scheduled call. I emailed them, after 2 weeks they said they rejected my application!!!

I have CS degree and worked as software developer for 2 years. The only reason I can conclude why the rejected me, is that I am a foreigner. It was shocking to see how they discriminate toward foreigners. 

Please comment if anyone got into Horizon one.

thanks

I did the summer program in Philadelphia and I had pretty much the most incredible summer of my life. I'm a computer science major at UPenn and I still learned SO much-- it's everything you don't learn in the classroom (which is a lot). If you've ever wanted to be able to build and deploy your own applications, or if you just want to make your resume look amazing -- Horizons is definitely the way to go. 

The Horizons' co-founders and instructors are really top notch and I would say they're who you want to be learning from. After the program, I've made a 180 in my career plans moving away from finance and into software engineering despite being in business school.

I highly recommend this program if you're interested in tech in the slightest bit because you learn a whole lot, gain perspective, and meet great people.

Horizons gives you the skills and mentorship to build anything and take it to market excellently.

Intensive training teaches you to build advanced software applications end-to-end. Teachers come directly from impressive roles in Silicone Valley and know the best, and most current, ways to build software.

Experienced entrepreneurs are extremely accessible, providing valuable advice and connections.

My Horizons-built business found an investor by the end of the program. Near four months later, the Horizons team continues to be incredibly helpful.

The best way a Business Major (or any student for that matter) can spend a summer. I learned more highly applicable skills in the 3 months than a year in school. Now, I'm using the skills I learned to build a startup. 

Instructors & founders were great and ensured we truly understood the topics. The other students were highly motivated and a joy to work with. The speakers they brought in were world-class and helped us think about tech and investing at the highest levels. Overall, the environment made it enjoyable to work long hours and solve tough problems. 

I highly recommend Horizons.

As a business major pursuing an interest in technology and entrepreneurship, obtaining viable programming skills has been a goal of mine for a long time. However, I could never find the time and opportunity to fully immerse myself and commit to the endeavor, and instead decided I would wait and enroll in a coding bootcamp after I graduated from college... When I found out about Horizons, I seized the opportunity and plunged headfirst into 13 weeks of intensive coding. At the end of the summer I had spearheaded the development of a passion project from idea to launch (www.cortexgame.com) and had gained the skills and confidence needed to continue my growth as a programmer and to seek internships in the technology sector. Horizons has been a tremendous asset in my personal growth and has enabled me to effectively bridge the gap between my business education and the coding skills required to succeed in the world of tech entrepreneurship.

At some point or another, everyone seems to feel a disparity between their passions and reality. For a long time I too have felt that my various interests will be left unpursued due to my lack of applicable skills. For anyone who feels the same way, I highly recommend taking a course at Horizons. Regardless of your experience with coding or technology, the intructors will make sure that you get all the tools you need to make your ambitions come to fruition. The perks of Horizons go far beyond the technical level as the instructors also provide invaluable advice on both a personal and professional level. 

Despite my lack of a tech background, I attended Horizons with the sole intention of finding a job after. Within a month of finishing the course, I had interviews lined up and a few offers to sift through. 

I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the instructors, oftentimes they put in more hours than the students, and they were always helpful and understanding. 

I would recommend this course to anyone that's willing to bust ass and has the desire to learn. 

First off, this is a coding bootcamp. It's not easy and there will be frustrating days where you'll be up all night debugging. 

But, the amount of stuff you learn and build is FREAKING AMAZING. 

Week 3 - We built Facebook. 

Week 4 - We built Amazon.

And on it goes EVERY WEEK. You will be amazed at how much you can build and after the experience you will see the pay off keep on coming. 

Do it. Just do it. It's freaking amazing. 

From the rigorous and expertly crafted curriculum, to the incredible people that you're constantly surrounded by, Horizons leaves no stone unturned. Their summer immersive didn't just teach me full stack web and mobile development - it also gave me a priceless network of peers and mentors, and it revolutionized my views on learning, entrepreneurship, and the world. I can't think of many experiences that have yielded so much for me.

Attending Horizons and meeting everyone involved with their program was among the best decisions I've ever made. I've never felt more empowered to do everything I've always wanted to, among great friends and future colleagues. The curriculum hear is top notch in terms of preparing students with the skills they need to succeed in engineering roles. What I enjoyed most though was the entrepreneurial spirit of the student body, founders, and speakers that came to visit our school - there's a bright future ahead for everyone who attended Horizons.

As a young designer, I started my summer at Horizons with very little coding background. But I was able to quickly familiarize mysefl with and even master all the budding framework and technologies. I wouldn't be able to learn these as quickly and as efficiently at my college. Now at Uber, I realized its highly valuable to be able to understand and speak the same langague as the engineers while designing. Super grateful that Horizons made me a better designer!

Horizons was one of the best decisions I ever made. I was able to learn the fundamentals of developing and creating products, meet amazing people, and hear from prominent thought leaders in technology. I had a small understanding of the basics of programming before starting Horizons, but within 3 months I knew the ins and outs of the developing to the point where I, and a couple of my friends from Horizons, were able to launch an app on the Apple and Android App stores.

Horizons is an amazing program, and I would recommend to anyone thinking about getting into or wanting to enhance their technical skills.

I came in looking to learn how to build something with my bare hands (and as a non-cs major). After a few months with Horizons, I felt pretty confident that I could build anything I wanted or at least learn how to build something, if it wasn't apparent. Throughout the program, the lectures were fantastic (shoutout to Moose and Graham!) and during the pair programming, I could tell many of peers were very sharp and pushed me to be better. Furthermore, if you got really stuck, TA assistance was very accessible from ex-software engineers, who were quick to assist. The whole concept of the demo day / hackathon I thought was well executed and contributed to Horizons feeling more than just a coding bootcamp to get you a job (although it very much can do that). It felt like you were really there to learn and build something great. Factor that with the guest lectures, where we got top people in tech to talk about how they made it and advice for us. The whole Horizons experience, in my opinion, will be more than any other bootcamp out there, its THE gateway into the tech world.

If you are looking to gain fundamental knowledge on web development or software engineering, look no further. Horizons will give you the tools you will need to build some amazing products and launch a career in software engineering.

Throughout the course, Horizons had TAs that were dedicated to staying up with us until the crack of dawn so that we could understand the course material. Towards the end of the program, you are given an opportunity to create your own product (great for people who come in with start-up ideas) or work for an actual start-up (some of our students worked on a project for Optimizely). These projects were monumental in supplementing our coursework and giving me the real-world application to what we had spent learning in the first half of the program.

Finally, Horizons was incredibly supportive during the job search. I was able to schedule multiple mock interviews with TAs and get very personal feedback on how to improve before my actual interviews (something that can be pretty costly -- think gainlo.com). TAs also provided resume help and also tips on negotiating salary/benefits once you get an offer. 

If you are hoping to switch careers or gain insight into the software engineering world, I would highly recommend Horizons.