LearningFuze

About me: I didn't know anything about coding before the program.  Graduating from the program is the most difficult but also the most rewarding thing I have done in my life.  Starting taking online prep courses in January, took the LFZ Prep Courses in March, started the full-immersion program in April, and graduated in July.  I am currently polishing up my apps for my portfolio before starting the job search process, goal is to find a job by November.  
Bottom Line: The LearningFuze full-immersion program is the best decision I have ever made, but also know that it's the hardest thing I have ever accomplished. The instructors and lessons are TOP-NOTCH, they are all incredibly well versed in the technology and love teaching it, and they will support you!  You get out exactly as much as you put in, but you also need to take the initiative to ask for support when you need it.  The career-guidance and job-search process is baked into the program, so although instruction is only for 3 months, the program truly doesn't end until you find a job.  Also, my cohort was the first full-remote cohort due to COVID-19, but being remote wasn't even an issue in learning.  I do have to admit that building camaraderie with my cohort mates was challenging since we are not around each other all the time (they do host online social events like saturday afternoon games, and our cohort hosted lunch time games each week), but it was nice not having a 40 mile daily commute, so there are pros and cons, but I feel like I was able to learn just as effectively as an in-person program.  
Purpose of the review:  The LFZ website does a wonderful job of informing you what the full-immersion program is like and the topics you will be learning, so instead of going over what I learned as an engineer, I want to focus on what I learned about myself and my personal journey in the program.  Mental health is a determining factor of my success.  I actually wanted to repeat the first half of the program over because I was feeling overwhelming anxiety coming into the second half, and I am so glad that LFZ provided the support I needed to change my perspective, gain confidence, and really start to think and problem solve like an engineer.  
In writing this review, I’m taking this opportunity to reflect on my experiences and want to put in a lot of through.  So fair warning, because it’s a long one (6 pages single spaced on Google Docs)!  I will be splitting this review into several parts: before, during, and after the program, with a short TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read summary) starting each section.  
1.  Before joining the program TLDR: If I was going to  be serious about starting and succeeding in the program, I needed to prepare the next year of my life, mentally, physically, and financially, to learn how to code and find a job.  
Before joining LearningFuze, I knew nothing about coding.  I graduated from UCI with a degree in the Humanities and did data entry for four years.  Loved the job but it lacked career advancement opportunities, so I was ready for a change.  At a new year's eve party, my friend who is an LFZ Alum and a full-time software engineer told me about the program.  To briefly summarize, he said it was the best decision of his life because his salary is allowing him to live comfortably.  But at the same time, getting through the program was one of the hardest things he has ever done, and if I am going to succeed in the program, I need to dedicate my entire life for the next year, mentally, physically, and financially, to learn how to code and find a job.  
2.  Preparing for the program TLDR: I took some online courses at CodeAcademy and WatchAndCode before taking the LFZ Prep Courses.   I attended an info session with Cody, and his energy and love for teaching was just shining through.  When I learned that he was one of the full-time instructors, I knew I was making the right choice signing up with LFZ.  
On my friend's advice, my first priority in preparing for the program was to get my finances squared away so I can just focus on learning the material.  The program demands roughly 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, of work and practice and I needed to minimize distraction.  My plan was to quit my job at the end of March while starting the prep courses in the beginning of March, and enter the full immersion program in April.  My free time was spent on CodeAcademy and WatchAndCode absorbing as much knowledge as I can to prepare for their technical assessment (which, at that time, was actually quite difficult!).  During that time, I went to an Info Session that was led by Cody.  I have to admit, I didn't research other programs because my friend spoke so highly of the program, but Cody really sold me on it.  During the info session, his love and energy for teaching and coding really came through.  When I learned that he is one of the full-time instructors for the first half of the program, I was 100% ready to sign up, and I am so glad I did!
Looking back on my experience with the LFZ Prep Courses, in addition to being an intro to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, what I found most valuable was that it an introduction to the kind of workflow expected of the students during the full-immersion program, the kind of problem-solving mindset of an engineer, and learning how to use Git/GitHub, which made the first few weeks of the program a lot smoother in terms of being able to address any problems I encountered when learning how to use the technology.  
3.  First Half of the Program TLDR: Get ready to embrace the struggle, but also know that your cohort members, TAs, and Instructors are there to help and support you each step of the way.  
The full-immersion is split into two halves: Junior Side and Senior Side both with their own instructors.  The Junior Side is the super positive and the guidance to the lessons begins with a hold-your-hand-through-each-step mentality that slowly transitions you to becoming an independent coder.  I actually think the Junior Side is more difficult than the Senior side because I was still getting used to thinking like an engineer.  Don't get it twisted though, Senior Side is still difficult!  For me, learning about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and working with Git/GitHub is a brand new experience, while at the same time I was going through so much material everyday.  It seemed overwhelming and intimidating!  And I was struggling with the fact that there's so much information out there and I didn't know enough.  But that's part of the struggle.  Even as a graduate, there's still so much I don't know but the difference is, I am comfortable with not knowing everything, and because of that change in perspective, I am much more confident with my ability to code and build apps.  The program teaches you how to learn on your own by working on small exercises that build upon each other until it culminates into a larger project.  And then, the program allows you to build a project on your own or in groups.  And all along the way, I walked into a ton of brick walls, but by working through the problems, either on my own, or with one of my cohort members, or with a TA or instructor, I will get that ah-hah! moment, a light bulb turns on in my head.  What I thought was once impossible to solve or understand now just makes so much sense, and it's actually really exhilarating.  
I also have to say that while the program is difficult, the instructors and TAs are always available.  I remember at the end of my first week, I asked to talk to one of the Instructors after instruction was over because I needed help on my mental game and with processing the feelings I was experiencing, because .  And we spoke for 30 minutes on a Friday evening and he gave me some much needed insight to help me not be so anxious.  
4.  The Second Half of the Program: Part 1. TLDR: My anxiety got the best of me so I reached out for support, and they made a plan of action to get the support I need by the next day.  
The second half of the program starts to simulate an actual working environment where you have one instructor (aka your project manager) that you will turn in your assignments (aka your projects).  The mood is more serious as you are expected to be an independent coder.  Senior side is when you begin to learn more about the back-end servers and database aspect of creating an app, so there are still lots of new concepts being given to you.  It was also at this point where I really started feeling anxious because I didn't feel like my foundation wasn’t as strong as I’d like it to be from the first half.   I also had a rough experience with one of my solo projects from the first half (I had to pivot my idea half-way through, so it wasn't as developed as I'd like it to be when I presented my work), so I was thinking about going back to the junior side, or even taking a break from the program so I can have more time to prepare for the senior side.  
So I reached out to Monique who is in charge of the mental health services, letting her know what I was thinking and asked her if it is normal for other students to feel this way?  We met the next morning and she listened to what I had to say.  She reassured me that I was not alone in thinking this way, but at the same time she recognized the anxiety I was having and we came up with a game plan.  She was thinking of giving me a tutor for a couple sessions for two weeks the next day we met for half an hour, but before making any final plans she wanted to talk to my instructors from the first and second half of the program to see if they noticed any issues I had with learning the material.  Later that same day, we met again and after speaking to my instructors, they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with me.  I was completing the lessons on time and I even completed some lessons ahead of time.  So yes, it was definitely normal for me to feel this way but I was also being too hard on myself.  
5.  The Second Half of the Program: Part 2.   TLDR: The tutoring sessions helped me change my perspective and build my confidence.  Coding is still difficult, but I'm finally noticing patterns in project development allowing me to solve problems and reach my goals faster.  
My tutor asked me what I wanted to talk about during our sessions.  I told him that I wanted to understand the thought process of how to go about solving certain problems and challenges so I can be successful.  I also asked him to explain some of the higher order javascript functions because it just wasn't making any sense to me.  So, we spent some time going over it, and even when he got stumped trying to explain it in a way that I can understand (which was understandable.  Learning how to code is one thing, but explaining how it works requires a level of expertise!) he reached out to one of the main instructors who joined our zoom call and helped explain it as well!    
One of the breakthroughs I've had during these tutoring sessions helped me change my perspective.  For one of our exercises, we were assigned practice problems and I was having trouble completing some of the more difficult ones.  I was looking at it as one big problem that looks so difficult, but he showed me that I just needed to break it down to smaller problems and solve them step by step.  When I was able to solve one of the harder ones on my own, it was like a light switch turned on in my head, and I thought, "oh, was that it??".  It was a small but very important change in perspective and it allowed me to start feeling more confident about myself.  
Just like in the first half, in the second half we work on smaller exercises that build upon each other that will culminate in a bigger project.  And when working on these projects, I noticed a pattern emerging when it comes to project development, so I was becoming better at planning out my steps in meeting my goals.  It was really exciting and I finally felt confident on my own because I was knocking out features for my projects at a more natural pace.  I was also finding solutions to problems I was encountering more efficiently, and the rush I would get from these ah-hah moments came more often.  There are times when coding can still be a struggle and I find myself at my wits' end, but instead of feeling anxious about being stuck, I’m gaining the confidence that I will push through.  I even messaged the instructor telling him how much fun I was having finally getting into my own groove, and he says that as long as I’m willing to stick through the really difficult and challenging topics, and take this learning process with me after the program to learn new technology on my own, then the sky's the limit.  
And this carried me through to the final project, and my group was really fun to work with.  It was very gratifying seeing all of my hard work pay off when developing our app, and working in a group environment solidified everything I learned.  Our group ran into some challenges during this process, but we leaned on each other’s strengths to carry us through.  One of my fondest memories was that I took it upon myself to work through an entire weekend so we can meet the deadline and I was knocking out features and bug fixes left and right, even though it was my birthday one of those days.  I told my team, “nah, I’d rather work on this and be proud of our finished product.  I can celebrate my birthday any time, but I only have so much time to work on this project before the program is over.”  And as a group, we were very proud of our final product.  I can confidently say that I am a full-stack web developer.  
(I also want to mention that coming into the final project, I was very anxious and even lost sleep the day before the final project process began because I thought it would be a repeat of my solo-project before from the first half of the program.  But that just wasn’t the case here, I felt confident every step of the way.)
The presentations though were another thing!  On graduation day, each group presented their final project, and I was thoroughly impressed by everybody’s presentations while also being proud of my group’s app.  My group members did a fantastic job presenting the parts they worked on, but I was nervous.  Public speaking is one of the areas I need to work on, so let’s just say I was sweating bullets during my five minutes of the presentation.  However, this gave me another goal to strive for: being able to comfortably explain the technology that powers my apps.  
But finally, we graduated!  After my presentation was over, there was a wave of feeling that came over me, and I definitely felt a kind of way about my experiences.  The first thing I thought about was I couldn’t believe I was so close to taking a break from the program or to repeating the first half of the program again.  I’m so glad I reached out to Monique and she gave me the support I need to gently push me in the right direction.  Then, the sense of supreme accomplishment of completing the most difficult thing I have ever done.  It was better than any ah-hah moment, it was actually THE ah-hah moment and I was so proud of myself.  Before this year, I knew nothing about coding.  After spending three months preparing for this program, and spending another three months in the program, and a ginormous amount of hard work, I know how to develop a full-stack app and I have the skills necessary to learn new technology.  
So I spent the rest of the day celebrating with my cohort members playing online games, and spent the evening with my friends finally celebrating my birthday.  I took the next day off, and then went straight into working on my portfolio, because the work isn’t done until I get a job!  
Post-Grad: Portfolio and Career Services TLDR: The “real” part of the program starts post-grad with completing the portfolio and preparing for the job search.  Throughout the program there are webinars and online lectures to help you prepare for this part of the process, and mock interviews to help check where your skills currently are.  It’s one thing to learn how to code, it’s a completely different thing being able to explain how it works in an interview setting, and there are resources available to help with that.  
Throughout the program there are webinars and “lunch and learn” lectures focused on topics like developing our professional presence with our resumes, setting up and creating an effective LinkedIn profile, networking, the job search and the interviewing process, and what it’s like to be a developer.  The career services are baked into the program and it is a source of valuable information that is presented to us in a very concise, succinct yet thorough manner.  And these webinars are available to us after the program.  
As a graduate, the hardest part of the program begins.  I’m not working with an instructor or in a cohort environment any longer, so I need to set my own hours everyday and determine what I need to do each day to complete my portfolio and progress in the job search.  I am still in touch with some of the instructors who are in charge of reviewing portfolio requirements, so I am currently working to complete my portfolio.  Once my final portfolio is approved, I’ll be given the go-ahead to start the job search.
At the same time, they also give mock interviews, and for someone who is really shy and very introverted, these mock interviews are incredibly valuable.  I have developed apps that I am very proud of, and just like in the presentations, these mock interviews show how much work I need to do still to be able to present my apps and talk about my experiences technically.  I still stutter and blank out on even the easy technical questions, and when the pressure really piles on, I break pretty easily.  The great thing is that these interviews are designed to do that so they can give focused feedback on what my strengths are and what I still need to work on and what my strategy should be.  Also, when I’m under pressure, I forget the basic interview strategies like ending with a strong closer.  So it’s good that I’m breaking now and learn from the experience, cuz I can only (hopefully) get better from here!  
There is still a lot of work I need to do.  Still working on my portfolio, I just did an app demo with my previous employer earlier this week (with guidance from the Program Director and the main career services guy, TJ) and that was a learning experience.  I did better than I did in my first mock interview, but I still have a lot of room to improve on with speaking about the technology.  And I have my second mock interview scheduled with TJ next week and I’m preparing as much as I can.  It won't be a perfect interview on my part, but I want to keep improving and keep getting better.  
Conclusion
LearningFuze is an amazing program that provides you the material and support necessary to soak in a TON of information and use the technology in a very short amount of time, and to find a job.  But it’s a two way street, you will also need to put in everything you got to not just succeed, but to be proud of the work you put in and the apps you developed, and then even more work on top of that to be confident in explaining how your apps work and be successful in the job search.  I’m very happy with my experiences in LearningFuze, I’m ready to keep on embracing the struggle and work on the next part of my job search process, and highly recommend this program to everyone who is on the fence of joining a web-dev boot camp.  

LearningFuze Bootcamp exceeded my expectations by providing all the tools I needed to create polished, full-stack applications. The curriculum focused on the PERN stack, with particular emphasis on React, which is valuable for building modern applications. They prepared us with everything from front-end basics to back-end development, ensuring a well-rounded understanding of full-stack concepts.The support from instructors and staff was consistently available and helpful. Whether I needed help with coding challenges or career advice, there was always someone ready to assist. Speaking of career preparation, LearningFuze put a strong emphasis on job readiness, which included mock interviews, resume support, and guidance on building a portfolio. They really did prepared us for the job hunt, even though the current market is tough for new developers. We were able to build two solid portfolio projects—a front-end project and a full-stack application—that demonstrates our skills to potential employers.Overall, I would recommend LearningFuze to anyone looking to transition into tech or strengthen their coding skills. The bootcamp is perfect for people who want a comprehensive, career-oriented program with lots of support.

LearningFuze does such a great job during the program with help towards the students! In this 18 week program I have gained so many skills with the help of all the instructors and teaching assistants. Even post program, LearningFuze does a fantastic job with the job search and helping us get our LinkedIn profiles, resume, and GitHub profiles set up for perfection! They definitely do a good job of being there for us every step of the way and are on top of keeping us motivated. They also offer webinars for the job search and for new technologies that I found very helpful! If you are considering learning this curriculum at an accelerated pace, take a chance with LearningFuze. 

If you are considering attending a coding boot camp I would strongly recommend putting LearningFuze on your radar. I have nothing but good things to say about this program - to start, I felt like the curriculum is extremely relevant and changing with the landscape of the industry. The instructors are extremely knowledgable and fantastic to work with. The school also offers a career services program to assist and guide students after graduation. 

I had a wonderful experience here and would encourage you to reach out and schedule an info session if this is something you are considering.  

After researching between bootcamps and hearing positive reviews from 2 other friends, I felt the most confident in LearningFuze.
This was around when COVID first hit so LFZ was in a transitional period. The info session gave me the most reassurance because the rep was hella personable, informative and didn't pressure me at all. Their confidence in the quality of the program stayed consistent throughout my experience and gradually was instilled into me. My instructor was an absolute gem of a human to learn from: professional but easygoing, empathetic, funny, and most importantly, had a wealth of knowledge.

My concerns for post career services were also reassured. With any bootcamp, your results are a reflection of the effort you put in. Best believe you have to work your butt off. That being said, the amount of post grad support I've received is borderline overwhelming. The job search is expected to be tough, but the support and genuinely amazing people I've networked with would never have happened if it weren't for the LFZ staff. I have professional work under my belt now and am best believe that momentum's not stopping. I sound like a broken record for constantly thanking them, and will shamelessly continue to do so. 

If you're reading these reviews, it's likely you're in the process of doing your due diligence researching all the bootcamp options to start/transition your career as a programmer. I was in your shoes in January of 2023, and currently, in Sept 2023, I am a junior software engineer, thanks to LearningFuze. Anyone can share what the course consists of and LFZ website provides all the information you need to feel assured that you're really in good hands. Therefore, I'll share my personal background and experience to add more context to why LFZ is probably the best choice for a coding BootCamp. 

I graduated with a degree in communications and began my career in marketing for a few years. I then decided to transition to software development and looked around at bootcamps and asked my surroundings about their experience with other bootcamps (codesmith, hack reactor, to name a few). Their experience there was great, however, I chose LFZ because they had an in-person course available which I knew personally would be a huge advantage because I engage better in a forced environment. Bootcamp and career change is a huge commitment of time, energy, and money, so I wanted to push myself rather than just choose what is comfortable (since I was able to commute the distance). Being in-person, I was able to create many lasting friendships, network more effectively, and take in the material much better because I didn't have to spend as much excess time and energy required when interacting in an online class setting. 

Looking back, now that I am coding professionally, LearningFuze truly prepared me to know how to read and understand life cycles of languages, enough that even when I am no longer actively learning with materials, homework, and projects, I am able to ask the right questions, figure out what the issue is, and essentially know how to use various tools and languages on my own. 
LearningFuze teaches you ways to keep learning on your own without guidance as you graduate. Yes, there is tons of material they cover that prepares you with the fundamentals of programming. Yes, you are placed in a setting similar to real-life dev environment to familiarize you with what it's like to really work in the field. Yes, You will be ready to start a junior position. I think personally, the biggest takeaway was that currently at work, I'm able to read a line of code, understand what's happening, and what I need to do next to address a bug, problem, or build something. This skill, is what LearningFuze provided me with, and I can take it with me any dev job and succeed regardless of what language a company uses, because it's not simply a tool they teach you, LearningFuze truly builds you into a developer.  

Everything in this bootcamp is amazing! If you are looking for a place to gain real knowledge and become a confident, solid candidate for the tech job market, this is the place! They will help you from your first step until the end, while you find a job! And even after, they continue to support their alumni! I am amazed at how the program was built so smartly to enable you to learn so many things in a very short amount of time. I have learned a lot, progressing from being an absolute beginner to building solo full-stack projects from scratch. I highly recommend LearningFuze if you are ready to take on challenges and become a developer!

I took the part time software engineering program and couldn't be happier with what I learned. My understanding is that it is the same curriculum as full immersion, so I feel confident in what I learned especially given that the lead instructor is from Google. The instructors were phenomenal and so dedicated especially given they also have full time jobs. I felt the curriculum was very well structured and loved the fact that it is focused on learning through exercises and large projects. Although it was intense, I did not feel as though it was homework or a chore, but rather more like a game to beat. I do recommend being organized, that will make it much more fun and feel more like a game. Definitely recommend, the skills I developed tremendously helped me land a job in tech, which was my goal. Great experience!

As I am in my final week of the in-person full stack web developer course; I am very shocked at what has been accomplished in such a short time frame. With only a few online tutorials before the course and just being able to code simple html to put some text and color on a page, I am now completing a full stack project with React. The amount that you can learn is just incredible. The course focuses on having you write actual code for most of your in class time, and getting a good review after. Your teachers are available for assistance through modern way in an agile methodology set up. 
In addition to the great coding experience career services start preparing you early for the job search afterwards. The career services is tailored specifically to this industry in preparing you for job searching through networking and key tools like LinkedIn as well as creating or fine tuning an already existing resume. And preparing you for the different approaches interviewing and the hiring process take in the web developer industry.  

LearningFuze’s part time web development program has been and continues to be an amazing learning experience. This program has been well thought out and includes in-demand technologies. I really appreciate that they offer this part time program, as it has allowed me to continue working full time while also pursuing my career in web development. The instructors and staff are all amazing and truly care about their students, you can tell they they genuinely want you to succeed and help you every step of the way, including amazing career services. The program is intense and takes a lot of dedicated time and effort, but that’s exactly the way it should be and I’m grateful for it! I would definitely recommend LearningFuze to anyone who is serious about their goals and excited to learn!

Having recently completed LearningFuze's 14-week full-stack coding bootcamp, I can confidently say that this program is the real deal. 
From the very first day, I was blown away by the staff and instructors' dedication to helping every student succeed. They were always available to answer questions and provide feedback, and they genuinely care about our success.

One thing that really stood out to me about LearningFuze was their flipped or inverted curriculum. This unique approach to learning allowed me to get hands-on experience working on real-world projects, and then discuss and review them with the instructors and other students. We were taught how to learn by using documentation and other resources. It was a fantastic way to really understand and solidify what we were learning.

The curriculum itself was comprehensive and covered all of the essential skills and tools needed to become a successful full-stack developer. It was challenging, but the instructors were always there to provide support and encouragement when needed.

Perhaps what I appreciate most about LearningFuze is their emphasis on career development. They provide us with personalized career coaching, mock interviews and job placement assistance, which is really helping me feel confident and prepared for the job market. I know the job search process can be overwhelming, but with their guidance and support, I feel like I have a clear path forward. 

If you're considering a career in tech and want to gain the skills and knowledge needed to succeed, this is the ONLY place I would reccomend! 

I am in the process of completing a coding bootcamp at LearningFuze, and overall, I had a positive experience. The program was well-structured and covered a wide range of coding topics, and the curriculum was somewhat up to date and could use some tweaking.
The instructors at LearningFuze were the real standout of the program. They were extremely knowledgeable, passionate, and dedicated to helping us succeed. They always made themselves available for questions and were willing to go above and beyond to help students understand difficult concepts.
In particular, I found Cody and Robert to be exceptional. They were both patient, approachable, and had a talent for breaking down complex concepts into simple, easy-to-understand explanations. They always took the time to ensure that each student was keeping up with the material and offered individual support where needed.
However, there were a few areas where the program could have been improved. The curriculum could use some updating and I sometimes found bugs in the code for the curriculum that needed to be updated.
Overall, I would recommend LearningFuze to anyone looking to learn how to code, especially if they are lucky enough to have Cody and Robert as their teachers. While there were a few areas for improvement, the quality of instruction and dedication to student success really set this program apart.