Prime Digital Academy

The Good

• Prime brings in some incredible students. Pretty much everyone is friendly and interested in bettering themselves
• It is immersive, so you really get a chance to get your hands dirty and work through some tough challenges
• There was some gender diversity and a tiny bit of racial diversity, which I was pleasantly surprised to see
• Toastmasters is a part of the curriculum, and I always enjoyed hearing people's speeches and participating in the weekly meetings

The Bad

• The prework was almost exclusively online through Code School. For the cost, it seems unfair not to create their own prework curriculum. It doesn't really prepare you to solve problems without a blueprint, so that makes it difficult once you transition into classroom instruction.
• The instructors for my cohort had no teaching experience, and it showed. One was working on her Master's Degree, and the other was planning to and eventually did launch a business during my cohort. They also hated each other, and they never spoke outside of class hours. One instructor would often ask the class if what she was doing looked right because she was unsure. 
• *******One of our instructors got fired during my cohort because of all of the student complaints he received. They never informed us that he was terminated. They just shifted around the instruction staff to "give us a different perspective." *******
• There was no consistency in what was taught. They called it "agile curriculum development," but my cohort was short-changed. My cohort had one lecture on SQL while the cohort after mine learned SQL for one week and learned to setup a SQL and MongoDB database and connect it to the front end. My cohort did not get any hands-on practice with SQL. The cohort after mine learned SASS. My cohort did not. For the final project, the cohort after mine had to get their project scope reviewed and approved before they could start working on their project. In my cohort, there were several students whose scopes were never looked at and where no feedback was given. 
• In my cohort, it was decided that one student could not graduate because she had not reached the "benchmarks" for graduation, but these "benchmarks" were never explained to anyone in our cohort. If you decide to apply, be sure to ask and get written documentation about the expectations, so you know what is required for graduation. They told this student at week 17 of 18 that she would not be graduating, despite assuring her at week 15 that she was doing just fine. Again, get written documentation. 
• The MEAN Stack is almost completely useless in the Twin Cities, unless you only want to work in the front-end. Most companies look for people with .NET or Java experience and a college degree. Don't believe me? Do a search on Indeed. If you come from a technical background, such as graphic design, tech support,  development, etc, you will have greater success than if you have no tech background and aren't the strongest coder at the end of the program. There are companies that don't even consider Prime graduates because of how little training they have.
• There was no discussion of data structures or algorithms, so you will struggle in your first job trying to figure out why something isn't working if it isn't exactly like problems you practiced in class. 
• Some people from the cohort that ended in December 2015 and January 2016 are still unemployed or only recently employed. Be prepared to be out of work for 6 months after the program if you have no background in programming. Seriously. 
• So many people struggled because of the poor instruction that 5 out of 22 students went back at least one cohort, including one person who started over completely. They present this option to go back a cohort as a benefit, but on their website, it says that they can prepare you for a software development job in 18 weeks. My cohort is proof this is not the case. Of the people that went back one cohort, 2 are still unemployed (since February 2016), and 2 work in tech support - not as developers, 1 did not graduate at all. That's almost 25% of the class. That just isn't good enough if you're charging $12,000.
• They advertised an apprenticeship, but they did not inform any of the first 5 cohorts that they did not actually have an apprenticeship network as advertised. They claimed that we would be able to work as an apprentice for up to 5 months to get our foot in the door, but graduation came and went with no mention of said apprenticeships. For many, this was the main reason they chose Prime, and it was very upsetting to find out this option was unavailable. When they were approached about it, they said that the apprenticeship "was just part of their 'launch language' and should have been removed from the website." Oops.
• There was only one code review throughout the entire course for my cohort, so many were left wondering how they were doing through the entire course
• A lot of the students in my cohort were scholarship recipients, and one of my classmates overheard Taylor, Prime's Community Relations person, saying that my cohort struggled more because we were scholarship recipients and didn't work as hard.

Proceed at your own risk. A lot of people have had great experiences at Prime, as evidenced by the positive reviews. Just keep in mind that the experience varies for everyone, and because this is a business and not an accredited institution, there is very little you can do if you disagree with their decisions or are unhappy with the quality of instruction.

This was such an amazing experience that I actually came back to Prime twice. I attended the UX Design program back in 2019 and when my life took a turn and I needed to pivot, when I decided to go back to school for Full-Stack Development I decided to go back to Prime for their FS program. The experience at Prime is one not just of learning but support. From the instructors, support staff, and extensive alumni there is so much after program support. When i was researching other programs in my area, I couldn't find any that had the comprehensive support that Prime has for its students and alumni. To include career support as part of the program is rare but at Prime it's just another piece of the puzzle. I felt that in 20 weeks of the program, I absorbed so much. My instructors for the Full Stack program were so helpful. The saying is at Prime it is a fire hose turned up to 100. It's an intense, full time program that demands a lot of it's students. But that intensity is what allows its students to be more flexible, adaptable, and also fosters an ability to learn new technologies AFTER the program that we otherwise wouldn't have had the ability to understand. 

I attended Prime's first part-time cohort in 2021-22, which was full of working people and busy parents who had wanted to dive into tech but had been put off by the full-time bootcamp time commitment. I had been a hairstylist for fifteen years and had absolutely zero tech experience, but had been curious about it for about five years--especially seeing how my friends in the industry were thriving financially. I liked that the program was fully online but that there were scheduled, structured classes along with flexible scheduled group work time, along with work that you did on your own schedule. The program not only sets you up for success tech-wise, but the career support and staff in general are invaluable. Between the technical training, the full-stack projects you build, the experience you get working with actual clients, and the interview and resume coaching, you really are positioned to land that first job within the first few months (or sooner--I had many cohort-mates that landed jobs while they were still in the program!). It took me about five weeks of interviewing after I graduated to receive two job offers. I accepted a position at a small software consulting agency in Minneapolis and happily celebrated my one-year anniversary at this month. The work is incredibly social and creative, and the risk was absolutely worth the reward. It's rare to leave a career of fifteen years and experience a significant increase in income with your first job in the new field, and my annual raise after one year was right around 15%! I can work from home as much or as little as I like which is a HUGE plus, I love the flexibility. If you are considering a bootcamp and want to land your first job in the Minneapolis area especially (their connections to the job market here are so valuable, although I think they would set you up for success no matter where you are located), Prime is absolutely worth the investment.

I have wanted to go to Prime since a good friend did it ~6 years ago, but quitting my job didn't feel doable. When their part time full stack option opened up I jumped right in. Had a great experience, learned important hard and soft skills, and started my new job as a software engineer at Target before I even graduated from Prime. I did decide to quit my job around halfway through the program, and some of my cohort mates did the same - we all found that more manageable than balancing prime + work + applying to jobs (you should start applying before you graduate from prime, btw). I had some coding experience going in and already knew that I liked it, but I had cohort mates who did not, and they did well too. If you're the kind of person that likes to prepare in advance, checkout Codecademy and FreeCodeCamp's beginner javascript tut's. From my prime cohort, everyone that was actively trying to get a job (which does mean applying to tons of places) got one within about 3 months of graduating. Not sure how often they update this figure, but FWIW my starting salary was about $11k higher than what Prime advertised as the average salary for their grads at the time. My cohort mates also all made about the same or within $15k more than me at the jobs they got. Now in the workforce, I've met lots of other bootcamp grads, and I do think Prime prepares you better for the workforce than the average bootcamp. It's longer than many other bootcamps, and having React on the resume (at least currently in 2022) is a big plus. However, that said, don't over analyze the specific tech stack offered at Prime vs. where you're trying to get a job - they're often different and it's expected that you'll learn many new technologies throughout your career. You just need one stack to get started. As tech is always changing, a huge part of this career is learning new things, so if you are bored at your current job, this is the place for you.

Thank you so much Prime Digital Academy! I learned so much and met some of the greatest people! If you are thinking about possibly attending Prime Digital Academy, I hope you know that you will not be disappointed! I did not do well in regular college, the style of learning just wasn't for me and it never worked out. I decided to take a leap and attend Prime! The immersive style of learning is very well thought out and the instructors truly care about each students success. Not only do they give you the skills you need to be a a great programmer but they also teach you the soft skills one needs to be successful for interviews. If you listen to the instructors and put in the work, there will be a lot of work, I promise you will be successful too! Don't believe me? Find out for yourself! Go to Linkedin and search people who attended Prime and find out what they are all doing!  Don't be afraid to reach out and get some questions answered. Good luck!

Hey, you! Yeah, you, the person reading this review! I was doing exactly what you're doing, looking at reviews for Prime Digital Academy 7 months ago when I was working a dead-end job, wanting something radically different and fulfilling. I'm now on the other side - employed as a Product Developer with a great company, great benefits, and great pay (a 57% increase in pay from my previous role, to be exact!).

Prime's instructors truly care about your progress throughout the program, and they put your mental health first, knowing full-well that you will do your best work when you're at 100%. The curriculum, one that focuses on the PERN (Postgres, Express, React, Node) stack, is one of the best stacks to get hired in the current job market. And their career training is top-notch: they prepare you for interviews, presentations, and networking so that you are ready to shine when you're starting the interview process.

Prime has changed the trajectory of my life - I'm now planning vacations, saving a down payment for my family's "forever home", and socking away extra money for retirement. Take the jump - it'll be the best decision you'll ever make.

Prime was one of the most defining career moves I've made so far. It took a lot of research to convince me that a "bootcamp" was the path for me and even more to narrow down the right one for me; especially at the price points for a decent one. I can comfortably and honestly say that if you have already decided that an accelerated program is what you want, you will not go wrong in choosing Prime. 

The program itself is what I believe a college education should emulate (or at least my own college experience). There's work to do every day, but, for me at least, I was able to finish most of it on my bus ride home or a little thereafter. I'm typically an anxious person and in college, I would get easily overloaded with the amount of work to do. The instructors here understand that an anxious mind isn't conducive to learning and will work with you if you fall behind. The course work isn't graded, but you're expected to do the work and try your best because it's you paying the money and you'll only get out of it what you put into it. Overall, the program is excellent and if I could I'd tell everyone who's looking for a Full-Stack Software Engineering program near the Twin Cities to go to Prime. 

Last note, the whole staff here cares about you. From the instructors to the Career staff, everyone wants to see you thrive during the program and get a job you love afterward. This isn't me selling anything, these people are just plain awesome. Honestly, you will not go wrong choosing Prime if it aligns with your goals. 

There are honestly too many amazing things to write about Prime Digital Academy without this review becoming a novel! The only exposure I had to coding before the program started was from submitting my application which required some basic HTML and CSS; I'd heard of Java, JavaScript, and C++ from high school many years ago when my friends took introductory programming courses, but that's it. Fast forward 20 weeks... I had MULTIPLE job offers and felt comfortable developing my own full stack web applications with the technologies we learned throughout - I even felt comfortable tackling new languages as Prime not only teaches you the tech stacks, but they prioritize enforcing good learning habits so that you're prepared for life after graduation. My instructor was so amazing and knowledgeable, and yet was so humble that it made me feel like I belonged in the program and that I could be successful as a developer like him. I was worried that being in a fully remote learning environment would disadvantage our cohort compared to those who were able to do their program in-person, but I was completely proven wrong. The amount of structure this school provides is truly unbelievable. It is not just 80 hours a week of fingers on keyboards writing code... they focus on much more than that. You learn how to work well with teams and on your own, what your strengths and weaknesses are so that you can constantly improve, how to plan and set realistic goals, and are all-the-while teamed up with mentors to help you along the way. There wasn't a single moment in the 20 weeks during Prime that I felt unsupported (even after you graduate, they are STILL there for you and encourage participation in alumni events). Even if you are just thinking about attending Prime's Full Stack Engineering program, DO IT because you will not be disappointed!!

Before joining  prime, I was utterly lost in the world of coding and completely consumed in a never-ending tutorial hell. Prime really did open eyes and provided me with the tools to think beyond just coding and problem-solving. The instructors are excellent and knowledgeable and know what is required in the current job market. They groom you to learn the requisite skills in the job market and prepare you well for job interviews. I was always mediocre in interviews but the training and support  I got from prime has tipped the scale in me crushing interviews and eventually landing a job. Yes, it is fast- paced and the instructors will push to get you up to speed and challenge you but I promise you'll never get left behind.

When I was considering attending Prime, I did what you are doing - read reviews online, talked to alumni, and asked as many people as possible about this program. Every single Prime graduate told me the same thing - that it was worth every single dime; that it was so much for than a bootcamp; that they taught way more than coding. Man, I thought to myself These people really drink the cool-aid. Now that I have gone through the progam, I have to admit that I drink the cool-aid too.

Prime was worth every single penny that I spent to attend. I don't know many programs where you spend just $15k, to later get a job paying over $70k. In just twenty-two weeks (twenty weeks in the program and two weeks full-time job hunting) I doubled my income from last year. Not only is that incredible...that is life changing. With the skills I learned at Prime, I now have job security and financial freedom. I'm still in shock about it!

Prime did teach way more than coding. Each week, we had career development courses with Christy and Bellamy (Christy is an invaluable asset at Prime - listen to what Christy says!!!) where we covered topics such as how to interview well, how to write a polished and professional resume and cover letter, how to exceed in technical interviews, how to job search the "right way" ... SO MUCH MORE. In tier two, we also had personal development with Emily, which really helped me get comfortable talking about myself. Public speaking is also a portion of the curriculum each week.

Now, hear me out - that is not to say that Prime is easy. It will test you in ways that you won't even imagine. The imposter syndrome is real....but the key factor is that at Prime, you have an entire team behind you in your instructor and your cohort.

It will be hard, but remember that hard is okay and uncomfortable is where the real growth happens.

Before Prime, I was in retail management for 10+ years. The long hours, stress, and not being able to see friends or family started to wear on me. I decided to transition into a new career field. After researching and having multiple calls with bootcamps, Prime stood out to me from the very first phone call. Once accepted into the program, you are in great hands every step of the way. They truly do prepare you with this intense but gratifying program. They don't just teach you about programming languages. Each week you also learn about job searching, develop soft skills, and collaborate in group projects. The solo project shows that you have what it takes to create applications on your own and reinforces the skills you learned. The client project gets you hands on experience what it will be like in the workplace. You learn a lot in 20 weeks and more importantly you learn about yourself. One of the best things Prime can offer is the amazing support from each and every person involved with Prime. The staff and cohort always have your back. If you are second guessing the decision, like I did, just go for it. Bet on yourself and trust me you won't regret it.