Rithm School

But only because I learned how to make one at Rithm school.

While there are a plethora of other schools that can teach how to do software engineering, not a lot of them can really teach how to be a good software engineer. Rithm teaches foundational knowledge and industry best practices from well seasoned veterans with years in the field (not student teachers!). In addition, the low student to teacher ratio helps with questions and cuts down on a lot of unnecessary frustration.

The internship experience is another huge advantage Rithm has over other schools. It was invaluable talking to prospective employers about real world projects I worked on and how it brought value to the company and my overal learning experience.

Rithm was one of the best decisions I have ever made and allowed me to transition into an incredibly rewarding career. I cannot recommend this school enough!

When I was looking into bootcamps I read a ton of reviews and outcome stats for several schools around the country, and ultimately decided to apply to Rithm and one other school that had small class sizes and deferred tuition.

What I got from Rithm was more than just an understanding of the technologies taught in class. I also improved my communication skills, learned how to think like an engineer, and developed passions that I still pursue to this day. The instructors (Elie, Joel, Alissa, and Nate) inspired me every day to become better, and by the time I had graduated, I felt ready to start my job hunt. They also provided incredible support throughout the job hunt process, both through the highs and the lows. I am now proudly working a job I love, at a company I believe in, with a team that fully supports me and my ambitions. 

Growing up with a learning disability, I thrived in situations where class sizes were smaller and one-on-one time with teachers was readily available. When I started looking into different bootcamps I was discouraged by how a lot of the top options had large cohort sizes, and seemingly not enough instructors to provide adequate help. Although it seems like folks who attend these camps are getting a good education and have success finding work, I knew it wasn't a great fit for me. I did manage to find a promising camp that had smaller class sizes ...but they had about a dozen campuses, and I got the impression that they may be spread too thin - that some of the instructors might not be very invested in what they were doing.

After searching for a bit, I managed to find Rithm. It checked all my boxes: small cohort size, quality instructors, a great tech stack, good job placement, one campus, etc. With a hefty amount of studying, I made it through the interview process and worked through the prep.

My experience at Rithm was great. From day one I really felt a sense of community, and that the staff cared about the success of each student. I was really happy with the pace of the curriculum and how easy it was to get help when I needed it. My cohort-mates and I got along great, everyone was encouraging and helpful.

During the main curriculum, an average day consists of 2 lectures and 2 labs. Labs emphasize pair programming. The hours aren't crazy, usually 9 to 5. That being said, pretty much everybody was putting in extra time to stay on top of the material. On the weekends there's an assessment that takes 6-8 hours to complete on average.

Later in program, a few weeks are dedicated to "company projects" where you get the chance to work on a real-world code base. Other camps don't do this sort of thing from what I can tell. The end of the program is dedicated to "outcomes" aka job searching and interview prep. Although time flies during a bootcamp and folks often feel unprepared, these two sections helped me feel confident.

Although Rithm might cost a bit more than other camps, I feel you get your money's worth. An added perk is it's location in San Francisco, where dev jobs are a plenty (check out Urbanests if you need an option for short term housing). It won't happen for everyone, but I managed to get a job offer pretty quickly after I graduated.

I went through Rithm this year, part of their 11th cohort (r11 whats up!!), and received an offer about two months after graduating. Going to Rithm has empowered me to make a solid career change. Before going to Rithm, I went to app Academy's bootcamp prep course, which helped me get into app Academy, Hack Reactor, and RIthm. Keep reading if you want to know why I chose Rithm.

The most distinguishing factors that really separate Rithm from the rest are the instructors and class size. My class size was 17 individuals, we had 3 wonderful professors. Unlike some other bootcamps which will remain nameless, all Rithm instructors have experience as professional developers; they dont hire recent RIthm graduates to teach their course. Also, during the lab portions of the curriculum, you have full access to your instructors, not just teaching assistants. This means that when you inevitably get stuck on a concept, you get un-stuck much quicker, allowing you to better understand the core lessons.

Another thing great about Rithm, the curriculum they choose is geared to helping students develop a deeper understanding of what is going on. Rithm stays away from frameworks that abstract a lot of functionailty out of the code (think Ruby on Rails), and focuses on technilogies that lets students really understand all the parts necessary for building web applications.

For the most part, coding bootcamps will either try and get you job ready from 0% experience or require some work ahead of time. Rithm is of the latter, which is more realistic for getting a job. The time already flies by, and the self study required to get in allowed me and my classmates to hit the ground running from day 1. Prior to my self study, I had no formal programming experience nor technical work experience.

The Job Assistance is wonderful, the final couple of weeks are actually spent on job search specific topics; resume writing, negotiating, networking, etc. Rithm has a dedicated career coach who works on site, who has years of experience both as a recruiter as well as a career coach.

As a final note, they have a deferred tuition plan (which i utilized) so apart from a deposit, you don't need to pay until you have a job.

 

TL;DR: I absolutely loved my experience at Rithm.  I moved to SF from Boston to attend and haven't regretted my decision for a second.

There are three key aspects where I believe other bootcamps would struggle to match Rithm:
1.  Depth and relevance of curriculum
2.  Quality and availability of instructors
3.  Job support

The curriculum at Rithm encompasses both the fundamental intricacies of modern languages (Javascript & Python) and a host of modern technologies that are in high demand in the job market.  After you graduate, you'll be able to fluently speak about React, Redux, MVC frameworks, OOP, and Big O notation with the companies you're interviewing with.  The key here is that neither is sacrificed for the other and you'll be able to do this with no prior knowledge.  Most of class time is spent in lab building things with these technologies, while enforcing best practices that are used in industry and train you to write code like a professional.

This leads into the second point, which is the quality of Rithm's educators.    Across the board they are individuals who have eye opening qualifications.  One has a PhD in Mathematics, one contributed to the Python source code.  All have multiple years of experience working in industry and are always open, friendly, and willing to help you work through a problem.  More to the point, you don't have to wait around, or get in a queue when you need help.  My cohort had twelve students and two instructors.   Rithm keeps the ratio roughly 5-6:1, so the feedback cycle is dropped to nothing, allowing you as a student to avoid roadblocks and quickly absorb material.

Lastly, the job support and job-search portion of the curriculum were excellent and enabled me to receive an offer a month after graduating.  Don't misunderstand, you'll still have to do the work of sending out resumes and cover letters, but it helps a lot to have a portfolio replete with Full-Stack projects, a great personal site, and experience with a startup.  They also hold weekly office hours for job-seekers to attend and get help with whatever roadblocks they're facing in the job hunt.  

To sum up, I'm extremely grateful that I made the choice to attend Rithm School.  It was an absolute game changer and should be at the top of the list for anyone considering a bootcamp.

I’m from Boston and I decided to move across the country to attend Rithm School, rather than staying on the East Coast and going to a bootcamp there (or doing a remote program). I’m so glad I made this decision--Rithm School exceeded my already super high expectations.

Tldr: I’m a former high school English teacher with no experience in computer science. I chose Rithm because of the small class sizes, company projects, job search support, and amazing instructors / curriculum. I couldn’t be happier with my decision. I loved the program, I felt really well-prepared for the job search, and I found a job within 2 months of graduation.

Here are some of the factors that set Rithm apart:

Small Class Sizes

My cohort had 14 students and 3 instructors. A lot of the bigger, well-known bootcamps have 40 or 50 students and 1-2 instructors. These larger programs will claim that you get more “real-life experience” in their classes because you’re forced to learn on your own. Rithm gives you all the benefits of “real-life experience” (you work on a project with a real codebase from a partner company, you gain experience reading technical documentation, debugging, researching on Stack Overflow), but you ALSO get thorough code reviews, lots of feedback, and ongoing mentorship from experienced developers. During Rithm, I often had to problem solve and research on my own, but after I finished implementing a feature, I received a detailed code review from an instructor. This is important because, when working totally independently you might create code that works, but it might be brittle and not up to professional standards. Ongoing feedback helped me understand how to write code that was well documented and more easily scalable and maintainable.

The small class size also means that, if you find a specific concept challenging, the instructors are always available to provide one-on-one support and extra review.

Company Projects

Toward the end of Rithm School, you will be matched with a company for a short internship. This is something that makes Rithm unique (most bootcamps have a final project, but it is usually a group project, rather than a project for a real production website or application). The company project is an incredible learning opportunity because you get to work with an existing codebase and interact with developers outside of your instructors and peers at Rithm. It also gives you real experience that you can add to your resume, which is incredibly valuable during the job search.

Preparation and Support in the Job Search

Throughout the program, you will have regular one-on-one check-ins with an advisor who will help you plan for your job search. Your success in finding a job ultimately depends on your own effort and persistence, but Rithm does a great job preparing you. In my experience, almost all of the topics that came up in interviews were concepts that had been covered extensively in Rithm’s curriculum. Rithm also offers weekly office hours for alumni who are in the midst of the job search, so you have ongoing support during the process.

Amazing Instructors and curriculum

The instructors at Rithm have worked in the industry for years. They are incredibly knowledgeable and extremely supportive. They are also constantly updating and refining their curriculum so that it focuses on the most current in-demand skills. The curriculum is also very thoughtfully designed so that projects and concepts build on each other in a clear sequence. And there are always “further study” options so that if you want to keep exploring a topic and deepen your understanding, you have resources and suggested exercises to do so.

If you’re not convinced yet, feel free to check out one of Rithm’s free events. That’s a great way to get a feel for the program. You can also reach out to Rithm alum on LinkedIn if you want more info.

Choosing Rithm school was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

That's saying a lot coming from a student that's as hard to please as I am.  I have very high standards when it comes to my personal educationalist instructors at Rithm are extremely knowledgable and love teaching. If you are the kind of student that needs to be challenged above and beyond what most students need, the instructors at Rithm will more than happily provide extra learning resources to help feed your endless technical curiosities and ensure that you grow as much as possible throughout the program regardless of your skill level.

My experience at Rithm was great.  We got daily code reviews and were taught not just how to write code, but how to thoughtfully build robust applications. Week after week I was amazed at how much I was learning.  The curriculum is very well thought out - and structured in a manner that encourages maximum absorption and retention.

A huge plus for me was that Rithm school spends a considerable amount of time on backend technologies (as well as frontend). If you're interested in backend, then this is a great school.  You won't just learn some massive framework and be great at only that framework - you'll learn the fundamental concepts that help you to understand how things are really working under the hood - and apply that knowledge to any tech stack you might encounter.

Rithm gave me the confidence to be able to pick up any new technology and find a thrill in quickly learning and adapting to challenging environments.  During our company projects section, our team had to learn an entirely new language and framework within a week, and make significant contributions to a very large codebase.  This confidence extended to my job search where I applied far and wide.  A month after graduating I received a fantastic job offer working as a backend engineer at a gaming studio.

If you value attentiveness in your instructors, and an environment that will push you towards a path of significant technical growth - then Rithm School is a great choice.  I would highly recommend trying out the private prep program before you decide to attend.  You'll get to visit the school and get a lesson from each of the instructors to get a sense of their teaching styles.

I wholeheartedly recommend Rithm to anyone who is seriously considering attending a bootcamp!

My overall experience with Rithm School was excellent.

I was doing freelance digital effects and having a hard time finding consistent work. I looked into web development for a new career because I wanted to find a position where I could spend more time with my family and still have a stable occupation.

Rithm School stood out as the best choice for an engineering boot camp due to their small class sizes(12-14 students per cohort) and I also liked the idea of the company projects.

Our cohort was over the holidays, so it was actually a 19-week course including the break. A month after I graduated, I received my first job offer.

During the company projects portion of our course, I worked with a lot of new technology and that experience gave me enough to secure a job.

Now, I'm doing the work that I love to do, I have a 100% remote position so I can take my kids to school and pick them up after, and I'm making a lot more than I ever did in my previous career. It couldn't have worked out any better.

The instructors were also great. They were very supportive of our progress each step of the way.  I had Joel, Elie, and Alissa as my instructors. Each instructor was amazing at teaching and very entertaining as well. I was never bored in any of the lectures and had so much fun during the cohort. You could really tell they cared about us and loved what they did for a living.

I would highly recommend this boot camp to everyone.

I was in from Rithm's Cohort 5 from Nov 2017 - Feb 2018. I got a job as a Software Engineer 5 weeks after graduating in addition to multiple offers. 

My background is in Fine Art, so I was looking for a program that would offer a lot of support in addition to real-life portfolio projects that would make my resume competitive. Rithm School was above and beyond with what they offered. Not only is the curriculum comprehensive and accessible, the class size was small enough that Elie, Matt, Michael, and Jeremy were always quick to respond with really practical and helpful insights to all of my questions during the program, as well as freakouts during the job hunt. 

Further, there is a really great support network for even AFTER we graduated. I highly recommend this program for those who are interested in transitioning into tech, but who are intimidated and overwhelmed by how to approach the materials. 

It's really the best investment I've ever made for myself. 

TL;DR: RIthm provides an excellent javascript & python full stack curriculum (including React) complemented with data structures and algorithms practice and lectures. Support continues through the job interview process. Within 3 months, I found a fullstack engineer position in San Francisco.

One of the immediate benefits of Rithm was the small class size and high teacher to student ratio. This allowed everyone to have access to an instructor throughout the course. This doesn't mean they held my hand through the course! They were excellent at extending a concept or assignment for those stretch goals.

Every morning you are given a warm-up assignment covering data structures and algorithms. This was crucial come time for whiteboarding or toy problem interview questions. 

The entire curriculum I would argue leads up to the company projects. Rithm has teamed up with companies for Rithm students to work as contractors on new features for their product or service. This prepares a student for the interview process as they have experience working within a company's production code base rather than a final project built from scratch.

I can't recommend Rithm School enough. You will probably read this and think I'm biased, but .. it's the best bootcamp in San Francisco. I have friends who did other bootcamps and I honestly I think Rithm is the best choice. Four (of the many) things that make it the best: the instructors, the class size, the curriculum, and the contract projects.

1. The instructors: not only are they amazing developers, but amazing teachers. Both of those qualities in a person are hard to find, and all of the instructors fit in that rare description. Other bootcamps you learn almost everything from pairing with other students. At Rithm you actually get to learn from experts, which means your code doesn't just work, it's also well architectured. All 5 instructors at Rithm are just as passionate about teaching as they are about coding, which shines through.

2. Small class size. Who wants to learn in a class of 100 with hardly any actual instructors? Rithm has an unbelievable student:teacher ratio. (Plus they are teachers not past students.)

3. The curriclum is the best out there. Each cohort the instructors try new things, they experiment with curriculum and find out what works the best. It's amazing how good they are at iterating over new ideas and formats to teach the information the best way possible. The curriculum online is my source of truth. I know exactly where to find what I need and I refer to Rithm's curriculum before anything else. I studied from it during interviews and I still refer to it at my job.

4. Contract projects with large code bases. I didn't know how essential this was for me to do well in my first job. If I had walked into my first programming job without already working on a contract project it would have taken me a lot longer to get up and running. But at Rithm we had 4 weeks of devoring a new code base. This means you get to actually learn how to intake an actual code base, not just make small personal projects. Learning a new code base is a very particular skill and getting the practice it was essential. Plus, the contracts on your resume really make you stand out to interviewers.

I can't recommend Rithm enough. Best decision I've made!

I attended Rithm School from Nov 2017 – Feb 2018 and 3 weeks after graduating, I got an offer for a dream job. The small class sizes, the way that the material is taught and having an opportunity to work on production code is what makes a huge difference. If you’re considering Rithm and other bootcamps, read the rest of my review. My unique background may provide some useful comparison for you between Rithm and other bootcamps.

Background: I first started learning to code a little over a year ago. I studied hard on my own and I got accepted to two other coding bootcamps: Hack Reactor and Fullstack Academy. I had attended some of Rithm’s meetups and had a chance to meet the teachers but decided to go with Fullstack because of the cost. After doing Fullstack’s remote program for 3 weeks, I knew I had made the wrong decision. The teachers who taught there could code well, but they could not teach well. The coding exercises we were given for practice were partially coded out already and we would follow written instructions to add things to the code without knowing why we were doing it. There was not much time for questions and topics would go unexplained. It was confusing and I did not feel like I was getting much from copying and pasting from the instructions. After 3 weeks, I regretfully told them I was getting more confused with their program and was going to go back to studying on my own, where I could focus on conceptually understanding the topics instead of breezing over them.

I went to another meetup at Rithm and had a chance to talk to Elie. Elie is a brilliant teacher, one of the best I’ve come across in my life. He has a way of making the most complex topics easy to understand. Elie is one of those people who cares about you enough to help you achieve your fullest and I chose to apply to Rithm after speaking to him. He is a fantastic mentor who helped build my confidence in my coding abilities and has technical abilities unparalleled to any teacher I’ve met. Matt and Michael also deserve mention and are wonderful teachers. Matt is one of the most easily approachable and willing to help teachers I know and Michael has an endless supply of useful advice related to coding techniques and finding a job. The three of them together make up the experience you’d want from a bootcamp.

The classes at Rithm School are small (12-16 students) and the stacks that are taught are current and what the industry is looking for. The teachers care that students get the material and they patiently answer all the questions and explain topics until students get it. They are even willing to come in an hour early or stay late to give you individualized attention if you are still having trouble. Every bootcamp is such that you get what you put in. At Rithm, the teachers make themselves available to guide you and help you get the most out of the experience. I made a commitment to learn the material and worked on it every night and some weekends and I finished the bootcamp truly understanding every single topic that we had gone over, which is a rare occurrence with bootcamps.

After we had finished going through the curriculum, the last 4 weeks of the bootcamp were spent working on production code for real companies. This experience put me miles ahead of the other candidates in the search for a job. The other girl from the Bay Area who was in my cohort in Fullstack (July-Oct 2017) is still looking for a job 5 months later. I got a job doing what I love with wonderful benefits and a fantastic salary 3 weeks after graduating. Since we worked on projects for actual companies and could put that experience on our resumes, by the time I finished the bootcamp, I was already getting numerous calls from recruiters and companies that wanted to hire me. When analyzing bootcamp cost, do the math on what you’d earn as a software engineer multiplied by 4-6 months of a sooner hiring date and you’ll notice you make back Rithm’s tuition difference in less than a month and end up having extra. I wish someone had given me this advice when I was looking at bootcamps myself. Do yourself a favor and go with a school that can really teach you the material. You are setting up a strong foundation for the rest of your career and giving yourself the option to pick the job you want. I can’t say enough how much Rithm helped me get to where I am today and am forever grateful I made the decision to go with them.