Rithm School

I was nervous about applying for a bootcamp and switching careers, but the entire process for Rithm made me feel more confident. This is a tough course, they cover a lot of material and topics in the span of a couple months. It is a full time commitment, even after the lectures are finished. They change their curriculum depending on the current environment, which is good for keeping up to date. I believe that in order to make good use of what you learned you have to put effort into understanding the material and topics. I started with almost no prior knowledge about coding, but I felt confident near the end. They also help with job searches post-grad and have check ins to help you stay on track.

Overall Experience: 10/10

 If you are looking for the absolute best coding bootcamp/school - look no further than Rithm School. Going to Rithm was one of the best choices I have ever made in my life. From the first email I sent to admissions, to my last day at Rithm - the entire experience was an A++. Rithm has truly changed my life for the better. They offer a superb curriculum that will give you the hard skills that real employers are looking for. You will be prepared for the first day at your new job and they offer a fantastic internship that builds real work experience while connecting you with people in the industry. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all that this school has to offer.

Instructors: 10/10

 The instructors at Rithm School were one of my absolute favorite parts of attending Rithm. They are not only talented developers themselves but have a true gift of teaching. They are available, helpful and do everything in their power to help you succeed. I cannot speak highly enough of Matt Lane, Tim Garcia, Joel Burton, Nate Lipp and Elie Schoppik!

Curriculum: 10/10

 The curriculum is FANTASTIC! They have managed to compile the absolute best blend of everything that you will need to know in an industry that is always advancing and changing. I was blown away by how great the curriculum was. The course work and assessments are not easy and that's by design - they make sure that you are legitimately prepared! If you are struggling or having trouble with the work, they are there every step of the way to help keep you on track. You will learn exactly what you need to know in order to succeed in the contemporary world of Software/Web Development.

Job Assistance: 10/10

Another home run! I had the pleasure to work with Zach DeRossette during outcomes. Rithm School provides you with an excellent internship and to top it off, their career coach (Zach) is available after graduation to ensure that you find the job you are looking for. Zach is extremely knowledgeable! He is personable and easy to communicate with. The outcomes portion of the program with Zach makes the process of looking for a job, so much easier!

Final Thoughts:

I'm not one to go around giving undeserved compliments and I could still go on and on about how much Rithm School has to offer. If you are willing to work hard, put in the time and you are serious about starting a career in this field - attend Rithm School!!

I decided to stop taking classes at my college due to the lack of infrastructure and the poor transition/execution to 100% remote classes. I wanted to challenge myself, learn applicable material, and feel like I was getting my money's worth. Deciding to enroll and go to Rithm School was one of the best decisions I've made in my adult life. I got everything I wasn't getting in a traditional college and so much more. Rithm School offered me so much that other Bootcamps seem to lack, from the small class sizes and strong alumni community, the internships working with real-world codebases presenting new challenges and frameworks, to the constantly evolving course material and emphasis on learning how to 'learn' on the fly. If I could go back and start the course over again I would do it, I made friends, mentors, and future coworkers all while gaining the skills to feel prepared for my first programming job. Online, in person, or hybrid, Rithm School offers a top-tier education lead by demanding, compassionate and experienced instructors that will prepare you for the real world and give you a leg up amongst a sea of other Bootcamp grads. The school is worth every penny and I would recommend it to anyone looking to take the leap of faith into programming. 

My experience at Rithm school was everything I hoped it would be. Due to the small class size I was able to receive multiple code reviews per day. I felt I learned the most during these code reviews. We did a lot of paired programming on a daily basis which prepared us well for working in a team environment. I enjoyed working with my classmates to solve problems and get insight to see how they were approaching the problems. The most prominent value add was the software engineering internship at the end of the program. We got hands on experience working on a production code base with the team. I was able to secure a software engineering job 1 month after graduation at a startup with a starting salary of 120k cash + equity. 

So first let me state I was only in the application phase but I can give you my experience on that as well as their curriculum, which is open source.

The curriculum itself, I personally think is awesome. Not just the tech stack itself, getting to learn js, React and Python but it’s very well designed. I found it structured very well and super organized. They did t just grab a bunch of material easily available on the web but it seems to be intelligently crafted. I really enjoyed that parts that I have been through. 

The part that I had a problem. With was their communication or lack thereof. Initially they were quick to respond and I still get automated follow up emails from them. However, for what ever reason they no longer respond to my questions. I don’t know if it was because I was asking about the programming cost, as it’s more expensive than any other I have found. That is the only thing I can think of. I was inquiring into financing and possible scholarships. I stopped receiving responses to the email or website chat so figured I would sign up for the initial chat with the admissions team. So I clicked on the calendar link, in original follow up email and scheduled a time. However they never showed up! Nobody ever called me at the scheduled time. So for whatever reason their is a breakdown in communication and that is concerning for this large of an investment in time and money. 

That’s just my two cents and experience through the application process. 

Course report doesn’t seem to let you only rate the items that are application but overall I’d say a two star experience with a 5 star curriculum. I obviously can’t rate the instructors or job assistance but I hear good things about the job placement rates. It won’t let me submit without rating  those items so I will do that and edit it later if allowed.

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.