Sabio

I recently completed the full-stack software development program at Sabio School of Software Engineering, and I can confidently say that it was a transformative experience that exceeded all my expectations. Sabio not only equips you with a comprehensive skill set in programming but also goes the extra mile in providing job placement resources that aid you every step of the way to that dream job. Sabio's covers a wide array of languages and technologies, making you a well-rounded developer. They delve deep into JavaScript, HTML, CSS, React, .NET Core, C#, MSSMS, and SQL, ensuring you gain expertise in both front-end and back-end development. The hands-on projects and real-world applications of these technologies throughout the program make learning practical and engaging. You're not just a student at Sabio; you become part of a tight-knit family. The alumni network is strong, and you can rely on your fellow Sabio graduates for advice and assistance even after completing the program. 

The Sabio coding boot camp presents an extensive and immersive educational opportunity. Characterized by a robust curriculum and seasoned instructors, the program adeptly furnished me, as a student, with tangible practical skills and technical prowess in web and software development, positioned at a mid-level engineering capacity. The experiential projects, collaborative ambiance, and individualized mentorship collectively facilitated a rapid acquisition of essential proficiencies, priming me for a seamless transition into the professional arena. Sabio's unwavering focus on real-world projects ensures a positive trajectory for each student, setting them apart in the competitive landscape of technology. It is worth noting, however, that the program's rigorous intensity might prove formidable for certain individuals, necessitating a commitment to unwavering dedication and perseverance.





In summation, for those in pursuit of a reputable institution for comprehensive full-stack software engineering education, Sabio stands as an optimal choice. Furthermore, the invaluable array of post-graduation resources extended to alumni underscores the institution's commitment, spanning continuous technical skill augmentation throughout one's entire technical career, with the enduring support of the Sabio community. Without delay, I urge you to initiate contact today, bearing in mind that if I achieved this feat, so can you.

This is my review of the Sabio 17-week coding bootcamp. Before you read this, I believe you should know what point of view, or perspective this is coming from. So first, a little about myself:
-I am in my early 20's, and joined the program with little to no background in web development (besides a freecodecamp HTML & CSS crash course video)-I am a prior Navy submariner-I utilized 'Vet Tec', and only the Vet Tec program in order to attend & complete the bootcamp.-The only thing I 'failed' within the program was a SQL & .NET technical interview, around the 8-week mark.
So, now that you know a little bit about who wrote this review, let's get into it.
Sabio's 'coding bootcamp' teaches you web development; even though it is somewhat clearly stated on their website, some cohort members were still confused about what they were going to be taught upon enrolling. With that being said, I do believe Sabio does a decent job at teaching you a great deal about web development. However, I do not believe it is a program for the, 'exceptionally motivated' as stated on their official Twitter & Instagram accounts; I believe it is a program for individuals who are willing to put up with a lot of headaches; allow me to explain.
The way that the program is structured is somewhat complicated. There are a total of 3 'modules' cohort members go through; the first 2 are almost entirely focused on learning from pre-recorded videos that the founder (as well as some other instructors) have made. I say almost, because every once in a while (more-so at the beginning of the program), there are live instructor-led lectures. Throughout all 3 modules, all cohort members are required to report their status via a 'Daily stand-up meeting'; if you are a remote student, you get on a zoom call every morning with an instructor, as well as a seemingly-random assortment of other remote cohort-members. If you are an in-person student, your daily stand-up meeting is done in-person (as of recently). This 'status report' consists of talking about what you did over the past 24 hours, as well as what you will accomplish over the next 24 hours. This is done Mon-Fri with instructors; cohort members are supposed to get together & do it amongst themselves on Saturdays.. but no one ever does. Another thing that happens ~ every 2-3 weeks, is a technical assessment; these happen all throughout the bootcamp. Additionally, you are expected to get on the 'Queue' at least once a day, Mon-Fri, regardless of what mod you are in (with rare exceptions). The Queue is your opportunity to get one-on-one guidance with an instructor, with certain limitations. Most of the instructors are fine, however there are definitely 2-3 questionable individuals. You are not limited to getting one-on-one help once a day; you can keep going back to them as much as you'd like.. as long as you're fine waiting anywhere between 5 minutes - 2 hours for one. The only other thing you may be required to attend day-to-day are miscellaneous meetings. These range from anything to the founder, Gregorio, shitting on your Cohort for not sending out enough job applications over the weekend, to other cohort members' project presentation, and even Sabio superstar graduates talking about how they somehow landed a job at company X, Y, or Z.
After the daily stand-up meeting, most of the day is spent going through videos as well as exercises & tasks that allow you to apply what you should have just learned from the pre-recorded lectures (unless it is a Friday); this is true for the first 2 modules. However, these 'exercises' are mediocre at best. The exercises provided by the bootcamp are buggy, riddled with spelling/grammar mistakes, and just seem overall rushed. I know what you're thinking.. 'It's a coding bootcamp not a spelling bootcamp'. I would not bring this up if it didn't hinder the overall clarity of these exercises' objectives. I remember spending close to 2 extra hours on an exercise simply because I could not understand a part of it.
Remember how I said that was a typical day, except for Fridays? Well, Fridays are test days (most weeks). These tests are basically exercises, but stepped up a notch. What I mean by that, is that they are longer, require you to pay more attention to detail, and require a formal submission process within an allotted time frame (ranging from 1-4 hours). The formal submission process depends on each test. However, because they are basically just lengthier exercises, they are still riddled with grammar & spelling mistakes. With that being said, it is obvious that a special level of attention to detail was placed when creating these tests, because I only ever encountered one bug while taking a total of 8 tests.
For the last part of the bootcamp, aka module 3, your task is no longer to consume pre-recorded videos for the major part of the day; from this point forward, you get a task in a 'product'. Every product is a work-in-progress website, sometimes in development for a customer/organization, sometimes completely fake (meaning the site is probably trashed after it is finished). This is the most valuable part of the program in my opinion, as you get what I presume to be somewhat realistic experience as a fullstack software developer. The first 'tasks' you are given are relatively simple, however they quickly ramp up in complexity. At this point, you are applying everything you've learned so far (except jQuery) in order to accomplish whatever task you were given. However, you will have to occasionally look up stuff on your own. You are expected to contribute to the product on a weekly basis (minimum).
For the last 2 weeks of the program, you are expected to contribute to the product weekly, as well as apply for at least 50 jobs a day. Throughout the entire program, they slowly steer you in the direction of whatever they think is a good LinkedIn profile, resume, and profile picture. However, they really ramp this up throughout the last 2 weeks. Instructors/'career counselors' will threaten to give you 'notices' for not complying with their advice. A notice is basically a penalty you receive for any multitude of reasons; basically, if you don't comply to anything & everything they say, you are subject to receive a notice. If you receive enough of them, (seems to depend on a case-by-case basis, as well as what program you used to enroll; as a general rule of thumb, they are WAY more lenient with you if you enroll via your own hard-earned $$, or G/I Bill; they really like to keep their Vet Tec members on a leash, and it is way more likely that) you get the boot.
On the last day of the program, you get the privilege of taking up all individuals that are currently going through the program's time with your project presentation. These usually last between 2-3 hours.
That is a brief overview of the Sabio bootcamp; this next section's purpose is to discuss the things I dislike about the program (don't worry there will be a thigs I liked too):
-The 'out of office' implementation: No one can reasonably expect you to attend this program that is 17 weeks long, 5 days a week, 9am-6pm PST without not being present for the entire day at least once. Because of this, the program implemented this thing called an 'out of office form' which is how you can let instructors know that you will not be present at a certain date(s) and/or time(s). However, regardless of what the reason is, it is ultimately up to the Director of Academic Affairs whether to give you a notice for it or not. You are never told whether your out of office form is worthy enough. You would think that a bootcamp, made up almost exclusively of software developers, that they'd be able to come up with a solution for automatically notifying cohort members upon evaluating their out of office form; however, that is not the case.
-The Queue implementation: This seems to be the program's flagship features.. the ability to talk to an experienced (or at least a recent Sabio graduate that got hired as a) software developer within a 2 hour window. Even though it is such an important feature that you are required to interact with daily, it is buggy. As. Fuck. In order to get on queue, you have to fill out a bunch of information, such as: a) why you want to talk to an instructor, b) the error you are receiving (if applicable), c) a code snippet (if applicable), d) a screenshot, etc. HOWEVER, on multiple occasions, I found myself not being able to go through all of the sections; if you can't go through all the prompts, you cannot submit, and get on queue. Or, if I was able to get through all of the prompts, I would not be able to fill out all of the applicable sections. Because not all of the applicable sections were filled out, an instructor would see my queue card and kick it back for not being completely filled out. This was beyond frustrating, and happened ~ 10 times. It was even more frustrating, as the 'engineering' team would keep pushing out new features to the website, while seemingly putting already existing & known bugs such as this one on the backburner.
-The LinkedIn profile requirements: I get it.. the goal of the bootcamp is to land you a job.. however, there are some pretty questionable LinkedIn profile requirements that the bootcamp tries to make you implement. The first one that comes to mind, is that they tell you to add 50 'Skills' minimum. This is absolutely ridiculous, especially if you have no prior work/education before the bootcamp. I found that, at most, I could add ~ 20 skills that were software developer related, without just repeating the same skills that show up under a different name (HTML5 vs HTML, for example). This is a far cry from the minimum of 50 they want you to add. If any technical recruiter would like to provide insight, please do; I'm begging you. I will eat my own words if recruiters really do want to see an abundance of generic skills such as, 'Critical Thinking' and "Creativity" lol.
-Certain Instructors: Don't get me wrong, most of the instructors were fine; however, the more 'senior' they were, the more disrespectful, and just generally condescending they acted ( there were still some great senior/product instructors). Often times, there'd be cohort members that would ask about what time they should expect a live-instruction session to take place later that week. Most, if not every time, they were disregarded and told to 'focus on the task at hand, man. don't be worrying about tomorrow'. Another thing that really bothered me, is the clear lack of teaching experience most of the senior instructors have. Not only that, but it is clear that one instructor specifically hates his job at Sabio. Not only would he put close to no effort to his 'live instructions', he would also consistently be late to them.
-Changing the schedule: On the last week before my cohort graduated, Sabio decided to implement a schedule change; this mostly affected in-person students, by making them attend 5 days a week instead of 3 days a week, as was originally agreed upon. Supposedly, this change was prompted from the VA; however I'm not so convinced. Even if it was and they had no choice what date it got implemented, why not make an exception for the members that had a week left?? This wouldn't be the first time they've made 'special exceptions', so it was definitely possible. Instead, they basically told us to suck it up or not graduate.
-The classroom environment: If you decide to attend the bootcamp in-person, you should know that neither campus currently offer a quiet work/study environment. Although I had no issue concentrating with the background noise, it was quite annoying listening to other Cohort members talk about their favorite animes, or how they are about to go on a hot girl walk, etc. Although there's no way for me to verify, I am quite certain 2-3 cohort members I started with dropped out because of the loud background noise.
-Sabio Success Stories: This seems to be the standard among coding bootcamps for some reason, and I do not understand why. Once a week, you are forced to join a huge zoom meeting with a previous Sabio cohort member that happened to land a job; one of the technical recruiters asks him/her questions for 1-2 hours, and then the floor opens up to general Q&A from other cohort members (it's basically a giant circle jerk about how great the program is). I get it, there are superstars that land jobs immediately after graduating the bootcamp.. but why do you have to waste the time of in-session cohort members with this every week. If anything, it should be optional. Most (successful) members that made it through the bootcamp would join the meeting, mute Zoom, and continue working on their own Sabio-related task/exercise; the workload is already so much as it is, you don't really have time for that.

-The resume truth-stretching: Sabio heavily encourages you lie about certain aspects of your resume; and if you don't, you receive a notice for every thing you do not follow. For example, they want you to put that you have been a 'fullstack software developer' from day 1 of starting the bootcamp... not as 'education', but as 'work experience'. If that isn't a lie, then I don't know what is. Additionally, I had a senior instructor literally tell me to put down something that I LEARNED how to do during the learning phase of the bootcamp as a bullet-point under this, 'work experience'. Not only does this feel unethical, it feels sketchy and can lead to some pretty awkward conversations with a recruiter.
With all that being said, the only thing that I liked about the bootcamp:
-The course really crams an insane amount of stuff into a relatively short time frame; throughout this course, I've learned a lot about the following languages: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, & C#. I've also learned how to utilize the following: jQuery (JS library), React (JS library), Bootstrap, (CSS framework), & the .NET Framework (including ADO.NET); on top of that, I've become fairly proficient at utilizing the following applications: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, & Postman. Not only that, but I've also developed plenty of knowledge regarding source control, utilizing Git commands, how to handle merge conflicts, and how Github works.
In short, although I probably would not recommend this bootcamp to any sane person.. I am thankful for what it has taught me in such a short amount of time; I challenge the co-founder Gregorio to take this somewhat constructive criticism, and fix the issues that currently exist with the website, classroom environment, as well as instructors.


One last thing worth mentioning: I would take their 'job placement rates' with a grain of salt, as they can 'kick you out' of the program even after graduating; more specifically, if you used certain benefits to enroll (Vet Tec for sure), they try to force you to keep them updated EVERY SINGLE DAY Mon-Fri regarding how many jobs you've applied to, how many interviews you've landed, why you haven't gotten a job yet, etc. I get that they need to keep track of people getting job offers, however this is literally micromanagement if I've ever seen it; it should be a weekly checkup at most. If at any point in time (within 6 months of graduation) you stop adhering to this, they change you from a 'graduate' to a 'drop' for statistical purposes. u/G8Rojas please prove me wrong if this is not the case.

Sabio has a challenging curriculum but gives you the tools to learn how to learn. The most valuable tool you have is your motivation and drive. If you want to level up and trust Sabio has your best interest in mind, you will be successful. The process will test your true intentions. Do not attend thinking this is traditional lecture style learning, Sabio will demo how to code, let you exercise it and provide help to naviage the blockers but won't spoon feed. As a successful graduate and after being hired, I can say if your willing to set aside 17 weeks of long hours and have the fortitude to overcome the many challenges.... you will succeed. Sabio also has many examples of sucessful graduates and a large alumni network that can help you even beyond the course completion and into job searching. I recommend this course to anyone who is serious about leveling up and willing to put in the work. 

I had a great experience with Sabio! I did go through the Vet Tec program and that is how I found out about the school. Probably like a lot of people here I read comments and researched about the school first and while there were some not nice reviews I felt the general consensus was that it was a good school so I decided to try it. I also was really nervous probably like a lot of other people who may be wanting to use Vet Tec. I heard you can't fail and you need to get on the queue twice a day and I kind of scared myself a bit as I'm naturally a quiet person. I also got a bit nervous with the time needed as it was 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Despite all that I quit my job and decided to take the risk. My whole motivation for doing this was I wanted to learn something that was relevant and give myself desirable skills that pay a lot. It did take me a few months after I graduated but I landed my first job now making $90,000 and fully remote so the reward was definitely worth the risk. I almost doubled the salary that I was making before. 

A little about the school. I live in Florida so I did fully remote EST and didn't have any trouble at all. I did have to stay up later on some days but not much at all. I also did the Full Stack so I learned JavaScript, React, C# / .NET and SQL. I'll also say I joined this school with absolutely zero knowledge of coding whatsoever. I totally get everyone's feeling of joining and questioning if you're able to do it. I've seen so many people graduate and finish this school same as me so it's definitely possible! When you get that first job it will all be worth it. 

I will say like I've heard so many times while I was coding is that Sabio has it's own process and everything has a reason. The learning can be fast paced and you are learning a lot of things but it's like that for a reason. You want to change your life in 4 months? This is the way. You will go through feeling like you don't understand anything like I did and then one day everything you do will click and you will be like "I got it!" and that's the best feeling. As long as you ask a lot of questions when you are stuck, use your time with instructors well, use other people in your cohort and code code code, you will be fine. Everything has it's reason and you will really put it all together. Sabio has a lot of resources to help everybody and the amount of success they had speaks for itself. 

Overall I really enjoyed my time at Sabio. I definitely learned a lot. I went through challenges but it's all worth it in the end. In 7 months I went from 48k to 90k. There is no other way you can do that. I could have probably been at my last job for 20 years and not make that much. That right there would be all the motivation I need to join. When you look back on your life a year or two from now you'll thank yourself.
 

A life-changing experience! Sabio is an excellent choice for anyone looking to learn full-stack web development. The program is challenging, but the support provided by the instructors and the Sabio nation community provides continued mentorship and support throughout their careers. This network is a valuable resource, providing graduates access to industry professionals, networking opportunities, and job leads. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, Sabio will change your life.

Attending Sabio has been one of the best career decisions I've made. I used to work in facility maintenance and after just 6 months, I jumped into a career as a software engineer working with one of the top military contracting firms in the U.S., nearly tripling my previous salary.

Sabio curates their coursework that almost identically mimics the actual day to day of software engineer. This could come as a shock to some, as it isn't necessarily a completely hands on approach to teaching, as they slowly ween you off of lectures and teach you to self research and also utilize what they call the Q, a process to which you can speak one on one with an instructor to receive guidance. I almost found this annoying at first, but you learn that this is what the day in life of a software dev is, and that's utilizing every resource you have to solve problems given to you by an employer. I have spoken to a lot of different bootcamp grads all different schools and Sabio consistently comes up as a school that not only prepared the developers in getting a job, but outperforming their peers in the workplace as they have the experience to take care of problems that are given to them. They also stand out by selecting developers to work on an MVP for real entrepreneurs, increasing your confidence on working with a real development team. This helped greatly with the interview process, as you're given real life experience that you can speak on and show off.

I used VETEC to pay for the course, but I've seen some reviews that state Sabio is harsh on VETTEC users, but I do not want those who use the benefit to be thrown off. The VA has strict guidelines that Sabio has to hold developer accountable to. I know this as I initially had an issue for an academic probation, but after speaking with the VA, I was explained of the strict rules that the bootcamps are held to. As long as you follow the curriculum and what is asked of you, you will have absolutely no problem utilizing any VA benefit with Sabio.

Sabio Bootcamp has been one of the best decisions I have made. I came out of this bootcamp as a full fledged software engineer, with a job offer in hand. Sabio gives you the skills that are needed to start a career in tech, and significant support during the job search and after graduation. I am still actively participating in an alumni mentoring program to help others with their job search. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is looking to become a software engineer. I favored a boot camp over a college degree because it was less time and I would leave the program having applicable skills for a job. This bootcamp is for those who are motivated and dedicated, as it is a big commitment. The course itself is 17 weeks (with a 13 week option if you can pass the entrance test). The time commitment is full time, 6 days per week. It is fast paced and at some times overwhelming. The instructors are very intelligent and helpful, and give great direction while working on coding problems. They are no-nonsense, but also really care about your success. Unlike other bootcamps, Sabio provides experience working on real projects. I was part of a brand new start up that our team built from the ground up. We did daily stand up meetings and code reviews, exactly like I do in my current position. This has been an extremely rewarding experience.

Don't walk, RUN.
This is THE best boot camp on the west coast (possibly the country). If you're a veteran looking to break your way into the tech industry and start making a salary of $80K in less than 6 months, look no further. No prior code experience needed!! No degree needed!!

I'm a Navy veteran and found myself at home with Sabio. They specialize in helping veterans transition into tech careers. They have veteran staff members and are very knowledgeable in GI Bill assistance. This program is tough, but fair. No hand holding here. This is a learning environment but treated like a work place. THIS IS HANDS ON LEARNING. YOU WILL DO! No studying textbooks or writing about concepts! You will be given the tools needed to succeed and pushed to your limits every day. This was the hardest thing I ever did academically but it paid off big time. 

Within four weeks after graduation I had received two job offers- both at $80k, one had stock options of $20k, and an offer for a full time internship with Sony. I work remote now and was able to move closer to family. I work for a company who is currently paying me to learn! Making me more valuable and knowledgeable. 

Three things that set this bootcamp apart from others:

1. You will work in teams to develop code for a real company.
You'll have regular practice on integrating your code with others (welcome to the world of git), you will talk about code and how to communicate what it is doing (very helpful when it comes time to interview), and code review sessions that will help you learn to read code you didn't write (also helpful during technical interviews). Towards the end of your training you will be selected to develop a real working web application for a real company. This means REAL work experience!!

2. The community. 
Sabio alumni regularly help current fellows when it comes time for the job hunt. It's one thing to have a Sabio staff member say you're job ready, it's another to hear it from someone who just graduated and landed a position. Alumni help in fine tuning resumes, mock interviews, and overall accountability and support.

3. Up to date on demands from the market.
Sabio teaches a full stack software development stack that is in high demand. This translates into more interviews and multiple job offers. They have partnerships with big time companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Google - to name a few) with multiple graduates receiving job offers from these partnerships monthly. That's right, you could be working for FAANG with less than 6 months experience being a software engineer.

Who this program IS NOT for:

- Anyone who cannot dedicate themselves to a full time program. I'm talking 12 hour days Monday-Saturday. It's a big time commitment. Tell your family and friends you're changing your life and you will be dedicating yourself to this for at least 6 months. No vacations, no happy hours, no weekend getaways. It's a sacrifice but it pays off!

- Anyone who thinks they can do the bare minimum and get the big pay off. Coding isn't rocket science but it does take time to learn. Sabio has endless resources to take you from zero to hero but it's up to you to put those resources to use.

- Anyone who isn't coachable and adaptable. You MUST trust the process! Everyone at Sabio has the intent to help you. Remember, it's tough love here, but it's all love.

- Anyone who does not like to learn. Technology is ever changing. You will never know everything there is to know. Talk to any software engineer- they've learned how to learn and it makes them more valuable (aka more money!).

Sabio CHANGED MY LIFE. It can change yours too.
You don't need to be a super geek or computer nerd to succeed here. I was never at the top of my cohort, I didn't grasp concepts quicker than anyone else, I'm not a genius who found their niche. I'm a regular person who knows how to work hard, who never gives up, and shows up every day with an attitude to learn and better myself. That's all you need to be successful in this program.

Use your GI Bill or VETTEC benefits to have your learning paid for and collect BAH. No military background? No problem. Sabio offers scholarships and financing. This is MUCH cheaper than getting a four year degree in Computer Science and finding out you can't get hired because you have no work experience.

This company is very transparent and will answer any questions you have. Visit their website to attend a Q&A to speak with an onboarding specialist and most likely a recent graduate. You'll probably meet me there because I can't tell enough people about this amazing place that changed everything for me.

RUN.

Attending Sabio completely changed my life. I was self employed before Sabio and working long hours. I decided to take a risk and attend Sabio. I was nervous about this since I did not know anything about Software Engineering. I was a complete beginner and did not understand HTML nor CSS. I completed the 17 week course and they prepared me to be a successful Software Engineer.

The course material was given at appropriate intervals. The bootcamp is challenging and should not be taken lightly. The beginning can seem overwhelming at first. Once you are used to routine, it seems like everything gets easier. I loved that you complete an application for an actual business versus a personal project. This provides you the experience of working with a real business and provides a team experience.

Sabio prepared me more than enough, that I was able to accept a position with Amazon as a Software Engineer. I would have never thought/believed that I would be an engineer for Amazon. Overall I am very happy with the results that Sabio provide.

I have been working in tech since I graduated from Sabio in 2018.  I definitely make more than the median that is listed for Sabio graduates.  I changed careers much later in life than most people, as my college major was Communication.  I had done some highschool coding classes in Pascal, and done another certification for programming in some quick tech school, but that was years and years ago, before the advent of the modern paradigm of MVC and JVM's.  And Sabio helped start my new career in tech and all, so I do owe a great debt of gratitude.  So, you may ask, why the not perfect scores?  I'm glad you asked.

This was in the spring of 2018, I joined the Sabio bootcamp in Culver City.  At the time, there was a pre-course of javascript before you joined the actual cohort.  The problem that stuck out to me was at the end, when we first encountered asynchronous operations.  That should have been a good teaching point to end the javascript pre-course, but that didn't happen.  We were left to wonder why were our ajax calls coming back in some crazy order.  Maybe even hint to us to look for the MSDN for "promises."  Nope.  So, I was just this frustrated little ball trying to figure this puzzle out on my own.  Whatever.

On to the real cohort.  We had a choice:  .NET or Node.  If i could go back in time and pick one, I probably would have picked .NET.  Technology wise, they were about the same.  The problem lay in the magic behind Sabio.  Sabio Instructors are AWESOME.  They have tons of experience in the technology field.  They're smart, charming, and John Darragh was especially handsome.  None of the stuff Sabio did matters, if the instructors weren't as awesome as they were.  And this is also where the problem lies.  If the instructor was thrown in last minute into a technology he's not 100% in, it's going to be a problem.  I don't fault John for making the attempt; I blame Sabio for putting us all in that position.  Someone made the decision to go through with the MERN stack cohort.  It would have been a lot simpler to have two cohorts of .NET.  I made friends with people in both cohorts, and I was able to see the difference between instructors.  John was doing his best and he's awesome, and his experience in the tech field really shone through.  On the other hand, in the .NET cohort, because there was a someone who was much more familiar with the tech stack he's teaching, it allowed that cohort to become more ambitious (which ultimately bit them in the butt) and comfortable.

John's experience carried our cohort:  we were less ambitious and our focus became that of deliverables.  Our cohort was awesome, because, once things picked up, we definitely got going.  Thinking back to our MVP, we could have used a little more time architecting out our app, and could have looked at the algorithms we were going to use and optimized it.  But, at the time, we were still struggling to deal with asynchronous operations.  That and that steep learning curve from JQuery to React.

Another critique was during our morning stand-ups, we should have been pushed into deadlines.  ie, we should have been guesstimating how long our features were going to take to build.

Oh... and the curriculum?  We kinda did the work, ran into problems, and problems became the curriculum.  One thing sooorely lacking at the time was code review.  We merged our code into main almost willy nilly.  This would have been VERY frowned upon in 3 of the 3 companies I worked for.  Usually the senior guy, or a peer would need to approve the merge.  Not in this cohort, lol.  That code review could have very well been part of the curriculum.

At this time, even if the instructors would stay from 9-6, some of us would stay waaaaay later than that, to get more code in.  Literally, the security guards would have to kick us out from the classrooms at night so they could lock the doors.

Then came the day of the presentation.  Both the .NET and Node cohorts had list of features that were unimplemented or incomplete.  Come to find out, there was another cohort in the OC that barely got anything done (there was some drama).  Remember I told you about the ambitious .NET cohort?  They had a ton of great features, but it lacked the polish our limited scope of a Node app had.

Btw, it was months before I found anything.  months.  I had relocated to be near the school, so I couldn't take advantage of going to the nearest Sabio (I lived in San Diego) location.  Eventually, I did find a job... but in a totally different tech stack...

Overall, would i recommend Sabio?  Hell yeah!  Having said that, this course is very, very driven by the amount of work YOU put into it.  It is very, very easy to slack off during the day, because no one is supervising you.  If you need to take couple hours off, no one will bat an eye.  If you don't complete a feature, it doesn't get merged to main.  You'll still complete the course.  Sabio will gladly take your money and give you a certificate.  The environment Sabio puts you in is very much the environment you'll find in tech.  You're expected to figure it out.  The seniors might not have the answer (or could be flat out wrong).  You.  Yes, you.  Its okay to not know, but it's not okay to not deliver.  Copy that code, change the parameters.  Get the output you need.  Get it working 1st, then when documenting, figure out why it works.  Don't get hung up on the how/why, implementation comes first.  If that bothers you, Sabio probably is not for you.  There isn't enough time to teach everyone theories of Computer Science, but there is just barely enough time to drill implementation steps of a technology stack.  You'll learn all that other stuff, with enough time and effort.  (Think Big O, data structures)

TLDR;  Tech stack, technologies don't matter in the long run.  Get to know your instructors before jumping into the cohort.  They will make or break your experience in Sabio.  Focus on IMPLEMENTATION.  If it workas, and passes tests, it's good.  Wonder why it works later.  Sabio will make you uncomfortable, and you have to be okay with it.  What you learn, and what you eventually put in your resume is completely up to you.

Attending Sabio was the best decision I ever made!! 

The curriculum was superb, they teach you real life skills. The coding part is only the beginning, they teach you to ask questions, work together as a team, how to speak to product owner, and in the end they give you the fundamentals to take with you to interviews. The way the curriculum is structured is the way your everyday work life will be structured. 

All the instructors are extremely knowledgable, have worked in the industry for years, and are extremely patient. No question is a dumb question. In fact, the more questions you ask they more likely you are to succeed. 

Once you are done with the bootcamp, they don't just kick you out the door. There is a wide range of alumni at your disposal that are either trying to get you into their company or are helping you with mock interviews and what to expect along the journey. Liliana, one of the founders, was always willing to lend a therapeutic ear when I felt down on myself. There are not enough words to tell you how grateful I am for this community. 

Two months after completing the bootcamp, I signed an offer letter to work with a company that not only values their employees but also encourages them to learn and grow in their field. The money I invested into going to Sabio came back twofold in the amount I increased my previous salary. 

If you are on the fence about what bootcamp to attend, or if you want to attend a bootcamp, I strongly suggest attending one of their information sessions. There they will answer any and every question. Literally the way they are in the information session is the way they are through and through. One of the deciding factors for me was their Latina in Tech scholarship, they believe in closing the gap in tech and helping a Latina like myself change careers for the better. 

I love Sabio, and if I had to do it over again, I would do it in a heartbeat. 

Making a career change is nerve racking as it is exciting. My biggest concern was will I succeed as a professional in this new field. I’ve learned  everything I need to know, now what?  Where do I start?  What calmed some of my fears was my experience with Sabio. The curriculum is based on in demand skills that employers are seeking right now, which definitely gives you an edge as a candidate. Whether it’s an instructor, alumnus or classmate there is always someone online to answer questions, help you get through a tough spot on a project or give interview pointers. You can self-teach and find resources to learn how to code everywhere. Sabio’s value lies in the support you receive as a student, an alumnus during the job search and as a professional. They are committed to your success. Sabio is more than just a coding bootcamp. It’s a community, a professional network and one of the strongest support networks someone can have when starting a career as a Software Developer.

I have been genuinely shocked at how dramatically my life has changed. Thats probably how most of these cheesy reviews start. I expected "okay" results coming into this. At least I would come out knowing more than absolutely nothing about software development. Nope. This program set me up. Starting with the fundamentals to the job search process Sabio is the complete package to break into the industry. I landed a full-time role as an Application Developer. I loved it so much I post all the jobs that come my way in their slack jobs channel. Many other alumni do this as well. If your looking to break into the industry this is the way. One caveat, this program will consume your life for the duration of it. Give it serious effort and you will reap the rewards. Slack off or expect to be spoon fed information and this will be a waste of your time and money.

Before the course, I had always had an interest in programming. I have always dabbled in a few languages but the way things connected eluded me and I had no idea how to solve even the simplest programming task. I did the Remote Fullstack course and now I am literally about to publish the first web app ever, and I did the programming for the frontend, middleware (c#.net) and the backend. I feel extremely confident in my abilities. The instructors have a big emphasis on self-learning, so be aware that you will not have someone giving lectures or holding your hand the whole time. But you will learn the process of troubleshooting complex programming issues and digging through documentation and programming. The teachers are always there to help give guidance and feedback along the way. 100% recommend!

I was in the military for seven years and had a job lined up that would allow me to finish my degree in Management in Information Systems. It was a great plan- till COVID 19 hit. A lot of things changed, and the job I had lined out at separation fell through. I decided that I need to make a hard pivot and make a change. I looked through my VA benefits and found that I could receive funding for technical training. I explored my option, and while researching, I found Sabio. I did an info session and quickly decided to put all my chips into this career path.

You do a free Pre Work course that ensures that you have the base level skills to do well in the program. At the end of the Pre Work, you do an assessment. If you do well, you are chosen and accepted to participate in an incredible and intensive program.

Ensure that you have all your personal affairs inline because for the next three months, it is 12 hours days Monday-Friday and an 8 hour day on Saturday. You'll be pushed to learn a great deal of stuff in a small window to perform challenging tasks. It sounds like a lot because it is. However, do you want to change your career into a high paying job with a bright future? Then it is worth it.

At a certain point in the program, you will develop an application for an entrepreneur. They'll have demands and needs that you'll have to fulfill. Doing work for an entrepreneur is great because you are now essentially working as a contractor on a real product and working in an Agile environment.

There is assistance during and at the end to get into employment. Just because you finish the program doesn't mean that your time with Sabio is over. They continue to engage with you. There are other opportunities to listen to speakers, enroll again for certifications, and be surrounded by dedicated programmers. Sabio Nation is incredible.

I got my first job as an Associate Software Engineer position 11 days after graduation. This position provides for my family and puts me on a path for many different opportunities. I can't express the amount of gratitude I have for Liliana and Gregorio. I went from no options after the Navy to being a desirable worker in the tech space. 

For those of you looking for a quick summary, Sabio is... a bust. You're lured in with excellent marketing, a plethora of well produced testimonials, and, if you're like me, the rap video starring the school's cofounder and CTO is the straw the breaks the camel's back. "This is the perfect coding school for me," I thought. But, just like a damsel awaiting her prince in shining armor, my expectations were too high. 

Things started off well. I was a VA student using my VOC Rehab benefits to cover tuition, and Liliana and Gregorio were eager to have me on board. They made exceptions for me, allowing me an extra month of Prework and access to the Irvine campus while it was supposed to be closed (Covid-19). I found myself a bit frustrated with the Prework process and lack of access to live instruction, but they assured me that once I was in bootcamp, my instructors would be available to guide me as much as I might need. And so I pressed on through the Prework, taking them at their word, passed the entrance exam with only one incorrect answer, and was excited to start the bootcamp that following Monday.

Monday came, and I was ready. I'm the type of student that's eager to jump in, is the first to speak up when asked for input, and I'm not afraid to encourage and support peers who need encouragement and support. I'm confident that if you asked any person in my cohort (C88), they would agree that, up until the final month of training, the characteristics I've assigned myself are true. But slowly, along the way, I grew increasingly discouraged, and as much I've tried to find my own fault in it, I cannot, at this point, deny that Sabio's failure to provide patient, positive, and meaningful instruction, as well as their tendency to intimidate and bully student's who're unhappy with their pedagogy, ultimately drove my discouragement to disillusion.

The first time I spoke up, it was too late. It was July 6th (nearly 4 months into my time at Sabio, counting Prework), and I sent Gregorio a private message on Slack, detailing my growing sense of despair. Instructors on the Q did not take the time to ensure I understood a solution to a problem, rather they solved it for me or gave such vague guidance that I found myself more confused. On the Q, instructors frequently seemed bothered by my questions and lack of understanding, and I was met with condescending tones often after waiting an hour or more to even ask my question. The Wiki (online reference guide for code) was more a collection of code snippets, rather than something I could turn to for deeper understanding of things I needed to grasp. I felt, strongly, that while others may have been able to work through these barriers, I was "slipping through the cracks." And those were my words to Gregorio. I pleaded for the instruction that I needed, deserved, and used invaluable time and resources to attain, and the response I got? "I told you so."

Gregorio went pointed me back to the orientation videos in which he tells you to prepare for feeling like you can't do it. But if he'd at all took the content of my message seriously, he'd have clearly seen that I was confident in my ability to make it, confident that I could learn the skills they claim to teach and confident that I would be, in less than a years time, a Full Stack Developer with no prior background in tech. But rather than asking that his instructors be more patient, rather than asking that they adapt their attitudes and approach to teach briefly, to support a student who wanted to learn skills they possessed badly, I was told that I should drop the course. "Listen," Gregorio said. "If you're not confident that things are going to work out by now, then you should just drop the course." He went on to explain all the ways in which he felt I failed as a student. I didn't ask questions well. I didn't make sense of the Wiki the way I should have. I shouldn't have been so sensitive to the instructors passive-aggressive, dismissive, and belittling tones, because people in tech have strong personalities. I felt ambushed. I felt defeated. I felt that in asking for help, I would receive it. And instead I was scolded and rebuked. But I'm one to always put a positive spin to things. I tried to see it from Gregorio's perspective, and convinced myself that should I head his advice, I could still come out of Sabio with the knowledge and ability to creative beautiful, responsive, scaleable web applications and land my first gig as a Web Developer.

Fast forward to August, I've headed all of Gregorio's advice, and find myself essentially in the same place. My graduation date is set for the 14th, and I can build components in React, but not build a React App. I can tell you what I need to build an API on .Net, but I can't actually build it. The only place I truly felt like the training clicked, was in building databases in SQL, and that's really not much more impressive than learning to count to 10. And so, when Gregorio sent me an email on August 11th asking why I hadn't been very active on the slack channels or morning standup meetings, I told him that I had not made progress. That I felt disappointed in the quality of instruction and training I received, and that all the same issues I'd said were contributing to my sense of despair in July had consisted, and prevented me from completing my training with satisfactory competence.

And that's when they really let me down. Without my knowledge, Gregorio and Liliana contacted my Voc Rehab counselor, requesting that I be removed from the program. They claimed that I had communicated to them that I could no longer participate in the program, something that was not remotely true (particularly as there were 4 days left for my cohort). I confronted them in an email which CC'd my counselor, informing them that their claim was not factual, and clarifying for my counselor what was actually said. I then received another message from Gregorio, separate from the string in which my counselor was CC'd, which claimed I was in violation of Sabio's attendance policy, and that they had grounds for dismissal. I reviewed the policy, found that I was not in fact in violation of it, and responded to Gregorio asking that he explain what exactly qualified me for dismissal. I asked that he ensure any further communications include my counselor, to ensure that no further accusations were made without proper representation being present to witness. I never received a reply, and the next day, with 2 days of training left, my access to Sabio's training site, as well as my cohort's slack channel and all other lines of communication, were cut off. I emailed Gregorio asking that he clarify whether I'd been dropped from the program or not, and again did not receive a reply.

Tomorrow is my graduation from Sabio. I participated for the entirety of the program until my access was blocked. I contributed to the "Client Project", and my work can be seen on the site still. They'd already sent a copy of my Certificate of Completion to my counselor, and yet, I've been dropped from the program. This, without any explanation or further communication from any person at the school.

I truly hope that my experience here has not been anyone else's, and that if Sabio is successful, it's because they've recognized their flaws and corrected their course. I do not recommend this school to anyone, though at one point I even helped them promote the school on my personal social media. Sabio was, by far, the worst decision I've made in my academic and professional career to this point. Do not make the same mistake I did.

 ..-.  ..-  -.-.  -.-   -.--  ---  ..-   --.  .-.  .  --.  ---  .-.  ..  ---  .-.-.- 

I graduated two weeks ago and already have a job as a full stack software engineer for double the income i was making before! The staff is so helpful and accommodating and make the whole experience worthwhile. I learned so much, made some lifelong friends, and had fun all the while. I also received the women in tech scholarship and could not be more grateful to Sabio for all of their help getting me ready for my new career journey.

I came back to the United States after 4 years abroad with no job prospects, no idea what I was going to do, and zero programming experience whatsoever. I found my way to Sabio and just over 6 months later I had 4 job offers and literally went from 0 to 60K. But make no mistake, learning full stack web development from nothing is not easy. It takes a tremendous amount of time, hard work, dedication, and determination. Show Sabio all of the above, and the entire Sabio community will support you for your entire web development career. Sabio delivered exactly what it promised. Sabio works.

This is not just another online class. Sabio was there 100% of the way to help you on this coding journey. The instructors are knowledgeable, ready to help and is always full of great advice. Even though I was remote I was still able to get valuable instruction and help when I needed it. Everyone at Sabio is comitted to your learning experience and success and that is a wonderful feeling knowing that they care and want you succeed. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to be a part of this program and I have a coding family for life! Thank you Sabio!

Sabio is the best investment, in time and money, you could possibly make for yourself!  The course is very rigorous but as long as you give it your best effort you will be alright. Gregorio and Liliana run a great program and all the instructors are top notch. There isn't any hand holding throughout the cohort. The instructors are not there to give you the answers to all of the problems that you run into but they are there to guide you in your journey to figure them out for yourself. This is where I feel that Sabio is the greatest at. Anyone can learn to code but the difficulty lies in learning how to understand problems and solving them in the most efficient way possible. 

After graduating from the cohort and many interviews and rejections you do start to wonder if you have the skills you need to get that dream developer job. Well do not worry because you undoubtedly do. The support you get from everyone at Sabio is amazing. Even after graduating I was able to get on zoom calls with my instructor, Danny, and he helped me with a problem I was running into. Now just a month after graduating I have landed a job in career field I would not have thought possible just a few months prior. So do yourself a favor and give Sabio a chance, you won't regret it.

 

I had the opportunity of attending two coding boot camps before I was offered a coding job and would like to compare and contrast two coding academies, Sabio and Hack Reactor. Sabio, As per https://www.coursereport.com/schools/sabio is a 5 stars coding academy and Hack Reactor a 4.5.

Sabio is an outstanding place to learn for several reasons, Sabio is small (they do have campuses in LA and Irvine) so you get a one on one approach directly from the founder or from one of the instructors. During the precourse, they provide 3 hours of one on one assitance with an experienced instructor and since the school is small some days you have an instructor for 3 hours providing exclusive assistance with your prework and you also get a promptly response in one of their slack channels.

Their prework is pretty awesome, you solve individual problems that connect to an API (Appliacation Programming Interface) that will let you know immediately when you have solved each specific task. The entire prework was developed and updated by the instructors evidence of their coding knowledge. The prework is organized in components and each components has a video explaining the concept and each component.

Hack Reactor was purchased by galvanize and is a pretty fancy rich school with lots advertizements so their classes are so big that you get the feeling that you are just a number. Their prework is a bit ambigious, you submit it and never hear from the instructors, they don’t have xoom conferences until you pass the prework, so you are really on your own during prework. Their slack channels do provide assistance but most of it come from other students.

Overall, I recommend a small school that can give you attention and is not a beurocratic juggernut.

Owners/Instructors: Gregorio and Liliana are the hardest working business owners I know. While they expect developers to be coding 70+ hours/week, I can almost guarantee you Gregorio and Liliana are working even harder researching what tech stacks are in highest demand to best prepare Sabio students for landing a job, partnering with non-profits and entrepreneurs for real projects for their students to work on, and being in contact with current students and fellows, helping in every way they can to support them in the job hunting process. The instructors are the best in the industry, providing the right amount of instruction and mentorship to help you become a good developer.

Format/Classes: PreWork gets you ready for cohort, it's face-paced and challenging, but like anything else, if you are willing to do the work and follow the instructor's coaching, you'll get through it with no problem. Cohort simulates an actual professional development environment with student developers working on real-life projects for entrepreneurs and non-profits. The website our cohort created is published and the user base is growing. This real project and my contributions gave me all I needed to sell my skills and experience during the interview process and helped me land a job earning $75,000 shortly after graduating from Sabio (note: Getting a job soon after graduating is in no way a guarantee, as Gregorio and Liliana have no control over how you spend your time. If you're putting in 5 applications a week, don't expect a job offer right away. Keep in mind you're going against every other job seeker in the region for these jobs, so play the numbers. I averaged 50 applications/day every single day until I had an offer. It takes discipline--that's something you have to find in yourself--and confidence--which you should also find in yourself when reflecting on how much you've learned over such a short period of time and the contributions you made to your project.).

What separates Sabio from other bootcamps? First, I don't see Sabio as another bootcamp, because bootcamps typically don't prepare developers as well as Sabio. In my first role coming out of Sabio, the word "bootcamp" never came up during the interview process or even when I started until my team started to get to know me and wanted to hear where I learned to code. The guy who filled my position before me had more than 5 years experience as a developer, and the fixes/features I had to finish that he started were full of indications that he frequently ignored industry standards (like triple-nested loops in SQL), and the senior developers on my team constantly complement the simplicity and cleanliness of my code and applaud my coding standards... all practices that Sabio taught me and prepared me for. When employers ask me about my lack of experience (less than 2 years) when applying for a job asking for 3-5 years experience, I confidently tell them, "I understand other developers may have more years experience than I do, but I'm confident that if you put me up against them, you'd see that my skills and practices are competitive with theirs." This confidence comes from the best industry practices that Sabio grills into us. 

Impact/Result: Before Sabio, I was stuck in an entry-level purgatory, never making more than $50,000/year without working a ton of overtime. I found Sabio while looking for a coding bootcamp that accepted the GI Bill, did my research and found Sabio to have the highest credibility, which was more important to me than any promised results that a lot of bootcamps offer. Three weeks after graduating from Sabio, I had an offer for my first developer role, a Junior Software Developer making $75,000/year with full benefits. That's 50% more than my previous highest salary. Six months later, and I'm getting interviewed for jobs in the $85,000 to $95,000 range, and some even in the six-figure range. Less than 1 year from graduating...  

Thank you, Sabio.

It can be a rather difficult choice to spend a significant amount of money and time in a coding bootcamp program. Let me tell you that it is a choice that I am happy made. I had my doubts about going to a trade school but there are skills here that you simply will not be taught in a university.

Even if you have a CS degree you will not be taught some of the modern technologies used in today's industry like React JS. Sabio offers a 4 week prework program where you go over the basics in jQuery, javascript and html. It is held three times a week. I would highly recommend this if you have little to know experience in web development. If you pass their assessment you will continue on to their Week 0 where you go over a series of tasks using the same languages and libraries.

Then the bootcamp begins.

It is very difficult for thos that have litte experience in web development to adjust to the technologies that they will learn. Some will laugh, some will cry and some will curse at their computer. When you have questions you will put yourself on the queue. You HAVE to try to solve your own problems but if you are simply stuck, that is when the instructor will answer your questions. The instructors are reluctant to help if you are asking very basic questions that can be answered with a simple stack overflow search. 

The instructors are extremely knowledgeable, especially Gregorio. They may not answer your questions all the time but they do know what they are talking about.

One of the things I enjoyed about this school the most was the family atmosphere. Liliana and Gregorio (owners) truly have your best interest in mind. That is one thing that I immedately felt when I visited Sabio and met instructors and owners. You can ask them for advice on many things related to tech, jobs and more. The slack community that you will be a part of is full of positive people, new job leads and tech questions/answers.

I am a few weeks out of Sabio and I have received an offer from a lead that I got in the Slack channel that an alumni posted. Just put your head down, do the work and keep moving forward no matter how hard things get. 

If you're on the fence about joining Sabio, you will not regret it. TRUST ME. You will learn the tech that you need to be a pro in this field and you will advance much faster than if you tried learning this stuff on your own.

If you’re looking for a career change or want to get to grips with coding Sabio is a fantastic investment. I had a wonderful experience at Sabio in Culver City, where I met some brilliant people and learnt copious amounts of new skills.

 

During pre work you learn the fundamentals of web development for four weeks and are required to take an assessment at the end to see if you are prepared for labs. In labs you dive further into the material that you have learnt and are exposed to more advanced concepts and challenging tasks.

For the cohort itself, there are two options, .NET and node. I decided to go with the .NET route as it gave me the opportunity to learn another programming language with expert instruction, I thought that if could get through the bootcamp I would be able to teach myself Node afterwards when I come out. The program sets you up extremely well for the job market, it teaches you the fundamentals and the latest technologies that you will need to succeed as a software developer. We had fantastic instructors for our project that made the entire learning process very enjoyable and manageable. We would do daily scrum meetings and the classroom environment was always clean and accommodating. The bootcamp is demanding but if you are motivated, enjoy learning and want to get into the tech industry then this is a wonderful opportunity for you. There is also financial help that you can get, I managed to get a scholarship for the program which helped me immensely.  This time last year I was considering checking out the bootcamp, after learning so many new skills, making new friends, working with some brilliant minds and with numerous offers for interesting work over $65 000 a year I am extremely pleased that I did.

Thank you to Gregorio, Liliana and all of my wonderful instructors that made this possible for me!

Let me start off with a thank you to Gregorio and Liliana, because of these two I was able to attain the skills necessary to change my life for the better and support my family effortlessly. I started the course through Antioch University because I'm a military veteran my GI Bill paid for the boot camp. the class environment was normal you sit in for a lecture with your computer open and code along with the instructor while you learn the basics. every day in class builds on what you learned the day before so it is best to always be coding so that you can build on what you know or do more research into it. after about three months of that, we took an exit test (code challenge) over the material learned. the next phase was the cohort which is structured to imitate a work environment. at the time I was there we were expected to code for at least 70 hours a week and yes that sounds like a lot but it is worth it at the end. we had a scrum meeting in the morning when we came in and one in the middle of the day for progress. the instructors are very helpful and they are all approachable if you have questions. what I appreciated the most was that the instructors never gave the answers when you ask them for help instead they tell you how to find the answers so the next time you are stuck you know what to do. that's not to say they don't help because they will if they point you in the right direction and after 20-30 minutes you're still stuck they will begin to drop more hints but the goal is for you to learn how to work through your code and learn to debug code properly. Sabio is like a family to me the people I met through the camp and the alumni are super helpful they pass job leads to you and they will refer you to there recruiters if their job is hiring. we all keep in touch through slack and as alumni, we are always welcome to come back if we want to be in an environment that promotes coding. It is easily a no brainer if you have the Time and want to change careers or get deeper into the developer scene Join the Sabio family 

This review is for the PreWork in Orange County.

 

I had been looking into bootcamps in the area. After visiting quite a few, I liked Sabio’s approach (prework, labs, then working on a live project, learn by doing philosophy, experienced developer teachers, friendly towards minorities and women, etc)

 

It was by far the worst class I may have ever attended for anything, ever.

 

The teacher was really ill prepared, glancing at the online syllabus and zooming through concepts without really explaining them. I even knew everything he was talking about since I had taken a class on CSS/HTML, had been building websites, and had already passed a rigorous javascript assessment at another bootcamp to test into their camp, and even I was confused at what he was trying to say or explain. He kept singling out one guy in particular and chastising him for not being in slack correctly, not knowing how to download applications, etc. He basically shamed most of the class for not knowing “easy” stuff they just hadn’t learned yet.

He also kept making declarations like “I learned HTML and CSS in two days by looking at the chrome dev tools!” and “It’s not rocket science, guys!” Then harassing the crowd for questions, then asking “Does everyone understand?!”, then getting angry when everyone didn’t immediately say “Yes!”.

 

What really cinched it for me is when he started writing on the flat screen TV in the rented office, to the audible gasp of the class. One person asked him, “What are you doing?” and he said, “It’s not mine, so I don’t care if I break it. Whatever, they should buy insurance.” He then proceeded to tell us to use the !important css feature, which any novice knows is horrible convention for just any old thing, and when someone in the class said, “Aren’t you never supposed to use that?”, he responded with, “Well, whatever, if it was some other developer’s code, I’m not going to waste a bunch of my time fixing their mistakes.” So his lack of respect for other people’s things extended to his coding philosophy as well.

 

He also told a room of new developers to start by using forms already available through extensions in Visual Studio when writing in html, javascript, and css, instead of actually learning how to do it themselves before relying on these tools. Had I done that when I first started, I probably wouldn’t be able to effectively build responsive web pages now because I wouldn’t fully understand what was going on.

 

The troubling thing to me is that apparently, this guy has been working for the company for a year and a half now part-time teaching this course, and no one had caught these mistakes.

 

The owners (who are actually a married couple) have been told about this numerous times, and their attitude is “you don’t like it, leave”. They’ve also been known to yell at students and kick people out of the bootcamp if they’re not quick enough, since they’re really concerned with their statistics (at least they have them though, and they’re legitimate since they’re a part of CIRR).

 

I would recommend some teacher training because a lot of this is probably correctable with a little bit of guidance (a workshop on appropriately timed pauses, how to ask concept checking questions, asking students for code examples, maybe getting the dude a projector so he doesn’t break the TV, etc.).

 

On the upside, I also talked to someone who had gone through the bootcamp and highly recommended it, but voiced similar issues about this one teacher and said the rest of them were super patient, kind and understanding, which I believe due to Sabio’s success rates and other people I’ve met who teach there and work with the program.

 

On the downside, I’ve talked to others who said that harshness and lack of teaching competency is Sabio’s thing, and that they skew their stats by kicking people out who don’t “make the cut”. So I suppose it depends.

 

Overall, I would recommend attending a PreWork class. The first one is free, and it’s a good way to decide for yourself. I personally ended up attending another bootcamp.

 

A word of advice: Online reviews are definitely skewed. Bootcamps in general pick and choose who they ask for a review, and it's hard to say no. Even emailing people on LinkedIn can get you biased reviews because people don’t want to hurt their reputation in the industry. I would recommend going to tech meetups, and asking around, a lot. Try to find someone who’s working and attended a bootcamp, who’s your similar gender and ethnicity. It’s the only reliable way to find out what a place is actually like.  

 

Sabio is amazing! As a person who never graduated from college but always had an intense work ethic, Sabio was the perfect solution for me to get into coding! Throughout my career I’ve found that learning and observing a professional is the best way to understand how to do the job using the best practices. I worked on a project which was using the stack React, Angular, Mongo, Express, and Node. It is a boot-camp like atmosphere but you have to understand that I came in not knowing how to code and almost freaked me out at first jumping into something that I have never done before but yet always wanted to do. The project that me and my cohort worked on prepared me for my current job as a working developer. There are some very unique things to learn like understanding realistic time frames for features, how code is actually written using best practices, code review for source control, agile/scrum project management, and being able to convey and explain features that I created in a professional manner. There were some people in my cohort that had some experience in coding but you should understand that the program is designed to challenge all levels of developer. I valued every hour that I spent there (70 hours per week) and learned as much as I could from our Senior Developer. I recommend  going to a Sabio Info Session and they can explain everything in more detail! As a creative maker/tinkerer person, I understand that knowing how to code is almost like having a super power! You can literally create anything. I highly recommend Sabio and for me, they are the best coding program in Los Angeles hands down!! Thank you so much Gregorio and Liliana!

I attended Sabio's .NET program as a military veteran and it was amazing!  There's so much to learn about web development and programming, but Sabio's full immersion program with real world projects definitely helped me develop the foundations needed to land a satisfying career.  However, it did not come easy.   It required a lot of work and belief in the program to develop the knowledge and confidence to build great applications.  No worries though.  Sabio's staff and instructors are intelligent and helpful throughout the journey, especially Dan and Daniel.  They never left me astray or confused.   The only downside to Sabio (Culver City) was that it's located off the busy I405.  All-in-all, if you're self-motivated and love solving problems, go to Sabio!  It's worth the traffic.   

If you're on the fence about attending a bootcamp, just hop over. I did and it's one of the best decisions I've made. If you jumped the fence already and don't now which bootcamp to attend, goto Sabio. The instruction and support is top notch. They prepare you with the latest and trendiest technology stacks so that you can be in demand by the time you finish cohort. You obviously have to do your part to get some interviews and confidently crush them. BUT GUESS WHAT? They prepare you for that too! Damn, win win win win win. Goto Sabio!

This review is long overdue. It's been almost a year (just a month short) since I graduated from Sabio's full stack C#/.NET program. Sabio's curriculum is excellent and the instructor's are great, completely knowledgable in the field. Besides what I learned in terms of programming, the job help you receive is the best you can find. They help you walk into any interview prepared and confident. I will say Sabio was not smooth sailing for my cohort, but overall they did what they promised when I handed them my money. They provide you with the intruction and knowledge you need in order to leave the bootcamp able to get your foot through the door. It is up to you to work extrememly hard during these 12 weeks. The work you put into it determines how well you'll do. If you follow all their advice to the T, there is no way you can leave Sabio without a job within 6 months of graduating. I was lucky to get a job offer a week before the bootcamp ended for me. I received 3 more job offers after that and ended up going with PDG Consulting in LA where I am assigned at Fox Studios working on a data streaming application to help them license their mvoies and shows to companies like Netflix ad Amazon. I am so thankful to Sabio for putting so much work into this curriculum and being there for its students (they just checked in on me recently and always provide great professional support that I am ashamed of not utilizing as of yet). I feel like there are some things this company needs to work on in terms of dealing with their satellite offices and communication; we lost two amazing instructors during my time at sabio, but luckily that did not do much to hurt my cohort. My entire cohort graduated with all of us finding jobs within a few months of graduation (only two of use were not looking for jobs). Overall, I recommend attending Sabio. It is your best option in Southern California for .NET./C# development. I went from working in a flip flop store in Huntington Beach, not able to find a job with my degree, to making a great salary for my age (25). Sabio helped change my life. I hope you give coding a chance and maybe try out Sabio as well.

What makes Sabio unique is the community - everybody started in the same place and don't even feel worried if coding is completely new for you. It was for me as well as so many of my classmates which made the whole learning environment so enjoyable and supportive. You can tell Gregorio and Liliana, the co-founders, really care about the community and students based on how readily available they are (even midnight on Slack) and by week 1 they probably know your name. The community is awesome at Sabio and it made me feel so comfortable spending a whole 3 months there learning alongside everybody.

Next, all of the instructors at Sabio have over 10 years of experience. That was what differentiated itself from other bootcamps. Gregorio came from Myspace, Mike came from StackOverflow, just to name a few. The instructors hold so much one on one time during classtime sessions to make sure they address your needs and tailor to your learning seamlessly. I love the interaction between teachers and students at Sabio. It really made the learning worthwhile, and it was amazing learning from teachers who've had so much industry experience. They not only teach you code, but good code and the best practices in the industry.

Go to Sabio!

I was a member of Cohort 46 under John Lee and it was a wonderful experience. There were long hours, but that was what gave me the experience with coding I needed in just a few months. John very clearly thought through his lectures and teaching method to suit all of his students well. He also made sure that all of us settled well into the program and was always there to support us. 

We worked in an agile workflow with daily standups and continuous integration, which is equivalent to the culture of many workplaces. John acted as our senior developer, assigning us cards and slowly giving us less and less help. He helped us to grow as developers and provided a realistic working environment. 

Sabio also did a wonderful job preparing me for the job search. John and Gregorio helped keep me motivated to send out tons of applications until I finally started getting some calls back. The practice interviews I did at Sabio got me prepared for my real in-person one that got me the job. Thank you so much, Sabio! Especially you, John!

I was skeptical about going the bootcamp route when I decided to change careers. I didn't think I could learn everything I needed and become a legitimate developer in 3 months.  Sabio's rigorous program and more importantly, their incredible community, quickly eased my mind and helped me gain a level of self confidence I never had before.  They do not eff around with your time or your future.  They care more about you than you might have about yourself going into the program and that support does not end when the program ends.  Gregorio and Liliana kept pushing me and encouraging me after I graduated, checking in on me regularly to make sure I was sticking to my commitments and not giving up on myself.  The end result:  an offer from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab to join them as a Front-end Developer.   Never thought I'd step foot on the JPL campus let alone work for them. More so, I never would have had the confidence to walk into the interview knowing I had what it takes to be there without Sabio.

 

I worked in the Mortgage Industry prior to hearing about Sabio. I was feeling unsatisfied in my current job and honestly quite bored. (no new challenges) I had a friend who completed Sabio and got a shiny new career with Virgin America. I was so impressed and had to go to a meetup. Honestly, I did probably the bare amount of research on Sabio because I had so much information through my friend and once I met Gregorio/Liliana... I was hooked. Their energy was so strong, supportive, and full of passion for all their students. I started Sabio's pre work and I of course struggled a little as this was a field of work I was completely unfamiliar with. With ongoing dedication from my instructors and myself equally, I was able to graduate from Sabio feeling confident and ready to take on the world! I went through the Node route and after applying for countless of jobs and attending multiple interviews.... I am happy to report I was offered (and accepted!) a job from McKinsey and Co! (in the tech department). In my wildest dreams I could not picture this happening for myself. I am so happy I put my trust in Sabio and with their assistance partnered with my relentless perseverance I was able to land a job many people only dream about! I am so blessed and thankful for the experience I had with Sabio. Thank you to ALL Sabio faculty esp Gregorio, Liliana and my bomb instructor Mike! You changed my life. 

 

 

 

I am sure the instructors know how to write code an and develop websites, but teaching students to do the same is not their strong suit. The entire class felt like an online session. Something you didn't need to sit 4 hours in a classroom to learn. In fact, 60% of class time was spent researching the  answers for oneself because the instructions and directions were not clearly written or stated. Receiving any viable information from the instructors about the course material was comparable to grasping at straws.  The instructors seemed to play the course by ear, rather surprising students with tests instead of scheduling them as a professional course in college would. If they spent as much time teaching their students how to code as they do making rap videos for youtube the course would actually be worth the money. I would not recommend this course in the future to anyone else unless under new leadership. 

A quick background... I spent over 5 years working in a sales/operations position for one of the world's largest eyewear companies. After a mass-layoff, and realizing I DIDN'T want to stay in that industry, I started picking up basic HTML, CSS, Javascript, and JQuery courses online to see if it was something I'd be interested in. I really enjoyed it and wanted to learn more, but didn't want to go to college as it seemed like a waste of time and money, and it didn't seem too promising in terms of securing a job afterwards since you don't have any actual work experience in that field. A family member of mine ended up signing up for Sabio, and he convinced me to check it out, too. I did my research and it seemed to be the best option out there, so I made the jump and signed up for the apprenticeship. During the 12 week program you'll be building a real application for a product owner. The product owner we built an application for during the 12 weeks ended up hiring me on afterwords (paid) to continue developing the application while I was searching for a full-time job. Just over 3 weeks out of the program and I received my first offer for a full-time developer position making $70,000 a year.

I went in not knowing what to expect, and really not knowing much. Like others have mentioned, the pre-work gives you a chance to get a good feel for what it's like to code as they teach you a lot of stuff. I went the route of the .NET course in Orange County, with Victor Campos as my instructor/lead. I spent the next 12 weeks of my life doing nothing but coding for 70-80 hours each week. It is really tough at times. You've got to be committed, and whatever you put into the program is what you get out of it. 

The instructors do a great job of helping you to become extremely self-resourceful developers that write clean and efficient code, as well as prepare you for an actual software developer work environment with actual experience. A few mock technical interviews take place throughout the program, and the last few weeks are spent working on resumes, personal projects, and technical interview prep. I would say Sabio is less of a bootcamp and more of an apprenticeship. 

If software development is something you're passionate about, and it's someting you commit your life to, I'm sure you'll succeed. I'm thankful for the staff at Sabio and for the hard work they've put into me and my success. 

Story time! When I finished high school I didn't know what I wanted to do. I tried for a vet tech first cuz it wouldn't take too long to get a certificate and start working. So I enrolled in the classes. But! In the very first class of the very first day, my professor stood up and said, "Alright class! We'We're going to start off by dissecting some cat bodies that were donated by....". So immediately I started panicking and had to leave the room. I did not go back. Next I went for an administrative assistant. It wouldn't have taken too long to get my certificate. So I started the classes. At around the same time, my cousin Karina had enrolled in sabio. Timeskip to about a year later, karina had already gotten a job while I was still taking typing classes! She would talk to me about Sabio and I started asking questions. The next thing I know, I've enrolled in Sabio! It was hard for me in the beginning but that was normal for a lot of people. With hard work, a bunch of studying and messaging instructors with questions, I graduated! The instructors were super nice and didn't mind me going back over and over to answer the same questions. As long as your serious about leaning and ask questions when your confused, then you shouldn't have a problem finishing this course. I'm now a software developer working for Miller Kaplan and I'm learning everyday but sabio paved the foundation for me. Even though i work with Vb.net and asp.net server side controls now, the way that I was taught to research and learn a new language in Sabio helps me everyday. Thank you Sabio!