Sabio Reviews
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Nico
embrace the challenge
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What I appreciated about Sabio was the no nonsense environment. Don't waste our time and we won't waste yours and vise versa. Sabio teaches skills and sometimes more importantly concepts that are crucial to the web development world. These ideas serve as foundations for you to learn new skills with ease. Over all I would say the course is difficult. It is a bootcamp and it is demanding. The reward really pays off when possible employers test your skills and are impressed with your knowledge and comprehension of web development. The only advice I would give future students is to fully prepare for and intense 12 weeks. Other than that, It is definately a course worth taking if you want to change your life.
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Don Weis
The Investment of a lifetime
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Plain and simple, this program is worth every penny spent towards getting the skill necessary to enter the workforce head on.
I was introduced to Sabio by a friend of mine that had been looking for bootcamps after I was laid off from my job of 6 years making 15/hr.
I went to the orange county meet up with another friend in a similar situation and we sold on sabio by the amazing orange county instructor Aaron. He supplied us with every detail we needed to know before taking the plunge into the intensive program.
after going through pre work at the culver city location and passing the assessments. we transition to Newport for our cohort and instantly meshed with the team that had already been working together down south.
the program gave everyone the tools they needed to pick up the skill set very effectively. Aarons one on one time was guided specifically to each person's needs and helped everyone crush their goals one after the other.
With the amazing teamwork that was built on top of Aaron's foundation of knowledge, there was no stopping us, and we delivered an amazing MVP to our client after an immersive 3 months.The time flew by and we were well prepared to enter the job market.
While I Felt confident in my skill, I was a little nervous about my opportunities being someone with ZERO programing experience before Sabion, and no college degree to fall back on, but within 1 month. Everyone including myself were hired out of our cohort because we stuck the the plan that Sabio puts in place to effectively get a job.
I was able to find a job that payed me much more than my last job, with a atmosphere and location right where I wanted with only 6 months of pedal to the metal work.
TL;DR - Sabio is 100% worth it and you would only be hurting yourself going somewhere else.
- Employed Sabio Fellow with no college degree or experience
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Joe
Best choice of my life
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i had a good career in business as an account executive, but chose to change to programming and I am so thankful to have found Sabio. I took the class in OC with Aaron, and let me tell you... this guy was an amazing instructor. He really pushed me to the limits and never was irritated with me. Beyond that, we had amazing cohort, and everyone was helpful and got along great. It was one of the best experiences of my life. If you study and do what Sabio tells you, and you try your best, YOU WILL GET A JOB. Sabio also truly cares about you and wants you to succeed. It's the best Bootcamp ever. I was able to learn a brand new stack for a take home project for a job I wanted, I crushed the project and now I'm hired making 85k, straight out of the Bootcamp, no prior experience, no computer science degree.
Best decision of my life. Sabio really is amazing.
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Ai
It's not just a coding bootcamp.
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I did a lot of research before I chose to enroll Sabio and I don't regret my decision. My experience at Sabio was simply amazing. I not only learn how to code, but also build a great relationship with amazing people. I loved the culture and this is another thing that differenciates Sabio from the other coding bootcamps. Gregorio and Liliana are very considerate and hard-working, they are always there to support with any needs and they try their best to make the program even better. The instructor was very knowledgeable, patient and encourging, and he was always there to provide hands-on support. I couldn't ask for more.
The curriculum is well structured. You start from the pre-work where you learn the basics of programming language and this helps you a lot when you get into intensive 12 weeks program. Another great thing about Sabio is that you get to work on the project for a real company. They apply industry standard practices so you get the feel of working as a developer in the real world.
The intensive program was definitely challenging, it required 70 hours of coding a week, and there were tons of information to absorb in such a short period of time. But it really pays off in the end. I've graduated 3 weeks ago and am already working as a full-time web developer. I am so happy with the outcome and excited about building my new career!
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Will Sandalls
Absolutely THE BEST.
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My story is not unlike other stories. I came to coding because I was looking for new opportunities. In my particular case, my career as a freelance music engineer was not providing the security and stability I craved. So a friend suggested that I look at coding bootcamps in the Bay Area where he’d recently found a job working as QA engineer. He was seeing that people without CS degrees could find work in the industry. I decided to look locally and found, to my surprise, a couple of bootcamps in Los Angeles that looked interesting.
Sabio was the first that I looked at and I was really impressed with Gregorio’s description of the program and his passion. In fact, I judged each subsequent bootcamp info session by what Gregorio had to say that day. I was impressed with Sabio’s dedication to inclusiveness. I was impressed with the fact that recent grads are not hired back by the bootcamp. This was important to me because it meant that they weren’t padding their employment stats and that they cared about the level of instruction and mentorship. I was also impressed by the commitment to further development, through meet ups and hack-a-thons, after the program was done. Finally, Gregorio and Liliana truly seemed to care about the welfare of the participants. Their goal is to build developers and their commitment was palpable.
I began the actual 12 week bootcamp in July and the experience was tremendous. You aren’t just taught syntax and the programming patterns, you are taught to apply and debug. You are taught best practices and good coding habits. And being a full stack program, you get to participate in all the layers from front to back. As someone who has always loved getting under the hood, seeing how it all fit together was one of my biggest thrills.
As far as coding skills, I feel very confident. However, there is always more to learn. But part of the program is encouraging curiosity and good investigative skills. And if you get stuck or need advice, the instructors are there. John Darragh was extremely knowledgable and really great at directing our efforts towards the best results. Sabio also fosters a great collaborative environment as well. My cohort was an integral part of my learning experience. I could always turn to my neighbor and ask for their opinion and we all learned from each others failures and victories.
There were a lot of long days and tough challenges but the message, to trust the pattern and to stay positive, given by Gregorio on day one, held true. I am now gainfully employed, my financial situation is greatly improved and my career is finally at a place where I feel I can build and grow professionally. I am doing something that interests me and challenges me daily. I owe everything to this experience, to Gregorio and Liliana, to John and my cohort and to the greater Sabio community, who have really become a second extended family.
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Michael Chu
Great Program and Instructors
Both of my instructors in Orange County class (Aaron Gibson, Varr Willis) did a great job in helping students learn how to code and tailor the program to your strengths and weaknesses. Without any previous computer or programming experience, I was able to land a job after a week of graduation.
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Brandon
Just read this, make your own decision
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This review is not intended to get you to sign up for Sabio, I'm merely going to state my experience and I’ll leave the decision making up to you. Skip to the bottom if you want the abridged version.
Unlike many people probably reading this, I actually knew someone who went through Sabio (his name is also Brandon and provided one of the reviews below) and I had the opportunity to grill him on his experience, what he thought it was worth, if it was a scam, etc. And after an hour and a half of interrogating him I don’t think he said a single negative thing about his time at Sabio, but even then I was still skeptical because this seemed way too good to be true.
But I gave it a shot and checked out the info session with Aaron. It still sounded good, Aaron seemed like a great guy, and Sabio was extremely transparent about everything including their placement rates, salary expectations and work load which really appealed to me cause it showed they have nothing to hide and are proud of what they’ve accomplished.
After the info session, I looked at the websites for two other nearby coding schools who I won’t list here and ruled them out for the following reasons: 1. One of them had a curriculum that is a waste of time. That bootcamp would waste two weeks of your precious money on HTML/CSS when you can just learn that on your own in a day to be honest (and in Sabio you learn it during prework). 2. The other bootcamp was not really established, didn’t seem to have a good track record, and the students’ final projects were not something I would want to show to a potential employer (compared to in Sabio you work on a real business-ready level application).
So, I started prework with Varr (who is going to now start his first cohort in 3 months) and he was fantastic—he explained everything clearly and concisely, and the man gives the best metaphors and analogies I’ve ever heard besides being a really cool guy. Fast forward several weeks and we start the 3 month intensive.
First, the Newport location is incredible. There is unlimited free coffee, tea, and beer. The common space with the tv, couch, and kitchenette are fantastic for lunch and unwinding. The weather is great and the nearby food is delicious (although expensive, smarter people than I packed their lunches regularly).
Secondly, I was extremely fortunate that I absolutely loved my cohort of 8 people. We all got along together very well, and they made the 3 months go by so quickly. The whole time we were joking and having fun while coding so it never even felt like we were working.
Third, and most importantly, Aaron is a goddamn god of an instructor. Aaron is highly knowledgeable, and is able to phrase everything is such a way that anyone can pick it up. He is beyond patient. I would go up and ask for help on the same problem several times in a row, and he would guide me through the process while leaving the learning up to me while not getting even slightly irked that I basically asked the same question five times. And I think one of the most underrated and best qualities of Aaron as an instructor is his ability to tailor the curriculum and what you’re doing to your skill level. If you’re blazing through everything, he’ll give you a harder feature to implement; if you’re weak at something, he’ll give you a task that will shore up where you’re lacking to get you up to speed. Besides being an awesome, funny, cheerful guy; he really cares about seeing you succeed and that feeling is palpable in your learning environment.
Okay, that’s all nice and great and all, but what about the jobs and your preparedness afterwards? Sabio helps you to a ridiculous extent in your job search. They review your resume several times over, hire a photographer for your LinkedIn headshot, and provide you with unlimited support. I went into interviews and absolutely amazed employers with how much I knew with 3+ months experience. You will be so well prepared if you just follow what they ask you to do. The job market for .net developers is crazy and all of my cohort has had interviews nonstop.
Exactly a week after the last day of class I not only received one offer, but two offers. One for 70k and other for 80k.
Gregorio, Liliana, Aaron, and ALL of the Sabio alumni are so unreal helpful. They are constantly helping everyone, posting jobs, and providing continued support—hell, Gregorio just helped someone debug some code at 1am on slack. And throughout the job search they have been nothing but helpful and responsive. If you have any questions at all they WANT to help you and will answer all your questions.
Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but I am absolutely so glad I did Sabio.
SUMMARY
-EXTREMELY worthwhile experience
-Aaron is incredible, Newport location is great, cohort was awesome
-Came out with two job offers for 70k and 80k within a week of finishing
-Continued support is VERY REAL past graduation – they want to see you succeed and keep succeeding
-Just going to class every day isn't going to get you that job; you have to come hungry to learn, bust your ass, and hustle-- but if you follow their guidelines you will come out with a job (or several) and a great community
-If you read all of this, then you should do yourself the the favor and at least check out an info session
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Jhamar Sanders
Life Changing
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MAJOR DISCLAIMER: If you are just looking for a post that validates if you'll learn what you need to learn to be able to get a job then read no further. You will get the skills to be a hireable full stack web developer. You will get a job. You will make more money than you've made before. This post is not intended for you.
This post is intended for the dreamers, the people who are lost looking for a greater purpose in this marathon called life, the people who have no sense of direction in life's course. This post is for you.
6 months ago to this date, I was exactly in the position you're in at this very moment. Feeling inadequate, searching for something that gave your life meaning, working a dead-end job that is tremendously insignificant to you. I was going to school studying Computer Science and I hated it, absolutely despised it. I wasn't learning anything applicable to getting me closer to building the apps that I wanted to create, just learned an abundance of theory, which is fine if that's what you desire, but I needed to gain practical skills. So I began looking for bootcamps after hearing a ton of great things about what they help people achieve.
Then BOOM, a find a bootcamp called SABIO, coincidentally on this very website course report. I began reading reviews, as you are doing right now, and researching further into what exactly this bootcamp provides. After further research, I said screw it and went to an info session and got to meet the man behind it all, one of the Co-Founders of Sabio Gregorio Rojas. The man was very upfront and honest with us about what to expect if you decided to go through with joining the program. As a man who appreciates blunt honesty, I knew this was the place that I needed to be.
After finishing my semester I jumped right into prework and grinded it out so I could pass the assessment and start the intensive program the following month. Once you're in the program be prepared to be challanged physically, mentally, emotionally. There is no half-assing this program you're going to have to give it your all, 70 hours a week for 12 weeks is not an easy task. However, don't feel like you're alone. Your instructor, who has at least 10+ years experience in the industry, knows their shit and will be there to help guide you. Your cohort, who you'll be going through war with. These people are going to be your family for the next 3 months. Help each other and build each other up because you will all need each other at some point. I was very fortunate because I had a great group who just meshed very well each other and have made lifelong friends because of it.
So 3 months after I started the intensive program, what has happened? Learned things about myself, about my character that I didn't even know was inside of me, learned the skills to be a full stack web developer and feel I can go to any company and contribute right away, created an awesome web application, learned the skills to create my own web application, had a Q&A with representatives of Snapchat, won a hackathon in my 9th week of training, got a job offer in my 11th week of training, and started my first day of work at my new job 4 days after graduation.
Words can't even begin to describe how appreciative of Gregorio and Liliana for giving me the opportunity to change my life for the better. I was in a dark place and Sabio helped me find light again, they saved me. I'm not going to try and sell you on why Sabio is better than every other bootcamp out in the SoCal Region and as Gregorio would put it "do whatever that makes you happy", which he doesn't say in a sarcastic manner, he actually means it. However, I will say if you're looking for a bootcamp where the Founders care, the instructors care, even the alumni who graduated prior care, like genuinely care, about your well being and learning and growing to become a fantastic programmer in the industry.
I want to thank Gregorio and Liliana for creating this program and giving us a chance to change our lives. Your vision has changed the world without you all even realizing it yet. I want to thank John, my instructor, for having the patience and for guiding me through this process. I also want to thank the other instructors Jimmy and Aaron for the help you gave us when we needed it. I want to thank my Cohort for being the best group of people I've worked with, you guys have now become family to me. I say this with an unwavering certainty that there is no one I would have rather gone through this process than you all.
Thank you Sabio for everything.
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Benjamin
Great Investment to a New Career
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I wanted a career change and I wanted it fast. Before I join Sabio, I only taken a few intro classes to programming when I was in college. But Sabio Pre-Course was very insightful and got me to up to speed for the main course. The 3 months of bootcamp went by really fast. Sabio is not a boring class that you go to everyday and sit there for hours listening to lectures while you're trying to stay awake. No! You are there to work. There is always something to do, fix, and learn. In the beginning your instructor will give the class a main project. Everyone is doing something different and adding onto that project. We all help each other and learn from each other. At the end you will be able to show employers a completed project and explain the parts that you contribute. Thanks to Sabio I was able to find a job in my first month after the bootcamp and all I can say is I’m make a lot more $ then I was before. I want to thank Liliana Monge and Gregorio Rojas for the support and guidance that they are giving to me to the my path to success.
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Elbert
Best Return on Investment
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I come from a business background and can assure attending Sabio will be one of the best financial decisions you make. When I graduate college it cost me around 40K+ and over four years of my life to land me a job that only makes about 35 thousand a year. That was about a .87 to 1 ratio.
Attending Sabio, it was a fraction of that price of college, only three months (6 months if you including pre-work) and the result is a position as a Web Developer making quadruple what I paid for the program. That is about a 4.3 to 1 ratio.
About my Experience:
I started the program in mid-May 2016 finished beginning-August 2016, received a job offer a week after the program finished. The program is an intense 70 hours a week of coding, reading documentation, and reviewing other classmate’s code.
A cool thing about the program is it’s not exercises that you do it’s a real life application that you build.
I honestly wish I found Sabio earlier so I could have begun my new life sooner.
Cool things to keep in mind:
- 5 year support after finishing program
- Monthly meetups where we meet leaders in the tech industry
- A community that if you have any problems or question they are just a click away
What you need to survive the program:
- Willingness to follow the path Liliana and Gregorio set
- 70 hours a week of just coding and reading documentation
- A positive attitude
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Gilbert
The best decision I've ever made
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Prior to attending Sabio, I was working at a small tech company out in the San Fernando Valley as Business Analysts. During my time there is where I became interested in programming and wanted to see if programming was something I can do. On my free time and weekends, I would spend hours on free coding sites such as codeacademy or freecodecamp tackling their exercises. While I was at work, I would often find myself asking members on our development team for advice and tips on programming and thats when I knew that I wanted to be a developer.
I reached out to a friend who was working as a developer for another company and asked for his advice and he mentioned that I should look into programming bootcamps if I was serious about making a career switch. I did my google search and checked out a couple of programs but ultimately after attending an info session with Gregorio, I was sold and decided that I would attend Sabio.
What came next was 8 weeks of prework with Jimmy. Jimmy is a great instructor and he definitely did a great job preparing us for the full time bootcamp. Jimmy is super patient and incredibly knowledgable and it was a great opportunity to learn from him.
The full time bootcamp was indeed a lot of hard work and the curriculum will definitely challenge you in more ways than one but coming out you will be well prepared for your first job. The instructors at Sabio are extremely intelligent and the knowledge they provide to you is priceless. The skills you will gain during your time at Sabio will help you stand out from other applicants and make you deseriable by employers.
Attending Sabio was the best decision I've ever made and I want to thank Gregorio, Liliana, Jimmy, John and Kelly for consistanly pushing us to succeed and for creating a positive learning environment for all of us to be in.
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Karina
Amazing school with amazing people!!
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So I checked out a few places before deciding on a bootcamp, one wouldn't let me visit their campus until I paid full tuition, another's website was broken, and then there was Sabio.
I first went to the info session with pages of questions that Gregorio gladly addressed one by one, immediately after I went and sat in on the remainder of that night's prework class. The fact that they let me sit in on a few classes before paying made me believe that THEY believed in what they were doing, and not just trying to sell me a product.
First was prework. It was obvious that our instructor, Jimmy, cared immensley about his students' success, after any question he answerd he'd check that you understood, and if not, he'd answer differently until you did (I've definitely had moments where I asked him to explain something at least 4 or 5 times), and not once was he impatient or annoyed.
After prework comes the bootcamp. Expect to spend 70 hours a week studying/coding. Expect to spend up to 45 minutes looking for an error and realizing it was just a missing semi-colon. Expect to struggle and be lost and confused and want to throw your laptop through the window. Then expect it all to get better, less confusion, more "ohh I remember how to fix this error!" and "YES I DID IT!"
Needless to say, here I am just a few days after Sabio, already employed as a full-time developer. One thing that really spoke to me with Sabio was how much Gregorio and Liliana care about your success, they will constantly push you and encourage you to be the best you can.
Worth noting:- Sabio also hosts monthly professional development meetups for grads and there is a strong network between alumni which serves as a great resource after you're thrown into the work force.
- If you want to earn college credits for the bootcamp, you can do so through Antioch University
- They're now approved by the CA BPPE which means you can get a grant to help pay for the program
To sum up:
- the instructors care a great deal
- put in 70 hours a week
- code code code
- take lots of notes
- the payoff will be a shiny new career!
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Kendra
Great Experience
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I was sent through the Sabio program by the corporation I work for, as part of an effort to expand the company's internal pool of software developers and provide career growth to employees. Sabio is the only bootcamp in Los Angeles that was able to provide the type of training my company required. When I returned to my job, I felt extremely confident that I could take on my new role in the Technology Department.
One of the best things about Sabio is that we worked on a real-life application throughout the course of the program. There are no fake projects or long days of lectures. I spent the vast majority of my time actually coding, which is really the best way to learn. The instructors are super knowledgeable and helpful, but they also push and challenge you every single day. If I had a question or didn't know how to do something, rarely was I simply given the answer. Instead, the instructors guide you to the right path of figuring it out for yourself, which is an extremely valuable skill to have.
Support from Sabio continues after graduation. Instructors and graduates provide technical help, job referrals, and tons of other resources to all fellows of the program. There are meet-ups and continuing education lectures. It feels sort of like I joined a fraternity or sorority.
I had a great experience in the program, even though it was one of the toughest things I've gone through in a long time. The program requires a significant time commitment and a sincere work effort, but it's all worth it.
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Sarah
Best Career Move
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I received a job offer before I even graduated the program.
It took me 6 months of weighing my options to make the leap to start Sabio. I looked at traditional academic paths to becoming a developer: including degree and certification programs, but factoring in waiting for a semester start date, required classes only being offered certain semesters, prerequisites, etc., the process would have taken years (even though I had already received a Bachelor's degree).
I couldn't be happier with my decision. I left a stable but dead-end job and was met with some skepticism from friends/coworkers about my choice. Now I'm making nearly double what I earned at my last job, and I'm excited and proud of the career I'm building.
The 12 weeks was definitely hard work, and the curriculum was challenging, but you get out exactly what you put into this program. The instructors are exceptionally knowledgeable and make a point of teaching the skills that make you desirable to employers, including the skills you need to solve your own problems and think for yourself when programming. The job assistance was also high quality and I felt well-prepared to interview when the time came.
Attending Sabio put me in an excellent position to land a job as a developer, I couldn't be happier with the outcome.
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Billy M.
Sabio is the real deal...
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Just like everybody else on here, I shopped around for a coding bootcamp in Los Angeles. Spoke to a few reps for various coding camps and their "pitch" just didn't seem real.
I found Sabio, and started reading Gregorio's (CTO/Co-Founder) blog. Talk about passionate. This guy is intense and doesn't F around, he means business. Automatically fell in love with his mission and his general overview of the industry. The tech industry needs a shake up, and I want to be part of it. Came to an info session and was sold. And to put the cherry on top, I was able to use my GI Bill through Antioch LA to attend Sabio.
Unlike most people, I was not looking for a career change or employment as a software developer. I came to Sabio with clear intentions of becoming a tech entrepreneur. I am currently pursuing entrepreneurship with the help of Sabio. I feel confident with the skills I've learned at Sabio to creste and develop something from scratch. Everything done at Sabio is methodical and goal oriented. We didn't just learn how to code, we learned how to solve problems and build cool shit.
I want to thank, Gregorio, Liliana, John, and Jimmy for the patience and the nurturing environment they have created.
Keep an eye out for optio v1.0.
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David L
Thank you Sabio
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I don't normaly write reviews for anything, but this is a special case. Sabio treats their students like family and I want to write this review as a thank you.
I chose Sabio because I vibed with the teachers. Go to one of their intro nights and start taking Pre Work to get a feel for it.
Before Sabio I had no real experience coding. I was hired for a full time coding gig 2.5 weeks after the course ended. Sabio gave me massive support from learning through getting hired. I was able to ask a lot of questions and got them answered in a way that I can understand. Sabio got me in the flow of coding and learning how to code very fast.
Sabio is a growing network of students, alumni and instructors and I've honestly gotten along with all of them very well. Really great people are apart of this organization. I highly recommend it.
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Tessa
Best decision I ever made
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i have shared my story multiple times, you can check out Sabio's blog on the 100th student if you would like to read further. I will keep this short and sweet. I couldn't have made a better decision when choosing Sabio. The instructors and owners are the most caring individuals! Your career/future couldn't be in better hands. Trust what they have set up and be honest with yourself on what you expect to get out of this. You only get what you put in! Thank you Sabio!
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Richard
Career Changer
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*If you would like a "cut to the chase" description, please scroll to the bottom of this review. I include a part of my life experience in this review as I believe it is a better representation of how Sabio truly changed my life when I thought it wasn't possible.
Before Sabio
I graduated from UC Davis with a Food Science Degree hoping to find a stable, well- paying job that I could stay at for the rest of my life, knowing that I had a degree under my belt. I ended up finding a stable job, but the pay was not equal to the amount of work I performed and I felt miserable. Right across the street from where I worked was a software developing company which had several employees who were seemingly having fun all the time and working leisurely. They would have parties, drive nice cars, and wouldn't have to work fridays. My coworkers would always stare out the windows and say, "Man, how I wish I would have studied to be a software engineer/developer back in the day." That's when I decided I wanted to turn my life around.
Why Sabio?
At the time, I was about ready to quit and thought what am I going to do with my life? How am I going to start learning how to code? Thats when I found out about coding bootcamps and became interested in how they could turn anyone without prior coding experience into a full fledged developer. I attended a few info sessions for several different bootcamps and finally decided on Sabio. Why? Because they believed in me.
Sabio didn't turn me away because I wasn't a good candidate for their bootcamp, but instead welcomed me with open arms. The instructor, Aaron, constantly piqued my interest while making sure that I was not discouraged in any way. One of the biggest reasons why I respect Sabio so much is that they never allow you to feel left behind nor give up on you. No matter how slow of a pace of learning I was at, Aaron always reassured me that I was not falling behind. Ever.
They are always there for you even after you complete the program and get a job.
The Program
The Sabio program is unique from other bootcamps in that they provide 3 stages of learning. There is a period of learning before the actual program called "prework", then the actual 12 week program, with the last two weeks dedicated to helping you find a job.
"Prework", usually on saturdays, is meant to help you ease into the actual intensive program by helping you to learn and understand how to apply the basics of coding, which will be further developed in the oncoming 12 weeks. The actual program itself is an intensive 12 week program in which you work with a team on a real project for a real client. I really enjoyed the idea of working with a team because it simulates how a real world developer job is in the field and allows you to work with teammates to figure out problems together. Most bootcamps do not work in teams, in which case you are stuck developing your own project and cannot utilize your teammates as resources. The last 2 weeks are the most exciting because that is when you start sending out resumes and applying for jobs with the help of the instructor. Sabio provides you with lots of resources from how to format your resume to preparing for an interview. Even after the 12 week program, you become a Sabio alumni and will continue to have all of the available resources open indefinetly.
I was able to get hired one week after the program finished and I am happily making double what I used to make at my old job.
Conclusion
I took a big risk by paying the upfront tuition, which I had to borrow, and also commuting 3 hours (100 miles) a day because I believed the program would pay off and it did. There will be times where you may doubt the program's effectiveness, but if you stick to the plan and believe in the curriculum, you will be successful. Almost like magic, if you don't believe in it, you will never be convinced that miraculous things can happen.
Some people may argue that there is alot of "googling" and "searching" involved, but in reality what do people do when they don't know something and want to find out? This is actually part of the training where the instructors teach you how to find the solution to your problems, because in the real developer world, you don't want to be asking your boss or coworkers every single question.
If you are tired of what you are doing now or want to turn your life around, I highly recommend you take the program at Sabio.
Cut to the Chase
- A bootcamp that actually cares about you and will never give up on you
- Hands on learning, not the traditional class with just lectures and powerpoint slides
- Full stack training with real life skills that are in high demand (Job security will no longer be an issue for you)
- Chance to work with fellow teammembers on a real life project for a real life client (real development experience that can go on your resume)
- Resources and connections are still available even after the program ends
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Eric J.
Just do it
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Hi there - you must be ready for a change. So was I. I set my life on a new course with the help of Sabio.
I was working a decent job, making a decent wage, being decently fulfilled in my work. However, I wasn't doing as much as I could and I knew it. I had heard about these bootcamp things and decided to look around.
I browsed for Los Angeles programs right here on coursereport. I thought the reviews for Sabio were too good to be true, but decided to check it out. I went to an info session and, very impressed by Gregorio's intensity and dedication to the program, began attending prework.
Prework is mandatory and necessary. Jimmy, my prework instructor, was fantastic. Of course, he is very knowledgeable and experienced in the world of web development. But, much more than that, he is a caring and effective teacher - always willing to sit down with you and help you through whatever you are working on.
I joined the Sabio family as part of Cohort 16 in April 2016. The next three months were a blur of 70+ hours a week of hands-on coding on a real project. I didn't want some candy ass bootcamp for babies, and I was not disappointed. Every time I started to get comfortable I was challenged again. Trust me, this is exactly what you want in a bootcamp. If you are doing your life right, you are being challenged again and again and rising to the occasion. You can read plenty of details in other reviews...just know that this is a serious and effective program. To be succinct: I became a BAMF developer at Sabio.
Before I even finished the program, I received a written offer as a Senior Web Developer. I am currently making 50% more than I have ever made and I have full health benefits, a matching 401k, and three weeks of paid time off. After three months at Sabio, I am getting paid dollar dollar bills to make cool tech in the real world. That is the extra value that should not be overlooked - you aren't just learning to code, you are learning how to get hired and get paid. What's even better is that now I'm part of the crew - we hack the thons, we get invited to expensive tech events, we do our own professional development events, and more (the CIO of facebook presented just for us because that's how much of a boss Gregorio is).
Just do it. What's stopping you?
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Travis A.
Best...decision...ever..
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So if you are in the market for a bootcamp there are plenty of them out there. If you are looking for a community of like minded individuals supporting each other through the ups and downs, look no more. Here's a little glimpse of my journey from selecting a program all the way up to employment.
Im not going to lie to you and say that Sabio was my first and only choice when selecting a program. Like most, we want to see results and most importantly, that we are not throwing thousands of dollars away.
Part 1 - a different bootcamp
I currently reside in orange county but the first bootcamp I took a look at had a month long pre work session in Santa Monica. I was working full time as a collector in anaheim then made the commute mon-thurs and saturdays for their classes. The first thing I noticed was that there were 27 students including myself in this class. Yes there were two instructors but the catch is they were both current college students working towards their computer science degrees. After completing the month long session, I took the exam to to see if I was qualified to enter in the upcoming cohort. I bombed....then i was told to try again in two months. When I found out that only 4 out of the 27 students made it into the program, I questioned their ability to teach rather than my ability to learn.
Part 2 - Info Session
I found Sabio on this very website. Reading all the positive reviews in addition to them having a location in orange county (Newport Beach to be exact) fired me up to go to the info session.
I met the orange county instructor Aaron who has 10+ years real world experience. This was already 5x more than the other two instructors at the other place combined! Here are my key take aways from the info session:
Cohorts max out at 10 people meaning plenty of individual attention.
All instructors never have been former students of the program and have atleast a decade of experience in the field.
You have continued support for 5 years where the main goal is to make 100k annually.
If you dont have a bachelors degree you can apply for Sabio through Antioch University and you will get a TON of credits towards your bachelors, in additon to being able to take advantage of grants and low interest student loans.
Part 3 - Pre-work
Pre-work is every saturday for 8 weeks 9am-3pm. Here you will learn all of the fundamentals you need to succeed in the immersion program. I like this set up alot. They pack all this information into your head on Saturday, then you have a whole week to process and implement what you have learned through the exercises and reading. From the first week to the last week, you will already see the difference in your programming capabilities. DONT SLEEP ON PREWORK, this will be the difference maker when immersion comes. My advice is to participate in code reviews early and often, you only do it more and more as the program goes on. Also you will eventually be showing your code to future employers. At the end of pre-work you are given an assessment and 3 hours to complete it. Its not hard, assuming you have shown up every week and put in work.
Part 3 - 12 week Immersion
At this point I left my job as a collector and took the plunge to do the full time training. Over the course of the 12 weeks we worked on a project for a real client (see what I did there with the bold?) this makes all the difference when you put together your portfolio because its not something you just made up for your first project. Where else does this come in handy? When employers want a reference and you have a real person to speak about the awesome job you did on their project. My favorite part was the friends I made during the 12 weeks...lifers. Warning, this is not easy. Dont expect to just breeze thru the program without struggling. This is part of the design. You will have to figure things out on your own from time to time but when you finally solve the problem you will feel amazing.
Heres some tips if youre going to the Newport location:
- Invest in a monitor and keyboard/mouse. Youre going to be staring at the CPU all day might as well make those letters big. I have a 13in laptop but when I brought my 23in monitor, I was ready to program like a boss.
- When approaching the instructor with questions, dont just walk up and say this ish doesnt work. Instead, try and google the problem. This way when you walk up you can say, "this isnt working, but ive tried x,y and z" You will not receive the "google it" answer but you will also make yourself more self sufficient in the future.
- Parking is free, coffee is free, and they restock the kegs in the main lobby every week. This location rocks!
Part 4 - F U pay me.
At the end of the 12 weeks I had two offers making great money and awesome benefits. I never imagined that I could have no background in coding and turn it around in my 30's with two kids. The founders (Gregorio and Liliana) genuinely care about each and every student in their program. They know who you are as you will know them. They are not the ones to just hide behind the scenes uninvolved. I see Gregorio answering questions very often being the first to respond when someone needs help in the community.
Trust in the system. When you get discouraged. Trust in the system. When you bomb the first interview. Trust in the system. When you dont understand everything thats going on. Trust in the sytem.
The system works. They give you what you need to start off with great pay, theyll be there for you when you are stuck in your current position. Theyll invite fellows to come back for private events about new tech. In the community you give, you take, and eventally we laugh all the way to the bank. I was skeptical but now I am proof. And there is no reason I will not be making 100k within 5 years. Im shooting for 2-3 years tho.
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Anonymous
Much more than just a coding bootcamp
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Let's get this out of the way because it's probably the first question on your mind - soon after the training at Sabio, I got a good job, making much more money than I've ever made before to do what I love to do: code. The vast majority of my cohort has done the same.
After you're done with the training, you will have the skills you need to be a junior-level, full-stack .NET developer. You only need to do a couple of quick searches on any of the major job-search engines to see that this skillset is in tremendous demand.
The owners, Gregorio and Liliana, along with their excellent group of instructors, have put together a rigorous curriculum that is focused on practical, hands-on learning supplemented by concise, focused lectures and a rich collection of curated reading materials. The real-world app you build during the training, the recorded lectures and the readings are all available to you after the program is finished and will serve as valuable reference materials for your future projects. When I was done with the program, I knew I was ready to hit the workforce.
But to call Sabio just a quality bootcamp doesn't do it justice. It's also a support system, a professional network, and a community. I have benefited tremendously from the insights and advice of Sabio alums that were already working in the industry when I was going through the program and looking for work afterwards. I've enjoyed going to the monthly professional development seminars where skilled lecturers discuss topics that are truly relevant to today's tech landscape. I've gone to hackathons, dinners and happy hours with intelligent, motivated developers who all want what I want: to constantly get better. None of this would have been in my life had it not been for Sabio.
So, when I say that attending Sabio was one of the best decisions I've made in my life, you know I'm not exaggerating. It's not easy, and you will be pushed to your limits in many different respects, but, in the end it will be worth it.
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Ivan
Do it for you!
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If you are reading this post it means that you are about to make life changing decision, but you want to make sure it is the right one. Within the posts below you will find valuable information that will help you take action. Register, don't wait any longer.
The only advice I can offer you is to fully immerse yourself in CODE. You will get out what you put in. Which means that you have to dedicate all of you time in this if you want to succeed. Don't partially commit, fully commit! You will end up blaming others for your failures. Stay positive, always. Your life is a reflection of your thoughts.
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mmartinez
They reeeeeeally know what they're doin over at Sabio.
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I was looking for a bootcamp and I ALMOST landed at GA. (THANKS TO THE DEVELOPER GODS I DIDNT!!)
I was searching around wanting to improve my skills and I landed at Sabio! (THANKS TO THE DEVELOPER GODS AGAIN!!!)
THIS IS MY EXPERIENCE
AND WHAT YOU SHOULD BE REALLY BE AWARE OF!
BEFORE and DURING SABIO –
I had QA experience but 0 Development experience. Sabio trained me to be a Software Engineer!
You learn full stack development (Front, mid, and back end). (AngularJs, JQuery, Javascript, .net, C#,SQL) + MORE
WHEN I WAS JOB SEARCHING:
The technologies learned at Sabio are the latest and greatest! The skills acquired at Sabio are in really high demand! You get calls for jobs literally every day!
I went through the job process and was given an offer at the end of the month with the help of Sabio! (I actually was on vacation the first two weeks after bootcamp)
WHATS THE JOB MARKET LIKE?
Your chances of landing a job are even higher than other bootcamps!
Sure… React, Node, Ruby on rails are cool but not as much as the ones you learn at Sabio.
Don’t believe me? Search for “React, Node, or Ruby on rails” and juxtapose to “C#, .Net, Jquery or AngularJS” Find out yourself! There are 3X more jobs (if not more) when you search these.
WHY SABIO?
It was more cost effective than other bootcamps (They should raise their prices because it’s worth more)You even get a discount coupon here !
Their instructors are MINIMUM of 10+ years experienced in development (if not more).
They are there to help you out in person for 40+ hours and when you contact them with questions when you’re at home they are more than willing to help!It was purposely a smaller class so I could have more attention to all my questions! As a developer now, I can see how hard it would be to have a traditional amount of students in a class.
Their job placement rate is over 90%! (That’s because they don’t count entrepreneurs or people that just wanted to have this as a skill for retirement. Why would they?)
They really care to help you move forward.
They provide assistance in everything! (preparation for course, training, job search)
They are completely honest and have a 5 year program!
IF YOU DECIDE TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE:
Ask how long their instructors have been developing.(They will hire their instructors with 3 years’ experience!) LOL…(Im really not making this up! Go to other bootcamps job fairs and youll see)
Make sure its not only front end. You’re limiting yourself way too much for what you’re paying.
Ask about the job placement rate after bootcamp. (Make sure you are specific in asking developer or engineer jobs) LOL (Going back to their old job doesn’t count…what would be the purpose of their bootcamp?! haha)
ME:
I’ll forever be grateful.
I would do it again!
Im not saying all of this just to say it. I am looking at the code here and I’m considered better than these developers thanks to SABIO!
YOU:
Theres a reason why you read my whole post. I likely made you realize a thing or two ;)
If you are looking for a bootcamp, I can honestly say Sabio will be the best bet. Watch…..
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Lauren
I’d choose Sabio again in a heartbeat
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With a prior degree in a non-technical field, I struggled to find a career. But I knew I wanted to code. After extensive research into bootcamps, one immediately outshined the rest in LA/OC.
Why Sabio?
- Learn from seasoned industry professionals
- Benefit from a student-instructor ratio of 10:1
- Build an actual product, unique to each cohort
- Do more hands-on coding, with focused lectures
- Grow with 5 years of professional development
Above and beyond the relevant technical skills, job onboarding, and one-on-one mentorship, the most valuable gift I received was seeing what can be achieved through believing in one’s self.
My Sabio experience instilled in me the confidence to get my resume out there, go on every single interview, accept an offer, and start a career as a Full Stack Web Developer. Yes, it is worth it.
A million thanks to Gregorio, Liliana, Aaron, John, Jimmy and the entire Sabio community for being the genuine, dedicated, patient, caring, lovely people that they are and for making all of these success stories possible. -
Motohiro Yamada
Thank you Sabio!
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I. My Job Before Sabio: Server at a restaurant.
II. My Job After Sabio: Software Application Support and Engineer at LA Capital
III. Why Sabio:
A. Learn technology that gets you jobs!
1. I learned HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, jQuery, AngularJs, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Wep API, C#, SQL Server, T-Sql, etc.
2. Fact: JavaScript, C#, SQL is in the top 5 of most popular technologies. AngularJs came out 2010, but is already in the top 10. (Source: http://stackoverflow.com/research/developer-survey-2016)
- Gregorio, Lily, & Staff are constantly networking with local companies in LA/OC to find out appropriate technology to teach.
B. Great Staff!
1. Instructors here have decades of experience! You be the judge, check them out: a. Gregorio Rojas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fierro b. Aaron Gibson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devrhino c. John Darragh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/entrotech
2. Liliana Aide Monge, the co-founder and CEO, does a great job to execute what Sabio promises.
3. The passion that all the staff shares sets the tone for the successful culture at Sabio.
C. Great job assistance!
1. Mock interviews
2. Technical interview preparation lectures
3. Assistance with writing technical resumes
4. Updating LinkedIn Profile (plus Professional Photographer for Profile Picture)
5. Networking with local recruiters
6. Hackathons
7. Meetups
8. Expertise on how to communicate with recruiters and company HRs.
9. Provide Professional References
10. 5 years of mentoring after you graduate.
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Luis
Best Bang for the Buck
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My Background: B.S. Electrical Engineering from UC Davis, Real Estate and some prior programming experience. Current Title: Software Engineer.
Reasons why I think Sabio was my best choice:
BEFORE AND DURING TRAINING
- Pre-work: 3 months of weekly meetings for pre-work.
- Real Experience: We did real software development work for a real company which means I had real work experience that I could put in my resume.
- Work Environment: We worked in a work environment akin to a startup (small group of people, lots of research in Google and Stack Overflow).
- Relevant curriculum: We used the latest tools, methodologies and technologies that are relevant to the job market today.
- Selective: Only hard-working, driven, not entitled, not spoon-fed people are allowed into the program. This is the kind of people I enjoy working with.
- Feedback: Sabio asks for your feedback during and after bootcamp and really listens to your individual needs and goals. I asked my instructor that, because of my prior coding experience, I should be given more challenging tasks, and sure enough I was given those.
- Entrepreneurship: Sabio has support for people who are looking for a job but also for people who later decide to go on business by themselves.
- Soft-Skills: daily stand-up meetings, collaboration, pair programming, mock interviews, etc.The above reasons were enough for my decision to join Sabio. However, there is much more, which made it a no-brainer to join.
AFTER TRAINING
- Professional Development Sessions: Meetings to learn more advanced CS topics for advancing your career. Head of React at Facebook joining us for a Q&A session at Sabio HQ.
- Hackathons: Never attended one but would like to someday.
- Networking: recruiters, industry players, my own cohort and other cohorts.
- Industry Research: The leadership team is constantly researching what are the most relevant things to learn so we can focus on that.
- Recruiters: A month after graduation I got a job through a recruiter introduced by Sabio.
- None of the graduates are hired back by Sabio.
- Community: Thankful graduates hang out in the chat room and help each other out with questions from work, questions from students in session, give job leads, etc.
- 5 years mentorship program
- Sabio says they are not done with you until you are making 6 figures: I believe this will happen sooner rather than later.
- I was overwhelmed with calls from employers, recruiters, and interviews. Sometimes I had 2 on-site interviews in one day. I even had the luxury to cancel one of my on-site interviews. I never had so many interviews. This is my highest salary ever. Most of the positions I interviewed for were actually senior positions and I think I did fairly well on those.If you are planning to attend a bootcamp in SoCal, then look no further. Sabio will give you the absolute best return on your money, and then some.
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Tammi
Couldn't be happier with my experience!
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Prior to Sabio, my professional background was primarily in digital marketing reporting and analytics. I had dabbled a bit with SQL and R and got a taste for how powerful programming can be. In September, I learned that my entire team (myself included) was being laid off at the end of the year. I'd been there almost 8 years and this led me to seriously consider attending a coding bootcamp to finally make a change. I researched several in Orange County then came across Sabio. I met with Liliana and Gregorio in Culver City and knew I'd be hard pressed to find a better program.
What really stood out to me about Sabio:
- They offer several weeks of in-person pre-work sessions which helped establish a solid foundation prior to the 12 week 60-70 hrs/week intensive program
- Small cohort size - no more than 10 in any given cohort
- Experience working on a real project for a real company and essentially working as a real development team during the 12 week intensive program
- 5 years of continued professional development beyond graduation, which is an added bonus as I aim to continue to learn and grow in my career.
When I learned that they would soon be starting a cohort in Newport Beach, my decision was made as I was really reluctant to battle with the 405 for 3 hours a day :)
I was very fortunate to have Aaron Gibson as my instructor for both the pre-work sessions and the 12 week program. Aaron is one of the most patient, encouraging and hard-working individuals I've had the pleasure of knowing. He's an amazing leader and really helped push my fellow cohort members and I to do our best and keep learning.
I completed the full-stack program at the end of March and just accepted an offer for a Software Developer position at a SaaS company that creates software that insurance companies use. I start Monday and am super excited! Thank you, Sabio!!
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Carlos A2 != CarlosA1
You are in for a surprise!
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Where do I start, if you are anything like me, you might be going through some online resources right now, you might be doing some free courses or even purchasing some paid online courses, going to youtube, reasearching bootcamps, going to different meetings, day dreaming at your current job or whatever place you are, about what you can become or where you want to be. Then you meet Liliana and Gregorio, down to earth, honest people, who will tell you where you are and where you can be as long as you are willing to walk the walk. Then your first day comes, you are excited, you think to yoursefl, 'hey, this might not be that hard after all... then boom, the harsh truth kicks in.
Don't come in thinking this is going to be a easy, don't come in thinking you won't be challenged and certainly don't come in thinking someone will be holding your hand through out this process.
By that one bad review I can tell you, If you are that sort of person who wants everything to be handed out to you, then this boot camp will not work for you. Why? because here you will have to think, you will have to reason, you will have to make an effort. What's that old saying about giving you the fish or teaching you how to fish? That could have been something Gregorio wrote a long time ago.
This guy will push you to your limits, he will show you what you are capable of and will be constantly challenging you to be who you want to be. Will he be hard on you? yes, will he help you? yes. Read the reviews, it is NOT a lie, Sabio will change your life and you know what the best part is? It will be 40% Sabio, 40% YOU and 20% your cohort.
Which brings me to that point, your cohort, I love my cohort, this guys will stand beside you no matter what issues you are having understanding, I doubt that is any different in any other cohort. You get to meet people with the same mindset as you and that truly makes it part of your family.
No review out there will make justice to what you experience there, nothing you can hear, read, watch, research, will give you an exact idea of what is to be part of Sabio. It's an experience you have to go through to understand what it is to be a Sabio fellow. And you know what, I dare ANYONE out there to challenge a Sabio fellow, they'll be in for a treat.
Sabio is not a school, Sabio is not a boot camp, Sabio is a set of mind, a door to a better you. It's hard, but you are never alone, ever, and that makes this worth it. This is not a gamble, they have a plan, they know what their doing and are more than happy to show you the way to a new you.
Oh and I guess if you are like me you want to know how long did it take me to get an offer; 2 weeks after graduation I received my first contract and I'm not even counting a few other offers that I did not take due to personal reasons.
Saying thank you is not enough, I'm going to have to create an algorithm to try to convey what I feel about Sabio but hey, you know what?...now I can.
"Just Do It"
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Peiyu
The Best Decision I've Made
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Before I chose Sabio, I had been to other bootcamps' info sessions. I was looking for a place that takes me seriously, provides interesting learning environment, and last but not the least, trains me to be an experienced developer, which means my skill sets need to be validated and accepted by an employer after I complete the program. Now that I have completed the program and got several job offers within a month, I can assure you Sabio meets all my requirements and gave me more than what I expected.
There are many things I can write here regarding how much I enjoyed learning coding at Sabio, but I will try to keep my points short so you have an idea of what other things you will get BESIDES STRONG CODING SKILLS.
Porblem Solving Skill: Throughout the program, I learnt not only straight forward coding skills like c#, .NET MVC, JavaScript, AngularJS, etc., but also problem solving skills. Some of the interviewers I met were more interested in my problem solving skills than in my actual coding skills (Well, I guess my Github code sample has showed them my coding ability.) At Sabio, instructors don't spoon feed you answers to problems you have; instead, they spend longer time teaching you essential debugging skills and make YOU the problem solver. Obviously, it is a lot harder to train your problem solving skills than just giving your the answer and you will benefit significantly in the long run by acquiring that skill!!
Motivation: The program is a little intensive, but it is SO rewarding. Of all the people I met here, I have not seen anyone who was bored or under-motivated. Everyone comes here in the morning pumped up and ready to work on a specific functionality of an application. I have had bootcamp tryout sessions else where, and they really bored me and made me feel like coding is such a hard thing to learn. Well, HERE it is simple and fun. Guaranteed. Been a student at USC and at Sabio, I see that good instructors share one special quality: they make things easier to comprehend and interesting to hold your attention, of which I really appreciate.
Confidence: Being a software developer who can jump into lines of code and solve the problems will boost anyone's confidence. After you go through this program, if you look at a website or phone application and see a certain functionality isn't working, you would most likely know where to check inside the code. From my experience, it feels awesome to know what I am capable of doing to make things better. For example, when I was applying for jobs, I noticed that many job-seeking websites change the format of your resume and often times, your full position title from your past experience is altered and education information is gone. It gives your employer a hard time to skim through your background and make wise decisions based on that impression of you. It could be a formatting design choice or the LinkedIn API was not correctly implemented. Either way, some thing can be improved. Consequently, I’m starting my own side project of creating a resume builder, hoping to create an optimized tool to build people’s resume.
Conclusion:
Throughout my time here, I am thankful for everything I learnt here. You can probably tell how much I appreciate this place by seeing how long this review is (I’ve never written a review this long.) I genuinely hope you have the opportunity to join Sabio and start your fabulous career as a developer too!
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Brandon Lee
AMAZING return on investment
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The facts:
I graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (Go Bears!) with a B.A. in Biology in December 2014. I had no prior coding experience. I never had a full-time job. In October 2015, I took the risk and invested in myself by enrolling in Sabio's bootcamp.
At Sabio, I worked 20-30 hours/week during the Pre-Work phase (October 2015 - December 2015) and 55-60 hours/week during the Bootcamp phase (January 2016 - March 2016).
I graduated from Sabio's first Orange County cohort (aka Sabio's 13th cohort overall) on March 25, 2016. One day prior to graduating, I received an offer for a full-time job with benefits as a Web Developer at SynerMed. Although I won't disclose my exact salary, I will say it is >$60k. Pretty sweet ROI for the $13k tuition I paid IMO!
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Why Sabio:
I applied, interviewed, and received offers of admission to a few coding bootcamps in the LA/OC area. However, I chose to enroll in Sabio's bootcamp for several reasons:
- Instructors: Sabio currently has 3 main instructors who are all very knowledgable and experienced. My instructor Aaron has 13+ years of professional coding experience, but what resonated with me more is that he is incredibly patient, encouraging, humble, motivated, hard-working, and genuinely invested in our success. He will sit down and take the time to teach and reteach you when you're struggling, but also challenge you when he sees you're ready for it. He saw the potential in me as a developer that even I didn't see, and I am so thankful that he kept pushing me even when I doubted my abilities. He works so hard (even to the point of getting sick) because he fully believes in Sabio and makes it his goal to make sure that anyone who is willing to put in the work can learn to code well.
- Culture fit: I knew I'd be working with my cohort for 40-70 hours/week for 12 weeks, so it was important that I could work well with everyone to get the most out of this experience. I was so thankful to be part of such a hard-working cohort because seeing them work hard made me want to work even harder to see what we could accomplish individually and together. We all learned things quickly, but it was never an issue if someone fell behind because we would always help each other. We knew we were all in this together, and one person's success was everyone's success. Egos were never an issue because there was always a high level of humility and mutual respect amongst everyone. It was also really great to see so many backgrounds (e.g. age, gender, cultures, ethnicities, professional backgrounds, etc.) come together in a program like Sabio.
- PreWork: For me, I prefer have more time to learn more. Therefore, I liked having the additional 3 months via PreWork to learn the basics of JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL, and C# before starting the Bootcamp phase. It definitely made it an easier transition into the intensive Bootcamp phase, and I learned more than I would have if I only had 3 months to absorb all of the PreWork and Bootcamp material. Plus, if time is money, then I got a bargain through Sabio!
- Curriculum: Sabio does an amazing job researching and understanding what the LA/OC tech job market is looking for and constantly tweaks their curriculum to match it. For example, in the last 2 years, AngularJS has skyrocketed in demand, so Sabio's curriculum changed accordingly. Regardless of the language learned at Sabio, what's even more valuable is how Sabio's curriculum trains you to break a big coding problem down into smaller, more managable problems that you can feel confident taking on.
- Real-world experience: This is what makes Sabio especially unique IMO. Every cohort gets to work on a web development project for a REAL company. For my cohort, we created a web application (specifically, an admin panel) for BeautyStreams, a beauty trend forecasting company in France. Every member of my cohort got to work on several features of the application and would have weekly/bi-weekly meetings with BeautyStreams' employee(s) to present our progress. In return for our contributions, we got to put them down as an employer on our resume and were able to list them as professional references during our job hunt. Plus, it's much easier to get a job as a Web Developer is A LOT easier when you're already working as a Web Developer on a real project for a real company, don't you think?
- Job support: Sabio gave me the opportunity to have my resume critiqued by those who have 13+ years of professional coding experience. In addition, Sabio provided a list of 200 inteview questions (that were actually asked in my interviews!) + supplemental material. They also hosted mock technical interviews. Sabio has so many connections to technical recruiters that have placed Sabio fellows in the past. and they bring these recruiters to meet us. In addition, we all help each other get jobs by referring each other to awesome job opportunities that we get from recruiters.
- 5-year mentorship program: After you graduate, you're still a member of the Sabio family for 5 years through their professional mentorship program. You will not be left alone to fend for yourself after you finish. This was especially important for me because the bootcamp and my first job is only the beginning of my journey. I want continual guidance to develop my skills and career as a developer, and Sabio provides that through monthly professional development sessions, hackathons, mixers, and hiring events. In addition, we all keep in touch with Slack after graduating, so if we ever need career advice or are struggling with our code at our jobs/personal projects, we can directly message our instructors or anyone in the Sabio family for help.
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Choosing and going through a bootcamp is like dating. It's a big commitment and will take up a lot of your time and money. Some days will be great, some days will be difficult, but it will all be worth it when you find the right one for you. Hopefully, my (lenghty) insight helps you make a more informed choice of whether Sabio is your perfect match!
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Quick side note:
Regarding the negative review below titled "Fradulent bogus camp", I have to respectfully disagree, based on my experience at real technical job interviews.
During my 3-hour in-person technical interview at SynerMed, my interviewers actually ENCOURAGED me to use Google, Stack Overflow, etc. to develop an algorithm to solve their coding challenges. They did this for several reasons:
- To simulate the real work environment of developers. At their jobs, developers of all experience levels will use Google and Stack Overflow as a starting point to solve their code block. My interviewers wanted to see that I can efficiently search online for the right information instead of getting stuck, wasting time, and/or giving up.
- To see that I can learn new information quickly from Google & S/O search results.
- To see that I can apply what I learned from Google & S/O to the unique problem at hand.
And in the end, I demonstrated these things to them and got a job out of it :)
- Instructors: Sabio currently has 3 main instructors who are all very knowledgable and experienced. My instructor Aaron has 13+ years of professional coding experience, but what resonated with me more is that he is incredibly patient, encouraging, humble, motivated, hard-working, and genuinely invested in our success. He will sit down and take the time to teach and reteach you when you're struggling, but also challenge you when he sees you're ready for it. He saw the potential in me as a developer that even I didn't see, and I am so thankful that he kept pushing me even when I doubted my abilities. He works so hard (even to the point of getting sick) because he fully believes in Sabio and makes it his goal to make sure that anyone who is willing to put in the work can learn to code well.
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Kate
THE BEST!!!
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Don't waste your time looking elsewhere!!! This is the best bootcamp ever! You will never regret your decision! Sabio makes you work on a real project, developing it from the back end to the front end, applying industry standard practices. This is why they are different from the rest of the bootcamps out there. The full stack course is intense, but all the hardwork you would put in will be worth it because you will learn so much in your training, not just in theory but in practice. Job recruiters come to the campus for possible work even before graduating. Aaron, who teaches in the Orange County location, has the experience and expertise to lead you to your new career and he's also very patient. :) I am very thankful to Gregorio and Liliana for founding this wonderful community of developers, it's like being a part of a family. Sabio is there to train and support you even after your graduation. It's a very rewarding experience! Sabio will truly change your career for the better as they did mine. :)
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Anonymous
Sabio === Family
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First and foremost I want to say that I received an offer of FULL TIME employment 4 days after graduating with a yearly income of 73k.
I was in the same place you are right now (yes you! reading this review wondering whether you should join Sabio). At that time my biggest concern was whether I could actually get employment. Now that I am on the other side, I can confidently say that yes you will find employment and I can tell you that Sabio will give you everything you need to make that happen.
What's amazing and truly unique about Sabio is the passion that Gregorio, Liliana, Aaron, John, and Jimmy have for the success of each student. It is evident as soon as you speak with them that they are in this for more than just profit. They want to make a difference in your life.
I want to thank Gregorio and Liliana for fighting against all odds to create this family.
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Catherine
no regrets
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(I accidentally gave Sabio 4 stars for job assistance. whaatttt?!)
This 12 week full stack course was the most intense but rewarding life experience!
You not only come out with an awesome high-paying job but with a family who'll be there to back you up every step of the way and give you all the support you need.Put in your best effort and you'll receive the best back. I got a job within a month of graduating.
I don't have any regrets going to Sabio!Job Assistance update:
Sabio brings in many recruiters and give you study guides with over 200 questions to help you prep for the most grueling interviews. They also bring in hiring managers and people in the HR field to help you prep your answers and gain confidence to do better in interviews! Definitely 5 stars!Thank you guys!
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Catherine Kim
Awesome
Definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to change their career path towards software development!
It's hard but the payoff is good! :)
No regrets!
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Rip
Amazing experience!
After meeting Gregoio and Liliana, I took one big risk that I have ever made in my career, enrolling in Sabio's 12-week Full Stack course. I am so happy to say that I took that risk. I have never felt this accomplished and excited for code. I highly recommend Sabio.la to anyone!!!
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Anonymous
Fraudulent bogus camp
Don't waste your time here. There's no teaching going on. 'Go Google it' is not teaching. One would be employer told me 'don't waste your time with a boot camp. There are better resources online for a lot less'.
Liliana Aide Monge of Sabio
Co-Founder & CEO
Mar 29, 2016
While we encourage our fellows to research solutions on sites like Google.com and Stackoverflow.com that is not the primary source of education and instruction. ( BTW did you know that Stackoverflow was built with .Net which is our stack of choice and why we end up with such high placement rates like 93%? Well now you do!)
Our seasoned instructors have at least 13-20 years of software development expertise and our veteran instructors spend their entire day with a small group of developers. Most of that time is one-on-one instruction. To say we expect you to do your learning from Google is a gross misrepresentation and inaccurate. Your learn from our instructors and resources we put together for our Fellows. Not from videos nor from recent grads (AKA "EIRs") like almost all of our "competitors".
It would be great if the person that wrote this post could reach out to us personally so we can determine how we can help but we are at a loss with this review. Our graduating cohort from December 2015 is fully employed and most of them attended our last graduation party so they can't be all that upset at us.
In addition, the cohort that graduated 3 weeks ago is almost at 30% with offers and we are waiting on two more already. The two cohorts that just graduated are up to and just shy of 30% with offers. Since they were still in the training room with us today we asked them all to give us feedback on your feedback. They all were shocked and provided a variety of alternative review sources.
Therefore, we are left thinking you might be the person we asked to leave our pre-work group after which you, not so subtly, suggested that you would give us a bad a review on this site. This also explains why you know very little about what actually happens in our training room. It is unfortunate you take this so personally and we ask you to understand that since we provide services to our Fellows for FIVE years, something no other bootcamp does, and because we have to maintain a high level of excellence, not only in skill but also character, we cannot just let anyone join our quality organization.
We have to be selective, because Sabio Fellows are Winners. We highly doubt this review was written by a Sabio Fellow. -
Anonymous
Sabio.la transformed my life!
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Sabio.la transformed my life! As a stay-at-home mom, the prospect of re-entering the workforce and facing the old corporate ladder with depressing. After attending a Sabio open house, I was inspired by the positive stories of recent graduates but nervous to apply since I didn’t have much experience with coding. In spite of this, I applied, was accepted as a fellow and began a great journey. Learning to code was challenging but Gregorio and Aaron provided hands on training and mentorship which highly impacted my success. My cohort built a web application that was featured on my resume and on LinkedIn for future employers to view. Sabio prepped me for the job interview process and one month after graduating, I obtained my first Software Developer job. Since then, I’ve stayed connected to Sabio through monthly alumni meetups, hackathon teams (2 of which won!), community events, and much more. This week I accepted my 2nd software developer job for $20k more than my first job; and it’s only been 9 months since graduating. Thank you Sabio!
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Anonymous
It's fun to write code at Sabio
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Joining Sabio was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Gregorio and Liliana (the founders of Sabio) are one of most considerate and the kindest persons you'll ever meet.
At Sabio, the instructors encouraged you to think because at work you're getting paid to think, a lot. I had an enjoyable experience learning to write code and it's less stress than I anticipated (in my case).
It's hardwork, but at the end of the day you'll get results. Great results in fact, you just have to stick with the plan. It's a great plan and you'll love how the plan comes together at the end of the training!
Sabio is a wise decision.
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Lyrana
Sabio Changed my life!
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Sabio has and will continue to change my life! I finished my program the second week of March 2016 and had two job offers that Friday, I can't believe that I start my first day as a Junior Software Engineer tomorrow! Hats off to Gregorio and Liliana they've really created something special that goes beyond just a basic training program--it's a community and I'm glad that I can stay connected through the monthly meet-ups, and that I can ask previous fellows as well as the instructors for help if I get stumped at work.
Here're some thoughts about the program and suggestions if you're considering joining. Pre-Work: Pre-work was tough for me because I'm not an evening person and I had a hard time focusing from 7-10pm BUT I'm so glad I stuck with it because I learned a lot during pre-work and had a base knowledge to work from once the bootcamp started. Don't get discouraged if pre-work isn't "jelling," just try to absorb what you can knowing that once you go back a second time those concepts will make a lot more sense and feel familiar to you. Focus on getting the basics down. Bootcamp: I would arrive around 8 or 8:30 and leave around 7 or 8 in the evening. I was coding or reading about code the whole day, but we did have a break for lunch. Know that everyone is going to learn at their own pace and don't be afraid to ask for help, in fact ASK MANY MANY QUESTIONS, really use your instructor as a resource. The learning curve is steep but they give you all the resources you need to climb it. You'll be amazed at all that you learn in the 12 weeks. It's really important to talk to each other about your code so that you're prepared to go on interviews. Interview Prep: Talk about your code as much as you can so that when you're in front of an employer you can sound confident. Work with recruiters and also try to find direct-hire opportunities. Network like crazy! The jobs are there for you and you'll do great! -
Maximillian Munguia
RESULTS!!!
Enrolling in Sabio's 12-week Full Stack course is the best decision I've ever made. By the end of week 10 I had already landed a job offer that pays 250% more than my last job!! It's nuts! I am still in awe. I haven't even officially graduated yet. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme; this is a become-more-valuable-in-the-job-market course. #DoIt