I'll do my best to give what I feel is a realistic perspective of the situation you're faced with as it relates to Sabio's bootcamp experience. You've pry read several reviews that say stuff like, 'changed my life', 'best experience' or 'best decision of my life' which at the time they wrote those reviews was probably a genuine description of how they felt, but trust me that is far from how you'll feel 95% of the time.

In reality you'll constantly question if you've made a good decision. And with good merit you'll doubt your ability. Its hard, its real hard and if you're not putting in a 100% effort they will kick you out. I've seen it happen (no, I was not personally kicked out). It doesn't matter that you paid $15,000+ to be there they will kick out to maintain the reputation of the organization and future students ability to secure jobs. This however, isn't necessarily a bad thing. If they let every random person pass through no matter thier effort your job seeking efforts would be even harder than they already are.

The thing they dont tell you, that nobody tells you (why would they) in the begining is that when you do start looking for a job the fact that you come from a boot camp will work against you at every turn. So much so that they train you to avoid mentioning that you came from Sabio at all costs. You'll be trained to claim you worked for a "Start-up" and then you'll name the project you worked on. If someone asks what you were paid they suggest you claim you worked for "equity" (meaning "sweat equity", not a total lie but, well....). Obviously they tell you not to lie, what respectable organization would? But they tell you to do everything possible short of lying and in many cases it sure feels like lying (see previous sentence). This obviously makes the job search & interview process even more stressfull than it already is. Not only do you have to try to remember years of coding skills rammed into your head over 3 months you have to tip-toe around the fact that you just left a coding boot camp. This is a fact no matter what CEO response might follow this review.

Also, I think its worth mentioning that Sabio fired 3 of the most talented instructors in the organization. Aaron, Varr and the c# wizard Komron (all from Orange County). This left many students feeling abandoned and justifiably so. These were people they struggled with and gained confidence through and then suddenly they were just gone. This considerably diminished the $15,000 tuition value they paid. Many of us students are still confused as to why this happened. We were given a cryptic explanation of the reason for the instructors dismissal that would never allow me to declare if it were justifiable or not.

I dont mention all this to deter you from enlisting Sabio's services. But I do mention it as a reality check, this is not a short cut. This will be a real life struggle. Having said all that I still believe it is the best boot-camp around but this is not the golden ticket you might percieve it to be from the reviews. They provide just enough experience to scratch the surface, just enough to crack the job door open and then its up to you to do whatever you can to break it down. What you're embarking on is a learning experience that will go on long after you've left Sabio. Sabio is just a very small stepping stone in your attempt to cross the Grand Canyon.

Although they often bad mouth those that have paid for the high value "computer science" degrees they are still the ones that get the most attention with those designations on their resumes. My suggestion if you're young is to take the time to get a computer science degree. Be patient, you're young. It will be worth, trust me. If you can afford it, blow your money on Stanford, sure.... why not if you can afford it??

If not, go to a junior college and take a few years to get just an AS with a computer science emphasis or go get a bunch of computer science certifications. THEN, when you've had enough of that come back to Sabio and get some real world development experience. With a computer science degree and the coding experience of Sabio you would be in a really good place. If thats not an option, bite the bullet and be prepared to jump in the fire.

One last thing I want to mention. Pre-work is nothing like the immersive cohort. The cohort experience isn't just about being able to code. Its about being able to code and then get up in front of everyone and communicate what you did in terms you've never heard before that you have no idea if you're even saying correctly. You'll be required to stand in front of everyone, every single day and explain what you're working on, demo your code every week and on special occassions in front of A LOT of people. If you get stage fright, good luck. Your experience may become less about coding and more about how to navigate the anxieties that come with public speaking. It most likely will not be a fun experience but Sabio will prepare you better than any other boot camp out there. Good luck whatever you do.

***My review is anonymous because I do not want to be contacted by anyone at Sabio that may recognize my name. I did not write the review for recognition. I was a recent student that completed the full program and this is my real account of what I experienced. I was not kicked out. I have no incentive to discredit Sabio and any response by Sabio to the contrary is completely false. I've applied to a few hundred positions and received approximately 5 interviews. I have a tentative job offer I am considering.

Sabio was a great experience for me and coming out of the program I landed a position that paid me way more than I was asking for 

I graduated college and spent 20k in tuition fees for a piece of paper that got me no where. If I had to do it all over again, I wish I had enrolled into Sabio's program earlier. When I made the decision to come to Sabio, I did a lot of research. I went to all of the coding bootcamp's info sessions in my area and decided that Sabio would be the best choice simply because they truly care about the success of their students. I really like the fact that each cohort has a max of 10 students to 1 instructor. This is crucial because it allows for the instructor to spend more time with a student. One big advantage that Sabio has over all the other bootcamps is they don't employ past students as their lead instructor. I find bootcamps that employs their own students as lead instructors a huge red flag simply because you will not receive the same quality of expertise as someone who has 10+ years under their belt. Another deal breaker for me is the fact that Sabio has their students work on real life enterprise projects. We aren't showcasing a simple tic-tac-toe game or a simple personal project, we are creating business applications that will be used by companies. 

Now I must warn you, please do not enroll into this program and expect that success will be handed to you. This is a full-time job and it must be treated like one. You must work your butt off every single day and go above and beyond what is expected. For the last 3 months, I literally said goodbye to my social life, friends, and family because you will not have time for that. Be prepared to come in at 8AM and leave at 9PM every day. You are doing this for yourself so I highly recommend you put everything you have into it as if your life depends on it.

After my time at Sabio not only was I employed the first week of graduating but I received multiple offers. Sabio prepared me and made sure I was ready as a software developer. I can't be any happier with the results and I recommend this program for anybody who is passionate about coding and wants a career doing so. 

If you're planning on signing up for a bootcamp, do your homework and research!

I certainly did mine, and am sincerely glad I signed up with Sabio. 

Read all the reviews provided here on coursereport, go to Sabio's info sessions, talk to instructors, students and alumni. 

All the reviews here pretty much sums up how I feel about Sabio so I'm not going to repeat it. You're going to learn a ton from instructors with loads of experience.

If you've pulled the trigger and are just waiting on your start date, here's my advice:

-Take the pre-course work seriously. If you think you're ready, you're not. Go over the pre-course material as many times as you can until your start date begins. 

-Keep a notebook. You're instructors going to have a lot to say when you ask him/her a question. Be ready to write down key words, concepts, and stuff you don't understand. 

-Ask questions! Starting day one, ask lots of questions. Encourage your fellows to ask questions. Dumb, smart, reptitive. Ask questions! Bother the sh*t out of your instructors(especially Gregorio if you get a hold of him). You've already invested your time and money; make it count.

-Remind yourself that you're learning something not too many people can do. Don't be too harsh on yourself when you don't understand something at first. Give yourself some time to process the information. And if you still don't understand something, remember to ask your instructor to elaborate until you understand.  

I'm sure there's more advice, but I can't seem to remember them. Just remember to ASK QUESTIONS!

Thank you, Gregorio and Jimmy for your instruction and guidance!

Good luck to all current and future fellows! Put in the work, and I'm certain you'll do fine.

Before Sabio: While working in marketing, I dabbled here and there with coding, but was no where near employable for a full-time junior developer position.

After Sabio: Dozens of interviews and multiple offers. Now a developer at a startup. Yay!

Experience: Fantastic. I learned something new every day and was excited to do so. There's no greater feeling than seeing your first feature being published and working on an actual website, rather than just a personal project. If you put in the work that they tell you from the start, you'll do well ("Code, Code, Code"). Everyone in your cohort works together, so it's not just the instructors that are great, but the cohort you are in usually ends up being pretty close and helping each other out a lot. 

Job Assistance: They prep you very well for the interview questions you'll encounter. They help you with your resume so that it shows everything you need to show employers. I ended up with multiple offers and dozens of on-site interviews (after the initial phone screens/intro calls). Coming from knowing the bare bones of programming to getting multiiple offers in a few months time is definitely not something I could've imagined before I found Sabio.