Sabio

There are not enough words to describe how truly grateful I am for what I received from my experience at Sabio. My time there was not easy but it was absolutely worth doing all over again. I guess the biggest reason why I picked Sabio became apparent to me after first interviewing with them. They are not a coding sweatshop ran solely to make money, though it is grueling; the founders are incredible people who care deeply about each of the eight people who finish a cohort. As a result of the level of quality they deliver, I was able to land a high paying job before I even graduated the bootcamp. 

 

Before I started the bootcamp I had absolutely no experience in programming, and didn’t even feel comfortable with a computer. I have an unrelated degree in Spanish and History; and yet, I decided to look into programing and started checking out different bootcamps and reading reviews to figure out which one to join. I’ll list out the reasons I decided on Sabio and what I learned in hindsight.

Reason’s why I would choose Sabio all over again:

It is NOT a factory pumping out programmers with little to no skills. This was a determining factor in choosing not to go with some of the other options, and after having finished the bootcamp, I came out confident in my ability to figure out problems needed to get things done.  

-It is NOT a class where you go and listen to someone go on for hours

-It is NOT a place to be babied.

-They DO NOT hire they own fellows. All the instructors have 10 years of experience or more.

-They teach you to be resourceful and think like a programer.

-There are only 8 students per class.

-They have a TON of pre-work and resources to make sure you learn as much as possible before you start the program so that you get the most out of your time there.

-They invest in you before you invest in them. You can come to their pre-work classes and get a taste of the program and make your decision without having to pay anything up front.

-They have a system in place that has proven to be successful (I got a job a week before graduating) 

-The founders are real people who genuinely care about you and your success and you can feel that when you meet them. 

The program is intense, but very rewarding. Gregorio and Liliana (the founders) take the time to meet everyone and make sure that everyone’s needs are met. They check up on you as often as they can and adjust reasonable requests. Gregorio usually stays on campus late, so if you're there programing he makes himself available to answer questions and help you when you're stuck. You definitely get way more attention than what you pay for and this was invaluable to me. 

The best thing about this program is that you’re actually building a product that you can then brag about. The other bootcamps out there have little projects that anyone with decent google skills can build without going through a 3 month bootcamp. Throughout my 3 months at Sabio we build an app, had meetings with the product owner, worked in an agile development… to say the least, it is as close to the real world environment as it can get. So when you get your first job, you are already familiar with how things run in a development environment and you can easily navigate through it.

Choosing Sabio was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I guarantee you that it will also be yours.

 

PS: There is an added bonus… They feed you Cuban food every now and then! ;)

I know what you are thinking. "can I really be a full stack developer in 3 months?". Well the answer is yes you can! I was very skepticle at first but It honestly works. 4 people out of the 8 (including myself) already have jobs! and good paying ones as well! Sabio hiring is in the high 90% range. 

The Course it self is a great way to learn how to code. Form day 1 you start to code! there is very lillte lecture and a whole lot of coding.

If you are really interested go on the website and Contact Liliana! shes awesome and will answer any questions you have.

you wont regret it!

 

 

With no prior computer programming experience, I was able to change my career path with the 12-week weeday program that Sabio offers. I was initially on track to become a scientific researcher with a background in biochemistry, however, choosing to apply problem solving skills to the booming tech industry was been the best decision I've made for my future thus far. The Sabio founders are completely committed to the programmers that pass through their program and they have created an explorative atmosphere of pushing boundaries when it comes to the development of their students. Their mentorship extends far beyond the duration of the "in-class" training and I consider myself lucky to be part of the Sabio family. With smaller class sizes (7 in my cohort), there is unlimited access to a senior developer and that attention went a long way in ingraining .Net development skills into my daily routine. I worked on this cohort team to create a functioning web app, similar to the workplace environment. I learned technologies/policies that companies are eager to develop in and was an immediate target for employers right out of my 12 weeks. I would highly recommend Sabio for anyone attempting to shift their career path into the tech industry. It is a difficult transition to make, and there will always be an excuse to remain stagnant. However, my days are fulfilling in the workplace and I have a sense of satisfaction through completing the program and coming into the office facing new challenges that I know I can overcome through the fundamentals learned at Sabio.

Having had no former training in computer science or coding, within just three months at Sabio I learned enough about the languages, theories, and culture of web programming to get hired in a mid-level role, making $20K more per year than I ever had in any previous job. Students will definitely get out of it what they put into it, so be prepared to commit 12 hours/day to the bootcamp to maximize your experience and realize the best financial gains after graduation. Some instructors are better than others, so I would recommend going to a couple info sessions, meeting the instructors and some former/current students, figuring out whom you might learn the most from, and register accordingly. The curriculum was still being refined when I went through but I hear it's getting stronger. "Job Assistance" comes in the form of one (two if you're lucky) mock interview, a study guide with potential interview questions, a resume writing seminar, and the occassional referral to recruiters or hiring managers. Sabio does what they can, but with limited staff focused on other priorities, they can't offer much and you shouldn't expect them to place you. In order to get hired you're going to have to put in a ton of your own effort, perhaps over the course of months. Nevertheless, despite the room for improvement that exists, the Sabio experience is incredibly rewarding. The co-founders are super-genuine and passionate about what they do, and the #sabionation provides all graduates with an amazing network of colleagues and industry insiders for life. Investing in Sabio was probably the smartest decision I've made in my entire professional life. I highly recommend it to anyone serious about learning and seriously willing to make a full commitment to a 12-week bootcamp.

Less than a year ago I had zero programming experience, and now I've been employed full time as a software developer for 7 months. I was hired 3 weeks before the program even ended. Sabio throws you into the full development experience right from the beginning. I quickly gained the skills that make me a highly desirable asset to companies looking for tech talent, and I was given all the core knowledge and resources to be able to learn and grow independently. It's unbelievable where I am with my skill level and confidence in coding in such a short amount of time, and this is just the beginning. This career is exciting, fun, and best of all, it's challenging and engaging every day. A complete life changer all thanks to Sabio.

The bootcamp program drops you into the trenches of learning how to code as a full-stack developer. From application life cycle to third party api's the course allows you become a confident entry-level developer. Not only in theory but in actual pratice. The process, the srcum methodologies, moving from front-end on one task to back-end on the next.  The instructor is great providing the tools for you to succeed, in addition the right amount of handholding for you to be able to start picking up habits that transfer into the workplace. 

I did the 20-week weekend Sabio course; it was grueling, but it paid off for sure.  I knew nothing about coding before joining Sabio, and now I'm enjoying a great full-time job as a web developer, making $10,000 more/year than I was at my last non-tech job -- plus better benefits.  I still get calls from recruiters every day offering me jobs, and those recruiters who know Sabio state unequivocally that its graduates are hands-down better prepared and demonstrably more knowledgeable than graduates of any of the other bootcamps in town.  Our class competed in and won $2500 in a hackathon four months into the program (two months before we graduated), and I've since won first place at another hackathon since graduating.  The instruction at Sabio is amazing, and the support outside of class remains incredible.  Especially if you are female, you will not be able to find a more supportive learning environment, guaranteed.  Forget the other bootcamps in town that teach you next-to-nothing and cost just as much if not more; what you want is Sabio.

My experience with Sabio thus far has been stellar. The co-founders are really personable, and seem genuinely concerned about all of their graduates -- even after they leave the program. They are building a community around the program, which is great for networking and mentorship. The amount of pre-work assigned was manageable, and the instructor made himself available to go over questions in the pre-work too. Once the course started there has been a lot of support -- not just from the instructor, but also for the space, where we can stay into the wee hours of the night to work together. Especially as a woman and a Latina, I find Sabio's mission to diversify tech to be really comforting and a great way to enter the tech scene. And perhaps the biggest plus: the class is only 8 people, so there's a lot of one-on-one attention for each student — I can't imagine trying to do this work and also trying to compete for an instructor's time. I love how this program is geared toward getting Fellows professional gigs as soon as possible, too. I would enthusiastically recommend this program to anyone who is interested in working in tech.

A truly full stack web development program.  Very intense.   Good amount of prework although I could have used prework for the C# parts intead of just front end(HTML, CSS, JS, JQuery).

The program structure was clearly outlined at the beginning which I liked.   The instructor was exceptionally good and fielding questions and guiding you to the answer without giving it away.   We had great comradery among fellows which helped bearing the significant amount of pressure from the intense pace.

I missed a little bit of general theory of the programming concepts we were applying.

Attended Sabio.LA for the weekend training and absolutely loved it! Had just the best time with my fellow students and loved the instructor! Gregorio is a brilliant and talented programmer with 15 years of experience and the class is a very hands-on and catered to your individual learning.  We also built a start up's website from the ground up which was super cool cuz it will live on!  I highly recommend the program to anyone looking to get into programming.  I am now a Junior Developer at a company in Los Angeles and loving it.

Overall View:
Overall you're expected to work individually on videos that are uploaded to their website. There is no "in-person" location, it's just an office and zero faculty. You're expected to watch videos and write code from ~8/9am - 8/9pm. The day-to-day usually involves an absurd amount of meetings about various things (interviews of past attendees, finished products from graduating cohorts, lessons, etc). You get a 1 hour lunch break and (expectedly) a 1 hour dinner break. There is also an expectation that you code a minimum of 2 hours a day and a minimum of ~25hours per week. The instructors can check up on you at any time during the day to ensure that you're at your computer and will give you a notice of "academic probation" if you don't show.

The Tests:
You will not be given an exact schedule of when you test. You could be told (from my experience), 4 days prior or even 2 days prior that you'll have a test. There are no defined expectations of what is passing or failing, it's entirely decided by the instructors. Our cohort asked for additional information and clarification on what we should be studying for and where we should be as far as progress goes. They also do not describe what is failing the course and what is passing the course. You could fail 3 tests and be fine, or you could fail 1 and be kicked out. They don't tell you because it's easier on them to not say.

The Queue:
They expect you to check in once a day and ask a question. The owner of the business is very lenient on his instructors when it comes to being strict on the students. There are absolutely amazing staff that help you through (what feels like) the most difficult problems. There are also staff which can be extremely judgmental and demanding, they will not accept input from students and will carry on. While required to show up to the queue at least once a day, they can close the queue without notice. You will not be given a schedule of when it's open and closed, you will not be given an exact time the queue closes for the day, and you will not be told the wait time. There were some students that had to wait 1-2 hours, and that's extremely frustrating when you have several questions throughout the day. There are times I've waited 5 minutes. 

Standup:
Usually a simple "What did you do?", "What will you do today?", "Is there anything blocking you?". Some instructors don't care, some care a tremendous amount. The purpose is to prepare you for standups that occur outside of the training environment. The reality is that

The Videos:
This one is much harder to critique. Gregorio had a wonderful vision for what he wanted his students to achieve. As a whole, the videos simplify a complicated topic and make you look wonderful when you exit Sabio. Unfortunately, there are some missing pieces as far as concepts go. If you're someone who needs to understand the "why" behind things, you often time will not get it. The retort you get for bringing this up is "Just go to the queue, that's what it's for." It'd be helpful, as this is an accelerated program, to not have to wait up to 1 hour for my question to be answered.

My Message To Sabio:
I'd advise a way to give anonymous input to help give your students a voice. It is extremely frustrating and difficult to try to help improve the program from a student's point of view if you're not being heard. We want the program to work too, we've signed up for it and many of us have paid money for it.

The queue can be improved, it'd be nice to see something added where we can see how many students are ahead of us and how many faculty are answering queues at that time.

I had no idea which staff member was for what. It'd be nice to know who I talk to for which types of concerns and why. A simple PDF with names and the ways the staff may be involved with the students would be helpful.

A schedule. As someone who likes to prepare and have a good outlook on the program, I had no idea where we were going and why. It'd be nice to see a simple (very generalized) schedule. It doesn't have to be exact week-by-week, it could just be an ideal outlook of the 17 week program.

Some of the videos need to be reshot because there are things that instructors say are incorrect or that instructors need to clarify. Having links to the finished code (heck, make it so I can't copy and paste it, just a screenshot would be nice) so I could compare it with my own would be wonderful. 

There are concepts that needed further reading, a simple link that describes them more would be excellent. It seems as though the front half of the 17 week program did that, but the later half didn't as much.

The owner admitted he has dyslexia, can someone spell check him in his website?