Springboard

Deciding factors for choosing Springboard:

• After trying to map out my learning journey, I was very overwhelmed and decided a bootcamp would provide the structure I needed to have a well-rounded base education.
• I knew I needed a bootcamp with flexibility.  Prior to joining, and throughout the course, I was working through the burn out of my previous career, and needed to also work on my personal and mental health.  The in person / virtual bootcamps I looked into had very demanding schedules, which I didn’t feel would allow me the time to absorb the information as well.  This was also confirmed after speaking with students in those programs.
• Prior to my decision to join a bootcamp, I had been studying from Colt’s videos, and enjoyed his teaching style.
• Having career support was a huge bonus, as this is something I knew I needed additional help with, and was not something I saw in other programs.
• Having the job guarantee was a nice bonus safety net, and was something that would keep me accountable.

Other things to note after completing the course:

• While completing assignments/projects on my own, my peers in other programs were completing similar projects as a team.  I think I learned more by completing the assignments on my own, but I do feel I missed out on the group work experience.  This being said, I think there were opportunities to fill this gap, if I participated more in the Slack community.  I lean more towards the introverted side, so I tended to prioritize learning on my own instead of being proactive in these conversations.
• The Springboard Support staff (relating to all things outside the curriculum) was always very helpful and responsive.
• The Career staff provided great support.  Being able to speak candidly with recruiting experts greatly boosted my confidence.  Also speaking with these experts reduced a lot of the informaiton overload from searching the internet.
• Breaks and Pauses were extremely beneficial in allowing me to successfully complete the course.
• In my experience I found the Peer Mentors in the Slack community to be more helpful than working with the on-demand mentors for assignment questions.

What I would change if I were to do it again:

• Coming into the program with little experience I wish I had planned for the course to take the full 9+ months.  Many materials required additional research outside the course, multiple views of the videos, and additional time completing the exercises.
• Participated more in the Slack community. 
• Having 1:1 meetings with a mentor in the professional community (separate from the Peer mentors, and on-demand mentors) was a great learning opportunity, although I feel I did not utilize the experience enough.  Looking back, I wish I had spent more time developing this relationship and put more focus towards practicing technical interviews.

Pros:
I’m overall satisfied with my experience in Springboard’s UI/UX bootcamp. The course materials were comprehensive, and I learned a lot from both the content and the guidance of my mentors and career coaches. Their feedback on assignments and mock interviews was especially valuable in helping me improve. The capstone projects and Industry Design Project (IDP) provided great hands-on experience, giving me the opportunity to dive deeper into real-world UI/UX challenges and build practical skills.

Cons:
The course materials were mostly curated from existing online sources like articles and YouTube videos. While Springboard organizes them so you don’t have to figure out what to read or watch, much of it felt like walls of text, which made getting through them tedious. Some resources also felt outdated—up to five years old—so I wish Springboard would update the content more frequently or develop more original material of their own. Since most of the content is free online, it feels like the bulk of your tuition really goes toward having a mentor. My mentor did provide assignment feedback and answered questions, but the interaction was limited to that. One negative experience I had was that during two consecutive calls, my mentor was on her phone while I was asking questions, which forced me to repeat myself.

I enrolled in this program in 2020 based on their heavy marketing of a “job guarantee” and a claimed 99% placement rate. Like many others, I trusted those promises — enough that I even convinced my mother to help pay for the tuition. I worked through the coursework, completed my projects, and actively applied for jobs.

When a job offer I received was rescinded, the program’s career support proved ineffective. My assigned career coach offered little practical help, and I later found that multiple other students had similar complaints. Eventually, my applications slowed because the market had shifted, but I still expected the “guarantee” to mean what any reasonable person would think it means: If you can’t get me into a job, you refund my tuition.

Instead, they tried to offer a fraction of what I paid — at first misrepresenting the math (calling $1,100 “25%” of tuition when it was really 20%), and only correcting it after I pointed it out. When I pressed for the full refund I believe I’m owed, I was met with PR-style responses, LinkedIn blocking from staff, and an unwillingness to acknowledge their own marketing implied far more than they delivered.

This entire experience has left me financially strained, emotionally drained, and with zero results in the career I trained for. I’ve since connected with other former students who feel misled or abandoned by the program after paying thousands.

If you’re considering this course, know that their “job guarantee” is not what you think it is. Read every word of their terms (which they will lean on to deny refunds) and don’t expect meaningful accountability if things go wrong. There are other learning options that don’t involve misleading promises or playing games with people’s livelihoods.

I signed up for Springboard's Data Science program and it was definitely the best career-related decision I've made in many years. I've had an interest in Data Science and AI-related topics for a while, but was never quite sure how I would go about preparing myself for the field. I had taken some smaller individual courses, which helped, but I felt I need more.

Springboard emerged as the best all-around solution for me. Their bootcamp is compact and dense (suggested 6-7 months), but trainees have the option to proceed at their own pace. The flexibility is invaluable, especially for folks who are working full-time and have other obligations. The curriculum was awesome and one of the strongest reasons for me in choosing this program. It covered so much - Data Science Method, Python programming, Data Visualization, Statistics, Machine Learning and AI, Big Data, etc. It also provided a ton of hands-on experience which really helped to build confidence in the material. All along the way, I was helped by the Springboard staff who were simply amazing! From my first call (an assessment of my suitability for the program) to my invaluable weekly mentor calls, career coaching calls, to my course completion emails and discussion, they have always been knowledgeable, super positive and done all they can to support my progress. I cannot recommend Springboard enough!

I had a fantastic experience completing the Springboard Software Engineering Bootcamp. The curriculum was comprehensive, hands-on, and up to date with current industry standards. I appreciated how the program balanced theory with real-world projects, allowing me to build a solid portfolio and gain practical experience in full-stack development.One of the biggest highlights was the personalized mentorship. My mentor provided invaluable guidance, consistent feedback, and support throughout the program, which made a huge difference in my learning journey. The career coaching sessions were also incredibly helpful in preparing for the job search, from resume reviews to mock interviews.Overall, Springboard gave me the skills and confidence to transition into tech, and I’m grateful for the structure, resources, and support it provided. I highly recommend it to anyone serious about breaking into software engineering.

Right when you sign up for that $12,355 loan, they mention that 80% of cybersecurity jobs require a Bachelor’s degree. You pay for labs that are outdated, not hands on, and study Sec+ material that is very outdated as well. The COMPTIA website has much cheaper options and it’s all updated information from the Cybersecurity community. Tryhackme.com is also $10 a month with real rooms created by coders, programmers and people who are actually in that field not looking for a quick cash grab from their credit unions. Keep in mind, you miss one coach call and they never contact you again. Once you sign up, they never contact you again. They just need you to hit that button and be approved for that loan. You’re on your own from there. Don’t waste your time, energy, money and most of all your hope for a better career. 

I chose Springboard because of the program's career support, design programming, real-world project offer, and job guarantee so I'll share my thoughts now that I've graduated.
The programming covered UX/UI design well. One HUGE oversight is the visual design deep dive. While they provide an overview, it is not enough to be competitive in the market. I shared my portfolio with senior designers, who gave me a ton of visual design feedback. Frankly, after 9 months why didn't my mentor or coach share that feedback with me? Either they didn't know or, just didn't care.
Real-world project: Frankly, this was a mess. At first, they gave me a research project when I needed a design one because you know I'm a designer. The next one, they assigned too many designer, and there was not enough work for everyone. One designer ended up without work and the project didn't ship.
Career support: My career coach didn't provide valuable feedback on my case studies and told me I should build coding skills! Mind you I took the UX design bootcamp. It's unfortunate, and now I'm just stuck with them. 

I'm a 29 year old career changer with a background in Engineering who was thinking about a career change into something more lucrative, that is projected to grow year after year in the next decade. I decided on Springboard because of their Job Guarantee, mentorship, and self-paced curriculum (which by the way deeply prepares you for a career in data, and I'm someone with a bachelor's degree in engineering from an accredited University ). The mentorship was great, you meet with your mentor who guides you in technical concepts and helps keep you accountable in completing the work. 

If you're thinking about a BootCamp, this is the one. 

From the technical curriculum and the mentorship, to how to approach the job search process, networking, and building a personal brand they work with your unique situation. 5/5 on all levels, and they are less expensive than other boot camps. The data job market is shifting, and with the current president (as of the time of this writing) passing a $500 Billion dollar investment in AI infrastructure in a project called Project Stargate, this will only bring more technical jobs to the US for the golden age of AI.

Super glad I did the program, and you will be to, I highly recommend it.

I started the Software Engineering career track with Springboard in September of 2023 and completed it in November of 2024. It took me longer than expected (10-11 months is the expectation) to complete the course since I had to balance my schedule with a full time job with work related travel and many life events but the Springboard team was very accommodating and allowed me to finish in a timeline that worked for my situation. 

I already work in software as a business systems analyst but taking the software engineering track was valuable for me because it helped me get more in depth knowledge in the technical side of my work and a deeper understanding of what the developers on my team work through day to day. The course material in Springboard provided me a good technical baseline to continue my education in software because it gave me a good principled understanding of software development and how current web based applications generally work. 

Despite some of the technologies and frameworks being taught in the course not being the latest and most popular in the industry, the understanding gained from this bootcamp allowed me to explore and pick up new technologies very quickly because it gave me a good foundational understanding of how web applications work. So I would recommend not reading into which languages/frameworks are being taught in Springboard as a detractor from taking this course. The material is of high quality and Colt Steeles videos are very easy to follow and well planned out.

• My background in physics, research, and engineering helped me feel well-prepared for the course.
• While a strong foundation in math was beneficial, it wasn’t absolutely critical for success.
• The course material was engaging, especially during the early stages.
• Machine learning was taught through a hands-on approach, starting with simple concepts and scaling up to complex implementations.
• Worked on three capstone projects, gaining valuable experience in finding datasets, formulating the right questions, and executing the full data science workflow.
• Career services provided excellent support throughout the program.
• Mentorship was a standout feature, providing regular meetings that offered guidance and kept me on track with incremental progress.

At the end of it, I feel humbly confident that I can contribute meaningfully to any data science team.

About me: I decided on the bootcamp route because I knew I needed a structured curriculum with my readings and assignments laid out for me. During this process, I worked part time, around 20 hours per week. On average, I studied around 12 hours per week. I completed Springboard’s UX/UI program in just under 10 months.
Pros:- Detailed curriculum covers all the fundamentals of the UX design process. Note that most of the curriculum is made up of free articles and Youtube videos that you hypothetically could find yourself, but the benefit is that they’ve saved you time by finding and vetting them for you. Expect to occasionally do your own deep dives, but you'll have a clear roadmap.- Graded assignments give you the chance to practice the skills you're learning and get feedback on where you can improve.- Flexibility. You can go at your own pace, even in your own order to an extent. Although a lot of people didn't finish within the allotted 9 months (it took me 10 and I was ahead of much of my cohort), there were a few options for free extensions baked into the program.- A dedicated mentor with meetings every 1-2 weeks. Note: mileage may vary for this one, but my mentor was awesome. He gave fair critiques of my work, was honest about the state of the design industry right now and what it takes to succeed, and answered my questions thoroughly with examples.- Career coaching during the bootcamp and after completion. Similar to the mentorship situation, it depends on who you get but it's nice to have someone to review your application materials and keep you accountable to your goals.- The Independent Design Project (IDP) is a chance to work with a real company so that you will graduate with real-world experience on your resume. This was one of my main reasons for choosing Springboard, and I definitely found the experience useful.


Cons:- Parts of the curriculum are in need of an update. Some articles are up to 10 years old and, on rare occasions, an article might no longer be available.- The curriculum timelines may throw you off a bit. For example, the suggested amount of time for some assignments doesn't take into account that many people are completely new to the software/topics. I also wish some career portions of the curriculum were switched around, but as mentioned above, you can usually work in whatever order you’d like.- The job guarantee (get your money back if you don't land a job in 6-12 months) is real but the stipulations are very tedious. To remain eligible for the job guarantee, you'll need to 1) complete the course, 2) apply to a certain number of jobs per week following completion, 3) make a certain number of *new* contacts every week and carry out a few informational interviews per month, and 4) prove that you are continuing to upskill.
All in all, although I have some complaints, I have no regrets about going through with the bootcamp. I feel like I have a good foundation to apply for entry/junior level roles.

Pros:

• Job Guarantee: The bootcamp’s job guarantee is a strong incentive. If you meet all the specified requirements, this can provide peace of mind about employment prospects.
• CompTIA Security+ Certification: The program includes preparation for the CompTIA Security+, which is an essential credential in the industry.
• Mentorship: Having a mentor with real-world experience was invaluable. They offered advice, resources, and personal insights that made a significant difference.
• Career Coaching: The career calls and coaches were well-informed and dedicated. They genuinely want to help students succeed and are passionate about their roles.
• Course Structure: The structured course kept me accountable, and I don’t think I would have pushed myself as hard without it.

Cons:

• Curriculum: Some areas of the curriculum felt lacking in hands-on experience. While helpful, it was sometimes too theoretical to fully prepare for the job market.
• Outdated Technology in Labs: The live labs can feel outdated, which makes practicing with current tech a challenge.
• Certification Timing: Not receiving the CompTIA Security+ certificate until the end made it hard to fully grasp certain concepts during the modules.
• Content Availability: Some of the material is freely available online (like on YouTube). This approach might save the bootcamp money on instructors but feels less robust for students.
• Isolation & Limited Cohort Interaction: There’s minimal interaction with other cohorts, and the Slack channel is fairly quiet, which can feel isolating.
• Inconvenient Timing for Events: Many events and office hours favor early mornings, making it challenging for those working a 9-5 job alongside the bootcamp.

 The Springboard Data Science Career Track provides a thorough introduction to data science, covering foundational skills before moving into advanced topics. The curriculum includes programming in Python, SQL, and machine learning techniques, as well as mentorship with industry professionals. The course is self-paced, which is ideal for those balancing other commitments, and includes project-based learning, allowing students to build a professional portfolio. 

I was enrolled at springboard in the Software Engineering Career Track - Foundations to Core. This bootcamp really gave me the tools I needed to get a deep understanding of not just code but what it takes to be a software engineer.  From the start in HTML and CSS to incorporating JS and then python. I went from not knowing what html even was to making full stack applications in the realm of cryptocurrency and property management. I made these projects with two completely different stacks and both we huge achievements for someone who knew so little when I began. The bootcamp gave me the tools to look into other languages as well, such as C, C#, Cobol and Erlang. Honestly springboard fostered an environment of rapid growth and allowed me to explore beyond its walls as well. I would highly recommend them.

I took/am close to finishing the Web Development course.  It focuses on HTML/CSS and Javascript and is tailored toward people new to software development.  I have a computer science degree and several years of software development experience, but not in web development.  So I took this course to update my skillset.

This course is good for both.  It properly explains things, such as, "what is the cloud?", how data is routed around the world wide web, etc.  It also discusses many programming concepts and source control.  I'm familiar with all those things but most people likely are not.

Where I benefitted, and new web developers will too, is the hands on experience coding up HTML/CSS and Javascript.  There are lessons and programming exercises that keep you interested.  Your progress is tracked by weekly point status and you have access to TA's and are assigned a mentor to help with technical content.  You also have counselors and career advisors to help you navigate through all the other aspects of a new career.  My mentor and counselors were excellent.

If you are having difficulty finding a curriculum I suggest you check out the Springboard Software Development Career Program.

Overall, I would say my experience with program in its entirety is fairly positive. The highlights of the bootcamp are definitely the mentor support, career mentor support, and the online community that you will be apart of as a student. All those support systems provide lots of insight into the program and also what it is really like to work in this career in real life. Th curriculum itself is not bad, it uses Linkedin Learning and Datacamp to solidify a foundation in coding and using different software and then is supplemented with multiple projects and assignments for you to practice and improve. Some assignments can be difficult and capstone projects are daunting at first but I was easily able to find direction, guidance, and assistance through my mentor. A con for this course would be that it is basically 100% online and that might be bad for those who have trouble learning remotely. 

I'm near the end of my program and I can't imagine being less satisfied with my experience at Spring board. With the exception of some members of the career team their staff is entirely unhelpful. I've never spoken to my student advisor despite multiple attempts and I'm working with my second mentor after the first one rushed me off of each call and now my second just doesn't show up. Most of the coursework is not unique to Springboard you're essentially paying a big pricetag for a subscription to Linkedin Learning and Datacamp. 

The only cons to the bootcamp are the fact that the labs are simple click and post labs. Outside of this, the resources availble to help grow, amazing mentors with current experience in the field, career coaches with experience in the job market, and full control of how to manage time and generous payment options, all contribute to how amazing Springboard is for anyone getting into cybersecurity. Furthermore, they also prepare you to take the Security + and pay giving you the ultimate starter kit to embark on your job search.

Springboard’s Cybersecurity Career Track was transformative. The comprehensive curriculum, hands-on projects, and 1-on-1 mentorship prepared me thoroughly for a cybersecurity career. The supportive community and career coaching boosted my confidence and job readiness.

**Pros:**
- Comprehensive curriculum
- Hands-on projects
- 1-on-1 mentorship
- Supportive community
- Effective career coaching

**Cons:**
None

Springboard was a monumental help in getting me into my career as a Data Analyst. The course is a perfect blend between the analytics curriculum and career support which makes the job search upon completion much more manageable. The support from mentors and students is prevalent and helpful to your success in the course. I would recommend any of Springboard's course to anyone who is interested in stepping into a tech-oriented field.

I was nervous, getting back into an educational program after a miserable time in higher education. However, Springboard turned out to be a good choice – self guided but also with a little bit of oversight, and a Pass/Fail system rather than worrying about grades and additional numbers! That being said, Springboard isn't perfect, and I hope that some of the changes I had mentioned to my mentor over the past 7 months get brought to someone's attention, or get fixed in some way. I do think that there could be some other review/testing for certain segments instead of pushing it in the end, and some of my external graders/reviewers ended up either making me feel less confident in what I was doing, or simply had unintentionally set me up for failure on a later assignment. However, when I asked for help and when I received it, it was fantastic! Definitely worth it, and I can't wait to see what success this has lined me up for!