Springboard

Overall a good experience and worth it. If you're looking to change careers, I definitely recommend it. There are some issues to be aware of, however. 

If you have some coding experience coming in, there's currently no way to skip parts of the course you already know. 

The curriculum relies heavily on Datacamp classes and videos. There are long stretches of the curriculum where all you're doing is watching videos of talks, lectures, etc. If this is not a good learning style for you, definitely consider something else. 

The capstone projects are great, but the learning curve is a bit steep between the first one, which is fully guided, and the second one, which is fully independent. In general you have to be a very self-motivated person to succeed with this curriculum.

The biggest draws of this program are the mentoring and the job guarantee. Meeting with a mentor every week is really fantastic, even if you don't need any help that given week it still helps to stay on track. And with the job guarantee, I feel confident that I will either get my money's worth out of this program, or get my money back.  Read less

Had a really good experience and found the platform, tools, and structure to be very well thought through to allow me to learn the material. Having an assigned Mentor was a really nice touch. Having weekly calls with my Mentor was great as it gave me the ability to speak with someone in the industry to get advice and ask questions on the material if I felt stuck.  I also appreciated that they offered a prep course before committing to the full course as  I was able to ensure that I was a good fit for this career track..  Read less

I was debating on whether or not to go with Springboard for my bootcamp experience. I was looking at other bootcamps and decided that I wanted to try out Springboard's style of teaching and signed up for their Software Engineering Career Track Prep Course. After completing the prep course I can truly say that I am going to be signing up for the full career track. The ease of the user interface and the straightforward teaching style of Colt Steele surpassed by expectations. I thought that by learning mostly through videos that I would not be able to learn as competently as an in person bootcamp but I feel that it prepared me more by letting me go at my own pace. The mentors and the ta's are an excellent resource for when you are feeling stuck on a specific problem, or if you just have a simple question that you need answered. Overall I really enjoyed the introductory prep course for Springboard's software engineering  career track and I cannot wait to embark on the full track in the coming weeks.  If you are hesitant I would advise you to reach out and speak to one of their admissions counselors to clarify any questions that you may have about the in's and out's of the program. Read less

Mentor was the best part here after the curriculum. Enjoyed the overall learning new skills in Tableau, Python, SQL, how to approach the problem etc.
Capstone Projects are the one where you can get a real feel of the overall usage of your learning. Supportive on line tech career coaches.  Read less

Pros: Deferred Tuition
         Good Curriculum
         Work at your own pace
         Job Guarantee
         Unlimited Mentor Calls
Cons: No LIVE instructors.  All instruction is done via prerecorded videos.
          No jobs set up immediately following graduation.  They should have partner firms who hire grads out of school immediately.
          The student has to find their own job.
          No immediate email or chatroom response.  If you call, you are most likely going to have to leave a vm and you may be                    responded to in a day or two. Read less

I loved this course! I was a bit nervous to do an online course (For accountability, I prefer in person courses, but nowadays with COVID, everything is online), but the one-on-one mentorship was great! My mentor was an actual industry person, with lots of great experience. He answered all of my questions (about the curriculum and the industry in general), he gave me great resources to enhance my learning and he was always very encouraging. The Springboard platform is very easy to use. The videos are easy to understand and short (so you can focus on one topic, master it, and come back to it if need be). Colt Steele teaches most of the videos and he is super easy to understand and I was able to code alongside. This course is a great way to try out software engineering and see if you like it! The combination of the online learning and the mentorship are a great way to start out! Read less

I enrolled with Springboard in 2020 with the goal to switch careers into a UI/UX Design role. I learned so much and feel very confident entering into a new career now. The coursework is relevant and easy to digest. The structure of the course flows nicely and builds as you go, its also easy to track your progress. Calls with your one on one mentor are a wonderful part of the curriculum as they allow you to discuss problems you are experiencing and receive advice. The Independent Design Project is also a great feature because it gives you the opportunity to work with real companies on actual problems. Overall, I would recommend this course to anyone that is considering pivoting into a UI/UX Design career. Read less

I landed at the Springboard UX Design Career Track actually as a compromise because of the limited seat of UX Design Bootcamp by General Assembly. I would say that this is the most awesome 'compromise' ever in my life - the comprehensiveness of the course content (although it takes a longer time, it pays you back in the quality of your work) can equip me with a similar knowledge level as those graduated with design degrees; the 1-1 mentorship is a highly valued experience from every classmate I've talked to, with an industry expert assessing every piece of my work closely; the amazing career guidance that keeps me motivated throughout the career transition journey. I am working on the program on a part-time basis which is not easy and as one of my classmates says "never enough sleep", but it makes my past 1.5 years so fruitful that I can see a much bright career prospect ahead. Read less

The Springboard UX/UI design career track is an amazing online learning experience. The course content is very carefully curated (you often revisit concepts which really makes sure the info sticks!) and you come away confident with the skills you develop. The mentorship is extremely important and helpful - every week you have at least 1 call with your mentor to review your work and bounce ideas off of each other. The Springboard support team are also great and the student advisors were always really reactive and helpful. The Industry Design Project is also an amazing opportunity as you get to work with a real client and other designers on a real product. I highly recommend the course! Read less

I'm not typically one for online learning, I much prefer in person classroom settings. However, given the pandemic of the previous year I thought it would be best to enroll in a program that was built to be online rather than converted. Overall, I was really pleased with my experience at Springboard. The curriculum was engaging and useful, my mentor was a great asset and I really enjoyed working with my student advisors and the career coaches. Read less

I really did love Springboard and the curriculum it had to offer. It was extensive, well organized, and helpful. I also loved the mentorship. I trusted my mentor and he really was there to help whenever I needed guidance. However, the course is very long. I worked hard to complete the course in 7 months, however, it got dragged on. Unfortunately, I ended the course being very frustrated and upset by how my time was stretched. Read less

I enrolled in this program to transition my career from recruiting to data analytics and it was very much worth it. It not only equip me with the technical skill-set required to function properly in the industry, but also helped me navigate through this transition smoothly. I recommend this program to everyone who's looking to kisk-start their career into the industry of Data Analytics. Read less

Doing a Springboard's UI/UX design program happens to be genuinely life-changing. The skills I've learned, especially design and career skills, are priceless. Now that I am working as a UX Intern in a real firm, I feel very well prepared for the tasks associated with my job to deliver professional work. 

I was fascinated by how well designed Springboard's curriculum. I learned the UI and UX design concepts within a nine-month course, covering user research, design exemplars, and applications. 

I can say that having done this course was cost and time-effective for me. I'm glad I decided on Springboard over a master's program. 

In addition to this, I enjoyed that Springboard is self-paced, and the staff is very accomodating. They allowed breaks in case you have family emergencies or health issues.  Read less

One summer in college I took two 6-week summer classes in the same session. The Springboard workload is a lot like that, but for the duration of six months. The student advisors help you along, though, and you get 3 pauses that can be up to 3 weeks long. The curriculum covers everything. I had some knowledge of UX going in, but the bootcamp filled in the gaps I had in user research, data synthesis, and design planning while allowing me to practice and level up the skills I already had.

The curriculum was a great curation of reading, lectures, and interactive lessons. Maybe I wish there were a few more lectures to break up the heavy reading units, but that’s nitpicking. On your first week, you get paired with a mentor who helps you apply your learning to a steady stream of projects. My mentor was great. She always had an insight or a resource to guide me and never got frustrated when I struggled or fell behind. You aren’t graded in the traditional way. You review project progress with your mentor, and they give you feedback to make changes. It’s technically pass/fail, but in practice, it trades the stick and carrot for a kind of conversation that results in the best possible portfolio. 

Online learning is a different animal than in-person learning. You have to be good at managing your time and staying focused. If you need the social element of a classroom, digesting lessons over Slack with your peers is a poor substitute. Communication on Slack felt transactional. I did make a good friend toward the end of the curriculum on a team project, but I wish Springboard did more to make student interaction meaningful early on.
I’m sure there are a few hiring managers that would prefer to get a UX designer fresh out of Pratt, but Springboard does one thing better than any college I’ve ever heard of: career support. It’s part of the curriculum. They teach you how to build your network, a resume, a portfolio, then teach you how to interview and negotiate. It’s not just something you quietly know you should be doing in the background; they properly teach you and provide feedback as you create each artifact.
Now that I’ve completed the curriculum, I feel good about the growth of this career field, I like my odds on the job market, and I have a career coach to check in with every other week.

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There's so much to be said about how Springboard does an amazing job with the Data Science Career Track! 

1)The curriculum is so thoughtfully and expertly designed. 
It manages to cover a wide range of topics, but in a manner that flows naturally both in terms of progressive difficulty and logical continuity. This to me, is so important for sustaining motivation to complete the program.

2)It is highly hands-on and project oriented. 
This is a good thing, always a good thing, and Springboard recognizes that. Almost every unit has at least one mini-project to explore the content covered in that unit within an implementation context. You also need to complete two Capstone projects of your choice in any areas of your interest as part of the curriculum, and these projects are great for your Github or your resume. Clearly, Springboard appreciates that project-oriented learning is essential to drive certain concepts home and again, sustain motivation by seeing the fruits of your labor.

3)The quality of the resources. 
Data Science experts on the Springboard Team have put in efforts to create high quality resources - both technical and career-oriented. These are usually well-drafted informational documents or videos. They also handpick a good selection of  public articles/videos (and even one wonderful book) to supplement your learning, and their partnership with DataCamp (shoutout!) gives you access to a rich library of also high quality content.  

4)Flexibility
Look, Springboard gets that life happens, and they've got your back. There is an option to take a 2-3 week pause from the course ANYTIME to perhaps catch up on other responsibilities or to maybe just *recharge*. Also, they offer a free 2 month extension to finish the program if you don't finish within the original 6 months, which can also turn out to be quite a blessing. I'm a full-time CS student at UCLA, so when I ran into a difficult quarter, I could still manage because of their flexible options. 

5)Community 
You're assigned a Student Advisor and Mentor as part of the program, and in my experience, they were both wonderful. The Student Advisor regularly checks in on you if you need help making goals, being productive, planning a schedule, tackling burnout, and more! They really help keep you afloat during your journey. You meet with your mentor on a weekly basis so they can guide you with projects and difficult material, or tell you more about the industry and their type of work, which is always interesting to hear! My mentor was super helpful with his feedback on my projects and helped me shape them into something I was proud of. 

I should also mention that support on their Slack is pretty good too for Q/A related things,  their customer support team is extremely friendly and helpful, and their cohort of career coaches are also excellent, so be sure to make regular appointments with them because they give extremely valuable and insightful advice about the industry and building the professional profile you want for yourself.

All-in-all, a great program designed by a talented team of industry professionals. The amount of knowledge and learning you get out of the program is priceless (and you get lifetime access to the curriculum!). If you've got the time and you want to, as they call it, "future-proof" your career, I highly recommend their program :) Read less

I recently completed the UI/UX Design program at Springboard and accepted a job as a UX Researcher shortly before graduating. The number one pro is the mentorship aspect. I got so much out the one-on-one instruction time with my mentor. He was so great at tailoring the projects and my portfolio to have more of a focus on UX Research which put me in a much better position when I started job seeking. The career coaches and mock interviews were also great. I was able to take advantage of the unlimited mentor calls to prepare for job interviews as well which helped so much. The only downside for me was the lack of group or classroom learning. This is a program that requires a kind of hustle and internal motivation which I sometimes struggle with. Some of the students put together an online study group which is helpful but mostly you have to be accountable to yourself. If you're good at making your own structure and working independently, this program is for you. Read less