Starter League

I would whole-heartedly recommend the Starter League to anyone looking to really understand web development. I began looking into the HTML/CSS course after working for a year in digital design and growing tired of developers telling me things couldn't be done. I wanted to understand how my designs were being built and styled so I could better communicate with the dev team and ultimately become a better designer.

I tinkered with learning these languages for years but online courses felt choppy and never seemed to bring all the pieces together. The Starter League's classroom setting helped me finally make sense of everything. The curriculum not only covers how to write code, but starts with the basics so you really understand the semantics of what your writing. My instructor answered student questions thoroughly and supported his answers with real-world examples. He even offered one-on-one instruction outside of class for those who needed it. When all was said and done I was able to build a clean, fully functional hand-coded website while understanding each line of code I wrote.

If you're not already interested in writing code, this class won't turn you into a dev nerd. The students that fell behind were the ones that seemed to like the idea of being a developer... but weren't invested enough to actually put the work in. If you're truly interested in learning the ins and outs of writing clean, effective code, this course is worth every penny. Once the next JavaScript class opens up I’m signing up for round 2.

 

The curriculum is mostly self taught with material that is readily available. Questions often go unanswered, where they even make you feel bad for asking them. The staff are not working developers and have no previous development experience. They possess very limited working knowledge. Absolutely no job assistance is available, no network, introductions, nothing. Do not recommend this as a path if you want to be a working developer unless you want it to be a very long and difficult endeavor. It is already hard enough to get a developer job, you don't need unhelpful people that you paid a lot of money.

After graduating high school in 2011, I attended UC Santa Cruz where I began to study Computer Science. I embraced being free from the educational trappings of high school. I was obligated to study subjects that I wasn't passionate about. The only solace I could take was in the exposure I received to various subject areas. I hoped college would be an opportunity to get knowledge that was meaningful to me and applicable in the real world. 
After a Computer Networking and History of Computer Science class I was disheartened. I realized that it would be two to three years before I knew enough to start building things. So I dropped out. 
I found the Starter League through a friend and was inspired the second I walked in to 1871. I thought I was going to Starter School to learn how to code but I learned so much more. 
We began by diving head first into Ruby and Rails, database modeling, HTML & CSS, SQL and much more. But Starter School sets itself apart by injecting design and entrepreneurship into the program. The actual code is just the first step to building a successful product. These areas are equally important, if not more, and you'll learn from the best in the business. 
Learning from real world practitioners, I was able to launch a successful product in nine months. I've received many job offers and am currently deciding which path to take. 
There are a lot of schools out there that teach you to code, Starter School will teach you how to build a successful product.

The point of Starter School is to give you a taste of the full spectrum of building a software product. Other bootcamps and software development schools do a great job of making you into a developer, but you don’t always see the bigger picture. Even if you do specialize in just one area, be it programming or design, it is so valuable to be able to speak the other person’s language, or even get your hands dirty with another area of the product.

Starter School brings you the best people in their fields to teach, but the way each of them build products is very different. Over the course of nine months, I learned how to develop a lens through which I can look at conflicting advice objectively, and make a decision on what I think will best move my project forward.

Not only was what I learned incredibly valuable for anyone looking to start a career in software, but learning them as a nineteen year old college dropout changed my life. I already got a job as a junior developer at a fast-growing startup in Chicago. I have no regrets about leaving college to go to Starter School.

Exactly one year ago today I was sitting at my desk at my sales job in one of Chicago’s northern neighborhoods. The company I was working for had recently been named ‘The Best Place to Work In Chicago’ for the second straight year. I did not especially like my job. I felt unfulfilled. What kept me going was this little hobby I was working on outside of work. That hobby was HTML and CSS. A friend of mine down in North Carolina, Chance, was also teaching himself how to code and he suggested I apply to this new code school in Chicago called The Starter School. He had already done so. I applied. We both got in. The two of us quit our jobs and Chance drove almost 1,000 miles to move to Chicago. To recap: 1) I quit my good, steady job 2) I paid $36K 3) …to attend a brand new program that had yet to be proven. What the hell was I thinking? A lot of the confidence I had about The Starter School came from my first encounter with Neal, CEO of The Starter League. We met for coffee at the Intelligentsia in 1871. He spoke with such conviction and determination that he could build a 9 month, all-encompassing program that I knew I had to be apart of it. The nine months of Starter School were some of the most enlightening, crazy, humbling, and satisfying times of my life. I became great friends with my classmates (the most eclectic group of personalities that have ever sat in the same room together). I learned how to program in Ruby on Rails. I learned front-end design techniques and technologies like Sass and javascript. I got to meet and learn from the guys who ran the technology side of Obama for America. I learned about entrepreneurship from billionaire serial entrepreneurs. I met the biggest names in venture capital in Chicago to learn about investing in early-stage startups. I built an unbelievable network. I built a product I care about (familyroomapp.com). I launched that product to Chicago’s tech community at our demo day. I grew. A lot. Two months have passed since Starter School ended. Since then I built a website for a startup, I helped redesign a site for another startup, and as of next week I will be going to work as a product designer at a software firm to completely redesign their app’s interface. Starter School propelled me into an exciting and meaningful career and I could not be more thrilled with my decision. If you have a passion for technology and want to take control of your career, Starter School is the place for you.