UC Irvine Boot Camps Reviews
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Anonymous
PLEASE Avoid! Waste of money and time!
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There were red flags all over, but I failed to reconize them till it was too late. Now, I find myself obligated to WARN others before they fall victim to this shady business scam. So many false promises made. First big warning flag was the easy test they give and make you feel like you have the skillset to be successfull in the bootcamp. Secondly, on the first day they have you sign a waiver, exempting you from getting any refund. Now think back when you first started college, did they make you sign a waiver? Please be aware that this is a scam and not a ligit learning center. They are not interested in your ability to finish this bootcamp, only to get your hard earned money and string you along as far as possible. The career services is a joke...nothing you couldnt do on on your own. I found it very odd how both lead instructors ended up leaving after our class wrapped up and they relocated for new jobs. Like I suggested to a potential student a few months ago, if you really are interested in persuing coding I would recomend online learning such as team treehouse that is a fraction of the cost or any other way. They are over charging for a false promise and I dont know how they are able to continue this in our community and especially abusing the system by hiding their name under UCI and other big universities, such a shame our leaders are allowing this to go on.
Boot Camp Team of UC Irvine Boot Camps
Community Team
May 22, 2019
Thank you for sharing your experience. From your review, we understand the program did not meet your expectations. As you noted, the UCI Division of Continuing Education has partnered with Trilogy Education Services (TES) to offer the UC Irvine Coding Boot Camp. UCI is deeply involved in the curriculum, instructor selection, and outcomes of each of our classes, and routinely meet in conjunction with TES to monitor the learning experience and performance. Both UCI and TES are completely dedicated to transforming students' lives and are fully transparent about this relationship throughout the entire course.
Like you mentioned, we do have a multi-step admissions process. During this time, we evaluate individuals to ensure they are aware of the extensive time they will have to dedicate to their studies and are truly committed to their web development journey. We never want to set up students for failure, which is why we begin with an initial phone interview, followed by a timed, academic test that applicants must pass with a score of 70 or above in order to move forward, followed by a final critical thinking interview with a member of our academic team. Only once prospective learners have passed all three screenings are they accepted into the course.
We do our best to emphasize the importance of students completing the assigned pre-work, as well as studying on their own before classes begin. We take pride in our comprehensive curriculum and holistic approach to learning, and as we know this course is challenging, we provide additional support in the form of free tutoring sessions, office hours with instructors and TAs, and optional one-on-one meetings. While we do not secure employment for our students, our career services are built on the principle of empowerment and provide more than 75 hours of professional development, consisting of resume and portfolio reviews, virtual tech panels, technical interview training, and 1:1 meetings with their Career Director. We hope you were able to benefit from these resources and appreciate your input as we're frequently enhancing our services to ensure students feel supported and equipped for success.
It's our mission to help as many hard-working, aspiring web developers as we can. We sincerely care about each one of our students and continually strive to make sure participants feel supported every step of the way. We would love to speak to you personally to see if there is anything else we can do to reinforce your knowledge or employment search. If you would like, please reach out to us at (949) 214-4016. -
Anonymous
Not really worth the money
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If you decide to enroll, please don't be fooled by their marketing strategy where they will have you look up all these job postings and salary range for the Full Stack Web Developer. They are just trying to get you to enroll. Even though they said that they have a test and interview process before they accept you into the program, they are doing it as a due diligence. Even if you can't answer any of the question they asked you during the interview, they will still let you enroll. All they wanted is your 12K tuition. The curriculumn is all over the place. Don't expect to be job ready by the time you're done with the program. Career services is also a disappointment. They don't really help you connect with any employers. They just make you write your resume and apply online. When you start questioning them about job placement rate, they will divert the question. They know that the job placement rate is very low, so they don't want to talk about it. Instead, they will make it sounds like you are not trying hard enough yourself and that is the reason why you could not find a job. DO NOT WASTE YOUR $12K ON THIS. It is not worth it.
Boot Camp Team of UC Irvine Boot Camps
Community Team
May 16, 2019
Thank you for sharing your feedback. It's our mission for all students to have a positive learning experience in our programs, so we regret to hear the boot camp did not live up to your expectations.
Like you mentioned, we do have a multi-step admissions process. During this time, we evaluate individuals to ensure they are not only aware of the extensive time they will have to dedicate to their studies and but are also truly committed to their coding journey. Applicants begin with an initial phone interview, followed by a timed assessment and a final critical thinking interview with a member of our academic team. Only once prospective students have successfully passed all three stages are they accepted into the course.
As this is a boot camp, we know the material is fast-paced and challenging, moving quickly from one complex topic to the next. Our curriculum is strategically engineered using extensive market and employer research on the most in-demand skills for the industry, and we are constantly making optimizations to the course material as the industry evolves. We pride ourselves on teaching individuals how to learn, providing a strong foundational skill set that will allow them to easily dive into other frameworks and languages, even after completing the program. We are always working to ensure that students are having the best learning experience possible, so we appreciate your feedback.
From your review, we understand that our career services were not what you were hoping for. Our team is built on the principle of empowerment, and we strive to support and guide learners throughout their job search. While we do not secure direct employment for our students, we work to empower individuals with the resources and support they need to enter the workforce.
We are incredibly proud of the outcomes our students have achieved with hard work and dedication, but we do not report on placement rates because we believe the appropriate measures of a boot camp lie in the quality and services offered. We take pride on our comprehensive curriculum and holistic approach to learning, providing more than 75 hours of professional development to each individual, consisting of technical interview training, portfolio reviews, resume/social media profile support, online Tech Talk panels, and one-on-one meetings with their Career Director. We hope you were able to fully benefit from all of these resources.
It is our goal for all students to leave the course feeling properly equipped to step out into the industry. We would love the opportunity to speak with you further about how we can supplement your learning experience or career search at this time. If you would like, please reach out to us at (949) 214-4016. -
Anonymous
save your money
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The Good:
The curriculum was heavy and fast-paced - definitely the hardest schooling I've ever done. It grinded me in JavaScript which produced some pretty awesome projects. The instructors and TAs where pretty good and were always available to help for the most part.
The Bad:
Concentrated way too much on Node.js and ignored core web development languages like .Net, Python, PHP and more. The job assistance portion of the post program is lame. Help with resume and cover letter but after that it's all about you becoming a socialite and doing free work. Lots of canned responses that don't really help answer specific questions.
The Ugly:
Irvine is flooded with qualified Web Developers. Employers don't seem to care that you've attended a UCI bootcamp. They want 3-5 years of development experience with proven growth because they can get it - even for Junior Web Dev positions. The very few responses you'll receive back from applications will ask you about your experience in some technology you don't have - and it's different every time.
Result:
Save your money by learning HTML, CSS and JavaScript through all the free certificate courses out there. Start a website of your own to practice with and become better and fight to get someone to give you a chance as an intern or junior developer. Bootcamps are a dime a dozen these days and employers know it. If you feel you need to spend $10K+ to crunch out a few nice projects in short timeframes, then bootcamp is for you.
Jeff Howell of UC Irvine Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Jan 23, 2018
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback, Anonymous. This program is definitely challenging and fast-paced as you noted, and we're glad that you thrived in learning JavaScript and were able to use those skills to create impressive projects. We are very proud of the instructional team, so it's great that you had a good experience with them too.
A100% positive student experience is our number one priority, so we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on our curriculum and career support services.
We understand that you wanted to dive into languages like .Net, Python, and PHP, however, our course curriculum did indicate that those languages would not be taught in the program. Our curriculum is constantly updated to be in line with market demands, and currently, our regional specialization includes C#/ASP.Net. While we do not expressly cover .Net, Python, or PHP, our program prides itself on teaching students how to learn, so that students will have a strong foundation to easily learn other programming languages after graduation.
Our career services are built on the principle of empowerment. We help to prepare our students for the job search process by providing them with the necessary tools and support that will not only help them in their immediate future as they move forward from our program, but also in the long-term development of their careers.
The services we offer for career preparation are constantly improving, and our students' experiences can vary as we continue to evolve and implement feedback. Though we do not know when you completed the boot camp, our career services curriculum has always included 1:1 coaching with a Career Director, technical interview preparation, portfolio feedback, resume support, tech panels, and final project events where students gain insight and feedback from industry professionals.
During the program, we emphasize networking and encourage students to work on projects outside of class that can further their skills and improves their marketability. Our team strives to be clear about the scope of our career services from the beginning so that our students understand how they can get the most out of this aspect of the program.
We regret to hear that you did not have an overall positive experience with our program, and we would like the opportunity to speak with you and determine what additional support we can provide you with at this time. Please reach out to me directly at (949) 214-4016 so that we can further address your concerns. -
Anonymous
Worth a Shot!
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I recently enrolled for the Coding Boot Camp at UC Irvine Continuing Ed in partnership with Trilogy Education Services. The enrollment process has been smooth so far and everyone has answered all the questions I have asked at both UCI-CE and Trilogy. I was at first skeptical about it since technically this is a Trilogy Education Service program that is run at UC Irvine along with many other Extension and Continuing Ed programs across the country. I did a lot of research and looked up reviews at all the other schools to see what the feedback was and almost all of it is good. The UCI program only started this year so there hasn't been a cohort to finish yet but UCLA has had good sucess so I would look at that program as I imagine it will be very similar to UCI's. There are also some good reviews and feedback on Reddit too if you want to look them up. The current instructors they have are getting great feedback from the current students from what I have heard.
Like everything in life you get what you put into it, so if you aren't willing to do the work outside of the classroom I would look elsewhere. What really sold me on the program was the part-time 24 week program. I work full-time and the class schedule will work well with my schedule and family. There isn't any other part-time programs in the area that cover the Full-Stack, I only saw one other one that was a 10-week course and only covered the Front-End. I also like that spread out over 6 months instead of cramming it all in 12 weeks which is much better suited to my learning style.
I'm looking forward to getting started on the pre-course work and diving in head first come September. I'll update my review a few weeks into the course.
Jeff Howell of UC Irvine Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Jul 27, 2017
Congratulations on enrolling in our program! It’s excellent that we were able to answer all of your questions throughout the admissions process. We know that choosing a boot camp is a big decision, it makes us proud to hear that our team was able to provide you with the guidance you needed in order to make an informed decision. Also, It’s great that you took the time to research the experiences of past students. The student experience is our top priority, so we take feedback seriously because we want to ensure that our students have the best boot camp experience possible and we’re constantly improving to meet their needs.
It's wonderful that our part-time program works for your schedule. It's designed for professionals like you, who require class times outside of work hours and on weekends. We’re excited for you to start the program, and hope you find it to be a valuable educational experience.
As you mention, this program will require you to work hard to develop the many skills covered in the curriculum, so we’re glad you’re ready to dive in! We can’t wait to see what you can accomplish with the knowledge and skills that you will gain, and wish you success in this program, and beyond. -
Mike West
Full Stack Developer Review
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Make no mistake. This is an extremely intensive course (speaking of the full time course). You will work and study like crazy in and out of class.
I believe the rewards are well worth it. I came to this class as an experienced non-web developer and learned a lot. I can't wait to apply it but first I'm going to spend a solid week or two reviewing everything I've learned.
The instruction team is top notch as is career support. The question is do you really want to do this? I suggest you visit Scratch, a site that teaches kids to program. Get an account and try to create something simple. This is a UCI Coding Bootcamp pre-class assignment. If this frustrates you DON'T ENROLL. But if you keep at it and enjoy it, consider taking the next step.
Boot Camp Team of UC Irvine Boot Camps
Community Team
Jul 27, 2018
Amazing, Mike! You are correct that this is an extremely intensive course, requiring hard work and additional time outside of class to master the topics. We are so happy you enjoyed our instructional and career teams and were able to learn so much in a short time period. Thank you for sharing this advice for interested students looking to apply. Congratulations on graduating, we truly appreciate your feedback! We wish you all the best moving forward.