University of Minnesota Boot Camps

Throughout the 24 weeks this bootcamp lasted, I had doubts on whether I would be able to complete it. I can say after that 24th week, I am glad I sticked to it.

I was interested in finding a new career path since I dropped out of college after my first year. I was studying computer science and it just was not fit for me. I started looking into cybersecurity more and was very interested in all the different paths you could follow. Through my employer, I looked at bootcamps they provided and found this cybersecurity bootcamp through the University of Minnesota. I read what the journey through the 24 week course looks like, and I decided to jump in for the long haul. My experience with this bootcamp was beyond phenomenal. From the instructor to the TA's, you could really tell they wanted every single student to succeed. I could tell it was just as hard for them as it was for us students, but the passion they poured into this course was amazing. One of my favorite aspects of this program was working with my peers to complete projects. It was awesome to see how easy it was to work with them and how friendly everyone was. If I had to give advice to future students, I would recommend to make connections in your class and work with each other, whether it's on the weekly assignments, or if it is on the projects you have to complete. Having those connections will improve your quality of life during this bootcamp, and can also be helpful after you finish. I will miss this bootcamp, it was a great course and taught me tons of information. 

It's hard to believe that I am already halfway through The Full Stack Coding Boot Camp program! The journey so far has been nothing short of transformative, and I'm honored to share my experience.
The decision to pursue a career in coding wasn't an easy one, but it was undoubtedly one of the best choices I've made. Having recently graduated from the Data Analytics and Visualizations boot camp at this same prestigious university, I found myself at a crucial juncture. The fast-paced evolution of technology and my desire for a dynamic, challenging career led me to explore coding as a viable option. The Full Stack Coding Boot Camp stood out to me as a comprehensive and immersive program that aligned perfectly with my goals.
My experience with The Full Stack Coding Boot Camp has exceeded my expectations in many ways. The curriculum is not only relevant and up-to-date but also delivered in a way that fosters a supportive learning environment. The hands-on projects and collaborative nature of the program have been instrumental in solidifying my understanding of coding concepts. The mentors and instructors are incredibly knowledgeable and always ready to provide guidance, making the learning process both engaging and enjoyable.
One of my favorite aspects of the program is the emphasis on real-world applications. The practical skills I've gained, coupled with the simulated work environment, have significantly boosted my confidence in tackling coding challenges. The sense of accomplishment after completing each project is unparalleled, and it's these moments that make the program truly rewarding.
To prospective students considering The Full Stack Coding Boot Camp, my advice is to embrace the journey wholeheartedly. Be prepared to put in the effort, stay curious, and don't hesitate to seek help when needed. The coding community at the boot camp is incredibly supportive, and there's a wealth of resources available to ensure your success.

The past three months have been both some of the most stressful but most rewarding of my life. I came into this Code Camp looking for something new and something challenging and I got exactly that and more. I made friends, I learned an awesome new skill and now I can take steps forward in my career as a developer. Our instructor was awesome and made things so light-hearted and fun, and our Teacher-Assistants were extremely diligent and helpful. They gave us so many resources to help us with our homework and general resources that will be helpful down the line. It was a tough experience but made so much more fun and rewarding from the support from the staff and the friends you make along the way.

As a beginner to most of the concepts we covered, the sometimes challenging pacing of the program was nonetheless manageable and rich in content. Our program covered a wide range of topics, while providing hands-on experience that made the material feel thorough and not superficial. After I use the certification credit included in the program, I believe I will have a range of real experiences to discuss with future prospective employers. 

Before deciding to take this program, I'd been dreaming about moving into the field of Cybersecurity for quite a few  years. The course exceeded all my expectations. I took the live online version. It's intense, covers all major segments of the industry, and it's very well-composed in a way that you really do gain knowledge, including very hands-on experience. There was a lot of homework (and I mean A LOT :)) I feel like during the six months in the Bootcamp I've learned more than I did  in college many years ago. My previous IT experience was somewhat useful to successfully get through the material, but interestingly, almost everything we learned was actually new to me. Those who were completely new to IT/Security also did very well in class, it was nice to see how fast the guys were becoming future security professionals. The main instructor was great! Very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. The classes were never boring, very engaging.  The teaching assistants were also awesome, with different diverse experiences in the field. Super helpful and responsive.  Really enjoyed working on the four larger projects that you must finish to graduate. I even landed a good job in Cybersecurity before graduation. 
Definitely the best learning experience I've ever had. Highly recommended!  

Great instructors, they gave myself and my group members support whenever we needed it. This bootcamp made me realize that I like doing UX/UI design, I'll be joining that bootcamp soon. My advice to a new student would be to USE A TUTOR, save up your money, sick time and vacation time before starting this program, you'll need it and be happy you did so. Everything was great except "Ask BCS" was not helpful. I tried "ask BCS" twice and they were uninterested in helping so I decided I wouldn't waste my time.  It did however help other students out. So, give it a try.

I joined this program because I wanted to further expand my tech knowledge into cybersecurity and I didn't know how or where to begin. This program doesn't require having any cyber knowledge and it guided me from the very start. I can confidently say that I learned how to use various (ethical) hacking tools and even created my own hacking project for my final. 10/10 would recommend this boot camp to anyone that is looking where to start in cybersecurity. My instructor, Teaching Assistants, and Student Success Manager were all super helpful and very knowledgeable!

I was looking and thinking of a new career, I wanted to follow my passion of creating and learning something new! I was already starting my path as a content creator and brand ambassador so the next logical step seemed to be a program that would guide and develop my skills- I was not prepared for in depth marketing is but I’m excited and love learning all the new things! My bootcamp has brought me together with some of the best people who cheer each other on, and we have such respect for each other! The staff is so amazing and although we got a new teacher mid way through, we didn’t miss a beat! We miss Taylor but they paired us with someone as amazing! If you are thinking about a new career, adding to your resume or looking to climb the next rung, this boot camp is for you! 

I would like to start by saying, this course has been exactly what I didn't know I needed. I had left my previous employer and was looking to break into a field I had a passion for. When I went my own way, I was mindlessly scrolling through job boards for tech jobs. It seemed I'd never find something that I qualified for or was in a field I wanted to be in. I happened to come across the U of M Cyber Security Course, and I thought what the heck. Ever since, I have been building my repertoire and honing my skills. All of the staff have been extremely helpful in guiding me. It wasn't easy mind you, but it has been rewarding. It took dedication to better myself, and now I feel like I have a thousand possible options. It hasn't just been the course material either. The Career Services provided a foundation to be as appealing to employers as possible, now and for the future. My resume would never have looked as good as it does now with out the professional guidance I received, and don't even get me started on my LinkedIn. I am prepared to start a career in a field that I'm passionate about and I have the tools to succeed, thanks to the Cyber Security course offered my the University of Minnesota.

I chose to move into UX Design after completing a freelance design job. I realized that while working on this project that I felt fulfilled and eager to keep working even after it was completed. I have never felt like that at a job before. 

I really enjoyed my boot camp experience, while it was difficult and frustrating times, it was exciting to see my knowledge and skill grow in real time. My favorite part of the boot camp was probably working in studio classes where we were split into groups and given design challenges that would be future portfolio pieces. During these studio classes we got to work with our classmates and really solidify our recently acquired skills together. 

If you are thinking about taking a boot camp, the advice I would give is to make sure you take care of yourself and give yourself grace. This is a difficult program and sometimes you will feel like putting the work off. But if you prepare yourself for the amount of work you are going to be doing, and continue that preparation throughout the course you'll do great!

My name is Rachel and I am currently a U of M FinTech Boot Camp student.  I want to start my testimonial by stating that this program is one of the best programs I have taken in continuing professional studies.  It is challenging, but rewarding; it is time-consuming, but engaging; it is complex, but incredibly interesting, and I am in awe of how much I have learned and benefitted from this course.  The experience I have gained in this program has opened opportunities in my profession that I never thought I would be able to achieve, including a recent job offer as an Innovation Officer!

I currently work in bank regulation, and with the ever-changing digital landscape and constant buzzwords of “FinTech,” “cryptocurrency,” and “machine learning/artificial intelligence” I realized I didn’t know much about this innovation.  In order to keep up with the changes in bank technology, I needed an avenue to learn as much as I could about it.  I stumbled across the FinTech Boot Camp while I was searching for courses.  The curriculum was intimidating and the time commitment was significant, but I knew this was a topic I needed to dive into.  To be honest, I didn’t even know what Python programming was before I took this course!  Fast forward a few months, I can successfully code with Python, understand financial programming including the use of APIs, use machine learning to predict future outcomes, run artificial intelligence models, and I have even created a roboadvisor bot using AWS.
My favorite part of the program is the hands-on-learning.  The instructors are incredibly knowledgeable and flexible, and they help you to understand how these concepts are applied in real-life examples.  If you are in the financial services industry, this course is a MUST.  My advice to future prospective students is, as my instructor says, “Don’t mistake excitement for fear.”  This course can be intimidating at first and you’ll feel like you don’t know anything, which can be scary, but it’s actually very exciting.  It’s exciting to look at a huge block of complex code and realize that you will be able to write it in just a few months.  You’ll gain skills that are in high-demand and it will open opportunities for you to continue growing professionally.  I am looking forward to the rest of the program, and receiving the professional certification I can proudly put on my resume. 

The course was conducted entirely via Zoom with a teacher and teacher assistants with a combination of lectures, real-life examples, demonstrations, and homework to complement skill cybersecurity skill development. The following is taken from the University of Minnesota Cybersecurity Boot Camp | St. Paul (umn.edu) website and I wanted to put it as the course contained exactly what they advertised. I had a wonderful experience and recommended it to anyone with drive and desire to get hands on cybersecurity skills to use in an existing job or move into a new career as I have done.

• Gain experience with a host of popular tools such as Wireshark, Kali Linux, Metasploit, Nessus, and more.
• Learn skills applicable to certifications such as the CompTIA Security+, Network+, Linux+, Server+, Cloud+, and Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).
• Advance your skillset even if you’re currently employed or in school through convenient evening and weekend classes.
• Benefit from a comprehensive set of career services to help equip you for success as you work to change career paths or advance in your current position

I am an IT professional with about 2 decade of experience. Most of my experience was in legacy technology and past 5 years I've been playing the role of Business Analyst. I was working for Delta Airlines in Minnesota campus. When COVID hit and impacted Airline business, the great company it is, with great leaders, we were offered voluntary packages to separate from the company with health insurance for a year. I took that opportunity to introspect my career path and retool myself. As I loved art, colors, and enjoyed hands-on problem solving, I decided to take the path of Web development and signed up for the Coding Bootcamp with  University of Minnesota.

The Fulltime coding program was a fast pace program. It was a fun, interesting and a challenging program. The instructor was very knowledgeable, humorous and made the learning process more fun and enjoyable. The TAs were also knowledgeable, encouraging and guided us throughout the program, even providing some weekend sessions from their personal time. 
I couldn't ask for more.

I didn't use the career service during the program. Now having completed the program, I am fully focused on utilizing the all the help career service offers to guide me in job application, networking and landing in a job.

I am so glad I selected Coding Bootcamp with University of Minnesota. Heartfelt thanks to the Program and the Instructional Team.

Syria, 1997. My very first experience facing a PC. It was running on Windows 95, very slow, very noisy, and extremely magical. That was the moment when I said to my father "I will become a programmer". Then, life took me on a different path (financial pressure/survival mode) and I ended up working in the media field for +8 years. But that moment of love, at first sight, stayed with me and I had to remind myself that “IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO BECOME A CODER”.
Apart from the romantic reason behind my decision, there are of course many rational reasons that pushed me to join a Bootcamp. Here are a few: 

• Coding is a massive field full of opportunities and creativity
• Coders are highly required in the market and that’s not going to change anytime soon
• So many opportunities to work as a freelancer and/or work from home
• Coding is a continuous learning experience. It’s like taking your brain to the gym every day. (don’t forget to take your body to the gym too)
• If you do some coding and learn every day. Your only way is UP.

So, why a boot camp? After considering the main options (college/Bootcamp/solo-learning online), I decided that a Bootcamp is the perfect first step for changing careers. The amount of time and money spent on it is a total win when the result is:

• Understanding a wide range of topics that cover almost the full picture
• Finishing 3 major projects and many smaller ones (Big PLUS in your resume)
• So many support sources in addition to a very interactive class
• Interacting with professional coders and gaining insights from their work experience
• Coding with a group just like you would do in a company
• Many great career services that are available for the REST OF YOUR LIFE!!

And many other reasons that make the boot camp a very rich experience full of benefits.
If you decide to take this very exciting journey, here are a few things that I did before and during the course that I believe gave me a great push forward.

• Give yourself about a month to prepare. (mini-tutorials, youtube videos, HTML/CSS/JS basics, articles on problem solving/coding logic ...etc)
• Before the starting date, you will have a pre-work assigned to you, which is a collection of simple subjects and activities to warm up. Take it very seriously and give it an appropriate amount of time. It will give you a great push through the first month, and it will be too late to give up :) Now, your only option is SUCCESS!
• Get yourself a nice-looking journal and keep track of everything you learn on a daily basis, just a line or two on each new concept is enough. And keep some notes on any gaps/questions you have, to ask them during office hours. 
• Try to code/read as many examples as possible on every new concept you learn
• Connect with your classmates, do study groups, ask and try to answer questions. Those interactions are gold! Push yourself out even if you don’t feel like it.
• Never ever hesitate on asking questions. Never tell yourself “I think my question is very basic. I’ll keep my mouth shut and study more after class” this is your time to learn, not to be shy or surrender to self-doubt.
• If you remind yourself that this boot camp is the cornerstone of a new career, you will have more energy and appreciation for it than being in the classic student mentality of “I need to do my homework and pass.”

I still have a lot to say about my experience, but since I’m still halfway through, I’ll save the rest for another review after I cross the finish line.
Best of luck to everyone and BIG BIG shout out to the instructor Dan Mueller and the TA’s. 

I highly recommend Trilogy’s U of MN Data Analytics & Visualization Boot Camp, but only if you are serious about wanting to learn!

If you are new to coding – plan on spending 10 – 20 hours per week on homework, studying and projects.

Did I learn a lot?

The first day of class, I didn’t know anything about coding – not a single line of python – didn’t even know what Git Bash was.

My final project was machine learning classifying SEC 10k Risk Factor text documents for a U of MN Professor. A side project I did on my own was scrapping 65k tweets and performing a sentiment analysis for a UNC Professor!

I learned a ton!

Be Prepared for Class:

Class is fast paced! Classes had two components, instructor led examples and student in-class activities. That was a combined 512 in-class activities in 6 months! The activities are where you really learn – it’s practicing what you were just taught and then getting immediate feedback on the right way to complete the activity!

We had 16 homework assignments and 3 projects. Every one of them was challenging and took hours to complete.

Positives:

Instructors: There were two cohorts that met on separate nights during the week and together on the weekends. The instructors would alternate for the combined Saturday class. Both of my instructors (Paul K and Madeleine F) were data scientists by day, very knowledgeable, approachable, and took time during office hours and throughout the week as time allowed to answer questions. Both on their own time would post relevant articles, job openings, and other resources for the students. If you have an opportunity to have Paul or Madeleine as an instructor don’t pass up the opportunity – I learned a ton!

We also had 4 great TAs – maybe our classes just got lucky…

Not a single person dropped out of the class – I think that had a lot to do with effective pre-screening and a staff that inspired us to be successful.

Surveys made a difference! Every week you are required to fill out a class survey. For the first 6 months, every week I responded – please give us a syllabus! Trilogy never gave us a syllabus, but our instructor finally started slacking out what we were going to be covering in the upcoming week. VERY HELPFUL! I saw this week on our class page that Trilogy posted a syllabus – what’s my point? I felt that they listened to student feedback and made incremental changes throughout the 6 months.

Class Videos – every class session is recorded so you can watch it later. The first few months I didn’t use it at all, but then class started getting more difficult and I referred to the videos quite a bit.

Negatives:

They didn’t provide a syllabus. This was frustrating because I wanted to spend time preparing at home so when I heard about a new function in class – it wouldn’t be the first time. They now provide a syllabus so where it was a negative for me, future students take advantage of this and study before class.

Career Services isn’t what I thought it was when I signed up, but it has been satisfactory after I adjusted my expectations. Career Services is meant to get you ‘interview ready’ – not to help you find a job; although I can tell they are even trying to change that a little bit with a Demo Days, marketing to local recruiters, etc.

What was most surprising?

How much we learned in such a short period of time. You won’t be an expert at any given language or library, but you will know how to find the answers to be successful at coding.

I was also (happily) surprised at how time was spent on html/css/JavaScript. When you think about it, we learned how to take huge data (millions of rows), visualize it with cool interactive visuals (look at https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery to become inspired and excited) – so it only makes sense that we would want to learn how to make it easy for non-programming people to access! You will have enough knowledge by the end of the course to make any of the visuals you find on the d3 GitHub link!

Before starting this bootcamp - I was lost, I didn't have a clue on what I really wanted to do but I did know I needed a change.  I needed that nudge to turn on my creative outlet and have a chance to better my future with it.  I absolutely love the routine of having class, working on projects, and building a portfolio.  I have learned so much from this class and created things I never thought I would ever make.  It is a continuing circle of knowledge and development. Having the opportunity to complete this bootcamp has been incredible because I did not have the means of taking 2-4 years of schoolwork, but 6 months flew by.  The pacing of this class was perfect for me - it was challenging but realistic.  I will always be eternally grateful for this class and the people I met along the way.  I will cherish it the rest of my life.

I was ready for a change and ready to take the step to a better life for my family and I. Cybersecurity was it . I had been watching a man on youtube that taught cybersecurity at U of M and the way he taught on youtube was easy for me to understand I knew that was it . Plus U of M has a prestigious reputation . My experience in the boot camp was out standing . There is alot of info to be learned very quickly . But U of M and staff really make it understandable and take the time to help you with whatever is needed and whenever its needed . The support and felling of being welcome was outstanding  . Now i am shineing in the class and able to help others . For others considering this please go for it theres nothing to loose and soo much to gain . the staff will help along the way. Ask questions . The most important advice is get excited for a new life , a new career, and new finincal stability . You will not regret the U of M cybersecurity bootcamp it is truly life changing. That means alot coming from a 37 year old man i do not regret the career change .

I came to this boot camp with no knowledge about cybersecurity. It was very challenging and at times I was worried I was not going to understand any of this. Now that it is the end of the class, I am proud but also sad. I’ve really enjoyed my time working with my instructor Howard and TA Reggie. They’ve really help find myself and my strengths and weaknesses. I wish it wasn’t over this learning environment was the best! Graduating 2023

The UMN Boot Camp UX/UI has been one of the most challenging, yet real-world learning experience I've ever have gone through. The staff and instructor are amazing; super supportive of each student's development and growth in the program. It is truly a fast-pace course, but you learn so much in such little time. I've enjoyed learning new software and learning along with my peers. Not only does the program bring new and challenging insights, the students in the group also brings a lot to the class too. I've truly enjoyed getting to know my classmates and learning from them. 

Overall I would say its a great program. I would highly recommend to those interested in the field of UX/UI. Its fast so it's important to have some knowledge of basic computer.

Started this course while between jobs during the pandemic and initially everything went well. However, after some extenuating circumstances forced me to miss some sessions (death in the family and a new job which conflicted with class times) it became a nightmare. I was initially optimistic as the student success manager provided all sorts of options for keeping me in the class and up to speed. It quickly became apparent that this was lip service. It took me a over a month and multiple emails and calls to the regional director of Trilogy (the company UofM contracts the course out to) to finally get a response. I'm once again waiting for a response to another query after nearly two weeks and several emails/calls. The inability to communicate with students who are investing $11k on this course is, candidly, disgraceful. Life is unpredictable and communication through unpredictable times is a must. The fact that the the student success department is unable or unwilling to effectively communicate to students, the majority of whom are likely working and dedicating what free-time they have left to this course, is contemptible. Furthermore, The University of Minnesota is tarnishing their name and reputation by partnering with an organization that holds their students in zero regard. 

In short: Future-forward look at who UofM partners with to offer these boot camp courses. If it is Trilogy, save yourself the time, money, and headache and stay away!

I really enjoyed my experience in the program. I did not have any coding experience before doing this and I received a lot of individual support and attention. I am really grateful for all of the help I got from my instructor and ta team. We had a rough start to class with only one ta, but we ended up working with a great group of people. I liked the group work and the program manager had a lot of helpful resources for me. The class is very hands on and I needed visual resources too. The class does not come with a book or reading materials which is the one real downside to me. I enjoyed the students I was with and had a great time, except for one group project. I ended up with a group member that was a lot of trouble. 

I enrolled in the University of Minnesota Cybersecurity BootCamp. This was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. The training was rigorous but was worth it. It fast paced so you have to stay on top of things. I only wish the instructor did not show open favoritism towards specific students and indirectly make others feel unworthy. I am naturally a resilient person so that did not bother me at all but for the sake of others, I think this should not be. Overall great experience. I will not be rating a 5 for this reason

Taking the part-time full-stack programming class. WAY TOO FAST PACED. The activities are terrible because everyother one is supposed to be an example of how to do the next activity. Who ever put these together forgot how to explain how to do what it is your supposed to get done."Drives me flippn insane"  Apperently one is supposed to do a challenge while learning a new concept every week. If somthing doesn't make sense or you get stuck, you don't have time to practice or get the hang of it because they will move right along to next week and expect you to be able to code in a new language or use a new program and have the knowledge to speak about it technichaly. Learn JavaScript in a week!?????? wtf.  I have learned more from recourses outside of the bootcamp that have step-by-step instructions and explain what is happening with the code. Example: Edx, learnprogramming.online, codecademy. This bootcamp says if you have no prior knowledge of coding thats ok... IT'S NOT. This is set up for people that have experience in coding. Its funny that I tryed to find a bad review for this bootcamp and couldn't find one. Defenantly feels like people just want to get 10k from you. My class started with over 30 and has about 20. I have been under so much stress I literally got hives from this bootcamp. Very weird because even when I was active duty and deployed to Iraq I never got stressed out enough to get hives! The good things are: the recourses they have to help students with a career path, building a portfolio, tutors, and help with the interview process.  Other than that this has been an absolutly terrible experence for me and would strongly recomend people with no prior knowledge to look into other programs. 

I completed the Part-time Full Stack Web Development Boot Camp in April 2023. 
SUMMARY: I learned a lot about web development from this course, but I'd love to see the curriculum and practices improved. An emphasis on learning the concepts, and providing tools to put that information into practice, is sorely needed. The function of the course as I experienced it was much more in the way of, "scramble to turn something in, regardless of your grasp on the information. 
CERTIFICATE: What you earn is a pixelated image that is supposed to be sent to you digitally within the weeks following your completion of the course. Setting aside the fact that I believe the least the organization could do for students that have paid 13k and made it through 6 months of arduous instruction is to send a hard copy, I didn't even get mine. Apparently there was an error so I had to additionally reach out and make sure I even got a copy (which I did print and frame you better believe).
TIME MANAGEMENT: I Initially enrolled in the full time version of the course as it was advertised at around 18 hours/week plus homework time. I immediately realized that the pace of the class and workload would make it impossible for me to continue working 20-30 hours a week while enrolled. You have 7-10 days (?) at the start of the cohort to switch/drop/etc, so I used this window to transfer to the next part time course so I could keep my job. In talking with other grads, the consensus is that in order to have a solid grasp on every topic and tech addressed you'd have to put in 100 hours/week. Even in my part time cohort, several of the top students marveled that most of us had jobs, stating that they're having a "hard time staying on top of things" even dedicating the majority of their time to the course. The bare minimum I think you need to put in would be 3X class time. 
TUTORING: I also found that the successful students spent additional time (and money) on tutoring. To clarify some amount of tutoring was included with the course, but the time was limited, and the tutors left something to be desired. When I was struggling I asked every TA and the instructor about additional tutoring. I was told by another student that staff were not allowed to tutor us, so I asked them for a recommendation, and they did not have one. I spent some time googling and connected with a tutor that did help me at some stuck points quite a bit. In reference to assignment requirements vs level of instruction provided my tutor exclaimed, "Wow they are really just throwing you into the fire here."
CURRICULUM: The course is extremely fast-paced. Class goes like this--> 30-45 minutes of opening lecture on the topic(s) of the day (reading off informational slides), followed by activity time. This ~2 hour portion of class consisted of the instructor introducing a sub-topic and then sending us into breakout rooms with 3-5 other students to complete an exercise of listed requirements (finding a bug, writing function(s), or notating the existing code). This is problematic since the real "how" of the course is executed sans an instructional team member. Breakout rooms usually started with 5 minutes of silence followed by either a student going, "yep I got it," or all of you going, "nope I don't get it." Now the person who "got it" is not an educator, so they're often unable or unwilling to walk the rest of the students through their discovery. Perhaps more frequently no one "gets it" and the squad dives into an endless Stack Overflow chain, getting more confused by the second. Sometimes a brave soul calls a TA into the room to try and help out. Around this point "time's up!". The instructor then walks through the activity, and takes questions. The issue with this is that due to the number of activities, and the number of possible questions/stuck points, there's actually not any meaningful time to delve into questions/responses. Complete 2-4 more activities and mix in a 10 minute break, and that's a class. At the end of the week you get a challenge assignment (your graded homework for the week). The deadline for these was stressed (particularly at the start of the course), along with a policy of being able to re-submit each challenge one time within 48 hours after receiving a grade. This timing window became a huge point of stress for students. We were frequently cramming after classes (the deadlines were 11:59pm and due dates were always class days when class ended at 9:30pm). A late policy was never referenced, leading many of us to assume late work was simply a 0. It came out later (literally 6 or so weeks into the course) that work would actually be accepted up until the second to last week of the course without penalty. This proved extremely problematic as it contributed to the instructor never reviewing past assignments in depth (which would have been very helpful for those who fell behind), as they didn't want to essentially give away answers to those whose projects were not yet complete. Missing the instructional step of "here's how I would have done it" was extremely detrimental. Students never understood certain units/aspects, and just submitted something at the end of the course. 
ETHICS: Around 50% of my class completed the course (from 70-X in week2 to 30-X in week 23), and I don't think that's right. I understand not everyone in a class passes etc, but for a certification of continuing education that is marketed to lower income working adults, I expected better. The pace of the course, the lack of individual support, and the intentional concealing of information like the late policy, forced many students out. Whether out of malicious intent or ignorance, this is not acceptable. Another murky aspect of the course was plagiarism. Often referenced but ill-defined, plagiarism seemed ambiguous. How much example code from activities could we copy and paste in our challenges? The answer seemed to be "most" as it was often suggested we do just that, but was never specifically addressed. Tools like Github Co-Pilot were discouraged as learning aids, but not disallowed. Pair-programming using tools like Live Share was discouraged but allowed (given that collaborators were listed etc). These policies (or lack thereof) left me confused at best. 
ADVICE: If you're considering this course or one like it, do it, but do the following. 1. Take a shorter (free) Bootcamp before you enroll. This gives you a head start and sense of the subject matter along with some tools to take into battle when you do enroll. 2. Give yourself the absolute maximum amount of time to grind. If you can possibly lean on family/savings/etc to dedicate 100% of your time, do it. 3. Make the most of that initial 7-10 day transfer period when the course begins. Switch to a different speed (part/full), audible to a different Boot Camp, or roll the dice with a different instructor/team. 

This was has been a very fulfilling surprise for me. I chose to pursue a coding bootcamp as I was looking to change into a career where I would feel a constant need to keep improving. I started to explore coding as an option due to past hobby explorations of mine. I went with the popular named bootcamp programs you get once you do a google search (the top five or something) but the prices were outstanding (almost gave me a heart attack to be honest). As it turned out, all the avenues available to help with the cost were options that did not apply to me. In other words, I had to pay it out of pocket. COVID had just hit, so funds were taking a very drastic dive. Through all the nos I got, I stumbled into UofM and decided to make enquires and apply. I wasn't sure I could pay for it but it was more affordable than the others I had seen. After numerous talks and all the options presented to me, I was eligible for one of them and hence started my journey. 

It was the most nerve wrecking experience ever. I mean, where is my textbook please? Can't I just cram the method to solve a problem and pass it and get my A, pretty please? I was so scared of failing. I did fail so often it wasn't funny but I did it. From all those mistakes I made, I made more than once but I knew how to fix it and started to understand how to communicate better with computers. All this was due to the instructional team that consisted of a 1 class instructor and 4 TAs. I mean they put their heart into helping each and every one of us. You of course had to do the work to learn but any hurdle or obstacle that you came across was surmountable because they were available. 

There were many aspects that I greatly appreciated, one of which was the constant encouragement we got from our instructional team. They told it was hard and you might cry (I did) but it is doable. It is just really hard now but don't forget that you are not alone. I can't speak for anyone else but it made push through every difficult aspect especially when we got to JavaScript constructors, prototypes, classes and organizing structured tests (What??? you must not be speaking English, I swear). But now, OH MY GOD! I know what you are talking about. I can actually look through code and grasp what it is trying to do. Computers, I can read you now!! Databases... let's our CRUD on. 

All puns aside, I am so grateful to the classmates I met during the bootcamp and the patience of the instructional team because right now, I am learning new skills and technologies, how to do algorithms and applying for Junior Dev Jobs. This can't be my life! 

I would really recommend this program to anyone who has a pull towards programming. Don't walk into this just at the prospect of higher earning income (not that it isn't important) but the amount of work this requires both during and after the program, you need find some sense of innate enjoyment in it. If you have that, please reach out to UofMCodingBootcamp ;). You won't go wrong. 

Recent grad from the part time full stack program. My experience with course has been pretty good. Friendly staff, helpful TA's, decent instructor, although it was apparent that the instructor wasn't familiar with the material some of the time. Especially when it came to React.js. 

Most of the curriculum was written in es5, which made it pretty outdated. Things got tricky when they suddenly expected us to know es6 for react.js. Which was troubling, because for about 4 months they had us coding in es5.

They also fixate on some outdated material, which I don't think is useful in the real world. 

I also agree with some other reviews I saw on reddit, in which other students said that it seems a lot of the students there are just trying to hang in there and make it through the course, and not being able to keep up, or they have no idea what is going on. You'll realize this when projects come around. 

The program was cheaper than the other programs in the area. So it has that going for it.

Career counseling is pretty much none existence. When you'll first me your counselor, she'll come off as extremely enthusiastic, but when you have one on ones with her, you'll realize that she is extremely overworked and not very helpful. It took me over a month and a half to get a meeting with her. 

Again, this was my experience with the program, although many other students in my cohort agree with me and my opinion. Hopefully the program will learn from it's mistakes and better itself.