University of Richmond Boot Camps

I am very happy with my decision to enroll in University of Richmond’s Cybersecurity Bootcamp. I have no previous experience working in IT so I was a bit concerned with making a career change. From the first week of class I felt like I had found what I was looking for, a program to set me up for an entry level position in cybersecurity. 
John Hui has been my instructor for this Bootcamp. He is very knowledgable on the topics covered and is willing to give real-world examples to help you learn. John is a master at giving you just enough knowledge to find answers on your own. Often a cryptic response to your question will lead you to an “Aha!” moment. This sense of discovery is very gratifying and pushes me to learn more. Truly an amazing teacher! 
During the course I learned many new concepts about Cybersecurity and got hands-on experience with all kinds of software. The syllabus will guide you through controlling a computer in the command line to building an entire functional cloud system and beyond. 
The course materials, assignments, projects, and career resources are a complete package. From the start, I feel I’ve had what I needed to succeed. Everyone with the Bootcamp has been very professional and more than helpful. Never did I feel like I couldn't ask a question. Even though I still have another week in the course, I am confident I have the skills to find my desired position. I would recommend this course to anyone wanting to break into the Cybersecurity field. 

The main purpose of starting at the University of Richmond Cybersecurity Boot camp program was to make a change in my current career. I needed a fast pace but well-rounded and structured environment where I could learn, but yet be challenged and leave being confident and ready for the new career path I will be embarking on, and I got that and much more. 
John added value to being in this program by getting me out of my comfort zone and showing the importance of challenging myself, and not being afraid of making mistakes. Someone once said, "a comfort zone is comfortable, but it doesn't bring change". John brought change to every class session from the first day of class until the very last class. On the first day of class, John mentioned how important time is in general, but also in this program, and I was determined to respect that statement as he is a role model of being on time and organized. This was a significant change for me especially because I knew that I might be inconsistent with keeping to time, but I was able to accomplish that goal. Other changes include the drive, zeal, and inspiration of knowing and understanding the subject matter before and after every class. I had zero knowledge about the cybersecurity field, but as we built on each class, I went from being nervous to being confident. That's how effective John's style of teaching is. it's phenomenal! John asks questions, he doesn't just give you answers because he wants his students to understand. He patiently makes you think for yourself, until you figure things out, but be prepared along the way to embarrass yourself in a good way when he begins to ask you questions (I've been there and done that, but I was excited when I finally figured things out). I have learned that questions make you ask more questions, which lead to an intelligent answer no matter how it comes out. John stands out as an excellent instructor because he enriches the curriculum with the excitement he brings to each class. He is always available and responds promptly to messages at any time of the day even outside office hours. John treats students according to each of their needs, as he takes the time to understand each student's personality to relate to them effectively. To summarize this all up, if anyone else asked me for a recommendation for John as an instructor, my answer will be: 
John fully understands what he teaches which transcends to all his students, it will be one of the best choices you ever made.

A year prior to writing this, I was in a 4 year computer science program and felt it was lacking what I needed. I wanted to know the concepts behind security as well as gain experience but without the fluff of a Bachelor's. A friend in the field referred me to this boot camp and upon review, I immediately signed up. In the course of a single semester's time, I have amassed knowledge that fills my resume and obtained skills that I see all throughout cyber job postings. While this program has been well designed and carefully thought out, I owe an exceptional amount of gratitude to the instructor, John Hui. This boot camp has given us the opportunity to master imperative skills, but John went above and beyond to teach us to be problem solvers. He starts the program teaching us, and ends it guiding us to teach ourselves. He has been not only instructive, but inspiring; a quality I wish I saw more in education. I am incredibly fortunate to have learned from this person, and I am excited to put his teachings and wisdom into practice.

Overall, a great experience.

I started the boot camp with experience in the field of data analytics and visualization. I worked as Business intelligence analyst looking to further improve on my technical skills and to better understand some industry technologies. I knew excel very well, adequate at SQL and was familiar with Tableau as I used these tools at work. These tools are adequate to get into the data anaytics space but my desire is to get into the Data science space without spending more time and money in a typical college setting. I needed to understand more than just the usual excel/sql/tableau experience I had. I wanted to understand better programming languages and concepts such as Python/R; Big data programs such as spark/Hadoop; Statistical analytics and Machine learning; advance data visualization along with understanding data structures in order to deal with unstructured data issues that many in the industry deal with. This boot camp helped me with that knowledge.

Please go into this understand that THIS IS A BOOT CAMP. This is to say that you WILL require much time needed outside of the classroom to do a lot of much needed self studying and catching up. A lot more than would be required at a typical college setting. There is a lot to cover so it goes by fast. Thankfully, that is mentioned many times before and during the start of the boot camp for anyone enrolled to understand what you are diving into. I did my research, I looked through the curriculum and understood what I was getting myself into and the knowledge I would gain from this journey/experience. And that is exactly what I received. 

I started this bootcamp back in November of 2020 and WOW! 6 months sure did fly by. It's really hard to wrap my head around how much I've learned in such a short amount of time. This bootcamp was more than I expected in so many ways. My instructor, Jonathan and my T.A., Ty were amazing! Ty was the go-to guy for questions or help on assignments. Jonathan did the teaching and he really did an amazing job explaining the concepts. That's coming from someone who came in clueless! I met and worked with so many amazing people in my class that I hope to stay in touch with now that it's over. I was assigned a tutor at the beginning of the course (you can change your tutor if you want) and he helped me in SO many ways. Shout out Mr. Itua! He went out of his way in his free time multiple times to help me on my homework assignments, projects, and really just gave me another perspective of the things that we were learning. Also, everything was through Zoom. All of the classes, presentations, tutor sessions. Not sure how that will change once the pandemic is over, but honestly that didn't affect me like I thought it would. I used to think I needed the in-person instruction, but really when it came down to it - I didn't.
Before the course, I had never coded anything before. I barely knew how to inspect a page. I was a kennel attendant at a doggie daycare. Even though I loved being there with those dogs every day, I knew I didn't want to be there for the rest of my life. I'm 22 and a college dropout (lol) and simply just didn't know what kind of career path I wanted to go down. My mom actually introduced the idea of the IT field to me because it has such a high demand and the pay is normally pretty great. So I started googling and I found this University of Richmond's page full of reviews and wondered if someone like me with no experience would excel in a program like this. If you're reading this right now and not sure if you think you can do it, take it from me... you can. I went from not even knowing what HTML was to building full stack web applications. The work IS hard though and you DO have to spend at least 20 hours outside of class to really understand the all of the different concepts and technologies they're going to teach you. And sometimes you still won't understand it all the way. That was probably one of the hardest things for me. Not knowing EVERYTHING. I always felt like I had to know it all to be the best at something, but in this field you can't think that way. I'm going to spend the rest of my life learning something new every day. LOL. Our course started out with like 25 or so people and we only had about 15 left at the end. I get it. It's not easy, but if you decide to do it, make sure you're ready to make that commitment. 
Google will be your best friend. Their Career Services gives you great feedback on your resume, portfolio, GitHub, and LinkedIn accounts for you to be employer-ready throughout and after the bootcamp! I presented my final project today (woo!) and have talked to a Career Coach one time already. She was nice! We will be keeping in touch every two weeks or so until I have landed a job. I already have an apprenticeship in mind that I'm going to apply for at the beginning of June, so I'm assuming if I don't get that I will be communicating with her more often. Not really sure how that whole process works, but we'll see. Wish me luck! I hope my review has helped you in your decision making, as I was looking for a review like this before I signed up. It turned out to be a great decision for me and I hope you decide to go for it too! Thank you, UofR!

This was most certainly a challenging course. I enjoyed the way Tim taught the course. To me personally, Jamie and Sara were the most helpful TAs over the course. Christopher, the Student Success Manager, was understanding and offered help when I needed to extend due dates, as well as marking attendance. The course taught me that there are always multiple ways to view a dataset, as well as visualizing it. It also taught me that assumptions should not be made when reviewing a dataset, as it can skew the way you are able to manipulate or even visualize it. I liked a majority of topics we reviewed, but surprisingly, did not enjoy the Tableau week. I'd highly recommend this course for anyone interested analyzing data and perhaps looking for a change of careers. 

This program also comes with tutoring services, which I thoroughly appreciated. My tutor, Niharika, was fantastic. She would explain processes, if I did not understand specific functions of language I was working on. Her help was invaluable, as she would review my code when I would get stuck or did not end up with the correct answer. She would even review my projects to make them better and would Zoom call if she felt that it would be easier to explain via actual conversion versus chatting via Slack.

SN: I have yet to fully utilize career services, but plan to do so in the coming weeks. They have reached out multiple times over the program, so I would say that it is an engaging service available to all who are interested.

John is my cybersecurity instructor and he is excellent.  He has in-depth knowledge of the subject matter.  He tends to moves fast through the demo, but he alway asks if there are any questions before proceeding to the activity or the next topic.  He gives great examples or analogies to help us understand the subject.  Lord knows he has the patiences of "Job" and he is never condescending.  He is always uplifting and cheerful.  He and Thor are very supportive and encouraging.  The course is fast paced, but overall I am enjoying the course and I have learned more in this bootcamp than I have working in the field for more than 10 years.  

I highly recommend the coding bootcamp at the University of Richmond. A year ago I knew I wanted to go back to school but a four year bachelors degree seemed out of reach at the time, so the bootcamp was exactly what I needed to get a jump start in the direction I wanted to go. At every turn, the bootcamp exceeded my expectations- the level of instruction, academic support, and career support were well worth my time and the cost of the progam. I was really drawn to the coding bootcamp because the subject matter was concentrated on what I was looking to learn, and the career services help throughout the course and up to three months after graduation. This was my first venture into the tech field and it was really difficult jumping in without prior experience, but I learned so much and career services helped with interview skills, networking, my resume, and my portfolio, so right after graduation I was applying for and interviewing for positions. Just over a month after the bootcamp ended I started as a software developer and I love the work that I do now and I'm so glad I went through the coding bootcamp.

I attended the Full Stack Web Development boot camp at UR for a career switch. I used to be a high school science teacher and I simply didn't love that job. I decided to complete the boot camp and career switch in motivation to find a job and work that I truly felt passionate about. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this course, and it has allowed me to make a huge transition in my life! The total program really does help you if you're interested in switching careers, simply getting started with web development coding languages, or if you're just interested in learning new things quickly. 

While the boot camp moves very fast and can be very demanding, this program is incredibly supportive - something that was very important to me. Before and after every class are office hours where the instructor and TA's are around to help answer questions, debug your work, and provide any other advice/assistance through the whole program and process. My instructor was absolutely incredible and a very skilled teacher. You also have access to a wide variety of career service tools and resources, as well as a Student Success Manager who came to my rescue a few times through the tough course!

The curriculum is great for absolute beginners, moves fast, and is kept current through minor changes as the current job market shifts in Richmond, VA. They truly want to do everything they can to set you up to be employable at the conclusion of the program.

It became obvious that you will always only get what you put into your coursework. Ultimately, you to decide how detailed your education of the content is going to be during this program. You aren't babied through the program, and your hand isn't held through every line of code. Otherwise it would be impossible to get through this program in a timely manner. At first it was intimidating for me and several of my peers to throw ourselves into a program that demands so much self-advocacy. Fairly quickly, though, I figured out a routine and got into a groove. Therefore, I also needed to continue to push myself to do my best. I found this aspect to be an incredibly valuable learning experience. 

After graduation you still get access to career service resources that were also very valuable to me. This provided a support system as well as an unbiased source for advice through the job hunting process. Much like the boot camp coursework, you will have to put in the work to find a job because nobody can do this for you. Still, they offer a variety of advice focused on this industry that helped me land a job one month upon graduation! 

Some areas for improvement for this program:
1. Curriculum: In 6 months it's very difficult to learn things thoroughly unless you have copious amounts of free time. It's also not the goal of the boot camp to automatically become an expert in every/any topic. They teach you jQuery at a very early point and it helps beginner coders create things faster and feel good about their progress. However, the cost of this was not learning vanilla JavaScript as well as employers would like to see. Similarly, it would help students be more competitive in the job market to have a more in-depth focus on MySQL/MongoDB.
2. Career Services: Overall this department is great. However, the video sessions aren't as helpful as I thought they would be (at least to me).
3. Demo Night: This is a super important day/night where you present your final project to potential employers. It would be helpful if the program could bring in professionals from a larger variety of companies to further help those of us new to this industry network our way into that first job. I wasn't disappointed in the turn out for my demo night, but I think this could be improved. The night has such significance that bringing in more companies and professionals would certainly help all students land jobs faster upon graduation. 

Overall, if you are in the Richmond, VA area this is the best coding boot camp you will find that has classes in person! It's remarkable how much I've learned and grown throughout this program, and I'm super grateful for the overall experience!

Before coming to the U of R Coding Bootcamp, I was working as a natural gas mechanic. I knew that something had to change because I was unhappy in my previous role but didn't know where to start looking for something knew. I wanted a career I was passionate about, not just a way to pay to the bills. I had seen friends go to coding bootcamps and come out with successful careers and it intrigued me. After some research of my own, I made a decision to sign up myself. From the beginning of the course, I was challenged and kept interested by the workload. The instructors made coming to class fun and interesting, and I looked forward to completing my assignments. The most important skill I had recieved from the bootcamp was to learn how to learn. Technologies change so fast and its important to be able to pivot from one technology, library or framework to another. I was able to take my desirable skillset and within 3 months of graduation, I was offered a position of Associate Software Developer at Homes.com in Norfolk, VA. I am very grateful for everyone from the bootcamp who helped me along the way and would definitely recommend this course to others.

This course provided me with a very solid jumping off point to begin an exciting career in tech. Through the curriculum you will develop sought after skills, learn the fundamentals of multiple coding languages, and develop projects that will demonstrate your ability to potential employers. While the pace of the class was brutal, the excellent support staff, instructors and TAs will make sure you succeed. After completing the flex fullstack program I was contacted by the CIO of my employer to work as a consultant on a large UI/UX project being developed by the agency. My certification along with the large collection of projects created during the bootcamp were cited as key factors as to why i was sought out. I am now hoping to aid in the pursuits of other other perspective developers by working as a substitute teaching assistant for the program. All in all, this program was a wise investment that has greatly altered my future career trajectory.

Overall my time in the course has been transformative. My instructor was awesome and there always plenty of support for when I found myself struggling. This program helped me land a job in the industry soon after graduating, but I have also returned to the program to work as a TA, which I have greatly enjoyed. This program has served me well and I would recommend it to anyone who is considering enrollment. From my time as a student, and as a TA, I'm confident that anyone who puts the time & effort in and is committed to becoming a developer will succeed in this program.

The Full Stack program was a great intorduction to coding and has led to a phenomenal career change for me. I left a career in food and beverage after about 10 years of experience. I pursued this path after my sister had suggested something in the world of programming as a next career. This course was very solid. We learned a lot of different material in a very tight time frame. It taught me an incredibly valuable lesson in learning to learn. It is so important to understand that software/web development is constantly evolving, and this course helps you learn how to adapt to the changing landscape of JavaScript. It should instill and train you to be constantly spending time learning how to hone your skills. After completing the course I worked as a remote tutor for the program before getting a job as a software engineer in the area. I want to address the scores I gave Curriculum and Job Assistance. There were several pieces of the curriculum that I felt could have been sped up or omitted, in order to cover the capstone subjects. This isn't a slight againt the course, but a desire to learn/master more fully the final topics. As much as I understand the bridge that jQuery and Handlebars deliver between vanilla Javascript and React, I feel like a stronger focus on modern Javascript techniques and an earlier attention on React (or more time with SQL/Mongo), would make students more competitive in the job pool. The Job Assistance score is a personal opinion. Just like the rest of the course, you will find that the responsibility of getting a job ultimately lies with your own effort. Career services will provide support, and when available, leads. I found that you will need to aggresively apply to jobs and be willing to take any reasonable opportunity. I highly recommend reaching out to alumi or attend area meetups to try to meet someone willing to mentor/help you. I was lucky enough to line up a job after responding to a local developers slack channel. I will say the skills I gained in class have served me extremely well in my job, though the biggest thing I've attained is the ability to pick/keep up with the changes/demands asked of a developer

From oil and grease to air conditioning and vacation days. So often in life we are shown a path that seems completely out of the question. The trajectory of which is frightening and of questionable success, or so we think. We let those moments pass us by in favor of the familiar, the safe if unfulfilling. We drift through on our normal path, running our ruts deeper and longer. But sometimes those paths are the only way to set you free, to change the trajectory of your entire life. Such a path is the coding bootcamp. I quit my job, a ten year career path, and an industry that I was very well qualified in.. all to throw my dice onto another table. Six months of grueling work, sleepless nights and a rapidly thinning wallet, I find myself rebuilt onto a developer. It was not easy. Nothing truly worth it is. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. And one of the most incredibly satisfying.

These days we are so overwhelmed by academic courses, college paths, and even certificate programs of some sort that promise us success and financial freedom. With all these options out there, it is sometimes easy to choose the wrong path. While keeping this thought in mind, I went on searching for a "short" program to update my tech skills and finally land a long loved career in electronics/engineering. Little did I know that the UofR Coding Bootcamp would not be just a program, but a life-changing experience. What you learn in this program is not just to "code", it is self discipline, teamwork, time management and... Passion. Above all, you learn to be passionate. The drive and synergy that this program brings out of you is possibly the most amazing journey you'll experience. This is the type of program you go through to defy the odds against human potential. The genius and the average Joe turn out to be the same hero after 6 months and what is the end product? An amazing career and everlasting friendship with the graduate crew :) aside from my very subjective insight, my objective comments are: John is an extraordinary instructor who seems to have the patience of a saint, Yuri is the one who will help you see that this world is just awesome because there are people like her, and the TAs will be your friends even after 9:30 p.m. when everyone is ready to throw the computer out the window. Honestly, I would do it all over again!

Words could never explain how grateful I am for the drastic change of events that have recently sparked off in my life because of this community, because of this FAMILY. I never thought of myself to be the smartest person in the room, nor the most talented. In college, I would always be the last to understand things. Constantly I’d feel a huge burden to my peers for asking so many of what seemed to be "stupid" questions, and this would be after hours and hours of reading/studying and lecture. Never would I have imagined myself in the position I am today, living my dream, being somewhere I am valued and doing something I have a deep love for. Trilogy Education & The University of Richmond made this dream possible,  and it is to them I owe a huge amount of thanks and gratitude towards.

 

Before I enrolled in this program, I was working full time at a Hyundai Dealership managing internet sales and help desk tickets while pursuing my Associates Degree at a small Community College. Although the money was great, I sacrificed too much of my real life. Working almost 80 hours a week while trying to balance my education as well as my personal life wasn't exactly living up to my expectations. On multiple occasions I’d find myself at work, thinking “is this really it ? is this really what my life is about ?”, although only being 20 years old at the time and not realizing there was so much more ahead of me, I was too eager and too ready to succeed to leave my fate up to chance. I had little to no experience in the real IT world besides the basics from Youtube Videos I’d browsed in High-School along with a small IT Fundamentals workshop certificate, and creating a few silly websites In some of my college elective courses, but I always had a love for technology and a very curious mind to how things work.

 

What really pushed me to pursue this field, was actually my clientele & my family. I’d probably had met close to a thousand people where I work who were living a very successful lifestyle that I admired very much. These are the people who always mentioned to me about tech being a very lucrative, very challenging, and yet rewarding and demanding field. So I listened, I did my research and to my excitement, this program found me. I will say without a doubt the 6 month journey I embarked on within this program not only prepared me more for a career than any other college course I’ve taken, but it built character within me, it taught me perseverance and it brought me close to a group of people that I proudly call a family. After constant late nights of studying (which really means screaming at my computer), probably a million questions, and just going what the heck sometimes, before the blink of an eye, it was all over. On multiple occasions during the course and especially towards the end, there were times where I still didn’t believe In myself or felt as if I didn’t make the best of it, times where I still felt as if I wasn’t smart enough although many of my classmates felt different and reminded me so. At the end of the day I knew I worked as hard as possible and trusted that eventually, the reward would start to show.

 

Despite all of this doubt in my heart, 1 month before graduation I obtained my first job offer within the Software Engineering field and I must say it felt unreal to achieve such a great milestone with the help of such an amazing supporting cast that was my classroom peers and my instructional staff.  I was the first person within my cohort to do so and for once in my life, I felt that my hard work had finally paid off. Following our class Demo Day and Graduation many, many, more offers & opportunities would come, it even came to a point & time where I was blessed with multiple options and boy did I use them to my advantage. It felt amazing knowing that I was in demand, that I was in control of my future for once, that I was truly happy !

 

Today I work as an Application Developer at Capital One and I enjoy every moment that I am here. I make almost double my previous salary, I work 40 hours a week, I enjoy my afternoons with my family, I wake up excited to go to work, I drive home every day with a huge smile on my face even in that drastic 5 o'clock traffic, I’m grateful. As I said, I never felt like I was the best at anything, but I believe I had the best people around me. I believe I had the best support system, the best Teachers as well as the best Teaching Assistants, and the best career coaches (who are actually more of cheerleaders by the way, and they're absolutely great at it). I believe this program is a life changing experience for anyone who chooses to embark on it and puts their best foot forward. I strongly encourage anyone who is hesitant to pursue this field, to do it. I’d like to think if I could do it, anything is possible. I promise if you don’t gain anything, you will learn something new (about yourself as well), you will gain courage, you will gain a new hunger for success and most importantly, you will gain a happy memory of the fulfillment in which you achieved with a group of beautiful people.

 

Yours Truly,

 

Kevin Kafuku.

I am so glad I decided to invest in myself by taking this program. A year ago, I didn't have any experience in tech and was dreading going to work everyday in a dead end career. In six short months, I completely turned my life around.

The class began with the basics of making simple web pages using HTML and CSS, and progressed all the way to making full stack applications by the end of the program. It was fast paced, but also very thorough. I am especially grateful for the support of instructors, TAs, and Career Services. Everyone seemed genuinely interested in helping students succeed. 

The most memorable day of boot camp was Project Demo Night, during which local employers visit campus to see students' projects. Some students, including myself, were able to land interviews and even job opportunities because of this special event. 

The UR Coding Boot Camp was one of the most difficult challenges I've ever pursued, but I'm so glad I did. I LOVE going to work everyday as a developer now.

Before attending this bootcamp I had already acquired bachelors and masters degrees in unrelated fields.  While I am grateful for my degrees and those experiences, this bootcamp is by far the best learning experience I’ve had. The bootcamp was more challenging, more rewarding, more supportive, and focused intensely on all the right things.  The main focus of the bootcamp is to make the students think like developers; we learn how to feel confident taking on challenges and teaching ourselves new skills in the ever-changing world of tech. 

 

I knew almost nothing coming into this course and I’m astounded at how much I know coming out of it.  I will say I had to put in plenty of hours of hard to get here. This course is not for people who are merely curious or on the fence about development. You have to really enjoy every part of the process to get through all the frustrations and the constant barrage of new information.  That said, the instructional staff is exemplary and they are always around for help and encouragement. 

 

At the end of the day I think this bootcamp is 100% the best option for quickly launching a career in web development or software engineering. 

 

If you are serious about a career change and know that web development/IT is the path you dare go down, then I would recommend this bootcamp. There isn't some 'free if you don't get a job within 6 months of graduating' clause or anything like that because they expect you take this seriously as it is more like a trade-school than anything else. The curriculum is based on your regions specific tech demands from actual local companies and your instructors are working professionals who are doing this as a side gig so you get practical and relevant knowledge, not just 'IT Theory' that a lot of 2 - 4 year Information Systems degrees would give you. That said, besides the tuition, a lot is required of you to make it worth going through. I personally think that it there should  be more emphasis of getting as much pre-learning done on your own time before the course starts because once it does, there aren't many pauses. If there was a scale of your coding knowledge where anything after 60% can get you hired, than I'd say this course can get you from 15% to 60%, and in an ideal situation, you'd have up to 10%-15% knowledge already obtained on your own from free online resources beforehand. This may only apply if you are going to be working a full time job during the course. Even if you prepare, you may still not feel like you are getting everything because you can barely keep up between going to class, doing the homework, and then trying to understand what was going on in the last class. Ask questions as much as you can, even if you dont know what question to ask because everything doesnt make sense, choose one thing and ask about it because it will likely come up again in your homework. The instructional team was phenomenal but I wish the situation with the projector during class was better. With being at a well known university you'd think they'd have a clearer way to display information than a poorly lit screen. 

I don't feel like I was one of the top students during my cohort, and even if that's true, I can definitely say that I came out of it having a set of skills with the most important of those being that I know how to LEARN any type of web development now. This isn't about memorizing a computer language, its more about being able to read it and knowing how all the pieces connect to form something greater and the problems that you can solve from that.

I came into this course with many years of IT experience focused primarly on hardware and IT service delivery.  I had no prior expirience with web development or related technologies.  

This course is loaded with content and organized in such a way to make it possible to learn the material within the timelines.  You will be regularly challenged as you work through the lessons.  You will be relieved and proud of what you are able to create, only to have the achievement surpassed the next week.  In the end you will have obtained a good working knowledge of the technologies, feel confident in your abilities as a developer, and know how to learn new technologies going forward.  .   

The course will require a sustained personal commitment from you.  Your level of success will relate directly to the time you give to the lessons and homework.  Be prepared to rearrange your schedule and invest most of your free time in learning.  You will get out of it what you put into it.  

You'll have all the help and support you require along the way.  The instructional staff is real-world knowledgeable beyond the curriculum and are able to fill in the gaps which help you understand the concepts.  The combined classroom and independent study format provides structure and accountability.  Everyone involved in student support throughout the program is very supportive and professional. 

My personal assessment is this experience is extremely positive.  Great instructors, great support, great classmates, and I have lots of new skills.  

If you're on the fence about taking the dive, just do it. This is a fantastic program, and well worth your time and money. The instructors are awesome, and they are actual professionals in the industry. They geniunely care about you and your success. The TAs are very knowledgeable and supportive, and will devote a lot of their time to help you with homework or to understand a specific topic. The Administrator is there for anything you need. Needless to say, the support system you'll have as you learn is phenominal. 

As for the course itself, it is fast paced and challenging, but rewarding. You will find yourself just starting to grasp one topic only to quickly move on to the next, but if you stay disciplined, and use your resources and support available to you, then you will succeed. 

Coming out of this course, I have a broad range of skills that are in high demand. I feel pleased with my decision to take this life changing step in my life and this course has built a solid foundation for the start of my new career path. 

Students get the opportunity to present their final projects at a science fair-like hiring event, and I can only tell you that it was one of the best experiences I have ever had, and I feel like I made a lot of great connections.

It is a serious commitment for six months, it requires at least 15 to 20 hrs of own time to analyze class activities and complete homework. The class activities and homework helped me to a great extent to understand the concepts. Even as a QA analyst worked in an IT environment for over an 8yrs, it was still challenging. It is a constant fire hose of information, but I can assure you the six months is not at all enough to master all the technologies but it is enough to understand the basic concepts to build on it. Unlike learning all these technologies over some online tutorials, there is always a human available to interact and consult your doubts. I am glad I joined the boot camp. I am very happy with my progress. It is well worth the time.

I came into the course knowing a little HTML and CSS and I graduate tomorrow feeling confident and excited about continuing to learn. The UR teaching staff and Student Success Manager, Yuri, makes sure students are properly prepared to make web development a life-long journey. It will challenge and frustrate you, but you'll enjoy wins as you will have "a-ha" moments quite frequently. They will teach you how to troubleshoot and absorb the languages and technologies - truly setting you up to be able to learn anything you set your mind to. I will miss the cameraderie of the class, but I am excited to apply what I have learned now in real world situations!

The U of R Coding Boot Camp is a humbling experience. I already had a web design certificate and thought I was more or less ready to jump into the workforce. This boot camp showed me just how wrong I was and how much I had yet to learn. I’ve learned so much in the last six months that I chuckle to think how naïve I was before it. The curriculum is consistently challenging, and right as you start to think “Maybe I’m getting the hang of this,” you’re whisked onto the next unfamiliar concept. It requires more than casual attention to keep up, but even with a full-time job, it’s not impossible with the right work ethic. Thanks to the great instructors, T.A.s, and staff, this boot camp has built up my portfolio, allowed me to forge supportive connections with fellow newbie coders, and helped pave the way for me to break into the I.T. industry. Highly recommended!

I originally signed up for this class as a backup for if I did not get a job that I wanted. As fate would have it, I ended up with both.

I have dabbled development in the past, but nothing improved and gave me the skills needed to be a web developer like this class has done. It is difficult, it stretched me to my limits, but I learned. The teachers and the TAs are there you help you, they offer time before and after class to answer your questions and help guide to towards what you need to know. If you take this class seriously, you will learn so much.

Starting from the application process with this bootcamp I have had great expriences..  The emrollment process is somewhat challenging with a technical interview and test.  The weeks leading up to the start of the camp require roughly 40 hours of pre-work that sets you up to get started the first day.  The camp is instensive but with good reason.  Learning to code it more then memorizing, it requires a mindset of curisity, always open to learning new things, knowing you wont master them right away.  You're streched in ways you didn't know were possible and build bonds with classmates and TA that support you every step of the way.  The campus is historic and a pillar in the Richmond community, for that the certificate will be well recieved in the community.

So you're considering the U of R web development bootcamp? Awesome! As a soon-to-be graduate (in two more days!), I hope this advice will help prospective students determine whether or not this program is the right fit for them, and get the most out of their experience if they decide to take the leap.

First and foremost, like all the other reviews say, this is HARD. It's so life-changing and rewarding BECAUSE it's so hard. But you have to be mentally and physically prepared for a 6-month endurance challenge. Real talk: I spent 6 years in a super-intense Ph.D. program before coming to this bootcamp, and I think this was an even more difficult experience. You will be pushing yourself and there will be growing pains as you learn challenging new skills in a very intensive, short time frame. Your friends and family will wonder where you disappeared to. You will worry where you, and your brain and sanity, disappeared to. You'll get tired and discouraged. You'll feel like you can't catch your breath and can't possibly keep drinking from a firehose of new information every week until the end. At times you will wonder if you're good/smart/whatever enough, maybe even think about quitting...

DON'T.

Because the flip side of the previous paragraph is, this bootcamp is PHENOMENAL. You'll have a ton of fun. The instructors and staff are knowledgeable, caring, responsive, kind, and helpful. You and your classmates will bond intensely during this experience, and you'll emerge with a built-in network of local tech buddies. You'll learn about yourself and your abilities, and you'll be stunned at what you're able to accomplish over the weeks and months. I toyed with the idea of doing a bootcamp for several years before taking the plunge, and I'm so, so, so very glad I finally did.

TL;DR: Be brutally honest with yourself: am I ready to commit 6 months to one of the hardest and most all-consuming things I've ever done? If the answer is really yes, go for it! Put in the time and effort, enjoy yourself, and you will be richly rewarded with knowledge, skills, connections, friendships, confidence, and a bright career outlook!

I had minimal exposure to real-world coding when I enrolled, and from the first hour of instruction, the whole class was in the fast lane. You MUST commit the time necessary to be successful in this course, and that means rearranging your life for 6+ months. It's totally worth it.

Recommended: If you're not sure this is for you, spend some good time going through courses on udemy, freecodecamp, or other no cost / low cost instruction sites. If you enjoy the challenge of those experiences, and are ready to commit the time, then this course is an excellent choice.

I'm graduating a few days from now. I'm amazed at how much I've learned and the breadth and depth of the skills that I've developed because of my time in this course. I came to the class with no experience with any kind of coding. I'm leaving with a great understanding of CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Node, React, Express, and more. I actually understand how to use all of this and was able to do so for my final project.

My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to learn it, or that this would just be an introduction and the real work would happen after graduation. While I'm sure that's still partly true, I feel fully prepared to demonstrate to employers that I have the skills, right now, needed to be valuable in the web development space.

It was hard. Really hard. And worth it. Really worth it.

I had very little experience with coding before I started this bootcamp and I was worried about going back to school after being out of school for so long, but the support that is available for students is amazing. I'm so thankful for my instructors and TAs. They were very responsive and available whenever I needed help and beyond just the academic support, they and Yuri, our student sucess manager, were emotionally supportive. The course is fast-paced and information packed. There is just too much material to internalize, process, and use on my own so feeling stressed out becomes second nature. However, I can't believe I've come this far in 5.5 months and have created full-stack web applications. I'm excited about the possibilities that await after this bootcamp and would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a life changing experience.

I became interested in coding during my time as a music composition major taking computer music classes at UVA, and my interest expanded as my post-college career path lead me to software project managment and basic web production positions. I soon realized that despite my complete and utter lack of belief in my ability to do anything remotely math and science-related, I might actually have a knack for tech. I decided to go with my gut and take the plunge into a tech career by enrolling in the University of Richmond Coding Bootcamp, and I am quite honestly astounded by how much I've learned within the past 6 months. The course is JavaScript-focused and moves incredibly quickly. 3x/weekly classes and challenging homework assignments take a toll in terms of mental stress and limited self-care time, especially if you maintain a full-time job as I have done, but the experience is 100% worth it. The teachers and TAs genuinely care about your success and have been endlessly helpful in catalyzing the various coding epiphanies that have occurred in my brain throughout the course, and will hopefully continue to occur during my growth as a developer. In addition to being well-equipped to begin a lifelong career in software development, I finally feel that I am in a place to earn "what I'm worth" and to have fun doing it (as a young woman in 2018 with a degree in music composition, salary negotiation has not been much of an option in the past). Even if you have doubts in your abilities, this program will push you to succeed beyond your expectations.     

When I started the Bootcamp I was nervous about the amount of work that we were going to be covering in that short of a time, but I quickly realized how easy Trilogy makes it to maintain your workflow. The instructors and TAs are very knowledgeable and helpful. Before I started the Bootcamp, I thought I was a pro at CSS and HTML. Little did I know that my skills were just a scratch on the surface. The class moves fast but if you put in the time, you will definitely be ahead of the game. I came into this program knowing very little but I can gladly call myself a full stack developer. The career service is also very helpful. 

I came in to this course not knowing much about coding and I am leaving a very capable full stack developer. It is amazing how much we have been taught in such a short amount of time. Like other have said here though, you will only get as much out of the class how much you out into it. Plan on spending around twenty hours a week outside of class working on assignments and reviewing what was taught in class. If you are not willing to do this you will probably struggle. They offer many resource to you including help during office hours, tutoring sessions, and supplemental videos on course work. My experience with the instructors an TAs has been great. Everyone is willing to help and wants to see you succeed. In addition, the comrodary amongst students has been invaluable. I have already been offered free lance JavaScript work. It is definitely worth the investment in yourself and your future 

If you want to change your life, your earning potential, make valuable connections and learn not only full stack web development, but core things about yourself, I highly recommend spending the time and money on this course. It will be challenging, frustrating, but very rewarding and those "aha" moments are so worth it when they happen.

If I could do it over again, I would not have worked full-time while taking the course. I was prepared for the time commitment it was going to take. I had cleared the decks, told everyone I knew that I was going to be unavailable for those six months, but life happens and can throw you some curve balls. You need to really want it, be very self-disciplined and focused. Know that it is not just a three nights a week commitment. The pace is what they tell you, fast and intense. Not only will you be practicing your new skills in class, you also need to spend quality time reviewing, watching instructional videos, tutoring sessions (as needed) and exploring all the different ways one problem can be solved. Practice, practice, practice. And that takes time.

You will be well supported by instructors, student success managers, teaching assistants, career services, tutors and fellow students. They have all been quick to respond and very knowledgeable in their fields.

This program has offered me freedom and options. Not just a job, but a fulfilling career with unlimited growth potential. It really has been the best decision I ever made and I know you will feel the same way too.