UT Austin Boot Camps

I recently completed the Postgraduate Program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and I’m incredibly grateful to Great Learning Institute for their exceptional support throughout this journey!


The course content was top-notch, with comprehensive video lectures that provided a deep dive into AI and ML concepts. The mentors were highly knowledgeable, offering insightful feedback and engaging discussions, especially with the depth of test cases they shared.


One of the standout features was their 24/7 technical support, which ensured that help was always just a message away, no matter what time it was. The program manager was always on top of things, proactively addressing questions and ensuring a smooth learning experience.


This program is truly designed for lifelong learners, blending rigorous academic concepts with practical applications. Thank you, Great Learning, for an enriching experience that has equipped me with valuable skills for the future!

Post Graduate Program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Business Applications is a fantastic course. The curriculum is well-structured, starting from the fundamentals. The classes were engaging, and I felt the same energy as I did in college.The weekly quizzes and end-of-module projects ensured that I grasped the concepts effectively. My initial program manager, Bhashy, was incredibly helpful. She was always available to assist me, especially when I needed extra time due to work commitments. She was also instrumental in helping me transition to a new cohort batch during an emergency. I found the program managers to be very accommodating and flexible.

After moving to the US and experienced a major life change, I was feeling stuck coming from a Psychology background and having to start again from scratch a new life including my carreer goals. I always loved Design and life took me to the path of having to create a website to offer a better way to teach online yoga classes (I am also a yoga teacher)  I made myself explore website creation through wordpress and other systems available out there. I was struggling a lot and decided to explore courses online, I didnt knew about UX/UI Dessign until one day doing research to find a design program I came across the UX/UI Boot Camp at UT Austin. It was a game changer to discover the existence of this field that combines the psychology part and foundations of the design taking in acount the user experience and making it a human centered approach, I applied and the admission team contacted me and help me with the whole process from A to Z. It was very helpful to have the assiatance and guidance from the beginning, I trusted completely and was never disppointed. My teachers are amazing and are coaching us with real world tools and projects that will help us to have more confidence and land a job afterwards. 
If you are thinking in enrolling a bootcamp this is it, don't think about it twice, trust the process and be sure that you will be supported by a top university and a great team.

I absolutely loved the Digital Marketing Bootcamp course. The instructor was fantastic - very knowledgeable and able to make every topic exciting and easy to understand. The TAs were great as well, and the three of them together created an amazing experience for us. While the class was a very large time commitment (especially with a full-time job), I looked forward to every meeting and had a blast working with my classmates and creating all kinds of different materials that can be added to my portfolio. I had been working in marketing prior to this class, and I still am, but after finishing the boot camp, I feel much more comfortable with my skills and confident in my abilities to be a successful marketing professional. Thank you!

My degree is in Economics and my first job out of school was in NYC at a large financial institution. It was a great first job but I learned that I would thrive more in a startup culture at that time so I called my friend who was the CEO and Founder of Super Coffee and we met for coffee one morning. I told him I wanted to do what he was doing. Build something from the ground up. He thought I would be a great fit in Food & Beverage and two weeks later he offered me a job, which was to build an ecommerce Wholesale Program.

In this role, I loved identifying who my target audience was, pitching the products, gathering feedback, negotiating pricing and even some exclusive distribution agreements. In 6 months, we had over 500 SMB customers and brand partnerships with Barry's Bootcamp, Solidcore, & SoulCycle.

In March, 2020 our company signed a Master Distribution Agreement with Anheuser Busch InBev and I was promoted to Director of Brand Operations. My job was to serve as the singular interface between senior leadership at both companies. It was in this role that I discovered my passion for executing  start-to-end project plans that align with company priorities and synergize cross functional teams, key stakeholders, and workflows. After two wildly successful years, we accomplished the mission and fully integrated with AB InBev's systems, processes, and tech platforms and partnered with over 400 distributors nationwide selling over $100M in Super Coffee.

Around February 2022, I was in Pennsylvania visiting family and my dad and I were eating breakfast together. He's been programming for 40 years and it got me thinking. Why hadn't I ever thought to try? Genetically, maybe I'd be good?! The next morning, I was targeted with an ad on Twitter for UT Austin's Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp so I thought, what the hell, and applied. Sure enough, I was soon accepted and was pressed with a decision to make. After having conversations with my family and girlfriend, I decided to take the leap so I resigned from my job and enrolled.

We are just over the halfway point of the bootcamp and I can confidently say it was the right decision. This experience has been such a blessing in my life! It has given me the career clarity I needed. I intend on blending my experience as an enthusiastic and effective Project Manager with my blooming technical skillset to pivot into a Product Management position!

Overall, I've had such a positive experience with The Coding Boot Camp at UT Austin. Our instructor is wicked smart and breaks complicated concepts down in a way that allows us to internalize them easier. The rest of the instructional staff is top notch as well; and last but certainly not least, our Student Success Manager, who is always there for support! I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my amazing tutor, who has played a huge role in my development as well.

My favorite aspect about the program is unequivocally my cohort. We have such a diverse, talented, kind, and fun group. I am super grateful for you all for organizing study groups to iron down tougher concepts, sending funny memes in Slack and Discord channels, and always being there to help.

Advice I would give to other prospective students to ensure success:

• Attend office hours regularly
• Use the maximum number of tutoring sessions allowed
• Don't be afraid to speak up and ask questions
• Be compassionate with yourself and your classmates
• Track the amount of time you put in studying, researching, or doing homework outside of class. It motivates you to put in more time when you can see your performance visually.
• Get started on the Career Services milestones early. At a minimum, ensure your LinkedIn profile and resume are optimized by the end of the bootcamp so you can apply to jobs immediately.
• Don't be afraid to fail. This bootcamp isn't easy but with a positive, growth mindset, you can not only pass but excel!

This is an excellent boot camp to help improve and learn the basic skills needed to start a career in data science. Many useful topics are covered and the instructor does a great job going over the material in class. It is important that you keep up with the work, pay attention and participate (when possible) in class, and take advantage of the office hours for asking questions or getting work done. This is how you will make the most out of the course. Be sure to take advantage of career services as well. There is a career materials advisor who helps you with your resume and online presence for future employers and there are events you can attend to help with interview prep, networking and much more. 

I attended a 6 month cybersecurity bootcamp course offered by UT Austin. The instructor and the TA's were very helpful and guided us throughout the course. It is a challenging course but the instructor was encouraging and very patient in explaining the concepts in an understandable manner. They teach us lot of tools and concepts which makes it more interesting in every class. I never missed a single class since I was eager to learn all the tools. Overall it was an amazing experience and I learnt a lot during the duration of the course. 

This boot camp has been incredible, the skills and connections that I have been able to make have already begun to shine in my career.

I have been working as a software developer for 5 years, and so was already "in" the coding world, but I have been interested in expanding my career opportunities. I took this program specifically to build my foundation, as well as gain some new skills in SQL, data ETL, machine learning, and get more exposure to visualization tools like Tableau and Plotly. The choice to enroll in this class is already paying dividends as I was able to expand my role at my current company to include more data analysis.

The bootcamp moves pretty quickly, and having new projects every week is a tough schedule to stick to, but the volume of new tools, new languages, and increase in fundamentals that I gained in this class have made it all very worth the time investment. I particularly enjoyed the projects that centered in SQL, data cleaning, ETL, and machine learning. These are aspects of coding that I have always wanted to take a larger part in at my job, but felt unequipped for, but after this class, I have already begun taking on some of these sort of projects and been "wowing" my supervisors with the results.

I would recommend that anyone who is looking to get into data analytics, data visualization careers, or is just looking to strengthen their fundamentals in their career, to take this course. It moves at break neck speed at times, but the Instructors and TAs were always available to help, and offered great support and guidance. Working with the other students, and having study hours and test reviews in Slack and Discord were also very helpful.

My UT Austin coding boot camp experience learning under Leah Nelson was one of the most rewarding yet challenging things I have ever done. Full time is as scary as it sounds but it really is a zero to hero experience with some of the best help you could have. Think of it as storming the beach of Normandy but it takes 3 months, I mean, I think the cost of freedom is worth it and so is your certification! I love this course because teamwork and developing connections is a MUST. Almost more important than the curriculum I would argue, you are put in situations where you must ask for help and band together which is an invaluable lesson. A quote I love to summarize this is from Marcus Aurelius saying, “Don’t be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish. And if you’ve been wounded and you need a comrade to pull you up? So what?”. This full time boot camp will break you in the best ways and you will learn much more than just how to be a full stack developer. Highly recommend.

Before boot camp, I had no experience coding at all. What lead me to apply was, let's be real here the money. I didn't know what to expect, especially since I had chosen to take the full-time course. The first two weeks went pretty well. When week 3 came along, I started freaking out. I felt like things were going way too fast, a major case of impostor syndrome, and just feeling completely overwhelmed. If it were not for the group of amazing people that had taken this course with me and the greatest instructor ever Leah Daniels Nelson, I would not have made it through this boot camp. If you decide to take on this challenge, ask questions, make friends, take advantage of your resources. You'll get mad, but that's a part of learning. Don't doubt yourself, and you may not completely understand something at first, and that's okay. It will be great. 

The program is very well crafted with high quality videos that explain exceptionally well the concepts and with Python code that you can follow along with ease. I was delighted that there is a space below each recording where you can write your own notes to review later. The knowledge that you get from the videos is pure gold, clear, and easy to understand which is reinforced with the practice and graded quizzes. The mentoring sessions are excellent with highly qualified mentors who clarify all your doubts. The projects are 100% hands on, are very interesting, and come from real life situations. There is extra material that you can learn to broaden your Data Analytics/Statistics/Python knowledge. Overall, I would recommend this program without a doubt and enroll in another program from this school in the near future.

What led me to this bootcamp was my desire to gain foundational and core understanding for my role in Product Management. I made the lateral move towards product management, so my only formal training was on-the-job experience. My experience at the UT Austin Product Management Boot Camp was exactly what I needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of my role and how to continue growing and add value to my current employer's needs as an educated and experience Product Manager. My favorite aspect of the boot camp was the hands-on learning in the form of weekly challenges as well as diverse and versatile curriculum. I was easily able to implement all teachings literally the next day at work. My personal advice to those considering the program is to take the plunge and do it without fear. Doing so will make you better prepared for any roles related to Product Management. 

I graduated from the bootcamp in August 2020. I came to the United States from Japan in January 2020 and decided to take the course without English proficiency. At first, I was worried if I could take the course because my English was low, but the instructors and assistants helped me a lot. In addition, it was very easy to do because many students helped me, even though I could hardly speak English in the class activities. After class, I asked the tutor what I didn't understand. The tutor I always chose was very reliable.However, since I had no knowledge of this field, the hurdles for learning in English were very high. I used to work in data analysis in Japan. I had knowledge of attitude programming, but learning a programming language that I didn't know at all was not as easy as I expected. However, I plan to continue studying by using videos to review the creation of the e-commerce site that I had dreamed of making so far.  

As a Marketing Coordinator, I was working on a project that included SEO, a new website, google analytics, and so on, but I was lost. When working on this project I felt that I was tackling unchartered territory and I was uncomfortable doing this project because I knew half of what I was working on was completely out of my knowledge box. LinkedIn had an ad that I clicked on and I realized that I could learn all of the information I had no idea about and got to work. 

I cannot speak highly enough about my time in this course and how beneficial it has been to me. Even in the midst of the COVID pandemic, the education I received was top notch (my instructor and TA were Paul Viola and Tay Mai, respectively; both were excellent). I went into this course having very little technical background - I have worked as a manual QA tester for 3 years where I have been exposed to some C# and a good bit of the fundamental querying with SQL using SSMS, but I had virtually zero coding foundation otherwise (not even so much as html or css). That said, I got hired for my first software developer position a couple of weeks before even graduating the course.

The course is very difficult, moves at a very rapid pace, and you will need a lot of time outside of the classroom to dedicate to researching and navigating homework assignments and projects. However, if you're looking at development as a career, I can't imagine many or any stronger candidates for helping to build you up than this program.

 I was at a point in my career path where I was looking for a change.  I had experience with data analysis in the past and I really enjoyed sharing the stories of what the data told in a way that anyone could undertstand.  I wanted to do that again, but I felt that my toolset was inadequate.  I chose the the Data Analysis and Visualization boot camp with UT Austin because I was impressed with the comprehensive cirriculum.

I am extremely happy that I made that call.  The course originally was to meet in person, but because of the pandemic, it swtiched to online.  While there were some initial hiccups with this transition, overall the learning staff of Bob, our teacher, the TA's  - Kevin and Kiddus, and our student support manager Brett did a phenomenal job.  I can't thank them enough for all they did and the sometimes extra-long office hours they provided to help however they could.  If you wind up in a class with one of them as your support staff,  you are in excellent hands.

Do not let the term "part-time" mislead you as it is an enormous amount of material to cover in six months time.  Be prepared to spend many many hours outside of class focused on the material, the homework, and of course ramping up the materials necessary to become employer ready.  Prior to the class beginning, make sure that your software is installed according the the pre-work instructions.  Statistical analyses are performed in the homework, but it ideal to come in with a general knowlege of how they are done.  I woud review your favorite statistics book before the first day.

Again, great staff and wonderful classmates!  I had a lot of fun and learned a tremendous amount along the way!!!! 

Do you want to wrangle Javascript like a natural-born hacker in three months? This might be the program for you! If you have the determination and the ingenuity to debug wayward algorithms for hours, refine mind-numbing iterations of search strings to unearth exactly the article or tutorial you need, and type square brackets and curly braces until your fingers seem about to fall off, you're a coder! Embrace your destiny!
The pace is grueling and the subject matter is intense. Does the thought of putting in hours upon hours of time programming in front of your computer excite you? This course gives you the skills you need to succeed in the digital world. Code your own web sites. Make friends around the world. Join the global coding community and change your life!

I am currently enrolled in The Coding Boot Camp at UT Austin in the full stack developer program, and I'm about half way through. When I started the boot camp, I had prior coding experience in front-end languages like HTML, CSS and some JavaScript. I wanted to enroll in a boot camp to further my knowledge and gain confidence. I am so glad I did! The activities are hands-on and really help you gain experience that you need to know. The instructor and TAs are all very knowledgable and ready to help. To get the most out of the boot camp, you really need to put in time outside of the class to solidify the concept, test and debug the code, like a real developer. Overall, I highly suggest this boot camp to any who are looking to learn to code and are ready for a challenge!

This comprehensive course takes you from zero to data analytics hero in just six months. Our cohort was incredible. In addition to the hard and soft skills needed to restart my career, I developed a ton of network connections and made friends within my cohort. The skills are necessary, but the lasting relationships are the most important to me. Our instructors and network of TAs were supportive and knowledgeable. Our TAs specifically were indespensable. Overall a fantastic experience that I would not hesitate to repeat! 

This program has been and continues to be a wonderful experience. The instructors are very knowledgeable on the topics as well as industry trends. As a class we have covered a broad range of information in a brief amount of time. This class is challenging with a full time work scheudle but speaking from expereince, it can be done. A suggestion to future students; look into online resources for graphic design princples as well as coding basics dealing with CSS/HTML and JavaScript. I came in with no experience on these topics, I am still doing well in the class, but having some background knowlege would have been useful. Once again wonderful program, would highly recommed to anyone interested in pursuing UX/UI.

My name is Yared Shewarade who is originally from Ethiopia and currently, I am living in Austin, Texas. I have been working as Data Manager for Tufts University- ENGINE research project. My passion was to be a professional Data Analyst. I was looking for a great school that can soak me up with knowledge and skills. Finally, I got a very great school that is the University of Texas at Austin (UT). I am glad I choose the University of Texas at Austin for Data Analytics and Visualization program.  I have carried very valuable skills for life. It is a very great school for teaching and preparing students for any job, challenges, innovative and cutting edge. I had the best education and experience of my life. Their education system is excellent, the curriculum is fantastic, and the career services is exciting. The instructor and TA’s are the most excellent, experienced, knowledgeable, caring and they are a good value. They were always making sure you understood what they were teaching you before moving on.  Student Success Manager, Career Services (Career Director and Profile Coach) are extremely accessible and helpful something not to be found anywhere. They are always there to support you in your job journey and if you need any help.

I recommend UT to everybody who wants to make a difference in Data Analytics and Visualization. It is a very great school and has a wonderful curriculum with best career service that is ideal. To those who are a prospect student, I advise you to be attentive, patient, courage and passionate that will keep you up all night until you solve a problem.

Overall: a great school!

My name is Shay, i am 30 years old, one day i decided i am going to be a programmer because i love the idea you can create things from scratch by writing a code, so i watched tons of youtube videos, tutorials, guides, and i even started to write few lines of code by my self...it felt amazing, i felt i have to take it to the next level because i realized no matter how many hours of videos ill watch or how many quizzes ill do i am that type of person who needs to sit in a class with a real teacher and real people, so i started my searches about what is a boot camp and how does it work, and of course what would be the damage(money), i grew up in Israel and still struggling with my English and my broken accent  and i thought it would be a problem, today, after halfway into the course i feel thankful that i choose learning programming at UT Austin boot camp (they have a branch at Houston) 
The Instructor is very intelligent and you can tell he is one of a kind, the TA's are so helpful, trust me while you are going through this complicated path "the programming world", you want educated people around you, in class you are making a lot of connections you get to know different people with different backgrounds.
before i signed up the Bootcamp i knew to write like 40% HTML and a little bit of CSS, today i know to write 
-HTML
-CSS
-Bootstrap
-Materialize
-JAVASCRIPT
-JQUERY
-API
-JASON / AJAX
-Node.js
-Express.js
-mySQL

many times it wasn't easy, you need to spend hours on Homeworks and redoing activities, but i learned one important thing, in life whatever easy to do has no value, because its easy to do, everyone can do it, whatever hard to do has a value, because its hard to do, not everyone can do it.

I am only halfway to the end of this boot camp, so there is a lot more to learn, guys...its a life-changing move, just do it.
 

I enrolled in this bootcamp because I own a web based business but knew nothing about coding.  As my business grew I knew that I needed to learn how to code.  I began the bootcamp with no prior coding experience.  After trying to teach myself, I realized that the bootcamp was the way to go.

The resources to teach yourself are out there on the internet but it's hard to know where to begin.  The bootcamp curriculum is laid out in a way that gradually teaches you the building blocks of programming with the end game of being able to teach yourself effectively.  I think of the bootcamp as a way to overcome the initial learning-curve-road-block that was holding me back.  

I am extremely pleased with the program.  I got exactly what I needed out of it, got over the road block and now I am capable of pursing whichever coding direction that I need to. For example, for my final project I built a website in a completely different language than what we learned.  We learned JavaScript, but the bootcamp taught me how to learn, so I learned Ruby and did my final project in Ruby.  

The bootcamp requires a lot of time & effort.  The pace is fast and the homework is hard.  Between commuting, class time, homework and further study I easily spent 40 hours a week.  And I still wish that I had more time to devote. I highly recommend doing the day's activities before class instead of during class. Immerse yourself. Listen to podcasts. Read industry news.  

You get what you put in.  All graduates are not equal.  Put in the time and you'll get what you need to out of the program.  

The teaching staff for my class was exceptional. I enjoyed getting to know the other students and learning with them.  I would recommend this program to anyone interested in learning how to code. While I did not pursue the career counseling opportunities, I do believe them to be effective.

 

I am a graduate from the UT Austin Data Analytics and Visualization bootcamp and I am very glad that I made the decision to take this bootcamp. The instructors and the support from TA's and everyone else on the staff is top-notch. 

• The curriculum is well planned and deals with real-world, business related topics.
• By the end of the bootcamp you will have a portfolio, with examples ranging from custom visualizations to machine learning.
• Support from the stafff as well as tutoring available.
• Cover topics in Python and Javascript which are in high demand.
  • D3.js, Leaflet, Pandas, Matplotlib
  • API's, JSON, Flask apps
  • Tensorflow, Keras
• Career Services does their best to help students network they were consistently reaching out with different meetups and job openings in the area.

The course is not easy. You will need to have enough time to dedicate to homework and activities, but, if you do your work and trust the process, you will come out with the tools needed to start your career as a data analyst/developer. I am very thankful for the whole staff and the work they put in. 

Shoutout to everyone in the program!

If you are prepared to spend the out-of-class hours needed to really understand the fundamentals of what they're teaching, the Full Stack Boot Camp is phenomenal.

That cannot be stressed enough--there's no way any boot camp could teach you everything you need to know about full stack development, but having direct access to such amazing instructors, TAs, and student success personnel several times per week is incredibly helpful.  When you look back after graduation, the sheer amount of material you cover from start to finish is staggering, but all of it is delivered at a pace that keeps you constantly challenged, yet never overwhelmed or unable to make progress.

It starts out relatively simple, and quickly ramps up into concepts that both frustrate and educate in equal measure.  But if you put in the time to really understand why you're struggling (and use the resources available to you--TAs, office hours, instructor questions, etc.), the material that the course teaches will help you in every area of development.

Personally, I used it as a transitionary program to move from the technical department to the development department at my company. I was in development meetings by the second month of the course, and I already understood the concepts of what my development team was speaking about, and wasn't lost on explanations or implementation of the application...and I still had four months of the Boot Camp to go!  The things you learn right out of the gates are 100% relative to current web application development, and the staff does an amazing job of attempting to adjust the curriculum when they are notified of weaknesses.

That validated everything they were advertising, in my opinion...I already knew enough to work as a functioning developer at roughly the 1/3 mark of the course.  The lessons got more complex and we introduced new libraries on a weekly basis from there, but overall, it was extremely beneficial, and exactly what I was looking for.

My only recommendation would be to allow a little more flexibility in parts of the curriculum (perhaps do not use one specific templating engine, but allow the students to choose from the multitude of them that are out there, for example), but I could see how that could quickly go off the rails with TAs and instructors that are already operating at max capacity with the current libraries that it uses.

I have already recommended the course to some co-workers who have asked about making a similar transition, and will continue to do so in the future.

This program will take you from 0 to a 100 in no time the phase is super fast but the instructor and the TA's will make sure you keep up, the study plan updates in a daily basis, Jim (the instructor) is engaged in real life technologies and will drop invaluable knowledge on many aspects of this field, you will feel that he is concerned in your evolution to the next levels, sometimes you will feel like he is a human Wikipedia for web developement, UI, and UX. I highly recommend this program as long as you are willing to put the effort. It carries a big name with big results. 

When I heard about UT Data Analytics Boot Camp I got very excited because of its flexible schedule and comprehensive-up-to date curriculum.    I came from applied industrial mathematics background which requires lots of coding. I felt like I had to improve the skill sets that will lead me to find a better job in the data-driven industries. So, I took T/Th/S classes and I enjoyed them all very much.    UT Data Analytics boot camp offers you everything to improve yourself. If you are a hard worker and self-driven individual, this boot camp is just right for you.    They will teach you Python, JavaScript, D3.js, Leaflet.js, Machine Learning, HTML/CSS, and more based on the demands of the data-driven industry.    The projects and the homework are challenging but also helps you to improve yourself.    The instructional team is top-notch. They know what they are doing. The instructors Jeremy, Robin, and TAs Ted, Joe, Neelesh, and all other were very helpful and friendly. 

I felt that the Data Analytics and Visualization boot camp at UT Austin is a very well designed, comprehensive program that covers the Data Analytics field well and is designed with data industry's needs in mind. 

It covers over 25 different tools, technologies, and languages. Each topic starts with simple code/examples and builds up to difficult problems. The pace is fast but TA's are always there to help you as soon as you face an issue, during the class. The lectures are recorded so you can listen to any lecture if you miss. If you have questions from a previous lecture you can arrive early and ask them to TAs or to the professor or ask them in the break or after the class. You can attend lectures remotely, too.  

Another point I liked is, this boot camp has career services homeworks and guidance too. I found these services very useful. 

The professors are knowledgeable and patient in answering questions. Sometimes they show alternate ways to do the same thing, which improves one's understanding. 

For projects you can choose your own project so there is a lot of flexibility. If your team ends up choosing a hard project, you will have to work hard, but help is always there from TA's and professors. 

I am very happy that I took this course. I learned a lot in just 6 months. I also enjoyed the course, even if I had to work very hard. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get into data analytics or improve the skills further. 

Feedback for new and potential students

I wanted to move from academia to industry so that I can work as a part of a team on a daily basis. Because I hadn't had prior experience in industry and took a 1-year break in 2016, I couldn't easily land a developer position in early 2017.

I decided on the UT Coding Bootcamp due to its comprehensive, up-to-date curriculum. No other bootcamp in Austin (other than maybe General Assembly) offered as much content, well-scheduled and relevant nowadays, in 12 weeks. I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot. My instructor and TAs, Eric, Erik, and Brandon, were all great.

Because I had math and CS background, I picked up new ideas and skills fast. If this is your first time to coding, I recommend that you learn actively. Constantly code in class and don't plagiarize (don't wait for answers either). Hang out with your classmates, go for lunch together, learn from them, teach them, and support each other.

On two occasions, we didn't get to cover enough material to complete homework over the weekend. I actually found these times to be the best, because I got to do research and teach myself. The next few days in class became a breeze. :)

The other highlight for me was the team projects. I was lucky to have had great team members who were eager to learn and contribute. I think whether you will enjoy your team projects will depend on how much leadership skills you and other members have had prior to the coding camp.

For more information, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn!

 

Feedback for the curriculum design team

Overall, the exercises matched the course curriculum well and helped us complete our homework and team projects. I could tell that the exercises were written by multiple people, and some files were better commented than others. Maybe work on having a consistent coding style?

Because the frameworks are constantly updated, the exercises were outdated at times. I'd like you to introduce ES6/ES7 early and use Bootstrap 4 and Laravel 5.5, in particular. Some of our PHP exercises didn't work, so we ended up giving up on the PHP homework.

The flashcard homework (cloze) was the weakest one with minimal instructions, so I'd like to see it dropped in lieu of a more interesting assignment.

I decided that I wanted to change my career path and get into web development.  My background was electronics and I wanted to do more software where I could could use creative problem solving instead of "make this thing that's broken work like it used to." I looked around and read a lot of reviews for numerous boot camps and in the end, I picked this one because:

A) It had very high reviews

B) The curriculum was reviewed by UT, thus having its "stamp of approval"

C) The curriculum is also reviewed by members of the tech industry, allowing for it to adapt to the changing needs of employers

D) It was Post 9/11 GI Bill approved (a big plus)

Curriculum (4.5 stars):

Overall the curriculum was very good.  We started with the basics (HTML, CSS) and worked our way up through JavaScript, Ajax,  jQuery, Node.js, SQL and Sequelize, NoSQL and MongoDB, React, React Native, PHP, and other technology.  As stated below, this course was not designed to teach you everything but introduce you to these web technologies just enough that you understand what they are and how they are used.  The course ensures that you also have a pretty good portfolio by the end of it via homework assignments.  It was not uncommon for many of us to go back and redo some of them after we graduated once we had more experience.  If anything, it creates a really good starting point for the creating of an impressive portfolio.

My overall biggest criticism is that I felt that there could be a few days more devoted to JavaScript, considering how it's practically the cornerstone of the course (and web development). My second would be that, while the curriculum creation team knows the material well, it shows throughout the course and the examples that they don't have a lot of experience teaching.  This can lead to lessons that fly a little too easily over some of the heads in class. Luckily, the instructor and TA's help ensure that this is only temporary. Thirdly, I feel there needs to be more communication during the weeks following up to the start date, with tips on what to brush up on every week or two weeks, giving those who sign up way in advance a better understanding on what they can do to prepare.

Instructors (5 stars):

Awesome instructors and TA's.  Our instructor was very knowledgable about everything in the course and then some.  His vast, real-world experience in web development allowed for him to teach and mentor us in not just the subjects but also about the industry itself.  He, and the TA's, did an excellent job explaining things in a way that make them click.  They also devoted time outside of class to help us if we needed it.  Plus they provide feedback that helps make your assignments better and where they can go from there.

 

Job Assistance (5 stars):

Excellent job search preparation and assistance.  Throughout the course, you will start to prep your resume, tweek/create your online presence, and practice for interviews for the eventual day that you start applying for jobs.  They help you with all these aspects and continue to do so after the course is over by providing networking events weekly, giving webinars on various job search topics, and providing weekly one-on-one time to see how your progress is going and give advice on how to snag your first gig.  While they will put in your resume for certain jobs where they have established a connections, the job hunt will still be 99% on you.  They just provide excellent advice, assistance, and help direct you where the jobs could be hiding.

Advice for new booters:

This is an intense course.  They continually tell you it will be like drinking from a fire hose.  The purpose of this boot camp is not to teach you everything.  Its job is to expose you to and teach you enough of different web technologies that you'll be able to know what they do, how they work (and work together), and just how much you still need to learn on your own.  This boot camp (in fact most of them) are meant to help you dip your toes into the vast ocean of web development.  

Just remember, in web development and in this course:

1) Everyone has to start from the beginning.  Don't beat yourself up for not knowing a lot.  Just take great notes and make a plan for how you're going to continue educating yourself.

2) You don't know everything.  You never will.  Nobody does.  Nobody is going to judge you on your knowledge/skill level.  As long as you constantly striving forward toward the goal of improving yourself, nobody is going to think less of you. If you run into somebody who does, they are the 1% in the industry that are nothing but sad, little people so don't waste your time with them.

3) DO NOT GIVE UP! I mean it.  This course is hard.  You will have to devote ALL your time to get the most from this course.  On average, I spent 40 hours a week outside of class working on the assignments.  It was worth it.  Don't quit! It doesn't get easier but you do get used to it.

4) Ask for help and help others.  Web development is more than just technology; its also about communication and teamwork.  There will be some things that don't make sense to you and that's fine; ask one of your classmates who does.  Same goes the other direction; help others when you can.  You can create some very strong and lasting relationships with this course so take advantage of it.  Also, nobody likes an a-hole who doesn't help others when they can.

5) Don't stop once you've graduated.  You will never stop learning and the only way you're going to one day get that dream job is to work hard and get good.  I spent 50% of my time job searching, 30% working on my portfolio, and the last 20% on diving deeper into a technology.  Don't make the mistake of spending 3 months learning and working hard just to stop and let it all slip away.

Overall/TLDR (4.75 stars):

Worth it.  I quit my job to devote 40+ hours a week for 3 months to learn web development and change careers.  I would do it all over again.  They have an excellent curriculum with the UT's blessing, awesome instructors who understand how to help you learn, and amazing job assistance that give you more than enough tools to find your first job.  It doesn't teach you everything; it only teaches you enough to know where your deeper learning needs to start.  It may be like drinking from a fire hose but you get used to it.  You get out what you put in and when you put in all you've got, you get a great coding boot camp.

I applied for the UT Coding Bootcamp over a year ago because I wanted a career move, something that would be intellectually challenging and would constantly involve problem solving. I figured development would be a good move and being fresh out of college it was looking like I would have to go back to school for another 2 years to get a bachelor's or master's in computer science. That is when I stumbled upon the "educational bootcamp" world. After looking at a few other bootcamp schools, I decided on the UT Coding Bootcamp because of its brand name recognition, it was highly recommended to me by one of my mentors and its 6 month part-time program allowed me to work full-time during it so that I could afford it.

The class was wonderful. The instructors and TAs were helpful and kind and I made some good friends in the class as well. A bit of advice to those looking into taking the course: you get out what you put in. This isn't a normal classroom setting. You aren't working for the grade, you are working to learn and that is what is important.  People take the class for various reasons, most (I believe) take it because they are looking to jump start their career in either web or software development. If this is you, then I suggest taking full advantage of the career services. That includes various things such as having guest speakers from companies come in and speak a little bit about the industry and what they do. There are mock-interviews and guidance for building out your resume. All which were perfect for someone like me who has little experience putting myself out there in the professional world.

The most important advice I could give to someone who goes through with the class is to take advantage of the career services that takes over after the class ends. You will be able to coordinate with your career director over slack on a daily basis and have weekly web conferences.  The career director was essential in helping me land a job as she used her resources to assist many of my applications with internal or external referrals. Also, she would gladly answer my meticulous questions like "How should I word this thank you email?" and "How can I make my resume A+ quality?" Job searching is an emotional rollercoaster and it's nice to have someone to lean on with a bunch of knowledge in that domain.

I graduated from UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp in August 2017 and landed a job as a Junior Web Designer shorty after. I wanted to transition more into development and still wanted to keep my full-time job. I saw that UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp program offered evening part-time classes, you will graduate in 6 months, be taught by developers who work in the field and they assist with job placement. I liked that the program came from a top rank university (The University of Texas – Austin) because I would receive the best education.

I have previous experience in Web Design, but I wanted to understand programming better, learn backend technologies and frameworks that I never used before but heard about. UT’s Houston Bootcamp is intensive and to be successful in this program you need to put 100% effort into your projects and assignments.

The instructors and TAs that I had for my cohort were very knowledgeable, helpful and encouraging. Also, the Career Director and Student Success Manager were supportive of student needs.

If I could give any suggestions for future students planning to attend UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp, please do the following below:

1. Ask questions even if you feel like it’s a stupid question. Your instructors/TAs/fellow students are there to help you.
2. When tutoring services becomes available, schedule tutoring every week. Even if you think you understand what you are doing, it doesn’t hurt to use these extra resources.
3. Always constantly check the curriculum/syllabus. See what you are going to learn the next week and prepare yourself to study the next subjects in advance.
4. Make friends, network and create study groups with your classmates.
5. Really give it your all when you are working on your projects/assignments.
6. Try to get to know your mentors and ask how you can improve yourself as a developer.
7. When you start working on your portfolio website in the beginning, keep updating it. Do not wait until the last few weeks of the Bootcamp to create your portfolio.
8. REST/TAKE BREAKS, coding for hours can be stressful.

The things I would suggest for UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp to improve on is extending the homework deadline for complex projects. I attended 3 classes each week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) and by the time we would get the assignment assigned to us, I really felt like I had 2 days to work on the assignment. This was because we were still covering material in the middle of the week to help do our assignment due on Sunday.

Other than that, I thought my experience at UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp was great. It was stressful, but the friends you make that have a similar interest in coding make the experiences memorable. Those programming books I bought once before, I can now understand better.

If you have no idea where to start in the world of web development, this program is great for teaching you the basics and learning some industry-used technology. The main takeaway is that you get out what you put it. Even if the assignment seems super easy, the amount of effort you put in it will still impact you later in the program. In projects especially, challenge yourself because these will be seen by potential employers.

Don't hesitate to talk to TAs and your instructor. They will help you if you are willing to put in the effort.

If you already know a good deal about web development and the technologies industry uses/may use in the future, this probably isn't for you and may do better with personal research instead.

I am so glad I chose the UT Coding Bootcamp. I was able to continue working full time with attending class during the week and on the weekends. It was not easy, but very much worth it.

Having a passion for coding, this camp was perfect for me to round out my skills, learn new libraries, and make me more marketable to my employer. We learned the in and outs of the MERN stack, and high level back-end and front-end web developement. I really appreciated finding out the camp changed the course because of local market demands.

At times, I felt like the course didn't dive into the material deep enough. However, that is sort of the point to the Bootcamps, it gives you a solid jumpping off point to do more in less time than you could on your own.

The passion from the teachers and TAs was very encouraging and got me excited to be in class every day. The staff has also been very active at keeping us in the loop and getting us ready for Demo day. I've never felt like there wasn't support available. Everyone is avalible within hours, and very responsive on Slack. Tutors were also availabe for even more help.

I met a lot of people, made a new friends, and have grown my network exponentially! The other cohorts are working on meetups and networking events to meet prior graduates and future students. There is a big sense of community.

Ultimately, I got way more out of the UT Austin Coding Bootcamp than I ever thought. I looked at other camps, but the biggest deciding factor for me was being part of the University of Texas system. Attending class on campus made me feel even more invested in the class, and having UT put their name on the class gave the bootcamp the validity that other bootcamps do not have. 

This course was AMAZING! I learned so much more than I expected to learn! Perfect blend of independent and group learning under expert course organizers, expert program managers, expert professors and expert mentors as well as learnings from my fellow students. I am now not intimated by AI and know it can do some great things if secured and instructed properly.  It must be handled with great care and embraced with a cautiously optimistic approach. I also solved the work problem I intended to solve during the course, which was amazing as well. I would highly recommend this course to anyone! 

UT Austin’s AI for Leaders program was a highly practical and well structured executive experience that translated Artificial Intelligence from theory into real business application. The program stood out for its strong faculty, relevant case based learning, and clear focus on strategy, leadership, and responsible adoption. It was especially valuable in helping leaders build the confidence to identify meaningful use cases, ask better questions, and drive enterprise level impact with Artificial Intelligence.