WBS Coding School

When applying for the Data Sceince bootcamp, I could not have imagined how impactful this experience would be. 
WBS Coding School provided a wonderful and supportive environment to me and the other students as we were learning new aspects of our desired profession.
The isntructors were knowledgeable, helpful and plesant, and and the community management were supprotive and made sure that the students know they got our back.
I learned a lot and gained some hands-on experience, and met some great people along the way.
Do consider WBS Coding School if you are looking for an unforgetable time!

WBS delivered on what it promised. The 15 weeks gave me an intense learning curve through Data Science, starting from major Python libraries like pandas and scikit-learn, through Jupyter notebooks, database handling via SQL and machine learning techniques such as clustering, classification and regressions, a wide spectrum was covered.

The material was very well put together. The LMS was well structured and some lessons were borrowed from Codecademy Pro as well as LinkedIn. The teaching team handled feedback well in the spirit of continuous improvement.

The teaching of data science was complemented with various sessions on job search, writing resumes and applications, building up your profile on LinkedIn and how to interview with prospective employers.

The pace of the course was challenging at the beginning, after all it is a bootcamp. However, there were lots of well detailed instructions to catch up. I liked it a lot that there were optional challenges and material to discover for self studies. That way every participant could build up from their already existing knowledge. Over time expectations shifted to mostly figure things out by yourself. This left me with a solid sense of what I can now do on my own. The "learning by doing" culminated in a 3 week final project (optionally on campus). My final project was "Generating a topical map for a niche website." I ended up with a solid result, which I'll test on a real website in the coming months.

The best part of the bootcamp was our teaching staff. Our lead teacher treated us as adults and allowed us to push as hard as we could into any direction. He patiently helped us through problems of understanding and went the extra mile to research issues he had not seen before.  At the same time he fostered a lot of collaboration and team spirit.

There were no negatives for me along the way. I wish I could extend the camp for another 4 weeks.

If you are looking for hands-on training in data science and have 15 weeks of time, I can highly recommend the WBS bootcamp.

Right in front I want to say something on my overall experience: I'm so happy I chose WBS Coding School to help me make the transition in the field of data. Not once during this heavy load bootcamp I had the feeling to be in the wrong place or that this was not what I wanted, quite the opposite. I felt challenged and at the same time empowered and self-confident about all the new stuff we were learning and applying and I really was looking forward to (almost ) every learning session we had. And this whole experience was a result of all the smaller parts that contributed to this experience. The curriculum and its structure, learning resources, projects and its difficulty. Our instructor/teacher and the teaching style. The classmates and the interaction, the learning athmosphere. The staff. The career support.  

Curriculum and teaching approach:  The project-based and hands-on teaching method is very good and I think the only way to deliver all the skills and techniques and concepts in a feasible and time effective way. I was always surprised how much we were able to do in a comparable short time frame of some weeks, like putting together a machine learning model for the first time, without understanding every detail of it but not without having a good understanding of the overall concepts. I found the learning material to be very very good. I don't have the comparison with other bootcamps, but I really think that the people who put together the course really understand what it needs to learn something new in a fast and effective way without getting stuck in details. One of the main reasons why this bootcamp was such a success for me, was, that it prestructured my learning roadmap. I didn't have to care about what I have to learn in which order and how deep my knowledge have to be in Python, in SQL, or which projects I should conduct. They did this already for me. And they really do a great job. 

Teacher/Instructor and learning athmosphere: I can't talk for all of the instructors but I believe that the school favours instructors/teachers that have a thrill for teaching and learning and show dedication for their subject. What really contributed to a good learning athmosphere in all of our sessions we took together as a learning group was, that nobody wanted to show off or something like that. Everybody wanted to learn something and ask questions, everybody was very supportive in helping each other,  everybody respected each other and our instructor assisted all of this asking, being curious and supportive behavior. Learning in a group can be both, really inspiring and comforting, but also annoying sometimes. For me it was definitely both.   

The level of difficulty: This is hard to say, actually. I did make the experience that those students that don't have any background in data or coding have to put in more effort than students with some preknowledge. Some of us really got pushed to their personal limits. But nobody got lost completely because our instructor really showed some good patience in revising, explaining again and again. And there is help if you need:   

Staff and (Career)Support: Even though I personally didn't have to make use of it a lot, I can say for sure that a lot of the energy in this school goes into forming a supporting net for all the students. You won't only have your instructor to ask questions, they also have junior instructors, mentors and several channels in the chat where you can discuss things and ask questions. And everybody is really eager to help. The sruples to ask for help if you need it are extremely low. If you ever get overstressed there are people who talk to you in person and take their time, go through the code with again etc. Also the Career Service is really a big asset of this School. They got a Career Program you can work through and get personal feedback on CV, LinkedIn Profile and Cover Letter. Also you get get in touch with the Career Support in personal. The information and feedback I got was very very helpful for me. 

Downsides: 
- In the part-time course there is no individual final project you can work on your own or in a team for some weeks like in the full-time course. Your portfolio at the end of the bootcamp consists of all the projects you did during the bootcamp. Those are prescribed by the curriculum though and leave not so much room for individual experimentation I would say. 
- Also no stay at the campus is provided for the part-time course. Which makes sense because the reason why people chose part-time courses are also the reasons because they can't just go to Berlin for three weeks in a row. But still, I got the feeling that we missed something there, because the campus looks great, getting to know all the classmates in person would and meeting the staff would also have been great. 
- Group work when no need for it: In a bootcamp there is limited time for everything. In my opinion the focus of a bootcamp cannot be to teach and learn working in groups. I know that this is an important skill. But I shouldn't have to learn it in the bootcamp, because the time is limited. When group works helps to finish a complex project in a limited time than yes, go for it. But I definitely feel that we lost a lot of time talking through the same things over and over again. Sometimes It felt like all the bad group work I've done at school. But I don't think that this reflects all of the data science bootcamps. I think this was a special case of our group and my personal perspective on it. Because not everybody thought like that.  
- One or maybe two of the sections we worked through seemed to be still work in progress. The learning notebooks were not aligned with the other learning material on the learning platform and not just once there was some confusion about the instructions on the learning platfrorm. 

 It is an unprecedented experience suddenly waking up in the dense and dark jungle of programming without knowing where to start, why and where to end!but after many downs and ups, the path shines in bright light and everything becomes clear and distinct. Everything suddenly makes sense. It was theCredit to the knowledgeable and experienced instructors with their 24/7 support.The community Manager with his charismatic and encouraging manner, made me look forward to the next challenge every morning, the various departments,with their pleasant intrusiveness, soon saw us in secure employment.

I attended the Web Development Bootcamp from May to September, and I learned much more than coding during 15 weeks. My experience at WBS Coding School was extremely positive. I was very impressed with Instructors knowledge, with their way of teaching and how the course was correctly structured and timely measured.

After working in construction management for 3 years, I decided to do something that I always wanted to do. I felt in need of guidance throughout the process. Thankfully, my advisor at the Federal Employment Agency pointed WBS Coding School to me. I spent some time researching before I made my school choice. One of the biggest reasons I chose WBS was its duration. While the other bootcamps were about 9 weeks, in WBS this was 15 weeks with the campus phase in Berlin for the last 3 weeks to finish your final project. During your time on campus, WBS allows you to focus solely on your final project. A room of your own, great workspace, 3 meals a day, rest, and entertainment areas, etc.  

It started 2 weeks before with the Primer period, which was the preparatory stage before the Bootcamp. During those 2 weeks I had the chance to learn the basic principles of the topic. I saw the benefit of this many times during Bootcamp. Lessons are online from 09:00 to 18:00 and thanks to experienced instructors very effective. Also, there are one-on-one lessons on every Wednesdays with your lead instructor. Also, the Jr. Instructors are always ready to help with any problem. In these private lessons, I had the opportunity to repeat the subjects that I was stuck on or had difficulty understanding. Another good thing was that we had weekly group projects to improve our coding and collaboration skills. At the end of each week, we had to present our projects. Apart from WBS Coding School’s learning platform, which is already very rich and correctly structured, they provided me with a pro account on Codecademy and LinkedIn learning. Furthermore, the Career Support Team’s meetings and feedback were very special.

The most enjoyable part of this journey was for me to meet these amazing people. I had the chance of having amazing classmates from different cultural and academic backgrounds. We did not only support each other, but also formed a very good friendship going forward!

Joining the "Full-Stack Web & App Development Bootcamp" was one of the best decisions i ever made, because it totally exceeded my expectations. 
WBS Coding School helped me learn Web-Development from scratch without any prior knowledge. The team does not just run through their subject matter but instead is really interested and helpful in your personal success.I am grateful that I found competent and patient teachers who were always fully motivated to teach me everything that is necessary to be a full-stack web and app developer. Who always took care of questions and never got tired of explaining things again. Although I struggled at times, I had a fantastic 15 weeks journey from zero to hero with a super nice and supportive team from the WBS Coding School.  If you are thinking about joining this course, think no further! I can 100 % recommend it. 

I remember sinking quite some time into carefully choosing the place i would want to learn coding at until a friend of mine pointed me towards the WBS, and i am very happy that he did.  In this course (Full-time Web & App Dev.) i found motivated Teachers, competent Guides and a well thought out Concept to help me learn Web-Development from scratch without any prior knowledge. The WBS-Team does not just run strictly through their program but instead is very interested in your personal success which i experienced in 1-on-1 Sessions with Teachers and the Career-service. 15 Weeks from scratch to the confidence to build Web-Applications as part of a team or alone - if that is what you are looking for, you will struggle to find a better and more welcoming place!