Locations
About Alchemy Code Lab
Alchemy Code Lab is Portland’s most advanced software development training program, going beyond code school to develop the whole person, including comprehensive career services that consistently place grads directly into mid-level developer positions... Read More
Our course offerings evolve constantly to reflect innovations in software development. Students hit the ground running with the most current toolsets in the field. You’ll collaborate with experts and organizations in Portland's tech community, providing insider access to the industry nationally.
This six-month immersive program is led daily by senior level developers. Every day, you’ll interact with a curious, bring cohort of future developers to gain the technical and interpersonal skills you need to be a valuable member of a professional team.
Our holistic approach to teaching offers not just the ability to solve problems, but teaches future developers and engineers how to produce quality code that can build products with meaningful impact. The team at Alchemy lives what they teach, supporting each other in passion projects and creative endeavors.
Alchemy drives real opportunity and diversity in tech by providing tuition financing opportunities including scholarships for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students, acceptance of US Veteran Benefits, and an ISA program that can allow you to defer payment until after you’ve been working for 6 months.
Do you represent this school? Suggest edits.
Courses
Average Ratings (All Programs)
4.87/5
- Jenna Goldman | Software Engineer
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2020
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"Enrolling in Alchemy was the best decision I've ever made"
I have dreamed of becoming a software engineer for a long time. Over the years, I've tried numerous ways of making that happen - video tutorials, self-paced online courses, part-time in-person classes, etc. Ultimately, I decided what I needed in order... Read More
My time in the program was challenging, fun, and pushed me to grow every single day. The curriculum is centered around popular JavaScript-based frameworks that are used by a lot of companies, so you're very likely to find job roles that use at least some of the same. Alchemy's instructors and teaching assistants were engaging, friendly, and willing to help whenever I needed it. The remote/virtual format that we moved to in March due to COVID-19 actually benefitted us in being able to use our time more efficiently, and get support faster. I really appreciated that when I sought help, I wasn't always just handed an answer, but rather helped along in the direction of a solution that I could arrive at on my own. Labs, readings, and code challenges helped me to get familiar with high level concepts, continue to practice writing code every day, and build onto my growing knowledge base. The week-long team projects completed at the end of each section of the curriculum were invaluable in teaching us how to work as part of a team, plan out a project, communicate and collaborate, research and experiment with new libraries/frameworks, and actually talk about technology to an audience. There is also a career services aspect to the overall curriculum that was crucial to helping me learn and get comfortable with talking about myself as a developer, building a network, and preparing for interviews post-program.
Six weeks after graduating, I am now employed full-time as a full-stack software engineer, working with a lot of the same frameworks we were taught in the Alchemy curriculum, and also using some of the same libraries that my teams chose to use during some of the larger projects we had to complete. I owe the opportunity to interview for my role to Alchemy's career services director who is an incredible asset to the program, but also recognize that I made it through the interviews because of what I personally learned during my time as an Alchemy student. On my very first days on the job, I was able to meet with career developers, understand what they were working on, and participate in real dialogues about how things worked, what could be changed, and what still needed to be done. Alchemy has more than prepared me to be successful out in the real world, and I will be forever grateful to the community for helping me make my dreams come true.
Comment- Danny Suarez
- Graduated: 2019
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"The most rewarding experience I've ever had."
- Dorje Kirsten | Software Engineer
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2020
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"A great code academy"
- Mike Grace | Software Engineer
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2020
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"Alchemy was an amazing experience with amazing people!"
Attending this school was the best decision of my life. I had just gotten back from a 7 month bike tour through Europe and had been working in Ohio for a few months before making the decision to apply to Alchemy. I moved here about a week before the course... Read More
Beyond the people, the curriculum at this school is wonderful. Everything you learn will be what is in the highest demand at the time you attend. I feel that the knowledge we received at Alchemy is greater than that of other schools. My roommate attended a different bootcamp and said that he was impressed by all that we had learned and that he felt I was at an advantage for having chosen Alchemy.
As for the cons, they are hard to come by. All I can really say is that if you choose this program, be prepared because it is definitely not easy, but if you're ready to put the work in then I don't think you can make a better choice.
Comment- Joseph Tatum | Software Engineer
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2020
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"Best Decision of My Adult Life"
- Jodi 'JBJ' Kansagor
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2020
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"An incredible experience"
I am so grateful for my time at Alchemy Code Lab. Make no mistake, this program is hard. It will push you in ways that you are not expecting. You will have to work very hard. But, in the end, you will come out having learned more than you ever though... Read More
I can't say enough amazing things about the staff at ACL. The instructors are so dang smart and the TA's are incredible helpful. I never felt like I was doing this by myself, I always felt like I had the entire staff on my team.
Comment- Alex Ramirez de Cruz
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2019
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"Incredible Program!"
- Easton Gorishek
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2018
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"Accelerate into tech."
I joined Alchemy Code Lab with no prior programming experience and no undergraduate. I was sort of the free spirit type who travelled and held various types of jobs. I mention this because it does not matter what your background is - if you commit and... Read More
The school provides an excellent learning environment and an amazing community. It's open, bright, filled with plants, offers a variety of sitting arrangements, and located in a cool location. Beyond the facility you'll be surrounded with an amazing team that is passionate, knowledgable, kind, and there to provide the education and resources needed to reach your goal of becoming a software developer. Within the six months you'll go from not knowing how to open your terminal to writing full-fledged full-stack web applications that incorporate frameworks, component architecture, testing, servers, databases, and APIs. I can personally state that you'll leave with the skillset to contribute day one on the job, and have a solid foundation to continually build upon. Not only will you leave with the ability to build web applications, but you'll receive invaluable insight and resources on how to market yourself, network, and interview.
Lastly - I'll mention, for your success, it's important you are in a situation you can fully commit to the time obligations and are mentally in a place where you want to be challenged, continuously learn, solve puzzles, and change your life. The program moves quick and you'll most likely experience highs and lows. That being said - it's DOABLE and well worth the grind. Alchemy Code Lab has helped many lives (mine included) accelerate in obtaining rewarding careers in tech - now it's time they help accelerate yours. Best of luck!
Comment- Jack McConnell
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2019
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"Great place to learn and immerse oneself in the PDX tech community!"
My experience might be a bit different from some others who traditionally come through Alchemy Code Lab’s program. I had recently graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science when I had to take some time off from programming in order to focus on a health... Read More
Even with a programming background, I was encouraged to start from the beginning with Alchemy’s curriculum and I’m glad I listened. Within the first week of the program I was already being introduced to test driven development, which was something that hadn’t been touched on in college and ended up being really valuable to use and talk about during interviews. Trying to pick up concepts like that while being introduced to something like Node or React would have been quite a bit more difficult than while we were learning the basics of JS. The instructional staff is really great. Alchemy has some very experienced industry professionals teaching, who are super passionate about the students. One of the most valuable parts about Alchemy Code Lab was the amount of time spent working on projects with your peers. Building projects is one of the best ways I learn things and I was often able to draw on my experiences working with my peers during interviews.
Alchemy also provides a lot of non technical opportunities and education as well. During the Career Track, there is a Career Week where the students learn all about the job hunt from industry professionals who are often graduates of the program. From the beginning students are heavily encouraged to explore the tech meetups in Portland to grow their network. Alchemy does a lot to help with this by hosting tech meetups in their space after class is over. They also host monthly socials for current students, graduates and employers in the area. Talking with other engineers about their experience was really valuable for me and only made the job search and interview process easier. Alchemy was able to do a lot for me during my job hunt from scheduling mock interviews, to introducing me to hiring managers or recent graduates to network with.
I just recently accepted an offer as an Associate Software Engineer a few months after graduating and if I could go back in time, I would still make the same decision to attend Alchemy Code Lab. I learned a lot of really valuable things and made great connections with some wonderful people.
Comment- Mark Greenwood
- Career Track: Full-Stack Javascript
- Graduated: 2017
Overall Score
Curriculum
Job Support
"Great code school experience, very solid preparation"
When I transitioned into software development I evaluated several code schools available in Portland, and chose Alchemy. It was definitely the right choice for me, and the best thing I've done for my career satisfaction.
I talked with people at Alchemy... Read More
First, Alchemy provides instruction (in addition to lab and project work) from industry-experienced developers. While self-study and learning from peers are great things to do, experienced developers have valuable knowledge to share. For example, one thing prospective employers are often concerned about is the ability to write not just code that works, but code that's suitable for production in a large-scale application. It's very beneficial to have coaching from someone who's been on enough projects to impart that knowledge and wisdom.
Second, Alchemy focuses on full-stack JavaScript development, not a broad overview of technologies. While most developers will learn multiple stacks in their careers, they can learn best by getting a good foundation with the whole process in one stack and then later applying that knowledge to others. The focus on Node, React, etc. enabled me to be immediately productive in both jobs I've had since graduating, even though I've learned other stacks since then.
Third, your time at Alchemy will be split between classroom instruction, lab work, and group projects. The labs and projects are great opportunities to work collaboratively on a codebase, and the skills (technical as well as interpersonal) to do that are critical on real software development teams.
Finally, Alchemy provides guidance and assistance not just with technical education, but also with the whole process of finding opportunities and managing your development career. The decent-sized cohorts provide a great "starter network" of people who are or will be working in the software community in Portland. And Alchemy provides guidance on interview preparation, the tools for the job search, and how to deal with the offers you receive.
While the job search is always a potentially stressful experience, I can attest to Alchemy's placement track record. This is a field with very high demand, and graduates are certainly finding work that pays quite well. I've continued to be involved with Alchemy's students - networking, mock interviewing, mentoring - and they are certainly well-prepared to venture out into the industry and make their valuable contributions.
CommentAlchemy Code Lab's average rating is 4.87 out of 5.0 based on 60 review(s).