Codesmith

To give you some background of me and what I came to Codesmith with: I graduated with a dual major in Computer Science and Business in college and had worked for startups in business roles after graduating. I got tired of being on the business side of things and wanted to get my hands dirty and use some of the CS skills I gained in college. But having had no technical internships or professional coding experience, I knew I needed something to give me credibility to get a technical job as a post-graduate applicant.

Codesmith gave me that baseline credibility and a lot more. Being able to speak in depth about full stack frameworks and develop projects that are based around bleeding edge technologies was really important in my job search. The critical difference between Codesmith and co...

TLDR; - Go somewhere else since Codesmith does not represent its values or results that they advertise. Their Hard Parts is a taught in a very nice way to lure students to make it seem as if thats how they teach students, which they do not. You teach yourself, and you learn yourself so save the $17k in tuition by self-learning or picking up online courses to supplement this one (as other successful students have done so).

I wish more people spoke about the actual process of Codesmith and what it was like and not undersell their own hard work and knowledge of getting themselves a job since Codesmith does not prepare you for it and even requires you to lie on their resume building process. Codesmith takes credit for their own students' hard work long after finishing their program. The...

I joined Codesmith after attending the free javascript classes before. The combination of community (as others have said it feels like a family) and the style of teaching was what made me want to join

The program itself starts with 4 weeks of lectures and pair programming; this can be very intense. But then you move onto projects; this is where the collaborative approach really shines. The program focus on communication throughout which is often the missing piece for engineers and working alongside others on projects gets you to improve on it.

The career guidance is also helpful; you get the phone number of a career counselor who is available at all almost all times to advise and they check in regularly to see how you’re doing.

After attending a few of the Javascript the Hard Parts lectures and leveling up my core, basic coding knowledge, I decided I was finally ready to apply to Codesmith. The interviews went great (although the tech interview was hardly a breeze), and I got in (!!!). I was so nervous on day one - my background was primarily outside of tech, and even though I prepped a lot before applying, I still felt like I was way out of my league once I got there. The other students were all unbelievably smart, but what really blew me away was how NICE everyone was. And supportive. And fun. And interesting. (I could go on and on...). Once this became apparent, my nervousness melted away, and I learned what it really meant to be a software engineer. I had incredible help available to me at any time I ne...

As as eager student with dreams of becoming an amazing software engineer, I ignored my gut multiple times before committing to Codesmith. The most important times included when:

1) The CEO, Will, made me feel uncomfortable with his aggressive, cold-calling teaching style in my very first Hard Parts lecture. After attending a few times, I realized he picks favorites in the class, and those favorites are much more likely to be young women. One woman told me that the ultimate reason she did not attend Codesmith was because Will made her feel uncomfortable with his border-line flirtatious behavior. Another woman cited her general distrust of Will, as he oozed "used car salesman" vibes underneath all his prestigious accolades.
2) In my cultural fit interview, I asked for certified sta...

After Codesmith, I increased my starting salary by 25% and I landed my dream job; Here's how I did it.

First, I think Codesmith is a unique opportunity that, if you can get in, will give you the leverage and skills that you can use to dramatically increase your starting salary and land your dream job. With that being said, there is no hand holding, although you can ask engineering fellows to assist you if you hit a block. To get the most out of the experience, you have to put in the time to work on your coding skills and focus on translating their lessons into real-world, working web applications. It's a challenge but hey, if it was easy, then it probably wouldn't be worth your while.

Before Codesmith, I had a grasp of some web technologies but lacked the computer science backbone...

If you want to be a better software engineer that knows how to tackle any problem and at the same time be surrounded by brilliant, empathetic individuals, Codesmith is the place to be. Attending Codesmith really taught me how to learn JavaScript/any tech stack and apply it with confidence. There were several times I doubted myself and my ability, but I trusted the process here and it really worked because they teach you to question why and how every line of code works so that you come out of it with a solid foundation to solve any problem. Not only did I gain foundational knowledge, but technical communication skills as well—I love that they really emphasized technical communication here because it’s truly invaluable when it comes to interviewing and working in teams.

The moment I fi...

As a graduate of Codesmith, I can tell you with 100% confidence that if I were to do it all over again, I would not pick Codesmith. I think Codesmith makes money way too easily from the students for the level and quality of services that they provide (or rather, don’t). Codesmith and its CEO would love to tell you that their instructions are purposefully bad because they’re meant to be cursory in order to promote “autonomous learning” and “independence”. To me that just sounds like a poor excuse for not having quality lesson plans and not employing high-quality, well-compensated, non-student instructors like some competing bootcamps do.

I take bigger issue with how Codesmith promotes and markets itself. Codesmith wants you to think that it’s for their short 4 weeks of superficial in...

I graduated from Codesmith about a year ago. Before I choose Codesmith I did a lot of research. I went to almost all the coding academies in Los Angeles and scrutinized everything. I nailed it down to two of the most elite schools and made a spreadsheet comparing them on every aspect. I went as far as to talk to the CEO of both of them and compared the glassdoor reviews that their employees wrote. I reached out to alums and asked intimate questions about their salary, work situation and whether the investment was worth it. The alums, students and guys/gals getting admitted to Codesmith seem to be of a higher caliber than anywhere else. I visited schools that were clearly BS, ones that will baby you and tell you that your bad code that you just wrote is great. (I remember going through a...

When I was researching avenues to enter the software engineering field, I was initially set on attending another school. I thought that every school was going to be similar. Boy, was I wrong.

I came across CodeSmith during my search and saw that Will Sentance (the co-founder of CodeSmith) gives talks every week at "Javascript: The Hard Parts". I attended the lecture remotely and was surprised to see the deep dive into Javascript and computer science. They did not hold back. You can see and feel the technical excellence that they are striving for and the technical knowledge that they want to impart. As part of the session, attendees teamed up to do pair programming. I was paired up with anothe remote attendee. We took turns practicing technical communication and directing the partner ...

CodeSmith is remarkable. It transforms experienced (and less experienced) developers to senior engineers who are able to architect complex applications that scale. Perhaps its secret is teaching the ability to learn itself – engineers are taught how rapidly to pick-up new technologies and swiftly become experts.

After reading the positive reviews here before taking the course, I was skeptical since it sounded too good to be true, but it simply isn’t. I’m beyond glad that I took the dive.

In terms of my background, I attended Williams College, and recently graduated in 2016; I’m from New York. What I particularly appreciated about CodeSmith is the culture instilled from the top-down by its impressive CEO and founder, Will Sentance. Will is an Oxford and Harvard grad and has built...

I was accepted to join the selective residency program last year and worked with other smart people that helped me enhance my engineering experience.
This residency program is focused on a philosophy of solving problems. Although, I did know about software engineering before, here at Codesmith I had the opportunity to work on the projects that I wanted in a team and they helped me grow as an engineer. Thankfully, during my process, my bad engineering practices/habits got corrected.
The disadvantage that I felt they had and where I think they could have improved while I was in the program, is guiding the residents to solve problems with different operating systems. However, the advantages are the guidance you will receive( I really enjoyed whiteboarding ). The whole time you are ther...

Codesmith is an amazing, demanding, aggressively worthwhile program that turns excitement and ambition into engineering success. I’ll echo the highlights – a lasting community, self-directed projects, passionate instructors, consistent job-search support – but rather than focus on what makes the experience awesome in general, I want to touch on the stuff that I didn’t expect while addressing the concerns I initially had. My intent here is to answer the questions that I was asking – and the ones I should have been asking – when I was considering Codesmith.

I sought out Codesmith because of the community – a network of friends and professionals really appealed to me, and I felt like I might mesh better with people who were drawn to this sort of environment. I was surprised to discover ...

If you’re looking for a software engineering bootcamp, look elsewhere!
Codesmith is not a software engineering bootcamp. I even hesitate to use the word program. These words sound cold and impersonal. Bootcamp makes me think about cut throat competition, blind obedience, and a lack of creativity. Codesmith is the exact opposite. Discovering Codesmith is like discovering a second family!

The Codesmith team has managed to create a community of the most passionate, driven and empathetic engineers you will ever meet. A lot of the credit goes to Will Sentance whose passion and indefatigable work ethic infects everyone he meets. I know this might sound too good to be true. I was in the same place a few months ago. I was researching for the most efficient way, both in time and money, to ...

I joined Codesmith in NYC at beginning of 2018 and it's by far the best decision I have ever made in my life. I came in with a technical background but minimal coding experience in Javascript. I have to say the first 6 weeks is challenging but all the team members and my cohort mates are so supportive and I would never make it through without them. After I graduated, the support never stopped. The team checks in with me regularly and there's a career coach available 24/7 and willing to answer any questions you have. I am so thankful that I made the decision to join Codesmith and it was really a life-changing experience.

I have always had a passion for computers, hardware and software, but never had the training, encouragement, or courage to take the leap of faith in switching careers. I was looking at other schools in the LA area and was referred to Codesmith by a friend who had graduated and gone on to do very well. I feel blessed having gone in that way, as it helps to know beforehand that the program really works. It's incredibly demanding and it will make you doubt yourself at every turn -- overcoming those doubts is the very core of the program -- but with the support of passionate and caring mentors, you will come out the other end as the best software engineer you could possibly become in the time given. This crucible of overcoming blocks in understanding is one of many things that set Codesmit...

Codesmith was the best decision that I could have made for myself. I dropped out of NYU at 20 years old because I knew I could do what I wanted without paying $60K more for a degree. I wanted to be a software engineer. It didn't just teach me how to use frameworks and how to solve algorithms. It taught me how to learn efficiently. I left with a life long skill of adaptation.

I also left with really good friends, my cohort was like a big family. The whole team is such an amazing source of support. The instructors and the fellows don't give you the answer but they help guide you into figuring it out on your own. The environment just encourages support and learning together. I looked into a lot of programs that offered similar curriculum but I went to a hard parts and I knew that this w...

What set Codesmith out from the other similiar programs is that you had to be at least a junior level engineer before you entered the program. This process made sure you were prepared for the intense 12 week program that changes the way you approach coding and empowers you to be a mid to senior level engineer. The focus on communication was the missing block in my approach to becoming a great engineer and Codesmith fostered that approach in a very effective way.

I just graduated from the most recent April '18 cohort and had a really amazing experience at Codesmith.

Many reviews on here have described the amount of work that is demanded from Codesmith residents, to which I would say it's a given that if you're looking for a complete career change in three months, you're going to have to put in a lot of time and effort. That being said, the community and the support that you get from both staff and other students makes that process much, much easier. It's obviously possible to learn technologies like React and Redux on your own, but coding is a collaborative process. And that's not something you can learn sitting on your couch with a laptop. I remember all the time I spent on Codewars, FreeCodeCamp, and CodeAcademy prior to Codesmith, studyin...

I didn't think a place like this could be real. Reading all the reviews before I came seemed fake but my friend decided to take the chance and it worked for him. After seeing him succeed, I decided to go for it myself and I have no regrets. I am so happy that I found this place and it has truly changed my life. It was not an easy or instant magical change, but after all the work i've put in, I've produced the outcome I came here to achieve. I am also glad that the program does not end when it ends; the constant job support after the program is amazing. I am thankful for the opportunity I was given to attend Codesmith, it was a lot of work but gave me exactly what I was looking for: a career in software engineering.