Codesmith

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... Read More 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 tour of one school and they were saying things like “oh our walls are whiteboard, you can draw on them!” Why the would I care about that?) I didn’t want that, I wanted to be challenged, I wanted to learn Javascript deeply and know about all the nuances. If I was going to spend my time and money on anything I wanted the best of the best and I wanted results.

Before I came to Codesmith I was already pretty good at programming since my undergrad was in Mechanical Engineering. I had a job for 2 years coding in MATLAB so I understood the fundamentals. It took me about 4 months of preparation and getting used to the Javascript syntax to get good enough to pass the admission interview. My cohort mates were excellent, even though I had years of programming under my belt I felt that it was hard to keep up. I remember Data Structures and React were particularly brutal to go through. But I got through it with the help of the staff and fellow students. They were very supportive but at the same time they weren’t there holding my hand and spoon feeding me.

The second half of the 3 months were dedicated to projects. The projects helped cement the concepts learned in the first half of the course. The final project was to build a developer tool. In other coding academies, teams are given free reign on what they build. I’ve seen some horrible ideas being implemented. At Codesmith they vet your ideas, making sure that they’ll be good enough, challenging enough to impress hiring managers and Senior Developers. My team had most of our project ideas rejected. At the end, our project ended up being a huge success. We were trending on Github for a whole month. When it came time to look for jobs, the engineers at some of the companies that I applied for knew about my project and have used it. That really helped in having something to talk about during these interviews.

Today I work at a Fortune 100 company, making a salary that is in line with the typical Codesmith graduate. I’ve been here since January 2018. I was hired on as a Mid-level Front End Engineer. When I first got there my coworkers gave kudos on how fast I was able to learn the codebase and create value.

Recently I’ve joined a new team within the company and I learned that there are several coding academy grads in my area. I found out that they’re making about half the salary that I am making. Two of my teammates have masters degrees in Computer Science and I’m keeping pace with them. I’m being trained in the J2EE stack and even though I had no experience in Java my teammates are surprised at how fast I was able to pick it up. This is all because I’ve developed solid programming fundamentals and the skills to learn new languages and concepts fast at Codesmith.

Codesmith is the best decision that I’ve made in my life. It literally transformed my life and career. The last time I checked, my cohort mates are all happily employed. Big Thanks to Will Sentence the CEO and the staff for creating a coding school that is so effective. I’m sure they can expand to every city rake in huge profits from their current reputation but they’re not because Will and his staff obsess over the quality of the program, making sure every student hit their potential.

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... Read More (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 to craft a solution to the challenge.

Soon after that, I attended a Hard Parts in person and the vibe of the space, the CodeSmith team, and the attendees was really awesome. It seemed like a place/community that I want to be part of. It was really inviting, there's great diversity of people, and it feels cool and hip.

Needless to say, I eventually applied and was accepted.

Throughout the program these FIVE core tennets were reinforced.

* Technical communication
* Non-technical communication/Empathy
* Analytical problem-solving
* How to handle blocks...technical and non-technical
* Technical knowledge

Everyday was an opportunity to hone these skills, which are at the core for mid to senior level engineers.

There is not a lot of hand holding (just like on a real job), and you'll be pushed everyday. You're guaranteed to learn lots...whether its technology, working on a team, managing project scope, etc.

I won't talk too much about the course contents because that will evolve as technology changes. Having said that, during portions of the journey, you're free to explore and incorporate other technologies into your projects.

The team at Codesmith is super supportive, they really take care of things so that you can focus on learning. Also, lead technical mentors and fellows are there to help you think through your problems when you get stuck or to advise you on your Senior projects. No hand-holding...just a bump in the right direction.

Now for some other cool things about Codesmith (LA): There are lots of opportunities for fun...there's a Ping Pong table (during my cohort, there were lots of exciting matches), Venice beach is a few blocks away, Abbot Kinney is within walking distahnce, Codesmith organizes drinks after Hard Parts meetings, and more...

If you are up for a challenge and want to push yourself to the limits, Codesmith will change your life for many different reasons. You'll be honing your coding super powers (and can apply them to so many fields). You'll, forever, be part of a community and network of amazing individuals that share the same passion.

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... Read More 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 a culture of critical thinking, hard work, and innovation, alongside fantastic collaboration and fun.

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... Read More 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 there, you are constantly being challenged to get better. You stretch yourself by questioning, informing and applying concepts until you polish your skills. The other advantage is the accountability. I found them to be accountable. I did feel I could go to them for any request and they would help me within a reasonable amount of time. Also, they are updated with what the technology and principles you should have and inform you of what the actual employers are looking for in engineers. The job seeking process was helpful as well.

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... Read More – 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 just how necessary this culture was, both during the program and after it ended. It didn’t just make the process more enjoyable – it consistently kept me around and learning new things hours after I would have left for the day. During the job search it was invaluable to have folks to meet up with for interview practice or to swap resources and encouragement.

Pair programming is heavily emphasized for the first few weeks, and to be honest I was skeptical that the system would work for me. I felt like it would be intimidating and uncomfortable to problem-solve aloud in front of a stranger. What if all I did was slow my partner down, or visa versa? Turns out I was dead wrong – pair programming was a huge reason why I was able to join Google as a software engineer straight out of Codesmith. It not only builds your technical communication skills and makes you more introspective of your own thinking process, but also teaches you new ways to approach problems and diagram out solutions.

You’re too busy learning stuff to appreciate how far-sighted the curriculum is until you transition into the job search – then you realize how everything fits together. React and its supporting cast are definitely in demand, either as the core tech of a full JavaScript role or as the front-end framework of a more complex stack. Codesmith leaves you well-suited for a whole spectrum of engineering positions, but just as importantly it gives you experience that you can piece together into the compelling story of a really attractive candidate – open-source enthusiasm, production-level library, demonstrable React/Node/DB knowledge, speaking at a bona-fide meetup, etc.

I’ll join the chorus here and say that Codesmith is an obvious choice for anyone with minimal programming experience but a willingness to put in the extra effort and a genuine interest in software development. But what about those – like me – who have technical degrees, or those who already have a few years of development experience? I was hesitant to commit to the program because I wasn’t sure that I’d get as much out of it. Again, I was dead wrong. As a comp sci major, I was able to build up knowledge of real-world technologies that complemented my theoretical foundation and market myself as a problem-solving generalist with relevant development experience. To a current software engineer, Codesmith is a place to transition into a more in-demand tech stack while building the communication skills of a senior-level developer.

For those who are wondering whether they’d be better off trying to pick up the technologies on their own – I can personally tell you that you’re being dumb. It’s worth the investment to learn them faster, better, and in context. No matter your background, I cannot recommend Codesmith highly enough. You’ll stagger across the finish line but wish there were more.

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... Read More 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... Read More 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 Codesmith apart. It makes you a great software engineer able to tackle any stack you want to, and more importantly, engenders the technical communication and engineering empathy that makes you someone people want to work with. Codesmith is the Ivy League of bootcamps, and that means you'll do well when you graduate. It also means that you'll need to work hard to get in, so my advice on shooting for Codesmith is that there's no such thing as too much preparation. I went in without prior experience, but I put in many months of study beforehand, and I still struggled. It's all about the struggle. If you're looking for someone to hold your hand, walk you through "Your Very First Full Stack Application," pat you on the back at the end, and set you up with a nice, non-challenging Junior Developer role, then look elsewhere. If you want to become the kind of developer that other developers look up to, then go to Codesmith.

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... Read More 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 was the place I wanted to spend my time learning. And I have no doubt that I made the right decsion.

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... Read More 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 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... Read More 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.