Flatiron School

The Flatiron School will change your life --- if you put in the work. They hire Incredible staff, support your learning with fantastic materials, and work alongside you after graduation to keep you motivated. The entire environment is designed for your... Read More success, but as with many things in life, nobody does the work for you.

A year ago today, I was a senior music composition major in college crying over my grad school rejection letters --- this morning, I signed an offer for a full-time C# position. This mind-blowing transition is all thanks to the incredible instruction I received from the Flatiron School in Denver.

If you sign up and put in the work - you will be exposed to a neverending world of learning, and given the tools to explore. The skills you learn at this school make any technology and concept possible for you to master - only for you to shift into learning something else.

I would recommend this school to anyone who is very motivated to make a career switch. It will be hard, sometimes very hard, - but the outcomes speak for themselves.

Great time here and learned alot. Had a lot of support and job resources. The mock interviewsb really helped me get a feel for what the real world will be like.

I liked the way the curriculum is structured and the pace that they go with also made a difference... Read More

About Me - Graduate of the Full Stack Web Development on-campus immersive course, 2019 - Found a Full Stack role (React and C#) with an above-average salary 4 months after declaring a job search - Bachelor's degree in a non-traditional background (not... Read More tech-related) The Flatiron Experience in a Nutshell Expect Flatiron to prepare you to be a shoo-in for an internship, to land a lower-paying full-time gig after some additional self-directed study, or to land a higher-paying role after some moths of dedicated study. The Good - Knowledgable instructors who cared about my success - Inclusive, fun and supportive culture in a fast-paced, immersive learning environment - Gained practical industry skills for a solid foundation The Not-So-Good - Flatiron is not (at this time) set up to bring graduates' technical skills up to par with industry expectations for higher-paying full-time entry-level roles - Career support did not provide even the most basic job-search optimization tactics What You Can Expect I loved my Flatiron on-campus experience. But after graduation, I realized I wasn't prepared to reach my personal career goals and expectations without months of additional study. Technical Expectations In my job search, I've found what I learned with Ruby, Rails, SQL, Object-Oriented & Functional Programming, JavaScript and React/Redux are no doubt essentials for grads looking for Junior Engineering positions; But that isn't all you need anymore. Instructors expect interviewers in 2019 to ask us questions like the FizzBuzz problem. That may have been the case 3 or 4 years ago, but with so many bootcamp grads getting churned out the bar has been raised much higher. In interviews, I was asked to create algorithms implementing data structures including linked lists, binary search trees, heaps, stacks & queues and sometimes even graphs. To land a job at a top company like Hulu, Amazon, Facebook, etc. you need a solid understanding of system API design (I believe this will soon be the norm for less prestigious companies as well). Regardless of what may be advertised online, Flatiron does not teach data structures or system design. Career Support Expectations My career coach gave some solid advice on cultural interviewing. However, through my own study, I found there are a lot of really cool ways to optimize your job search that Flatiron career counselors should be sharing with their grads. I really could have used a job-finding expert on my side. Flatiron has a partnerships team that sends mass referrals out to graduates, but most of these were for low-paying contract work. I met with my counselor almost weekly at the beginning, but most of my one-on-ones felt a lot more like emotional support meetings than focused tactical strategy sessions aimed at getting my resume in the hands of decision-makers and nailing the interview. The great news is you can check out the resources listed below to fill in those gaps. Is Flatiron For You? All things considered, if you're a dedicated self-starter willing to put in the hours after graduation Flatiron could be an excellent option for you. I know grads from other noteworthy bootcamps experiencing similar struggles, and some that didn't have a positive on-campus experience. Flatiron can help get you where you want to be, but you have to set yourself apart from the thousands of other bootcamp grads looking for the same job opportunities. Resources Technical Leetcode (consider the premium option. check out the problems broken out by data structure) Udemy - Data Structures & Algorithms Masterclass (JavaScript) educative - Grokking the System Design Interview Job Search Optimization Cold Emailing Mail Merge Clearbit Connect Hunter.io

I completed both the Python Interview Prep and the Math Prep.

For the Python bit, the information is useful, but if you are new to Python, you may want to sign up for a cheap prep course on DataCamp or Dataquest. DataCamp gave me a solid starting point.... Read More

The Flatiron website did provide a lot of information, but that was the problem, it seemed like just information. I didn't feel the presentation was allowing the information to create a foundation, but more to state that it is. I guess it was more like 'this is what you should know already'.

When it came time for the Math Interview Prep portion, it was more of the same. It was providing information, but not really explaining it. I stared at these pages for hours. This section made me seriously cringe. I really thought I would never get this.

THEN, I searched online for some help and found a FREE calculus course on Khan Academy. After taking the FREE AP Calculus AB course which explained BRILLIANTLY all I needed to know for this section, I realized I got this.

So it wasn't me that had issues, it was the material and how it was presented on Flatiron that was lacking. The material on Flatiron was so poorly written and not remotely conducive to learning, in my opinion. As the lesson tried to explain further, it mentions: Let's take a second to fully understand this new formula because it's not going away.

Willikers! This section should be replaced with the Khan Academy course.

This Data Science bootcamp is a big step for me and I am ready to poor blood, sweat, and tears over it, not to mention $15,000 for the course. I fear that if the Free Prep work is this bad, what will the actual paid lessons be like.

Was this written by your finest? Shiver me timbers Flatiron. If this is a preview of what's to come, then I will have to take my $15,000 elsewhere.

I took the online full stack web development program and had a great experience. I was brand new to coding when I enrolled and the program and now I can say that I am a full stack web developer! In addition to a great curriculum, the people at Flatiron... Read More are absolutely amazing. I never felt alone and was always able to find the support I needed to get through the program. From the education coaches to the technical coaches to the career coaches, everyone was friendly, encouraging and knowledgable. I will forever be grateful to Flatiron!

Note: I am still doing the course so I do not feel like I can give a review of the job search help they do provide. I will come back to edit this when I have completed the course.

PROS:
+ Fairly well rounded curriculum
+ Material is covered quickly enough... Read More for those intending to get into Data Science ASAP
+ Plenty of personal assistance is available if needed
+ Free WeWork hotdesk membership for a year

CONS:
- Badly organised
- Some advertised things were not really kept to
- Course material is lacking in a few significant areas
- Course material is really badly written. Never-ending typos, serious mistakes, bad explanations, weird learning route, and some incorrect solutions and examples. Also the easiest stuff is covered too often and the important stuff is insufficiently covered. Also one or two modules involve watching a lot of freely available youtube videos.
- Daily tutorials feel unnecessary and not that helpful

Overall:
I left a good job to enter Data Science and felt a bootcamp would be best for me. I knew people who had gone through Flatiron's Software Development programme with much success so was happy to go into their new data science course. I have some experience with mathsy stuff given my undergrad major and high school work. I am finding this course to be very disappointing and feel very mislead. The course price is just as much as the Software Development one and yet this one seems pretty shitty. Clearly nobody even checked the course material before it was shown to by now hundreds of students. WTF. Instructors say they are working on it and that "it was written by PhDs!" but those must be the worst doctors I know. If I had known how it was going to be going in I would have tried to teach myself with all the free stuff one can find online nowadays and saved myself a lot of time and money. Unfortunately I am caught up in the course curriculum and might still end up paying to see the end of it (if I do not quit first). I encourage anyone considering this course to look up other bootcamps such as General Assembly to see if theirs are any good. If they feel up to it they could alternatively try teaching themselves. If somebody from Flatiron is reading this I WANT MY MONEY BACK.

My situation was a little unique in that I was living and working in DC, but knew I was going to move to Miami soon to be with my new husband. I decided to quit my job, do the in-person immersive program, and then move to Miami and search for jobs there,... Read More and it was the best decision I could have made for my career! Flatiron helped me move from a $50k/yr job to an $80k/yr junior dev role in Miami.

I definitely recommend going into it for the right reasons. Try something technical and see how you like it. Before I applied, I tried Flatiron's free online bootcamp prep course, which is how I discovered I really liked learning about code. Something employers look for is passion for code, so it's important to actually like coding before you start.

During the program: the experience was really amazing. I bonded really well with my cohort (50% male/ 50% female) and got a scholarship for women in tech. The instructors were very understanding, knowledgeable, and always wiling to help and mentor students. They all come from tech backgrounds, so they can tell you what it's like in the industry too. We learned Ruby as a backend language, and JavaScript and React on the frontend. This enabled me to get a freelance job working on the React frontend of a cancer research website. I've found that compared to people who studied CompSci in college, we got a TON of hands-on experience and importantly, we learned how to learn a new language. Both of these skills made me very marketable when it came to the job search.

After the program: The career coaches are very knowledgeable, encouraging, and keep you accountable in your job search. Since I was job searching in a new city, my career coach was a huge resource suggesting lots of job search activities.

Overall, a great experience and the results speak for themselves!

I did the online Full Stack Web Development program at the Flatiron School, and like any online program, it had its positives and negatives. On the positive side, I do think that the school and the instructors genuinely care about the students and helping... Read More them as much as possible. The focus on labs, projects, and practical application was a good approach though I'm sure that there are ways to improve the curriculum which I believe they regularly do. While taking the course, they released a number of additional lessons, edited lessons, etc. It felt like they were constantly trying to stay current and improve what was there. Getting help on the labs were relatively easy through the "Ask a Question" portal, and they did their best to encourage collaboration and helping others. The projects they had me do were immensely helpful in actually understanding the concepts, and they gave me a great portfolio to use when looking for a job. Employers constantly asked about these projects, and they made me feel more confident in my abilities.

However, like other students have already said, it is what you make of it, especially with online programs. It is self taught and self led so that has its own set of challenges. You definitely have to be self motivated so if that is something that you struggle with, you may want to do an in-person class setting. Another area of weakness they had was support for the projects which I've actually talked with them about in trying to improve for the future. When I went through the program, there was only one instructor for each section project so one person had to handle anyone who was currently working on that project which made it nearly impossible to get much help from them during the project. Some instructors were extremely helpful, and I had one that was borderline nonexistent in terms of responsiveness. Hopefully they'll fix that in the future and make it a little easier to get help when that channel fails during projects. There were study groups that we could attend, but they were meant to be led by students' questions and sometimes that was a struggle (sometimes we didn't know what questions to ask- we just weren't as comfortable with that particularly subject material). I do think they've been extremely open to feedback though, and I've had multiple people talk to me about how they can improve and how Flatiron can improve.

In terms of after the course, I thought my career coach was excellent. The coaching I got completely changed my perspective on networking, and I just had a coworker call me a "master networker" because of the things I did with Flatiron after graduation. I was always open with my coach about the ups and downs of job hunting, and I really feel like I was given the push I needed to put in the work and find an absolutely incredible job. (They also helped me draft anything I was nervous about sending ahead of time, and they help you practice with mock interviews.) Some days I can't believe that I work where I do, and I wouldn't be here without Flatiron so I'm pretty grateful. I don't know if you'd get quite as lucky as I did with my awesome career coach, but when my first coach ended up leaving (her husband got a job across the country), my next coach was just as great so I'm pretty confident that they have incredible career coaches if you're willing to work with them and be open.

Overall, the program has its ups and downs, but it led me to where I am now, so for that, I'm really grateful that I went to the Flatiron School.

My cohort was one of the beginning cohorts for the new data science program at flatiron. The structure of the program was lacking, but the content wasn't. We learned so much in a short amount of time. I was able to get exposed to the field of data science... Read More and learn the python language and machine learning and did couple projects in deep learning. I think bootcamps like flatiron are really great for those that don't want to or can't go to the traditional school and pay so much in student loans. There is a caveat however; because this is data science, it relies on math, and the most relevant subjects are calc. 1, probability and statistics. Everyone learns at their own pace, but not knowing these fundamentals might make the learning curve even harder. This is not to discourage you, the program exposes you to the fundamentals, but it would be easier if you know them beforehand. I was skeptical about the job placement but it was honestly so great. I was able to have about 10 interviews through them and placed at a job through EP. I would recommend flatiron if you do want to switch careers or get a practical sense of DS in industry.

Prior to enrolling in Flatiron School's Online Data Science Bootcamp, I had been studying data science on my own for some time. I used other online resources studying R, but it was difficult to know what I should be learning. Sometimes I would go too... Read More deep into a rarely used algorithm or I would just spend a lot of time finding/deciding which resource to use. So in the end, I decided to sign up for Flatiron School's Online Data Science Bootcamp to provide the structure and organization that I was lacking. Overall, I would say it was a positive experience:

PROS:
+ You learn how to implement an algorithm on your own from scratch in Python before they introduce you to professional implementations. This really helps you understand the underlying mechanisms and what's going on, instead of just plugging things in
+ Instructor support was always available whenever I needed it in dedicated Slack channels
+ Portfolio reviews for the non-technical business stakeholders provided valuable experience in learning how to communicate to people outside of the data science field
+ Provided a pretty comprehensive overview of data science skills
+ End-of-module projects were great for building up a portfolio
+ Career coach was great and provided lots of great feedback on my resume and interviewing

CONS:
- A lot of typos and grammatical errors in the lessons which made it difficult to understand sometimes
- The platform would break sometimes, but this was only a minor inconvenience, because you could always access it from Github
- The technical review for portfolio projects wasn't as rigorous as I thought it would be, and I was rarely asked to justify and explain my choices
- Not as much content for more advanced data science/machine learning concepts compared to the first few modules, where it was much more detailed and comprehensive

During the last month, I also began looking for jobs on my own and approximately two weeks after I graduated, I received an Data Scientist internship at a fintech.