Hack Reactor

I recently graduated from Hack Reactor and have a number of positive things to say about the program as a whole. The program is definitely difficult and you should try your best to prepare as much as possible before starting it. The staff is supportive... Read More but won’t hold your hand, and the course curriculum moves at such a fast pace that it feels like you’re learning at least one new and relevant thing almost every single day. There’s an emphasis on process and thinking about problems methodically, which means that understanding why a solution works is almost always more important than simply achieving a working solution. Additionally, the staff proves consistently impressive throughout the immersive. They are the bedrock that makes this program, and each staff member brings a unique perspective and set of skills to the program to create a team that consistently and effectively meets the learning needs of each cohort’s students. From the cohort leads to the tech mentors to the career services team you meet with at the program’s end, the team at Hack Reactor genuinely wants to see their students succeed, and they often go above and beyond responsibilities to ensure that this happens. I personally received help from staff on numerous occasions outside of the program’s container hours, and staff members also proactively check in with students to ensure that learning needs and objectives are met. I can walk away from Hack Reactor and say I’m glad to have been part of it. The experience was transformative in a number of ways, and at this point my biggest regret regarding Hack Reactor is not having discovered it earlier.

Hack Reactor is a great program to introduce people to web development and the in's and out's of the Javascript language. The immersive is very structured, with the first half as two-day sprints, introducing different parts of the stack (using Javascript... Read More and some SQL) and the latter half as group projects, which has deadlines, and is supposed to be a pseudo-work environment. There is a wealth of good information available during the immersive. Hack Reactor staff have managed to make the experience an outstanding education even in a remote environment. What makes the program valuable is that the staff has a passion for teaching and puts thought into each student based on their performance, and there is both technical and non-technical feedback provided. As far as support goes, there is plenty here. I'd especially like to thank Tech Mentor Rob Lopez and Shepherd Chris Ciervo for routinely going above and beyond working hours to provide support and assistance. Although it is possible to learn the same information without a program, the solid foundation of knowledge that Hack Reactor provides it's students with within a relatively short period of time (4.5 months including pre-course) is impressive, and unlikely to be matched by self-learning. The program also has an excellent community, which the staff works tirelessly to keep alive even in the remote environment, and which I wish I had participated in more! There is a program in place for job support, still in the early iterations. Overall, Hack Reactor's program does an excellent job laying a strong foundation of programming fundamentals that enables future web developers to build a career.

I went through their premium Prep course, passed the TAA, did the Pre-course and started the Software Engineering Immersive January. Unfortunately, I had to drop from the cohort and decided to re-enroll into the upcoming March one. This is where is gets... Read More bad. I signed an agreement stating I will re-enroll and whatever tuition I paid for will be put to that cohort instead of getting a partial refund. They sent me another enrollment agreement stating my outstanding balance was more than $4,500 than what my actual balance is based on the previews document. I've been emailing back and forth with my enrollment advisor, but they refuse to change the document. I've been emailing the bursar and they have not responded at all. Finally they sent me another document only for me to see that it's the exact same one. My enrollment officer said they are "not legally allowed to apply [my] refund to [my] new enrollment until after [I] sign the enrollment agreement." So they basically just want me to sign the document that says I owe much more than I actually do because I have no other choice and it's easier for them...

I recently graduated from Hack Reactor and have a number of positive things to say about the program as a whole. The program is definitely difficult and you should try your best to prepare as much as possible before starting it. The staff is supportive... Read More but won’t hold your hand, and the course curriculum moves at such a fast pace that it feels like you’re learning at least one new and relevant thing almost every single day. There’s an emphasis on process and thinking about problems methodically, which means that understanding why a solution works is almost always more important than simply achieving a working solution. Additionally, the staff proves consistently impressive throughout the immersive. They are the bedrock that makes this program, and each staff member brings a unique perspective and set of skills to the program to create a team that consistently and effectively meets the learning needs of each cohort’s students. From the cohort leads to the tech mentors to the career services team you meet with at the program’s end, the team at Hack Reactor genuinely wants to see their students succeed, and they often go above and beyond responsibilities to ensure that this happens. I personally received help from staff on numerous occasions outside of the program’s container hours, and staff members also proactively check in with students to ensure that learning needs and objectives are met. I can walk away from Hack Reactor and say I’m glad to have been part of it. The experience was transformative in a number of ways, and at this point my biggest regret regarding Hack Reactor is not having discovered it earlier.

I graduated from Hack Reactor last month and I am currently on the job search. I will update this review when I get a job. My review in summary: HR is an excellently run program and does what it promises, which is transforming students into career-ready... Read More software engineers who can tackle new projects and technologies autonomously. That said, it might not be for everyone. Unlike some bootcamps, HR requires students to undergo a fair amount of preparation before the immersive program actually begins. After passing a technical interview admissions assessment, students spend roughly a month doing precourse material. This is a great time to figure out whether HR is a good fit for you. Students work individually on a series of “deliverables” with their own deadlines. The material ramps up quickly, and you have to figure out much of it on your own. Going through the precourse involves lurching between moments of feeling totally lost and then getting that hard-won clarity. There is excellent support from technical mentors but they will not give you the answers and cannot accomplish the process of learning so much in such a short time for you. The software immersive itself is a similar process of rapid learning but you are not alone. Not only are there lectures and more explicit instructions for the materials you work through, you will be paired with someone else or in a group. There are staff manning a help desk that can help answer questions, and the program instructors offer excellent one-on-one instruction for those struggling with certain concepts. Hack Reactor has a successful formula for making students into self-sufficient software engineers. Hack Reactor teaches every student two main things: a basic competency in creating full-stack software applications and an ability to learn what you don’t know but need to. The first half of the program is dedicated to the former. In the second half, once you know how to build full-stack applications, you develop your self-teaching skills. By the end, you will feel confident about your abilities. There is a lot I don’t know how to do and a lot of technologies I don’t know. But I feel confident that I could take on just about any project because of the skills I’ve learned at HR. The experience itself is also very rewarding. The instructors are smart and caring. The material is exciting. Despite the long hours, I often wished it had gone longer and would eagerly forward to starting each day. Because of the intensity of the experience, it is also likely that you will form close bonds with the peers in your cohort.

Hack Reactor brought me from not understanding a single thing about web development, to deploying full-stack applications in under 3 months. They have incredible staff and resources that guided me, and all of my cohort mates to a deep understanding of... Read More the most popular tools in web development today, such as JavaScript, React, Node.js, Express, MongoDB, SQL, and AWS. Along with the tech I learned, I met some incredible people on the way and the collaborative nature of this program adds a sense of support and accountability that you cannot get if you're self-taught. You're going to have to work your tail off and commit yourself fully to this program for 3 months straight, but it's something I would happily do again. I would highly recommend their Premium Prep if you want to nail the technical interview. I had not written a single line of JavaScript before August, but I practiced for a month on Codecademy, then took the Premium Prep, and got in on my first try,

Couldn't have designed a better system for learning web development within 3 months! Great instructors, good career services after graduation. Very time consuming. First half of the course is lecture and exercise based, and during the second half, you... Read More build a portfolio of front end, back end, and full stack web apps.

I began my search for a bootcamp like many others, looking at reviews, trying to suss out the best possible options to make sure I was going to have a good experience. I had a lot riding on this endeavor, quitting my job, taking up a totally new field... Read More in order to support my family. I wanted to find the best fit. Enter HackReactor. After coming close to applying to several different programs, and realizing time and again that they didn't produce the results or have the rigor I wanted, I finally found HackReactor. All of the reviews were glowing, the graduates spoke of excellent instruction and great preparation, but most impressively of all, this was not your run-of-the-mill bootcamp. This one was rigorous, intense, and produced the best possible bootcamp grads. I was bought in, and now I am so glad! I enrolled in the program after passing their entrance exam, and from day 1 we hit the ground running. 12 weeks of in-over-my-head immersion in the tools of a full stack JavaScript developer using React, Express, relational and non-relational databases, and much much more, learning by doing, and I can say I have never learned more in such a short time in my life! Pros: Excellent curriculum - learning through doing. Teaches you how to learn autonomously - I now feel prepared to learn anything I need quickly and efficiently in the field. Gives you the tools to succeed in the job market. Cons: Rigorous and fast paced. If you aren't ready to go all in for 12+ weeks, this program isn't for you.

If you're anything like me you aren't going to read this whole review, you may have stopped reading after the title so I'm going to put this here. Hack Reactor is a wonderful program with wonderful support for students. Hack Reactor will help you become... Read More a technically proficient, autonomous, holistic Software Engineer adept in 'soft skills' with an awesome outcomes team there to help you get a job! I would recommend Hack Reactor to anyone who wants to become a Software Engineer. Read on for the full story! I read a lot of reviews like this when deciding on which boot camp to attend. I had known I wanted to attend a boot camp for a few years in my old job and had been taking various coding courses online (e.g., Udemy etc.). When I decided it was time to join a boot camp I went looking for reviews and started filtering through the highest rated boot camps. I ended up going with Hack Reactor because of the technical assessment to get in. Many of the other boot camps required nothing to get in or had very simple coding challenges. I knew I wanted something rigorous that would challenge me and I felt that Hack Reactor was the right fit. Hack Reactor delivered on it's promises. It was rigorous and extremely challenging, but also extremely supportive and uplifting. I learned so much throughout my time at Hack Reactor. The curriculum flow is extremely logical with each new sprint building on the last. You continually reinforce skills as you go along. I loved the emphasis on autonomous learning, I came out of the programming feeling like if I didn't know something, I could figure it out quickly and efficiently. I think the support both technical and non technical I received throughout the program is what really set Hack Reactor apart for me. The program focuses on building holistic engineers as opposed to coding robots. No matter what kind of support you need throughout the program, there will be someone there to help you out at a moments notice! I can't say enough good things about it! My recommendation would be to get some good experience with coding through self study before attending Hack Reactor. This helped me get the the most out of my time there! Good luck!

Going through Hack Reactor was definitely one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. The program really prepares you for a career in software engineering and teaches you how to think through problems methodically. Hack Reactor doesn’t just teach you... Read More just how to code. Hack Reactor teaches you how to solve problems and learn hard concepts quickly- which are skills all software engineers should have. I came from a background with some programming skills already, however the amount of growth that I saw myself go through surprised me. I developed better approaches to solving problems, and became much better at managing my stress levels so that I could be successful, not to mention everything that I learned on a technical level. I came into Hack Reactor not wanting to change careers as I had just graduated from high school- this was my choice for getting into software engineering in the first place. With my unique situation, Hack Reactor gave me an opportunity to learn software engineering whereas my alternative would’ve been to spend a lot more money on a college degree, which I simply couldn’t afford. This program has really opened doors for me and I think that they can open doors for a lot of people- but you do have to be prepared for the difficulty of the program. Overall, I’d say that anyone looking into a programming bootcamp should definitely look into Hack Reactor with the mindset of being prepared to work hard. Anyone looking to attend Hack Reactor should make sure that they are prepared with really solid fundamentals when going through the prep work and pre-course to get the most out of the program and make it through. In addition, be sure to reach out for help when you need it. The staff is definitely dedicated to making sure that the students are making the correct steps towards becoming a solid software engineer and getting a job in the field.