Hack Reactor

Think of software engineering as a trade and of Hack Reactor as a trade school. Sure, everything you learn at a trade school you could teach yourself, but you'll end up spending a lot more time and effort, probably go down the wrong path more than once... Read More and pick up quite a few bad habits along the way. Hack Reactor teaches you the tools of the trade, i.e the front- and back-end frameworks and libraries that are in demand in the job market now. They will also teach you some CS fundamentals, offer excellent tutorship during the 12 week program, and prepare you for the job search afterwards as well.

But what you get out of Hack Reactor will largely be what you put into it. You can put in the bare minimum effort and make it through, but you would only be doing yourself a disservice. Your 12 weeks at Hack Reactor offer you a chance to put everything you have into learning this new trade and starting your new career. If you give it everything you've got, at the other end of it all, you will probably be very well prepared to find a job and to perform well in that role. You will at times feel like you've made the wrong decision, you won't understand what you're supposed to be teaching yourself, you will feel like you're spinning your tires. Those are the times when you struggle your way through, then you go back for more in order to solidify the concepts in your head. It will be at times very stressful, but at the same time very enjoyable, because you are challenging yourself and overcoming.

I attended Hack Reactor Austin from January to April 2018, during which time I applied myself more to one end than I ever had before in my life. Within a month of graduation, I had gotten two job offers for three times as much money as I was making at my previous job. It was easily one of the best decisions I've made in my life up until this point, and I am not infinitely happier at my new job than I ever was at my old one. I want to go back and shake my old boss's hand for having laid me off, because he set a chain of events in motion that put me where I am now, at an excellent company with a great culture and fun co-workers who also genuinely enjoy what they're doing.

I studied Finance in undergrad, but fell in love with computer science when I took my first programming course called Financial Engineering. I first learned about Coding Bootcamps back in 2015 and finally made the decision to go in 2017. During those... Read More two years, I studied on the weekends, researched my options and saved up for 9 months of unemployment (3 month immersive + 6 months of runway for the job search). When it came down to choosing a bootcamp, I was between App Academy and Hack Reactor. I ultimately chose Hack Reactor for one reason: I met somebody with a very similar background to me (same degree in Finance from the same University) and his testimony gave me the comfort I needed. At the end of the day, there are many outstanding bootcamps (Hack Reactor, AA, Rithm, GA, etc...), but success in these programs, in my opinion, will ultimately come down to your grit and interest in the subject matter.

There are three things I loved about Hack Reactor: 1) Attention to student development 2) Method of teaching 3) Relevance of curriculum

Every cohort will comprise of students with varying intellects and backgrounds. I had 10 cohort mates who had just graduated with a computer science degree from a four year university and others who taught 6th grade math and drilled into eyeballs. Every single one of these students got jobs. Regardless of your background, when it comes to succeeding in the program, you must be proactive in asking for help. I started off knowing a lot less than many of my cohort mates. I had to compensate by consistently and proactively asking for help by either scheduling 1:1 sessions with my Tech Mentor or connecting with other cohort mates after hours for further instruction. Hack Reactor's Tech Mentor team is truly unique and represent the proprietary value the bootcamp offers. These are former students who have mastered the curriculum and can teach it to you like you were a 3 year old kid. They've been in your shoes and they're patient. I can't speak for the current group of Tech Mentors, but while I was there, they were the shoulder that many of the students leaned on.

This bridges into my second point: Hack Reactor teaches you how to learn. After several iterations of bothering the kid next to you, you'll realize you can't keep bombarding people with questions every time you're stuck. You learn to work through bugs by yourself and with your partner before raising any alarms. I learned how to learn again at Hack Reactor and although I felt like there could be more structure at times, I also feel like I wouldn't have honed my learning abilities without that particular ratio of instruction to 'greenfield'.

Lastly, the curriculum lead (Fred-ness) works very hard to iterate over the current curriculum every 6 weeks to ensure that they cover relevant material. I was hired on to be a 'Hacker In Residence' directly after my graduation so I stayed onboard for another 3 months and over the course of 6 months, 4 cohorts, I saw the curriculum change every time. The Thesis always had a new component. New sprints appeared. 'Expired' sprints were taken out. By the time I left, the graduating class had a toolbox ready to kill any interview (so long as you put in the work).

Hack Reactor isn't perfect, but no bootcamp is. It's a relatively new industry servicing hundreds of new students every 6 weeks (in SF alone). I wasn't the smartest kid in the room so I compensated by putting in the hours. I came in at 9am and left around 12am everyday, Monday to Saturday. It was normal for me to close up the school and that was okay because I had students there with me, grinding and studying. The camaraderie was real and the environment is truly unique.

I was able to turn my life around in 3-6 months for a fraction of what I paid for college. I love what I do and for 3 months of hell, it was worth it.

Starting SSP for me is an ongoing challenge. I never coded in my life and then started to learn to code, it was like a whole new language. I had to know what went where and how to write this in a certain order, not to mention that this course was a 4-week... Read More course that was from 9:30 - 5: 30 M-F. I started like everyone else from 9:30 am but I did not stop until close to 10 pm. The amount of information that I had to absorbed and understand was an ocean of knowledge. I thought that I would drown. But I did not drown, but I am behind in my studies. I am a slow learner but I did not give up on this. There is still some information that I have yet to process and still do not understand but will do my best to do them. The wealth of information, support from classmates/cohorts, the assistance from the Tech Assistants, and also Google is what made this program possible. The fast-pace, not many exercises of beginners, and embedded slides were what I see as their Achilles heel. Hack Reactor does its best to compensate for what they lack in certain areas and do their utmost best with their main course. It really depends on how individuals learn and their environment.

Hack Reactor is a challenging, 12-week immersive program that aims to teach you as much applicable information with the sole purpose of finding you, the student, a career after graduation. Most people spend years in college for this kind of end goal,... Read More but Hack Reactor condenses it into a few weeks. The program is designed to an exact science - most of the time it doesn't feel like you're spending 11 hours a day at a computer imbuing your brain with new, advanced technologies, but sometimes it does, and the staff is there for you when you don't feel up to par. The Austin campus staff holds their students to high standards, emphasizing both intelligence and empathy as core qualities needed in a developer. Like most great products, Hack Reactor actively listens to feedback given by their students, and earnestly tries to modify and improve the program based off of internal reviews.

Don't expect to leave Hack Reactor with a deep understanding of theoretical computer science. The majority of the course is self-taught, with guided sprints to help push you along. Ultimately, if your goal is to leave with a fundamental understanding of how frameworks/languages work, Hack Reactor won't help you. But if your goal is to construct complex web applications, develop an independent learning style, and learn how to work well within a team, Hack Reactor will benefit you in a multitude of ways.

Hack Reactor's immersive program is a challenge, but I was amazed by what I was able to learn in a short amount of time and the way the program holds you accountable in a positive way was perfect for me. The staff really are there to support you and your... Read More success both during the program as well as when you enter your job search.

The program is divided into two halves - the first is focuses on developing an understanding of full stack development (front end, back end, databases), the second is to introduce you to workflows and team environments (Git, Agile, SCRUM, deployment, etc.). I felt that I really did have a good handle on how the different pieces of applications are put together from the first half. In addition, the second half is important as it prepares you for how teams of engineers work together as well as giving you more room to explore technologies you are personally interested in in more depth.

Lastly, the outcomes team and alumni network is an outstanding resource for networking, discovering job opportunities, and overall career skills.

Hack Reactor's curriculum is just amazing! You learn everything that's essential to bootcamps. The staff is really helpful when I hit some blocks in my learning, and the fellow students are willing to help each other as well. The community is passionate... Read More and supportive. The tuition is reasonable!

I strongly recommend anyone considering taking a bootcamp prep course to join HR's SSP. Hardly will you regret!

I loved working through SSP this last month. I was an absolute pleasure to work with each of the leaders and the students! SSP helped prove to me that Hack Reactor is working towards building a great community of engineers. My only suggestion would be... Read More to have the Hackers in Residence practice their lectures a bit more, I feel some things were not covered fully in the lectures. With that said, they were always there to clarify and help students understand which was extremely pleasant!

This was my second time attending Hack Reactor's SSP. Even though I completed SSP 18, and passed my RA I wanted to attend again for good measure (know the easy stuff cold). I am so glad I did, breaking down Higher Order Functions again and learning how... Read More to use them in the practice problems really helped me solidify them, I felt that I left SSP last time shaky on methods like reduce and filter, and now, I am confident.

I can't say I have any complaints.

Overall I would say my experience in SSP27 online was good. Pros: The exercises are setup in a way to help build a strong foundation in Javascript. There is a Helpdesk component whereby one can submit a question on a problem they're having and a TA will(hopefully)... Read More assist in resolving it. How much you gain out of SSP is directly correlated to how much you put in. There are some TA's like Tabitha Hsia that seem above and beyond to make sure students are getting the most out of SSP. Students have up until a week into SSP to decide that it's not for them a request a full refund. There's the added bonus of a no cost repeat of SSP if you don't pass the RA on the first go. Cons: There's not as much interaction between students enrolled in the program as I would have liked. Other than the obligatory "good mornings" and the occasional question on a problem it's like crickets on the slack channel. I think getting students to engage each other more(i.e pair programming) should be a mandatory component of SSP especially since it's a key component of the actual immersive and job market. The lead TA, John, comes across as condescending and unapproachable. There doesn't seem to be a consensus when it comes to the RA. Instructions given to student's during it can vary widely and it may come down to whether or not your proctor is "nice" or emphatic if you pass .