Hackbright Academy

Most of all, I became a part of an caring, open and supportive community of female software engineers. I know I gained many lifelong friends in my cohort, and we continue to support each other daily, nearly a year after we first started Hackbright.

I took... Read More a big risk when deciding to attend Hackbright Academy, having been on a completely different career trajectory, but it's mind-blowing how much it paid off. I went from having no programming experience beyond having completed some Python tutorials online, to attending the fellowship, to being employed as a full-time software engineer within months. I got a job directly out of career day, and Wendy, who heads Career Services, was very helpful and attentive during the process. As for the fellowship itself, the instruction I received was of better quality than most of the college courses I took, thanks to the amazing Joel and his team.

The 'tl;dr' version: The program lacked structure, lacked a lot of their own learning resources (besides powerpoints), and sometimes it felt like the instructors weren't really prepared. That being said, they were all very friendly and encouraging, and... Read More the community was nice to have.
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I was a student of their part-time front end course, and there were about 20 other students at the beginning of the course and subsequently less and less attended (or they dropped out). I think there were somewhere around 10 who stuck around, sometimes less.

While I think Hackbright hires encouraging and friendly teachers who I am sure are great programmers - the program in general lacked structure. The whole reason I was taking the course was because (1) trying to teach myself was tricky since there were so many aspects of programming that online classes didn't seem to help with, (2) it's much easier to discipline yourself when you actually sign up for a weekly course, and (3) I wanted mentors and the solidarity of a group of students.

In terms of lectures, it was basically an instructor talking through a powerpoint. At times it felt that the instructor was caught off-guard by the information on the slideshow since it was outdated (clearly they weren't always prepared...). Class would sometimes start late and lectures could go on until the end of class (without giving us time to practice at times, and being as effective as watching a video at home).

When we did have time to work, there was plenty of help available typically - sometimes the instructors would just hang around and talk amongst themselves since they didn't always have something to do.

The homework and challenges sometimes seemed quickly stitched together, and they didn't always create their own resources (it seemed to be a hodge podge of stuff found free online).

They would ask for feedback after every class session, which was good since it meant that they were invested in improving, but it also felt like this was a pilot classroom that still needed a lot to be worked out.

Since my company was able to pay for the majority of the tuition, I at least didn't leave with a huge hole in my pocket. But my experience has deterred me from applying to their full bootcamp (~which is very expensive, btw~).

The final project was mostly a solo endeavor with some mentorship provided (something that I think is possible just with a meet-up group of programmers like Ladies Who Code, Girl Develop It, etc.).

At the end of it, I mostly learned a basic overview of what I needed to learn in the front-end world of web development. For that, it was kinda valuable.
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My advice to Hackbright : 1 ) Maximize the time in class. Create videos/lecture materials that students can watch for homework, so that so much time isn't wasted. Review the material quickly in class. 2 ) Create all of your own materials and house it all in one place so that time isn't wasted troubleshooting the locations of things, etc. 3 ) Class time should be about learning industry-relevant methods that produce actual projects.

I can't recommend Hackbright Academy enough.

Going to a coding bootcamp is a huge risk. I travelled from my home in Seattle down to San Francisco for this opportunity, arriving in April of 2015. Here it is end of September and I now have a full time job... Read More as a Software Engineer, something I've dreamed about! I can't believe I was able to change my life around so quickly, and I couldn't have done it without the expert teaching of the teaching staff lead by Joel, and the support of the other members of my cohort!

I'm thrilled with the help I got from Wendy, who is career services at HB!

Everything has been a great experience, and I can't recommend Hackbright Academy enough.

I went to HB for 10 weeks in Summer 2012 and it changed my life, for the better. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I had taught myself a *little* bit of HTML, CSS, and SQL databases before deciding to make the career change; some of my classmates had... Read More taken CS courses or were other types of engineers, while others had literally no training or experience at all. Within the first few weeks, we had all learned so much from training sessions, guest speakers, and a lot of pair programming. From a day to the next, my knowledge and abilities in Python, shell, Git, and just understanding programming in general increased dramatically. I slept so deeply because it was such a mental challenge, in a good way. If you like to learn, this program will be difficult but truly fun.

The last weeks of Hackbright are all about a personal project, and it doesn't get any easier. Most people learn a lot about javascript and frontend development during this time, while others dive deep into another area they're interested in. Either way, you're there working harder and writing code and doing more than you would have ever thought possible, with a group of amazing women doing the same, and instructors supporting you and answering all your questions. It's hard to describe how important this community environment is to get through the process of learning so much and changing careers. You're honestly in a vulnerable position, and it's so easy to get emotional and doubt yourself, and want to give up. The community at Hackbright means that you're not alone going through it and you get so much farther.

I consider most everyone in my class at HB to be a close friend -- and I'm not like a sorority girl at all. It's a transformative thing to do, and it's amazing to bond and share with your group and the alumni network, and also a larger group of mentors, supporters, and connections in the bay tech scene and around the world. When we were learning Python, I reached out to the biggest celebrity around, Guido van Rossum, creator of Python. And he responded, and met with us. You can't get much more nerdy cool than that!

A little on the logistics, apply whenever you're even thinking a little that it's something you want to do, because there are 3-4 classes a year and you don't want to miss one and have to wait 3 months. Class runs 10-6 M-F, excepting holidays (as chosen by the class), you'll have an ample lunch break and there's a kitchen there to keep food. It's a relatively casual environment so if you're late or leave early or need to miss a day for whatever reason, nobody will be mad at you, you'll just have to catch up if you missed something. I personally think that you'll get the most out of HB if you plan for evening and weekend events (meetups, talks, hackathons) that aren't related to the actual class and are totally optional, but you'll hear about and will really enhance your understanding and learning if you can go. Some people have worked part-time but I think it's really hard to do.

The two most common concerns I hear about about the price and getting a job. Here I'm going to ask you to trust me, and you don't know me, so this might not work, but try. When you finish Hackbright, you will be an engineer. You will be able to create things that otherwise you never would. Many, many, many companies will find this skill to be very valuable. A job match depends on so many different things that I couldn't tell you exactly how that will work for you. But, if you want a job, you'll be able to find one. And at that point, the cost of HB won't matter, because you got a job at a partner and they paid your tuition, or you got a scholarship or tuition break and it wasn't so much anyway, or now you're working as an engineer and money is not such an issue as it was in your past life (that's how it happened for me). I know firsthand how hard it is, but it's worth it and you must trust and jump.

If you've read this far, you or someone you know is pretty interested in Hackbright. But you probably still have questions. So, don't be shy! Email or call them, and you can even come by to see the space. Reach out to me or any of the other alumni. Do whatever you need to resolve those doubts.

And please, even if you don't choose Hackbright, don't keep working doing something that doesn't satisfy you. It might take longer, but you can learn a lot of things online, and by attending events and connecting with people in the tech industry. If you're reading this, you want the challenge, so don't settle. You're good enough, you deserve it, your own happiness is worth it. Fight for what you want.

Probably, you'll learn a whole lot about yourself and gain new strength that will change your life too.

-Reposted from Yelp with permission

I have graduated from Hackbright in May 2013 (Spring class) and it was one of the best experiences in my life.

As a recent college graduate with little to no prospects in employment opportunities Hackbright was an easy decision to me - I loved technology,... Read More analysis, solving puzzles and I knew from the HTML/CSS class I took in college that I enjoyed doing that kind of work. Even so, this program exceeded my expectations in every single way.

Hackbright is a full-time 10-week intensive program, and it is structured appropriately. First 5 weeks the class learns Python, SQL, HTML&CSS, Javascript, Git, CS fundamentals and other full-stack technologies by completing 1 to 2 day exercises while pair-programming (switching pairs for each exercise); the rest of the program everyone works on their personal projects. These projects are all challenging and very different from each other (this is why they are called personal), but most importantly during this time everyone learns technologies they are most interested in. Don't worry, you'll be guided and will be able to get lots of help during this time. The staff at Hackbright is simply incredible: dedicated to help as much as they can, personable and understanding. Also, unlike other similar programs, Hackbright has a very supportive and collaborative environment. There is a great community of alumni and mentors, and you can get any of your questions answered practically at any time of day.

We had a guest speaker almost every other day and a field trip (to companies such as Facebook, Google, Dropbox, Twilio and others) almost every week. It was a great way to get exposure to different opportunities out there, and see the offices of some of the best companies in the Bay Area.

It might seem improbable that in 10 short weeks you can become a Software Engineer, but it is true. Everyone in my class was making a career change and most people had little to no experience with programming. But the placement rate for graduates is extremely high, and the demand for women in tech is only growing. There is an impressive list of partner companies, and great connections to other companies through fellow classmates/mentors/alumni. Hackbright is definitely a worthy investment if you want to become a Software Engineer and join one of the best communities for women in technology.

-Reposted from Yelp with permission

Two years ago, most people would think it's impossible to go from beginner programmer to an employable full-time software engineer in just 10 weeks. That has completely changed in the past year with these new intensive CS schools like Hackbright Academy.... Read More The demand for software engineers has greatly outstripped supply in the US. Therefore, the new CS schools help in filling in this gap.

http://chriszf.posthaven.com/straight-from-the-horses-mouth-or-the-unofficial-hackbright-admissions-faq

I would certainly recommend HB for any woman who wants to get better at programming. The above link is the admissions faq for Hackbright Academy that the co-founder Christian Fernandez wrote recently. With every new session, the incoming class is more amazing, more intelligent, more ambitious and driven, and more tech companies sign up as sponsors to Hackbright Academy. For the summer '13 session there were over 400+ applicants for just 26 spots, making the admit rate 5%.

Well-known tech companies Pinterest and Facebook are recent new additions to the list of sponsoring companies. In one shining example, a graduate of the spring session 2013 went above and beyond -- she wrote a compiler from scratch as her final 5-week project. She aced the tech interview at Facebook and got a job offer; she works at Facebook now as a software engineer. As a second example, one of the Hackbright Academy students from the spring '13 session made live her final project (web app) 2 months ago (flattestRoute.com) and this made it to the front page on Hacker News (HN) instantly and became widely retweeted and trending.

I'm currently a mentor for the current session at Hackbright Academy, because I want to give back to the community. I help with code interviews, tech advice, code reviews.

The curriculum is constantly improving in every new session based on instructor, mentor, and student feedback. The community is really strong and connected. In my session, code interview practice was done in weeks 6 to 10, especially towards the later weeks. But now, the interview practice is now taught in the beginning of the session so that students are more prepared for white-boarding sessions. The mentorship has certainly improved as well. The 2nd session was when the mentorship program began, in which students were paired up with software engineers in Silicon Valley to seek advice or code review help or interview help.

The instructors also happen to be devoted to helping the students as much as they can in terms of job search and code reviewing, even after the program ends. The number of instructions has increased, and so has the number of mentors. Each current student has access to 3 assigned mentors, many of whom are luminaries in the technology industry and working at top-notch technology companies all the way from entry-level to CTO-level.