Horizons School of Technology

I did Horizons two summers ago after my Freshman year. I really had no idea what to expect when I started the program but I knew that I was considering computer science as a major and I wanted to solidify that decision before I realized I had gone down the wrong path. Horizons summer program was everything I wanted and more. While the program is definitely one of those experiences where you get out only what you put in, if you work hard it is truly a transformative course. I came into the program with an interest in programming and came out a confident web developer with multiple projects to show. I also ended the summer convinced I wanted to continue with CS at school. The summer gave me the confidence to transfer into engineering and pursue a career in development. Not only were the i...

I joined Horizons without a technical background and not really knowing what applying for technical jobs entailed. A couple months in Horizons changed all that and gave me a whole new perspective on what it was like to be in the industry.

Horizons starts off with the basics and ramps everyone up to a comparable skill level through detailed tailored courses. The TAs during the program were also an invaluable resource and guided students along masterfully during this period of time.

Being located in tech central also means that you are able to tap into Horizons' deep network in the area and be fully immersed in the tech culture and understand the inner workings of different firms. The founders are also incredibly helpful in looking at resumes and making sure every student knows how...

Horizons accepted myself and about 20 others into their Horizons One program (in which they promised to house us and educate us in SF, to be funded off an ISA after the program), which many of us committed to up to a year in advance. A month before the program was set to begin, Horizons abruptly cancelled the program. They tried to compensate by getting us accepted into another program with an even more ridiculous income share agreement. Never got a chance to go through their program, but this was just terrible business on their part. They did offer to help assist us in job searching, but I have yet to see if that was just another empty promise.

Oh man, I could write a whole novel about how much I loved my experience.

Horizons has given me the tools to grow my skills and passion for technology and entrepreneurship in a way that I never anticipated.

The summer of learning cutting-edge web/mobile dev, networking with amazing companies and fellow Horizonites, and bonding in a community of amazing students with like-minded interests (who have also gone on to intern at the best tech companies because of Horizons) gave me a solid leg-up in my tech career.

Because of the amazing things you build (replicas of Facebook, Yelp, Trello, are just among a few of the projects you build each week) and the extremely talented and brilliant instructors, you'll come out of this school feeling like you learned more in 2 months than you've...

As a young designer, I started my summer at Horizons with very little coding background. But I was able to quickly familiarize mysefl with and even master all the budding framework and technologies. I wouldn't be able to learn these as quickly and as efficiently at my college. Now at Uber, I realized its highly valuable to be able to understand and speak the same langague as the engineers while designing. Super grateful that Horizons made me a better designer!

If you have the slightest thought of enrolling in a coding bootcamp, do yourself a favor and go for it! The instructors were incredible, the material was engaging, and the opportunities which opened up to me were invaluable. I went from having nothing to show employers on my resume, to having three solid programming projects which I was able to talk about when approaching employers. Aside from the technical experience, there is a strong sense of community formed with your fellow classmates. We had BBQ's, went on trips, out to dinner, and Horizons scheduled class trips for us on weekends! (Bubble soccer!).

At the university, you can gain a lot of knowledge but not much practice.
As a student of computer science and neuroscience, I learn a lot of theory but don't gain any practical experience.

The summer at Horizons allowed me to get relevant experience, meet top students in the country and make a lot of enthusiastic friends. Horizons is much more than just learning how to code. It allows you to build the right connection for the entrepreneurship world.

I would highly recommend anyone interested in tech field or product management to take a summer at Horizons.

Before Horizons, I was a typical business student with an interest in tech. Horizons transformed me into a leader with a strong grasp on technology and a powerful network. There are 3 key advantages I gained from Horizons: Skills, Network and Mindset.

Skills:
At Horizons I developed a strong competency in web development with JavaScript, and walked away with the ability to code my ideas into reality. I went from never writing a line of code in my life to developing software solutions for start-ups and winning Asia’s biggest student led hackathon HackUST.

Network:
Beyond the valuable skills I learned, I developed an extraordinary network of friends and mentors. In addition to meeting peers who now work for the top companies in the world, I met lifelong friends who provide me with...

As a young CS undergraduate, I was eager to explore the innovative tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was aware of the various programming bootcamps that were popping up throughout the country, but Horizons was recommended to me by my advisor. Looking back, the program was quite intense at times as it covered many different concepts and technologies. Yet, it never felt too stressful to handle and the instructors made sure to only cover tools and frameworks relevant to the current job market. The skills I acquired at Horizons didn’t just create opportunities for my career path, but they also proved helpful in understanding the CS concepts that were taught in my undergraduate studies. Upon attending Horizons, the breadth and depth in knowledge of software engineering practi...

I went to Horizons last summer and had a pretty transformative experience. I had very little prior coding experience so I learned a lot very quickly. The sheer amount of information could be sort of disorienting at times but it's clear to me that it was incredible growth experience both personally (coming from the Midwest and living fulltime in SF was very different and sometimes difficult) and academically (I learned a lot, I know I can learn anything I want in software or data science and I didn't have that confidence before the experience). They were clear about the curriculum from the frontend and they followed it well. I felt like it was very comprehensive and it covered a lot of what a software developer could need. However, I wish there was a bit more emphasis on pure comp sci--w...

As a business student and product design enthusiast, Horizons helped me complete my knowledge of software products and the tech space. The education, community, and opportunities propelled me in my work at my university as a leader of a software organization as well as my current work as a product manager at Atlassian. I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in tech, pursuing careers in tech, or seeking a stimulating and motivating summer to do Horizons.

As a business student and product design enthusiast, Horizons helped me complete my knowledge of software products and the tech space. The education, community, and opportunities propelled me in my work at my university as a leader of a software organization as well as my current work as a product manager at Atlassian. I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in tech, pursuing careers in tech, or seeking a stimulating and motivating summer to do Horizons.

When the engineering department at SMU sent out an email to its students about the Horizons’ fellowship opportunity, I was intrigued. For me, learning how to develop mobile apps has been a lifelong dream of mine. However, two years into college and I still had no clue how to do it. I knew that I wanted more and perhaps I could find it at Horizons. After establishing that they would accept a 15 year old college student (if I could pass the test, etc), I decided to go for it! I am very pleased that I did. Horizons has truly been one of the best experiences of my life! Not only were my CS abilities elevated but they were raised to an entirely different level. They taught us how to find the resources needed in order build whatever we desired. Although the knowledge we gained was superior ...

Coming into Horizons, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t a CS major in college, but I took a couple CS classes and did plenty of coding in some projects on the side and in different research labs, so I had the basic fundamentals down (data structures and databases mainly). Horizons completely surpassed all of my expectations. I learned a completely new stack (NodeJS + React/Redux) that was geared towards industry and completely different than the things I learned in an academic setting. Everything they taught was new, and I learned a ton over the summer. All the instructors and TAs were super great and were ready to help whenever I needed them. It was pretty straightforward coming out of Horizons to find a job in the tech industry but more importantly, Horizons really gave me the co...

Go to Horizons.

I came into the summer '17 cohort with zero programming or tech-related background. It was grueling! It was hard! It was frustrating! But going through such an intense three months gave me great personal and career development.

One thing that's special about doing a bootcamp is that as a business student, you can come out the program knowing the same, if not more, about software development as a CS major does. The breadth of material taught me to think about things as specific as a complex sorting algorithm to as broad as architecting a full stack application. And the best part is that the technical skills I learned were just a starting point. I can't believe how far I've come in the year since I did Horizons in my personal and work projects.

Besides the obviou...

Participating in the summer Horizons program was an incredibly rewarding experience, both in terms of personal growth and career development. First and foremost, the instructors provide a challenging and practical education in software development that I believe is a great supplement to or replacement for a traditional university CS degree. Most if not all of the other reviews will express the same sentiment. Additionally (and more meaningfully to my career path), Horizons gives students a broader perspective on technology, entrepreneurship, and the startup ecosystem. The impressive lineup of speakers offers inspiration and advice to those students looking to enter the tech industry. While I chose not to pursue a job in software development, I was motivated by my experience to consider ...

I took the summer course offered in the summer of 2017, in lieu of exploring internship opportunities. It was a risk from my perspective, as I was a rising senior in college - but it was well worth it. Not only did I have an incredible time meeting so many new people, but I got a chance to delve into development, an area that I had no experience in. Taking my background with the more creative, this program gave me the technical skills to bring my designs to reality. 

Specifically to the curriculum itself, it is pretty comprehensive and covers a wide spectrum of topics. What is great about the structure is that, in many ways, it allows for anyone to maintain their own comfortable pace and the support is there to help if you do fall behind. The instructors were helpful and there to ass...

I attended Horizons as a 2017 Summer Fellow (tuition and housing covered). I had a very positive experience--here's some things that stood out.

Relentless focus on practicality: Horizon's syllabus is packed with topics directly relevant for developing modern mobile and web apps. Little to no time is spent on more theoretical CS concepts. The result is that you can start making tangible projects really quickly. For example, many of our early projects were implementing imitations of popular web apps: Twitter clone for learning HTML/CSS, using Twilio for learning API calls, mock Facebook chatroom for implementing servers, to name a few.

Choice of tracks: In my year, Horizons offered 3 tracks in the latter half of the program, allowing us to curtail the program towards our specific go...

I did the 12-week summer session at Horizons because I wanted to get a job in tech. In college I studied Economics and Math, so I wanted to get some coding skills to be more competitive in the job search.

Here's Horizons in a nutshell:

smart people + lots of work + great resources = extraordinary amount of learning

Smart people: Your classmates will be brilliant students from around the world who are committed to learning how to build things. You'll also be able to meet potential cofounders, which is vital to launching a successful startup or even working on fun projects.

Lots of work: Expect to work a lot at Horizons, especially if you don't have a background in coding which was the case for me. However, there is no busy work. All the work you do is valuable. What you p...

I did the Horizons One program. The first part of the program is identical to the Horizons semester program. The next part of the program, while less structured, taught me a lot about how to learn new skills. I came into the program with no prior experience in coding. By the end of 9 months of learning to code full-time I'm thoroughly satisfied with my new skillset. While I still feel like I have a lot to learn, I am now working at a partner start-up as a main contributor where I receive mentorship and space to continue learning the necessary skills.