RED Academy

I enrolled in RED Academy right after completing my bachelor's degree at UBC. I wanted to get the full digital marketing and tech startup experience and that's what I got, as I was part of the first full-time cohort. The course material gave me a comprehensive understanding of the landscape with a strong foundational knowledge of how to further increase my skills. I got my first job offer in the last week of the program at a leading digital marketing agency.

I went to RED Academy in Toronto during the winter cohort 2017 (January to March). During my stay, it was a mix of positive and negative experiences, but the latter one would describe it best.

I went to RED since it's the only bootcamp in Toronto offering full-time UI Design courses, the other ones only offered part-time. Since I wanted to fully immerse myself and make a quick career change (doing FT vs PT), I enrolled with RED. When I was trying to sign up, they told me about their student ratio of 1:7 and how they already had 6 students signed up for UI Design, so they rushed me to quickly pay and enroll into the course before somebody else did. As I believed them to speak the truth, I became anxious and desperate so I enrolled at RED right away. Turns out, on my first day of class...

I just finished RED Academy's UX Designer Professional Program at the end of June. Some of my highlights include:

* Working with like-minded individuals in a community-driven environment

* Working with community partners and building my portfolio with valuable projects

* Visiting Hootsuite and getting tips from a UX Designer there

If you want to learn more about my background, why I did a bootcamp at RED, the program in general and my recommendations to future students please make sure to read my post here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/red-academy-full-time-ux-design-review-irem-ozekes-irem-ozekes

I recently graduated from the UI & Communications Fulltime program at RED in Vancouver, BC. Throughout my time at RED I was able to not only hone my skills as a designer but further grow my passions and engage with them through the community partner projects.

First and foremost, the word boot camp does not do RED Academy justice. RED has established a unique learning environment in which you can grow your skills, no matter your previous experience or education. I, myself, had previous design experience through freelancing but no formal design education and didn't think I would be cut out for formal design education after just finishing a 5-year degree in social sciences. However RED offered an entirely different environment in which learning was done through thoughtful, hands-on less...

RED Academy was an amazing experience overall, I really enjoyed the sense of community and the support I received from my peers and instructors. It was refreshing to be amongst a group of like-minded individuals in such a fast paced learning environment, I liked how the instructors fostered a good sense of team work and the activities were creative. I learned a lot from the lessons because I think if I was in a self-learning environment or taking an online course I wouldn't have been as accountable and been proactive. The instructors are also very open minded and approachable and I never had trouble talking to them about what was on my mind or any troubles I was having during the course. The lessons that were taught were also in an effective manner- they started out teaching the harder ...

I’m a graduate from the Web Developer Professional course in Toronto (2017) and RED Academy hasn’t been helpful. I was sold on going to RED based on Personal Professional Development (PPD) seminars, the length of the program, and their partnership with a recruitment agency (Creative Niche).

Some PPD seminars consisted of making a rap song or popsicle buildings which wasn’t helpful. When we raised our concerns to the person in charge of the seminars, that person said the seminars “weren’t going to help us anyways”. No one could understand why PPD was part of the program then.

The program was longer than other bootcamps by a couple of weeks and I figured I would learn more from the instructors. RED marketed a 1:7 instructor-student ratio but it was effectively 1:11. The instructors ...

The Digital Marketing Program is great! Of course, as it is very intense (3 months, Mon-Fri 9 to 5), it is easy to get stressed because it is a fast paced environment! Projects, lessons and other deliverables and internal (amusing competitions) are included in the program to make it more lively and interesting! Instructors are great, very resourceful and always willing to help!

I went through different phases: At first I thought I was going to drop everyday, because there is a lot of content to learn and understand (first 5-6 weeks). Once we get our feet wet with the first client, everything that we learned seemed to make more sense. This real client opportunity is great as we face problems we could face in real life! Meeting their requirements and needs and having them appreciate y...

RED is completely unprofessional, disorganized, unaccountable, and breaks virtually all their promises.

(I gradated from the full-time professional UX program from RED Academy in the Winter 2017 cohort in Toronto) 
 
Where to start...let's start with the beginning on a positive note (because, *spoiler:* it goes south pretty quickly after that...). 

This was a huge investment for me, and so I researched as much as I could into this school (which was challenging because at the time, the Toronto location was finishing up its first cohort, but still managed to talk to who I could/reviews of the Vancouver campus). I talked to the Admissions team and they were very quick and clear in taking the time to answer my questions and concerns. I was pretty impressed with this and felt like it...

I came into RED looking to expand my skillset into the UX world. I took the UX full-time program and I came out of it learning so much in such a short time. The teachers were extremely helpful and guided me through the curriculum in a pace that was easy to follow and understand.

We hit the ground running learning everything from user research to creating wireframes and prototypes. What I love most about the course is that our teachers helped apply our lessons into the real world and really engaged with us to ensure that every nugget of knowledge was embedded.

RED also preps you for real life situations when it comes to working freelance or working with an agency. RED takes into account the difficulties and hurdles that come up when finding work and give you the tools to help you...

If you want to kick-start your career in UX design then the full-time course at RED is great! It's definitely more of a bootcamp style course where you'll be inundated with work, classes and projects...if you go in with the mindset of willingly giving everything you have then you will get so much more out of the course. It's awesome that you get to work with real clients, you get to apply the skills you learn in class immediately on projects and make great friends while doing it!

The instructors are really knowledgable and always happy to help or provide guidance when you need it...just remember to ask!

I just recently completed the 10-week part time digital marketing foundations course on Saturdays with Mike & Tonner. Great class, great educators and overall great support from my classmates. Well worth the $2500 invested.

RED Academy’s Toronto campus is a circus. The administration of the school is very disorganized and the turmoil is compounded by high staff turnover. With the benefit of hindsight, I now know that I made a huge mistake when I entrusted RED with my future.

I was told many things during the admissions/sales process that did not match up with what we actually experienced in the program.

My cohort was RED’s third full-time web development cohort in Toronto, and with 13 students it was the largest class in that discipline to date. Of the previous two cohorts, a grand total of three students graduated. I was led to believe that the Toronto school would leverage RED’s much longer track record in Vancouver, but from what I experienced and observed, the Toronto campus might as well be its...

I took the web dev full time course and thoroughly loved it! Coming from a no tech-related experience background, I was given a lot of tools and opportunities to get into the tech scene. The overall support from not just the instructors, but all of the staffs really created a family-like environment. Despite the intensity of the course, we as students can still look forward to going to class in the morning. Keep it up, RED! You are doing great! :)

I had a really positive experience at RED. It was great to dive deep into Digital Marketing for such an intensive period, and I learned a lot. The instructors are awesome and super helpful.

Here's the deal: 12 weeks of how to become a competent digital marketing specialist at either entry or intermediate level.

For me, I found:

-The course well planned out

-The course material is streamlined to give only relevant information that is current

-The instructors are young and have recent experience to offer

-Most, if not, all elements of digital marketing are covered, particularly SEO and SEM best practices.

But there's a catch; it needed my time and full attention (the whole 12 weeks of it!). That was due to the amount of information I needed to learn since marketing was not my background.

My only gripe would be not having funds set aside to implement AdWords exercises. This, in my eyes, can only be learnt by implementing and learning from your mistakes....

A 12 week intense program but worth every penny! It's definitely not for everyone, but as long as you're here and willing to commit, the things you take away from the programs are priceless.

Having first hand experience of other programs at other local tech schools (BrainS------), I was blown away by the commitment these instructors and staff are willing to give to their students. RED instructors actually create their own curriculum so I felt assured that they teach what they preach. You also get to go on field trips to visit and chat with other industry professionals at their workplaces, and it was reassuring to see that what we learn and practice in class is something that these professionals utilize on a daily basis.

The environment they've created at RED is very similar to ...

My experience at RED was one of camaraderie, relief, intensity, stress, anxiety, and sheer joy. RED's culture is perhaps the biggest takeaway, as the people you meet along the way are definitely those that you want to be spending those long hours with. The staff are helpful, though a little overwhelmed at times. The course does feel a little rushed as it is compact, and as mentioned very INTENSE. Working with real clients is a real bonus, as you get to understand their wants and needs and you more often than not feel like you're working rather than attending school.

Pros: Great people
Friendly atmosphere and culture
Useful knowledge of sketch
Networking opportunities
Real world experience
Creative and interesting projects
...

I took the full-time digital marketing course at RED and it was amazing. While it was the hardest workload I've ever done when it comes to school, it delivered exactly what the program promised. It would have taken me a few years to get the foundations and extensive knowledge that RED gave me if I hadn't taken this program. Please be warned that this course is not for the faint of heart, but if you're passionate about the subject matter they offer... then sucking it up and pushing through is well worth it!