The Tech Academy

As an artist I felt like a technical life was not for me. I know now the courses offered in this program are very thorough, which in turn convinces me anyone can be a software engineer they just need to supply the motivation.

Overall good experience. The team at Tech Academy is very dedicated to being the best.

I am a recent graduate of The Tech Academy in Portland and I have a very positive review of the program and the staff.

The flexible, self paced nature of the program was perfect for working around my busy schedule; allowing me to quickly progress my skills while remaining balanced in my life.

The course work is challenging and constantly evolving to stay up to date with this fast paced industry. I now have a solid foundation in .NET MVC framework, C#, Python, SQL, JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. The course also includes an introduction to computer basics, an overview of the software development industry, version control, and project management, and concludes with a two week live project in a team.

The staff and instructors have all been amazing. Everyone is friendly, professional, a...

The pros of the Tech Academy are that you get a very grounded, fleshed out understanding of how all aspects of the fields of software programming, hardware, web technologies and development work together. You get the fundamentals that you need to excel in your chosen path, without which I really don't know how someone could make it.

The cons of the program are that they have no machines that upload all information into your head in five minutes, you have to actually study.

I attended the Tech Academy because I wanted to make a career change. I chose the Tech Academy because I needed to keep working at my old job while studying for a new one. Having the option to go part-time after work and on weekends was a huge plus for me! There were instructors available when I needed them and I could move through the curriculum at my own pace. The lessons ran the gamut from computer basics to HTML/CSS and included programming languages like Python and C# - definitely a wide-range of topics! This made the Tech Academy a great value (and great experience) in my book.

My experience at The Tech Academy has been very positive. My favorite part about it is that it is self-paced, so you learn at your own speed. TTA provided a great path for learning software development. I started from scratch, before coming here I was proficient at using computers but knew nothing about how to program. The curriculum does a good job of taking you from the very basics of computer knowledge and building your knowledge brick-by-brick until you are comfortable enough to contribute to actual projects.

The Live Project portion was good for giving you exposure to an real project that you can later talk about in interviews. The instructors and staff do a good job of chicking in periodically to see how you are doing.

I think the biggest take away from any bootc...

Overall, my experience with The Tech Academy was very positive. Even though I was studying remotely, they did an excellent job at providing a cohesive course of study that built on itself, got incrementally more difficult, and gave me the skills required to land my first job as a junior developer.

One of my main reasons for choosing The Tech Academy was that they have flexible start dates and allow you to work on your own schedule, they indeed were very understanding when life got in the way of my studies.

While they provide you with a multitude of resources and a logical order to complete things in, they do not hold your hand all the way through the process. They intentionally force you to practice your google fu and try to figure things out on your own, but the instructors are f...

Pros:

The program gives you a good solid understanding of computer science fundamentals.

You learn some of the most popular programming languages and complete small projects using said programming languages.

The instructors are very nice and helpful.

The job placement head (Aaron) gave me lots and lots of helpful advice for finding a job and was worth half the price alone.

There are a lot of people in the program so it's easy to ask fellow students questions and make friends.

There are numerous meetings and talks held relating to a diverse array of computer-related subjects.

Cons:

I feel this course is designed for absolute beginners. I had prior experience in JavaScript, HTML, CSS and SQL. In the case of SQL I didn't learn much from the course, and from th...

Pros:

Excellent place to start for someone with no technical background. They will teach you how to learn the basics of a language, as well as a lot of the vocabulary you need to know.

Breadth of knowledge--you'll learn 7 different languages.

Job-placement programs is top-notch, and will help you with your resume, cover letters, and interview skills. +1 star for this and the following.

Very friendly and helpful instructors. Seriously!

Can study remotely, at your own pace. Loaner laptop included!

Cons:

Lack of depth in any language--you learn 7 different languages so there's no time to go deeply into any one. You'll learn what an API is but never implement one, and learn what TDD is but never how to do it. Most employers (and the blogs that Tech Academy encoura...

The Tech Academy was just the right bootcamp I was looking for. It allowed me to start as a remote student, and then study locally when I moved to Portland. It also taught me how to be a self-motivated learner and enabled me to develop problem-solving skills. In addition to teaching coding knowledge, the school also teaches students how to look for answers and approach problems on their own. Instructors are always available and willing to help, but they also guide students and teach them how to solve problems, rather than giving out answers right away.

The curriculum was very well-rounded and I was able to explore the different areas of fullstack development, from HTML and CSS, to C# and Python. This was someone with very little programming background like me, this was extremely help...

The Tech Academy has enabled me to learn programming languages and using those languages to build software programs.
For example, I was able to learn Python competently, and with the help of the instructors, build a program to select files and transfer them if they have been modified in the past 24 hours.

The curriculum has provided a spring-board for me to learn more about software developing. I wanted to learn much more about Javascript, Python, and C# during the course, but at least I know where the resources are to do so.
The Live Project has benefited me greatly in that it simulated a real-life working environment for developing software in a team.

The Live Project further helped me learn how to work in an Agile environment using the Scrum process. I have learned greatly ab...

My experience with the Tech Academy was great! Before starting the Tech Academy I had a BA in Biomedical Sciences and came to the conclusion that becoming a health care provider wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I then began looking into other fields that interested me and found that the tech field really sparked an interest. I was contemplating whether to start studying on my own or do a “boot camp” style course. I decided I wanted to take an online course, not only to keep me motivated, but also to learn programming in a way that followed a cohesive progression, and yet still have the ability to reach out to instructors for questions and advice. The instructors were extremely helpful, and most importantly, they made an effort to challenge my thinking throughout the different c...

What have you gained from doing The Tech Academy?
I gained confidence in different forms. I gained the knowledge of programming. I gained the knowledge of how to research and find solutions to issues. I gained the confidence to know I will find out how to overcome an error/issue as long as I keep searching and don't give up! I have gained a new Junior Software Developer position at a company that shares similar values and goals. I gained some new friends that have helped me reach the goal of learning how to code and becoming a developer.

How has what you learned at The Tech Academy helped you with your transition?
The Tech Academy help me to dive in head first in to coding by making me find the answers/solutions myself instead of just giving me the answers/solutions. It help...

The Tech Academy has been the right program for me for several reasons. First, I gravitated towards the Tech Academy because I've always enjoyed working at my own pace and being able to teach myself through interactive learning. The curriculum is set up to allow you to learn concepts as whatever pace is needed in that particular area. For certain lessons, I can go quickly if I feel I already have a grasp on the concepts, and in other areas that are new to me I can slow down and make sure I'm truly processing the content without feeling rushed to move forward. I think the Tech Academy is great for people who are self-motivated and appreciate being given autonomy in the learning process. In addition to that, there are very help instructors who can answer questions when needed, and a g...

The Tech Academy (TTA) is an excellent remote study Bootcamp. TTA has exceeded my expectations and I have learned so much.

The boot camp is focused on creating junior developers for the web and web applications industry which is a
booming field. This is a "full stack" BootCamp which basically means the top programming languages for web development.
If you watch all their recruitment videos then the course is pretty much what they say it is. I chose a "Full Stack" boot camp
because I wanted a chance to get out of the semiconductor industry. Regardless of the focus on "Full Stack" you are still learning to
code and you can leverage that knowledge as you wish.

Honest Feedback:

- TTA is not very expensive compared to other programs when I was researching. I feel I got a grea...

I discovered WordPress and received a good overview of how it works. I also gained some knowledge in what current website designs look like, which is valuable even though it is likely in a state of flux.

If so many large and well known websites were made using WordPress, then I would very likely be working with it in the future, if not directly through WordPress then with the coding that WordPress creates. Additionally it creates a basic idea of what sort of layout design might be needed to make an idea work. (oh well wordpress does it like this, I know how to make that happen with the code, I can do that or something similar.)

The Tech Academy was the only bootcamp in Portland that offered a flexible schedule, allowing you to work part time and take the course as well. The instructors are very helpful and promote self-discipline whilst going through the course. Although some of the courses could be re-worked, they are constantly trying to improve the courses they offer. The job search portion was intense, but managed to find a job in Portland under two months in December (slowest hiring season of the year)! Wether in the course or job searching, the team is very supportive, and will do their best to get you what you want, provided you show effort and motivation.

I'm still fairly new to the Tech Academy program, but so far I'm loving it. I am historically bad at self-teaching, and despite the guided atmosphere fostered by TA, I was still apprehensive when I began because of the high focus on independent study. My apprehensions have all washed away, though. The coursework is set up in an intuitive way that has actually helped me believe I *can* self-teach (sweet!). TA provides me with the resources I need to independently study their materials, but get help the moment I need it from an instructor. This integrated approach to learning is new to me, but has been surprisingly effective. I find that I'm digesting information easily and have already found a few instances where I've put it to work for me in my personal life.

The Tech Academy also h...

When I was looking for a coding boot camp, I was searching for one that would provide me with three main things:

- Experience using a range of languages and tools that are commonly used in software development.
- Experience writing code for a project to which I made contributions as part of a team.
- Assistance in finding full-time employment after I had completed the program.

The Tech Academy has provided me with all of these things and more. My only criticism of The Tech Academy is of their lack curriculum focusing on algorithms. There are many exercises designed to teach students their offered programming languages, but I had to search on my own for language-agnostic challenges such as implementing specific types of sorting algorithms. For me, even a nudge towards a site like...

I am currently a student at the Tech Academy and have had an excellent experience. I took a few computer science courses at a local university and they weren't really for me. However, I knew I wanted to learn software development, so I decided to look at some bootcamps. The Tech Academy was the most highly regarded bootcamp I found so I took a tour, met some great people, and I knew this was a great program. I am the sort of person who benefits from being in an atmosphere where I am surrounded by a bunch of great people who submerge themselves in the material and have a passion for it. The staff and all the students I have engaged with have been knowledgeable and very supportive. Not only have I learned a lot of valueable skills, but I've made some great friends along the way. I already...