Turing School of Software and Design

I write this one year to the day that my Turing journey began, and four months into my first job out of the program. I remember showing up, and being intimidated and nervous about the decision I had made to come to this school in the hopes of launching a career change into tech. Could I make it through this? And if so, was I even going to get a job?

The next seven months were some of the hardest of my life. Consistently spending upwards of 80 hours , 7 days a week in a windowless basement in downtown Denver, putting aside time spent with friends and family takes its toll. However, I can say without any shred of doubt that all that time and effort was 100% worth it. Every. Single. Penny.

The staff at Turing is phenomenal. They know how far they can push you, and they absolutely w...

I get that this is a big decision. I had to decide if I was going to cash out my 401k on top of borrowing a big chunk of money to do this. Luckily, it was the right decision. After going through the Turing School of Software & Design's Front End program I was able to land a job I enjoy making $73k a year. That's a big jump from the $38k I was making as a retail store manager. We're about 8 weeks out from graduation and everyone else in my cohort who has accepted positions are making as much or more than I am. So, is this a path to a better life? Yes. But you have to enjoy it because it's an incredibly intense program. I'd say I spent 60-70 hours a week working hard in Turing (between class time and project work), so it's definitely going to demand your full attention. And it's not just ...

What sets Turing apart from other bootcamps is the amazing community. Most coding bootcamps can teach essentially the same coding skills but you can't get the quality of community that you get at Turing at other bootcamps. The support I received from the staff, alumni, and other students contributed to my success throughout the program and ultimately helped me get a job before graduation.

Staff: Even before my first day of class, I could tell the staff cared deeply about students' success. Throughout the rigorous curriculum, they were supportive and always available to help. They all go above and beyond to make students feel confident and make sure students know what they need to know to be successful engineers (not just get through the program - they want you to be successful as an ...

I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated my experience at Turing. I've had a lot of formal education over the years (clinical doctorate in physical therapy and a combined BS/MS in biomedical engineering), and I also worked a few years as a middle school teacher. From being involved in many areas of education as both a student and teacher, I was very impressed with how Turing's curriculum (technical and professional development) is designed. You can see they make a strong effort to use best teaching practices and to emphasize key skills in software development throughout the program. It's also quite impressive how quickly the curriculum adapts. Every module, students give feedback to the instructors and often the next module changes are already in place. Turing definitely teaches and follows...

Turing gave me what I needed to start a new career. Before I attended Turing, I was trying to teaching myself web development online when I came home from my teaching job. Eventually I reached a point where I knew I needed to take a leap and commit to a rigorous program in order to gain the skills necessary to get a software engineering job.

I learned more during my seven months at Turing than I ever thought possible. I also really appreciated the community of Turing -- my cohort was amazing and cohesive, and the staff are all invested in helping students succeed.

Turing was definitely stressful, but for me it was 100% worth it. I started my first dev job three weeks after graduation, and am so happy to be working in this industry.

My Turing experience was incredible. The curriculum, and instructors were the absolute best. By far the most challenging thing I'd done academically done, but well worth it. My friend recommend Turing to me and I'm glad he did.

TL;DR - This isn’t a place to get good grades and earn a certificate; this is a place to get job ready. Along the way, you’ll be part of an awesome community and meet some amazing people.

Before going on, I’ll preface my more detailed review with a reminder that this comes from own experiences which, of course, can/will be different from others’.

Regarding the technical curriculum, I think it was generally well structured in that there’s an initial focus on the basics of programming before they dive into more practical and applicable skills. Throughout the program, there’s a common theme that I think worked very well - that is, they often position students to explore a topic on their own before formally teaching it. As difficult as this was, this did two things for me. The first i...

Though the hardest thing I have ever done, I graduated Turing with a job using the React/Redux skills I had learned at Turing. Though I still have much to learn, I feel prepared for my new career as a dev. You will cry, but it will be worth it.

I am who I am today, in large part, because of my experiences at Turing. Coming into the program, I had a very slight "edge", in that I had taught myself some code over the period of about 6 months. By the end of the program, though, that edge was non-existent. We were all equals.

I have never so consistently felt that I was surrounded by individuals (staff and students alike) that wanted nothing more than to better themselves and those around them. It's absolutely infectious and I can guarantee that, if nothing else, Turing will inspire you to transcend your former self and you will try to become something more. As many of the other reviews have stated, you can expect 70-80 hour work weeks here. There will be incredibly intense struggles, moments where you feel like you can't.

B...

Attending Turing was hands-down the most challenging and rewarding educational experience of my life (previously I completed an undergraduate degree and master's degree from a large state university). I chose this program for its strong curriculum, educational integrity, and non-profit mission, and I am so happy I learned to code at Turing. With any immersive/intensive experience, you must go into it expecting to do nothing else while in the program; you cannot work outside of the program, you must line up help with childcare and household duties, you should not plan any trips or weekend getaways over the seven-month period, and you must put your entire focus on your learning (and in many cases relearning how to learn in a context like Turing). I basically told my friends and family, "s...

I absolutely loved my time at Turing and think my decision to enroll was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I came from an organization that was very mission-driven around social justice and really appreciated and still value the schools focus on it's mission to encourage and develop more diversity and inclusion in the tech space. The fact that Turing is a non-profit was also very important to me and I think the school and faculty culture they've built clearly demonstrates the value it brings to the school - all of the money they make goes to making the school a better place to learn and their staff happy and fulfilled with the work they do.

I came out of Turing's FE program with a very strong understanding of JavaScript, React, and Node. I also felt like I got the support I...

I attended Turing after doing research on options of learning to code. I narrowed my choices down to 2 online schools and 2 in-person schools based in Denver. I originally had the opinion that I wouldn't be able to quit my full-time job in order to learn to code. And hindsight is the best because I don't know how I couldn't have quit my job to attend Turing. I won't say I loved every minute of it and Turing is a constantly shifting blob of curriculum and community, but it's for the best experience. When you sign up, you're immediately part of the experiment that changes with results. It may sound bad, but Turing can stop and pivot (you'll get this pun if you attend the BE program, maybe) when something isn't working or double down on it if it is.

The Turing community is hands down th...

This review was originally posted on coursereport.com:

I think the investment of time and money into Turing is worthwhile, but I was fortunate enough to complete the program without repeating any modules. This isn't true for a huge portion of students. I think that anyone applying to Turing needs to know that, from what I've seen, it is one of the more difficult coding schools out there. They'll throw students in the deep end and let them drown for a while, but help is there when anyone asks. Students struggle together and create a support network for each other. Every single week has at least 50-60 hours of commitment between project work time and class time. It can be more than that during the final week or two of each module. When I say it's hard, I mean that in order to succeed, ...

Turing is an incredibly welcoming and inclusive environment to learn, filled with highly qualified and personable instructors. Not only will you learn the technical skills, but also how to better communicate and collaborate with other developers. This is a vital piece to learn and practice that will help you throughout all of your career.

Turing's structure is set up well. While it might seem scary to think about "failing" a module and having to repeat, the structure is only there to help you ultimately become a SUCCESSFUL developer. Turing is built on the backbone of educational best practices. Their goal is NOT to churn you through the program, take your money and run. Instead, their goal is to set you up for success and ensure you have a deep enough understanding of the current...

Pros
You will relearn how to learn
You will learn how to code
You will learn how to test your code
You will learn the latest frameworks
You will learn soft skills

Cons
You will burnout at least once (it's intentional)
You will live in a basement for at least 7 months
You will work 60-70 hours a week for those 7 months
If you fail a final you will repeat a 6 week module and incur additional tuition costs
If you fail too many modules you will get kicked out
Slower learners and parents tend to repeat or get kicked out
There are no real world projects for real clients
There is little to no job support

My experience at Turing was amazing. The curriculum, the instructors, and the other students were all top notch. It was good enough that I'm not sure how the experience could have been better for me. There are certainly some things that weren't perfect, but Turing is so responsive and adaptable that I either saw them fixed in my time there, or I'm certain they have been fixed now.

I did have some personality conflicts with one staff, but it never got in the way of learning, and that's just how life works. It wasn't even serious enough for me to think of raising a complaint. Other than that, I would count a lot of the staff there as friends.

Overall it was an excellent experience.

However, Turing is not easy, and you will not just walk into a high-paying job. Turing is for peop...

The Turing School of Software and Design is hands down the best boot camp for people changing careers into coding. The three main reasons I believe Turing is the best choice are 1) It's a non-profit! 2)They teach you to understand the logic behind the code. 3) They teach more than just code. To touch on the first point, Turing is a non-profit, which means all the money they receive from students and donations goes back into the teachers, the facilities and the curriculum. Which means they are consistently looking to improve Turing. Other boot camps are more worried about if your check clears or not, and everything else is up to you to learn on your own. At Turing, if you just aren't understanding the material or decided you made a mistake going into software development, Turing will ref...

Turing was one of the most challenging yet rewarding things I have ever done. However, if you're looking to make a career change, I think this could be a good option for you! You will need to go in knowing that you won't have a lot of spare time for 7 months, and that you will need to put in a lot of work and ask for help even when you don't want to. Not only will you gain valuable tech skills, but you will also get stronger at working with people who are different than you, how to collaborate efficiently and how to be a better team member. Not every paired-partner project goes well, and navigating those waters while being put under a lot of pressure to complete difficult projects can be tough. Both programs are difficult. If you ever hear that the frontend program is "easy" then you a...

I recently finished Turing's front end program. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, and that is not an exaggeration. It's a 7 month program, for me it ended up being 9 months (I had to repeat a module) which really isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, but it felt like an eternity. They call it a coding "boot camp" for a reason. Turing will test the limits of your physical, mental and emotional energy and push them to their breaking points and beyond. You will literally cry at points. You will be unbelievably stressed and frustrated. But you will learn more than you could ever imagine. I would like to share some extremely important information and things I wish I had known before taking the plunge and things to consider if you're thinking about enrolling....

Pros: incredible staff. intentional curriculum tailored to what is needed to be a successful entry level dev. Held to high standards that ensure you graduate knowing what you need to. Lots of support. Strong alum network, especially in Denver.

Cons: closest I can come to a con is that it takes up most of your time for 7 months which can be difficult.

If you decide to attend Turing and do the things you're told to by instructors and job staff you will graduate and get a great job.