UT Austin Boot Camps

this course had a great curriculum that could benefit new coders but also experienced ones. You cover a wide range of topics but the biggest benefit is graduating from the course with a strong understanding of the underlying concepts of web development.... Read More With strong base knowledge you are prepared to expand your skills is all aspects of web development. And lastly, the instructors are very personable and willing to help at all times.

Female, late 20s, UT at Austin Coding Bootcamp, 6-month part-time program.
Searched for jobs for three months. Over 180 applications filled (not counting those "one-click-apply" job offers on linkedIn...)
Found a 3- month internship (worked for free),... Read More and worked as a part-time TA for the UTCB before working full-time.
Received three official offers, and accepted a job exactly five weeks after graduating.

Pros:
Great instructional staff. Shoutout to Josh Madewell, Stephanie Denny, Jedd Fenner.
Super thorough curriculum with a dash of comp-sci builds a fantastic foundation to ground trainings you learn on the job later.
Got the great University of Texas at Austin name on your resume.
One-on-one time with staff in person, online-video, and via slack.
Weekly webinars gave one hour trainings on new technologies as well as interviewed devs, and previous students which boosted moral.

Cons:
UTCB isn't totally run by UT, its run by Trilogy under UT's consent of usage rights.
I experienced high changes in TA staff, and employment specialist staff.
Had to go out of my way and ask for career advice from TAs and teachers to receive support that the employment counselor could not give. Plus, instructors where the dev engineers so they actually had inside knowledge when the counselors weren't really devs.

All-in-all:
Two thumbs up if you are a go-getting person that is really interested in learning or very motivated to change your career.
This program provides you with all the necessary on-the-job trainings, access to the latest technologies, a thorough curriculum, and great instructional staff. If you are the type that would put your tuition to use like i was (stay late after class, coming in early, making TAs and teachers to work with you one-on-one, and a networking-monster) then this program can become much more then just a certificate but become a life-long network of friends, mentors, and lead to new perspectives. The world is your oyster, and so is this program. If you can show up, shut up and code, then great. If not...then get your head straight first and come prepared to learn and network. Everyone I came into contact experienced hitting a wall, or having a melt-down (as did i...) but once you get over that, things start getting easier...so if you hang in there you WILL do phenomenal. Good luck to you and your career endeavors.

it is extremely difficult to articulate how bad this bootcamp actually is. it is not for a lack of words or vocabulary, but it is difficult to get past the feelings of being cheated, scammed and otherwise disappointed. i originally wrote an extremely... Read More long review but i have now condensed it to a critique of the 3 promises i was given before joining:

1. instruction & guidance : the main thing i wanted/expected from this course was instruction in what is modern web development and its best practices. what i got was a clueless instructor who clearly does not know what modern web development is. the curriculum is developed (and the course is run) by a company named trilogy. it really has nothing to do with UT Austin but rather is sold on UT Austin's reputation. do not be deceived. the instructor basically read powerpoint slides to us in class and made it excruciatingly clear that he did not prepare before class one bit. what made things worse is that the instructor fumbled through every single lecture and could not answer questions intelligently or accurately. it was frustrating and infuriating to say the least. i was hoping for someone to tell me more than what i could find on youtube or blogposts. what i got instead was a joke of an instructor reading slides… not teaching. want some examples of the poor instruction and guidance? gladly…
- 3 weeks in i asked the instructor why we use parentheses on some javascript methods and not others, such as 'length.' he said i can add them to length, as in lenght(), and it will work. i was immediately given an error as length() is not valid.
- i didn't get any of my javascript homework graded until about half-way through the course. so much for feedback. and when it was graded, my feedback consisted of "you should comment your code." but nothing in terms of actual javascript best practices, language proficiency, or content mastery. the last of my homework assignments that was graded (which was due oct. 29 2016) was graded on nov 26, 2016. there were 5 more assignments due after that, none of which were looked at by any instructor, TA, or employee of trilogy.
- a couple weeks before our final project was due (which was a MERN project - mongodb, expressjs, reactjs, and nodejs) all instruction was over. we had not been instructed, however, in how to actually write a full MERN app or deploy it. in class, we used Heroku for deploying and hosting our apps. so one of my team members asked a TA (the resident ReactJS expert) how to successfully deploy our app. the TA responded with “I don’t know. I don’t deploy to Heroku. If you get an error I would see what the problem is and just fix it." starting to see the picture? feels like nobody cared once they had my money.
2. career assistance: wow. this was the exact opposite of everything i was sold on. the majority of visits we had were from recruitment companies. anyone can get with these people. just join linkedin. they'll contact you like crazy. or fill out a form at any of their websites. it was an embarrassment that they had recruiters come to class. and it was insulting because, in essence, they (the recruiters) came to sell their services. i thought that was what i was paying for… for the course to actively help in career advice and search. what i was initially told was that they had a bunch of companies as partners who would come out to meet us and give us a chance to present ourselves to them. and that couldn't be further from the truth. our career assistance 'guru' was anything but. i found out last month that my family and i have to relocate out of state, so i asked our career assistance 'guru' if she knew if any of the companies coming to our 'demo day' hire remote workers. her response was for me to search craigslist. craigslist… that was the response. i have a screenshot of the slack conversation to prove it, if you really want to see it. craigslist. i paid money for this? you shouldn't.
3. curriculum: that was the only decent thing but it could use some updating. and it would be better if they hired actual web developers to teach it. otherwise, it's as good as codeacademy.

DO NOT waste your time and money on this awful program. i feel cheated and robbed so please learn from my mistake. if you really are interested in joining a bootcamp, my suggestion would be to seek out 'graduates' and instructors and talk to/email them; ask if you could sit in on a class to evaluate the program; join http://freecodecamp.com/ and follow it to the letter. you'll get as good, if not better, instruction than this terrible bootcamp.

please understand that i put a ridiculous amount of hours and a lot of hard work into the program. and i really did learn quite a bit. but i learned DESPITE this program. not because of it. they did let us know on the first day of class that we are expected to put in a lot of time outside of the program. so i was prepared to do just that. i just didn't expect to or think i'd have to teach myself everything.

the only two things that kept this experience from being 100% suck:

1. i met a few great people with whom i hope to continue coding and collaborating.
2. one TA, Alex Girodano. if trilogy wises up, they will hire him to be an instructor and possibly make themselves look good. because right now, i will tell everyone to steer clear of trilogy and the coding bootcamp at UT Austin. a total rip-off.

Here's the TLDR, I would absolutely recommend attending this boot camp, with the caveat that you have to be realistic about time management. If you don't have to work while you attend, or if you work but have minimal commitments to loved ones, then you... Read More can get tremendous value from this boot camp, more than many college degrees would yield. If, on the other hand, you have to work a full time job and have kids or a significant other competing for your attention, then you may not get as much value out of the course. Just be honest with yourself, but if you have the time, this course is a phenomenal investment.

Here's the full review.

About Me: I had been teaching myself to code on and off for almost two years before starting the boot camp, and as soon as I heard of it, which was a day or two after it was launched, I applied and was accepted. The prior coding experience I had due to my self-study was tremendously helpful, so I would advise you to have as much self-study as possible before applying, but it is definitely not necessary to succeed, as several of the students that have already landed jobs did not have prior self study. Today was the last day of class and I'm glad to say that the future looks very bright.

Overall Experience: I felt privileged to attend the boot camp with the folks that I was lucky enough to have as my classmates. It seemed like everyone in the class, including the TA's and the instructor, had an interesting story and was an overachiever in one way or another. We had a Fulbright Scholar, a CPA, and a national skee ball champ, just for starters. It was an eclectic bunch and I'm really thankful to have met these folks and gotten to work with them. I'm actually quite curious as to what they'll be investing their energies into in 5 or 10 years.

Instructors: The instructor and the TA's for the course were great, they all really knew their stuff. Also, they always arrived early to class and left late, so we had a ton of time to pick their brains on anything. They were always available for me to reach out to, not only on class content, but also on bigger-picture topics like career advice, and I really appreciated that. All my instructors actually worked full time jobs as web developers in addition to their roles in the boot camp, so they had their fingers on the pulse of the web development scene in Austin. They're really good people...it's hard to convey this, but it's more than a job to them. For reference, I was in the Tuesday/Thursday class with Roger Le as the instructor and Jedd Fenner, Josh Madewell, and Allen Wes as the TA's, but on Saturdays the classes joined together into one large class, and I was lucky to have Holly Springsteen and Rob Daly as TA's then as well. For brevity's sake, I'll just say that if you get the chance to learn under any of these folks, rest assured that you're in good hands.

Curriculum: The curriculum is focused on the MERN stack, for which there's a strong market in Austin right now, but it's very flexible to the market's needs, and changes were made to the course's curriculum as we were going through it. When you think about that, it's really amazing, no college course I've ever been to has been responsive in real-time to the needs of the market, and that's one of the things that sets this course apart from a college course. Through this course, in addition to learning web development, you'll also become extremely confident in your ability to learn anything, which is an invaluable skill in today's economy as it allows you to chart your own path.

Job Assistance: This boot camp does not come with a job guarantee. That said, several students landed well-paying jobs before we even graduated. Two girls landed what could be described as their respective dream jobs. For the most part, career services consists of help with polishing up your resume and cover letter, introductions here and there based on your interests and background, and requiring you to apply to a certain amount of jobs per week once the course finishes. We also have industry speakers come to class on Saturday mornings and share what it's like to work at their companies. I started the application process about a week ago and I already had an interview, which I can directly attribute to my cover letter, resume, and my portfolio and the contents thereof, all of which have been substantially improved due to my having attended the boot camp and my having taken advantage of career services. I'll say this, having completed the boot camp, as I read job descriptions I find myself reading requirements and thinking, "Hey, I can do that!" And if I can't do that, I think, "Hey, I can learn that!" It's pretty swell.

I hope this helped you make a more informed decision, and if you have the time to invest into yourself, don't hesitate, enroll in the course!

ABOUT ME: Just to put my experience into perspective, I came from a varied background in sales, freelance photography and videography. I loathed going into my sales job every day and wanted a career change but wasn't exactly sure how to go about it or... Read More what direction to head. I randomly came across a bootcamp, and was intrigued at the idea. Become a web developer in 24 weeks? I had taken a basic HTML/CSS class in college several years ago, and while I certainly enjoyed it, that sounds a little too good to be true. My options were to either go back to school through UT or ACC, or look more into a bootcamp, weighing the pros and cons of each. Once I decided this was certainly the direction I wanted to head, I started researching local bootcamps more in-depth, of which several exist. The Coding Bootcamp at UT Austin checked off every box I was looking for: part-time so that I could continue to work a full-time job, career services, a reasonable price, and it was backed by the UT name.

INTERVIEW: After applying, I went through a couple of phone interviews. I was asked about my background, why I want to get into coding, and was asked to solve a couple of fairly difficult problem-solving questions. Honestly, I feel like I barely made the cut. After two phone interviews though, I was accepted!

CURRICULUM: Starting out, we learned the basics: HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The overall curriculum focused on the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js). Over the course of 6 months, we learned all sorts of other frameworks, libraries and languages too, such as Bootstrap, jQuery, and MySQL. We briefly touched on a few languages such as PHP, Ruby, and Python. The only reason I gave the curriculum a 4 star rating is because I thought we should have focused more on React and PHP, and become more "specialized" in a few areas as opposed to knowing a little about a lot. We were the very first cohort however, and their material will become even more focused and streamlined I feel as more people go through the course. I am extremely impressed at how flexible the curriculum is. It's all based on what the local companies are hiring for, and the whole team has a fantastic sense of what those are.

CLASS: One of the things I liked most about participating in a bootcamp was just how diverse the other students are. Almost everybody is there for the same reason: a career change. I believe that because of our varied backgrounds, bootcamp grads have a more well-rounded approach to development and can draw from past experiences in other fields to help achieve goals and work on teams with other developers. My background in sales has certainly helped me, whether I like to admit it or not. Just to give you an idea of how diverse my cohort was... we had a former opera singer, a Spanish teacher, a skee ball champion, an American Sign Language interpretor, a warehouse salesman... the list goes on.

INSTRUCTORS/TA's: I was in the Monday/Wednesday class taught by Jim McCoy, with Holly Springsteen and Rob Daly. Jim really made the course for me. He is hilarious in a no-filter kind of way, extremely intelligent and definitely cares about seeing us succeed. Holly and Rob gave up a lot of their evenings and weekends for 6 months to see us succeed, and they are equally as intelligent and helpful. I firmly believe that all of their effort was crucial to our success as a class.

CAREER SERVICES: Jeremy Bergeron and Candace Salim are the two I'm most familiar with behind Career Services, but I'm sure there were several other people behind-the-scenes that did a ton of work for us as well. Jeremy is a great guy, and his passion for landing us jobs is obvious. They helped us in optimizing resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and interview techniques, and would usually bring in a speaker each Saturday to talk about various topics. One of the best things we did was mock interviews with employees from local well-known companies, followed up by a panel discussion. I used a few of the interview techniques we talked about that day, and I strongly believe that because of the things I learned then, I was able to actually receive an offer and accept it - on my very first tech interview! The dev team I interviewed with was super impressed by the questions I asked and how well I handled the whiteboard interview, and the entire team behind this bootcamp was essential to that experience.

OTHER: The pace of the class was sometimes too fast, but it's because there's SO much material that could be covered. They constantly asked for feedback from us, and would often adjust the pace based on how we responded. Aside from the pace, one important thing I discovered is that with a lot of companies, there is a sort of stigma surrounding bootcamp graduates. What I mean by that, is that a lot of people will enter a bootcamp just for the sake of making more money. While that part is great, you have to be able to convey that you actually enjoy coding. One way of doing that is by delving into passion projects on the side or learning new technologies just for the sake of learning. I did that as much as my schedule would allow, and I believe it was ultimately another reason I was able to land a job with a great company.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: I was fortunate to be one of the students who got accepted into a full-time web developer role before graduation, and I can't thank the people behind The Coding Bootcamp enough. I'm now not dreading going in to work, I am doing work that I actually enjoy with awesome and intelligent coworkers, and making more money than ever on top of that. As long as you go in with realistic expectations, you understand your strengths and weaknesses as a student, and have an actual passion for coding, I believe that the curriculum and staff behind The Coding Bootcamp at UT Austin will almost certainly land you a new job.

Pros:
1. They teach you how to learn so it doesn't matter what language you're working in, you have the tools to understand how to build in it.
2. They start from square 1 and guide you through core concepts - you can be a total beginner & learn
3. Career... Read More services is a great resource if you choose to use it - they'll help you up your resume and interview game.
4. They offer a part time program so you can work during the course
5. They will change course curriculum based on skills demand in Austin
6. There are office hours available with TAs & Instructor before & after class - every day.

Cons:
1. You will lose 20 hours per week outside of class to studying in class exercises & homework - if you're working, say goodbye to your social life.
2. I wish they would have spent more time on vanilla javascript & react.

Overall:
I've never made such a quick turn around on an investment in myself - if you put in the time, you will have a very pleasing ROI.
Remember, you get out what you put in, and so you have to be prepared to try harder than you ever have in any other learning environment - it's not easy, but it's quite satisfying.