| | Anonymous | I really wanted to love my experience at Alchemy. I researched boot camps over the last couple years and Alchemy kept popping up as a great place to learn software development, based on reviews. I even spoke with several alumni before locking in my enrollment and every one I spoke to had nothing but great things to say about their experience.
Unfortunately, at the $24K price tag I would say I was very frustrated and disappointed. So I am very clear, I did speak with the owner on many of the subjects I write about below, but they seemed to go on deaf ears and even got worse after our conversation.
You will learn a foundation of tools that will help you get your software development skills going, but at that price tag the cost is not worth it. The organization is all over the map. It was very common for the teacher(s) to change curriculum on the fly. I suspected many times that the teacher had not prepared or looked at the material for the days lecture/demo, previous to class, based on the fact that they changed things on the fly and often would have to read out/change the notes during class to understand what they were trying to teach. I felt that lots of time was wasted with this disorganization. With that high price tag, this is just inexcusable. In some instances, it felt like we studied topics that were not very valuable for job experience. Several people in my cohort asked the teacher if we would actually use this material in a job setting and the response was "well no, but I think it is important for you to know." That sentiment was very disheartening. Why are we not studying topics directly applicable to potential jobs?!? I felt like this happened with many of the topics throughout course. Again, at the price tag of $24K, we deserved better!
Another other problem was the TA's. They were all very kind people, but when you had an issue they could never help. You always had to wait for the main teacher to solve issues. When they cannot help us because they themselves don't have the knowledge I see that has a disservice to the students. I also felt at the high price point, there is a need for more intentionality from the staff for the students. It would have been nice to meet with staff/career services (one on one) on a regular basis to get a better idea of how you are doing. This is a brutal five months of school and more support would have possibly made a huge difference. All I would get from the staff is "if your grades are good, then you are doing fine," and for me that is not enough based on the price.
Honestly, there are so many more things I could lay out as issues I had with the school, but the main thing I wanted to address was Alchemy's need to push their personal and political views. They spoke constantly about inclusion, pronouns, and politics. I have no issue with these topics, but when it seems to be at the detriment of doing the task we paid for, I find that super unprofessional and a huge problem. That will not happen in most work places and sets a horrible precedent for the students thinking that is normal. The funny thing is Alchemy was all about those issues if you agreed with them and didn't have a different opinion (doesn't sound very inclusive to me). My thing is, leave that out of the work/school environment. I don't need to hear all you opinions. I enrolled here to learn and for that $24K price tag I expected a level of professionalism. It actual made for a very uncomfortable environment. I know from talking with others in my cohort I was not alone in this!
I would hands down say to anyone looking at a bootcamp to stay away from this place. If you can find someone to help you get started and mentor you through the learning process of software development, you would be better off and save a ton of money by getting courses via Udemy. You could probably spend $200 and get all and more out of the curriculum than Alchemy has to offer. I started doing that at the end of my time in Alchemy and found I learned so much more.
I really wanted to love and promote this place. Now, I don't want to do a disservice to the people that come after me. It is a huge investment. I think there are better ways to become a software developer.
One last thing: no way their job placement is at 86%. I would challenge them to show more detailed stats. Past alumni I spoke said they also thought that number was inflated as well. I did some research based on past graduates and it is likely more around 50%. The reality is that it was never on Alchemy to find you a job, it's on you. That being said, for $24K you should get truthful stats! |
