| | Sherman Drake | RefactorU is a well thought out bootcamp that prepares everyone to become Full Stack Web Developer. From the lectures, lessons, coding times, and peer group sessions, to the resume assistance, recruiter tips, and class outings RefactorU taught me how to code as well as prepare me to work with other programmers. RefactorU focuses on the languages and skills that employers are looking for. The teachers and teacher assistants are excellent in their field. The ten-week course was long enough to understand the concepts and prepare me to be productive as a web developer. I would recommend RefactorU for anyone just starting out in the workforce as well as anyone in the middle of their career that wants to go in a new direction. |
| | Tucker Kline | RefactorU won't hold your hand through your 10 weeks. You will have to put in the hours, and hold yourself accountable to be at class, to pay attention, and to ask for help. I dedicated myself 100 percent to the course and it was an incredibly enriching and educational experience. If you're sure that web development is the career path for you, RefactorU is an amazing resource. It is expensive, however, so make sure it truly is what you want to do. Don't go in blindly! |
| | Ria S | RefactorU provides 10 weeks of intense web development training. What you put in, is what you will get out of it. You are accountable for doing your own work. Having said that, the lead instructors, particularly Rob, are fantastic at helping you understand concepts throughout the whole program.
Pros: Course content/coursework: The overall structure and content of the bootcamp were fantastic.
Instructors: The lead instructors are some of the most talented and knowledgable developers out there. Furthermore, the instructors were committed to seeing you learn, understand, and succeed. Not only were they highly supportive of their students, they were consistent & thorough in their teaching of concepts. The breakout group lectures (students raise their hands to select topics they need more clarification on, or have a desire to delve into a topic deeper) were really helpful in solidifying concepts.
Classmates: I have met some truly incredible people in this class, that I can confidently say will be life-long friends, and helpful peers as we dive into our professional tech careers. Since instructors were often busy assisting other students (which is great, as the instructors took all the time necessary to address individual questions/problems) I found my fellow students to be a goldmine of knowledge and it was very encouraging to see other students working together and helping each other. I am very grateful to my classmates for all their help and support during the bootcamp.
Model: The number of coding bootcamps has exploded over the last couple years, and this immersive model is here to stay. As a long-time fan of alternative education (after sloughing through too many degrees in the traditional education model) RefactorU has hit the nail on the head in terms of providing a specific high-demand skillset to anyone with the grit and determination to become a software developer.
Location: RefactorU's location in Boulder is great for those interested in working for the start-up scene in Boulder and Boulder in general is an emerging tech hub. This was also helpful for the many meetups, workshops, and conferences held on a variety of tech/coding topics.
Cons: Student to teacher ratio. We had three instructors for a class of 33 (we are the largest class yet). This is in contrast to 18 students in the prior cohort, and there were 11 graduates in the cohort prior to that. I felt we were the guinea pig class in terms of throwing as many students in the class as possible. The classroom was far too small for this many students. The situations in which this was most acute was pair-programming, where we teamed up with other students to work through coursework, and there weren't any extra chairs/little space to disperse our teams. Also, during our break-out lectures (students select most relevant topics they want to discuss with instructors) it would have been helpful to have a smaller class size in order for more students to be able to ask questions and have more individual attention.
Individualized attention: while the instructors were fantastic, and true champs in terms of being overloaded with students, many of us felt that we did not receive as much individual attention as we would have hoped, and this is largely attributed to the very large class size. There simply weren't enough instructors or hours in the day to get assistance with the 1:10 ratio in our class. A huge shoutout to the instructors that showed up and gave their best every day. They were as enthusiastic about seeing us succeed in week 1 as at the very end of our program.
Class distractions: with such a large class it was an exercise in zooming in on our work and blocking out distractions. The overall classroom atmosphere was far louder and more distracting than I had anticipated. While each of us is responsible for doing whatever we needed to do in order to concentrate on learning, I was hoping for a more professional (and quieter) work/study environment. Socializing and needing a quiet space to concentrate clashed in the overcrowded classroom.
Midterm/finals: during our midterm projects (a responsive front-end application) as well as our final presentations (a fully-functional MEAN stack web application) while it was great that the school brought in former students from previous cohorts (since our class was so large), however I found the students in my current cohort to be a better & more knowledgable resource.
Constructive criticism for the school: I am aware that the school plans to hold two concurrent cohorts for the next set of students, but a campus expansion/relocation would greatly serve to benefit the students, and with the high growth of RefactorU, the organization as a whole. Smaller class sizes are a must, or reducing the teacher:student ratio. I have high hopes for RefactorU moving forward, and I anticipate seeing great things from my fellow classmates. |
| | Eliora Horst | This bootcamp brought me from a novice in the web development world to a confident developer. Without hesitation, I can now design, implement, and launch a website in no time at all.
If there were any cons to this course, it would have to be how long the lectures were. If you have a hard time keeping still and concentrating through 2-3 hour lectures, you might have a bad time getting vital information on the first go-around.
All around, I found this course taught me well, and the ten weeks was the perfect amount of time to learn everything I needed to without taking up too much of my time. |
