| | Mark S | I'm gonna write this on one particular angle of deciding between different bootcamps since I a) think the other folks here give a pretty good run through of the curriculum, and b) I didn't really find good info when I was making my decision.
Ultimately I was torn between MakerSquare, Hack Reactor and App Academy. My constraint was mainly timing and MakerSquare was able to get me into an immediately start date whereas Hack Reactor would have been the next cohort. Debated just waiting since I'd heard that the Hack Reactor name is a bit better known in the Bay Area. Wasn't sure that MakerSquare even though they have the same curriculum would be the same quality.
It ended up being a lot of worrying and back and forth for nothing. The programs are pretty much identical so the difference really comes down to personality. If Hack Reactor is he Harvard of bootcamps then Makersquare is the Stanford--a little bit friendlier, more laid back, smaller/intimate, but still pretty intense. Pick the one that works best for your personality since ultimately what matters is whether you learn how to code and think like an engineer--literally nothing else matters.
Full disclosure I did my undergrad at Harvard and a masters in math at Stanford.
To the job hunting question, it's hard to tell where MakerSquare starts and my pre existing network begins. No bootcamp will really replace an existing network in the Bay Area from a place like Stanford or Berkeley or already working in tech--and there's a huge selection bias with these bootcamps as they're pretty much taking kids with already impressive backgrounds. Any bootcamp would open doors for these folks, the difference between them is marginal.
I got a job before finishing through friends and now work as a developer, so didn't really use their career services but it was nice knowing there was a safety to rely of if needed. |
