Alchemy

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Alchemy Code Labs! I ended up attending for a bit under two months (I left because I ended up getting a job offer due to a previous job search pre-Alchemy) but can attest to their high quality instructors, commitment on good coding best practices, and impressive depth and speed of topics they cover. . . by 4 weeks you're making a shopping cart checkout-flow using localStorage and TDD!

My instructor Dani was super helpful and knowledgable. The additional staff, Marty, Megan, and Shannon were incredibly supportive as I weighed my decision to take my job opportunity, or continue with ACL. Even though I decided to leave, I still stay in active touch with my old classmates and the ACL staff. One of the best decisions I made in my software engineering career!

Alchemy is a fast paced learning environment but definitely will give you the skills you need to break into tech. Of course you will need to put in the work, stick to coding and market yourself, but Alchemy does a great job at providing you with a network and support system in which you can acquire professional connections that can possibly expand into getting that job, it is all on how you decide to use those resources. If you are coming in with zero coding knowledge it could be very rough at first since there is so much to learn but eventually you start getting more comfortable with the basics and the information starts to sink in. A great thing about Alchemy is that they ensure that the people they have attending their school are diverse, from all sorts of backgrounds and open to differences, they provide a healthy social environment which makes it easier for it to be a more collaborative, supportive and judgement free zone. I attended when it was in person so I cannot speak on how the distance learning would be, but I definitely recommend the program, they teach what is being used the most in the industry for web development and what you more likely will end up using once you get your first tech job, all I learned from Alchemy is what I use every day at work. The instructors are very knowledgeable and the team projects assigned are a great way to get prepared on how collaborating in a professional setting will be.

 My experience at Alchemy Code Lab was definitely not worth the time, and especially not worth the money I spent. They put more time and effort into convincing you that you will get a job in tech than actually helping you get a job in tech. The job assistance is a joke and consists mostly of their career person telling you to "be positive", "go to networking events", and having special guest lecturers, who are friends of theirs or previous students, who tell you similar obvious job placement advice. The teachers, while knowledgeable in the subject matter do not really know how to teach others unless they already have a background in computer science. The most hands on teaching you will get is from previous students that just finished the program and are being paid minimum wage. If you have any history of workplace trauma, personal trauma, or lack confidence in yourself, you will not do well in this program. This program is mostly for white men who already think highly of themselves and who won't have a hard time getting a job in tech regardless of their abilities. In my opinion, Alchemy Code Lab is a predatory school that preys upon people who are in bad work situations. They spend a lot of energy and time on convincing you that anyone can code and anyone can get a job in tech making $85000 a year with unlimited vacation time and the best benefits in the world. They do very little to help with the job search or helping you make the connections they insist will help you get a job. If you are having a hard time in the classes they tell you you're doing fine and that everybody has a hard time. They tell you just keep moving forward and eventually it will all make sense. When you finally get wise and ask for help, they will just keep gaslighting you until you break. When you finally do crack from the pressure they blame you and tell you that you are unprofessional and won't ever be able to get a job in tech. That last part didn't happen to me personally, it happened to a friend of mine in the cohort ahead of mine. I had a similar experience but mine was more just being gaslighted over and over and told me experience wasn't what others were experiencing. After talking to other students I found that many were also having the same problems with the program. Another thing that they do is lie about how many of their students get placed in jobs in the tech industry. They count any job in the tech industry not coding jobs, even if you're job doesn't have anything to do with coding. I got a job at a tech company doing remote sensing and lidar processing due to my previous career in geospatial science. They count that as me getting a job in the tech industry. Even though I don't do anything tech related that I learned at Alchemy. Also my job pays a little more than half of what I made before I started Alchemy.  Do yourself a favor and don't waste your money here. Go take some coding classes online for free at freecodecamp or somewhere else. Try taking a computer science course at a community college. Don't waste your money on predatory schooling.   

Alchemy is hands-down the best coding boot camp option in Portland. The owner and instructors are all seasoned and experienced software developers, and the TAs are prior students. This is awesome because the instructors are able to answer any questions you have, and the TAs have been through what you're going through so can relate and help you with the specific work as you need. The owner regularly meets with companies around Portland to learn about what technologies are currently in the highest demand, and adapts the curriculum accordingly, meaning that when you graduated you are equipped with the highest likelihood of getting hired. The program is in-person and full-time, so be sure you are ready for the intensity of it. It's a lot of work, but that's what you should be looking for if you want to attend a boot camp. The career services is the best around. Any boot camp that says they'll place you in a job after graduation is a sham. Alchemy doesn't guarantee you anything, that's on you, but what they do guarantee you is training in how to best help yourself get work through training in how to network, how to negotiate salaries, etc., which are the skills you'll be using for the rest of your life.

PROS: In-person, full-time, unbeatable community and career services, modern curriculum based on what is in demand.
CONS: Most expensive boot camp option (though you get what you pay for)

Whichever other school you are considering you can stop. Alchemy has everything you are looking for. An incredibly in-depth program that takes you from knowing nothing (at least in my case) to being hire-able as a full stack software engineer in the MERN stack in less than six months! It's that simple. Super knowledgable and empathetic teaching staff, fantastic career services, and tons of networking opportunities. The best part is probably the group projects. Working with three to five other students to build... well, whatever it is you want to build. After four weeks of studying code, my team built a music interval trainer. After eight weeks, we built a Pokemon battle game. After 14 weeks we built a Maze generator. And our final project was a crypto-currency trader. It was one of the best educational experiences I ever had. So thankful to have done it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I decided to join Alchemy Code Lab because, after 4 years of restaurant work, I was fed up with getting people ranch all day. I had a friend take the course, and convince me to try it out. I am so incredibly happy I did, I didn't know how much my life would change after the fact, being in a new career path I love, the incredible community, and the friends made along the way. This program is fast paced, but it's crazy to see where you went in knowledge from just Monday to Monday, almost by osmosis. Teaching Assistants and staff are always around and helpful. The career services part of the program with, mock interviews, resume reviews, and job assistance, is also top notch! They even bring in past alumni who are all out in the wild and working. All in all, 10/10 experience and would do it all over again!

When I decided to go to code school, it became very clear to me that Alchemy's program was special and unlike any of the other programs that were being offered in Portland. I enrolled initially because of the robust career services support, the in-person learning with a small student/teacher ratio, the relevant and up to date curriculum, and the vibrant, open, and inclusive community. Although my cohort went fully remote halfway through the program due to COVID, Alchemy coached us through the program with relative ease given the circumstances. I was glad that I had the first part of the program in person with my cohort to really build those relationships in-person first and was thankful that Alchemy takes their student's health and safety so seriously.

It is a very very hard program and I would only recommend it to folks who know they are serious about this as a career. However, for those that are ready to put in the work and be humbled in the process, this program is hard to beat. Ryan has a gift for explaining very difficult concepts and will really amplify your learning and Shannon is such a champion for Alchemy folks! The community you are welcomed into is incredible and really uplifts and supports each other not only during the program but ongoing.

I attended Alchemy Code Lab and had a phenomenal experience. The teachers are passionate and excellent at explaining difficult concepts, the staff is friendly, and the career services assistance you get is first-rate. Their curriculum is constantly iterated to better teach the material, and they make sure to cover the most in-demand technologies like React in depth.
In the year since I graduated I have helped build a Yelp competitor app for a local startup, coded A/B tests for one of the nation's premier digital marketing agencies, and am now making well over six figures at my current job as a front end developer at a Fortune 20 company.

The support I got from Alchemy's staff was absolutely integral to my success. They helped me get all three of the jobs previously mentioned, and went out of their way to ensure that I would be working jobs I loved -- not just any job. The school is invested in every single student because they understand that a happy and successful coder is the best advertising they can get.
I moved from San Francisco (a place full of top-notch coding bootcamps) to Portland specifically to attend Alchemy Code Lab, and it was the best decision of my life. It is hands-down the most inspiring place I've been: the level of positivity and you-can-do-this attitude is practically palpable.

On top of that, they have a beautiful and sunny campus that is filled with happy plants and delicious snacks, and is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Portland, right across the street from the world-famous Powell's Books.

I have met many graduates from other bootcamps in Portland and can confidently assert that Alchemy's training is by far the best in the city, a fact I also heard repeated in several of my interviews.

If you want to ensure your success as a developer, you should attend Alchemy Code Lab.

I've attended regular college in the past but Alchemy takes education to a whole new level.
In just 6 months I went from someone who knew next to nothing about software to having in depth conversations with industry veterans.
I was taught by Marty Nelson and Ryan Mehta. Both were some of the best teachers I’ve had in my life.
I had the chance to work in Alchemy's, "App Lab" upon graduation. I worked with real clients on real projects on a daily basis. This made the interviewing process much smoother. I also picked up additional skills that weren't included in the standard curriculum - and got paid to do it.
Not only that but I had help from their career counselor to help me get hired. Shannon doesn't just give you tips on your resume - she gets you interviews.
I remember reading these reviews before considering joining the program just like you're doing. I would highly recommend the program to literally anyone.

This program is, quite simply, amazing. Having gone into the program with zero knowledge about web and software development, I finished the program feeling extremely competent. The courses are challenging and a lot of work, but all of the effort immensely pays off. While the program has you develop a wide breadth of very in-demand skills, they also teach you how to continue developing as a programmer after the program is finished. The teachers and staff are incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and expert in their respective fields, and continue to support students after they graduate the program. The focus on career building in particular is what made me choose this program over others in the Portland area, and I have to say the career counseling alone makes this program worth it. I landed my first coding job within a month of the end of the program, and I have yet to come across a problem I couldn't find a solution to.  You will work very, very hard in this program but it is absolutely 100% worth it. I cannot recommend this program enough.

I, like most people, was in an unfulfilling dead-end boring monotonous career living paycheck to paycheck. My long time girlfriend and I were talking about getting married and I knew it was time for a career change if I was to support a growing family. I had interests in engineering and software development but didn't want to wait the 3-4 years for a degree, so eventually I settled on going to a code school/bootcamp. Between in-person (prior COVID) to remote, there are a ton to choose from. After months of reading reviews and blogs, talking to industry professionals, attending lectures, and touring different places...there really was no competition. Given the curriculum and resources available Alchemy Code Lab was going to give me best shot I could have for making my dreams a reality. There is no easy way to put it, the course is tough. You will drink from a firehose of knowledge and information. There will be times you want to quit cause you feel you can't do it. Just remember why you're there, reach out to your peers who are struggling just as much as you, and ask for help from the staff (They Will Always Help). Alchemy Code Lab doesn't just teach you how to code (don't worry, they do a great job at that); they teach you how to learn and grow in the tech world, how to research a problem effectively, how to find new technologies to implement, how to bug fix, how to test, how to learn new languages, how to ask the right questions, how to network, how to interview in the tech world (much different than the trades)...they show you how to take anything imaginable, and make it real (week long team sprints are a game changer). I started the program in January and completed it in June. Since graduating I have participated in two major hackathons (Techlandia working with BLE relays and AWS where my team took 3rd place) working with languages and frameworks I never learned in Alchemy, but regardless I was able to pick up things up pretty quick; and I accredit it all to Alchemy. If you're considering going to Alchemy Code Lab, just do it. It's worth it.

I attended a local community college a few years prior to attending Alchemy Code Lab. The curriculum at the community college was behind what was being used out in the 'real world' and it was a pretty boring experience. Once I heard about Alchemy I did my research and met with the staff, after meeting Megan and Shannon I went home and immediately filled out my application.

The program has great instructional staff with years of industry experience who are able to explain difficult concepts in an a way that will make sense to anyone just starting out. Shannon, the career services director, is a huge asset to this school and is always hustling to ensure students feel ready to land their first engineering roles. She is available for students during the program and will continue to work with you after completing the program.

Alchemy Code Lab is truly a full stack bootcamp that will prepare you for your first developer role. You will learn some of the latest tech being used in the industry, make great connections, and have some amazing portfolio pieces to show off.