BrainStation

• Post clear, valuable, and honest information that will be useful and informative to future coding boot campers and what could they have done better.

I can only tell you how i see it and what i when thru. I took the Miami cohort and i did my research just like you are doing now i may have done it a little more than you since i actually moved from another state to attend the Wyncode Bootcamp. The pre-work was challenging time-consuming & i didn't do it all, ontop of that i set up parts of my environment wrong (Ed, the instructor, will say this the first day "there is always someone that doesn set up things correctly" yes, that was me!). The course starts out hard the first week and gets harder the second, am a pretty slow learner so it was hard for me the whole time!! get use to this rhythm. the teaching style that Wyncode has frustrated a couple of my peers but like all things, there is always and explanation and a reason for doing things.

learning style: Wyncode is gonna push you to your knees and expose you to things you do not know and that they have not YET cover they will not tell you "we will teach you this later" so it adds to the pressure of you trying to figure it out literally the entire day!! (class ends at 4 work ends at 1am 2am perfect for the waking up at 9am to make it to class by 10am). this worked out for me perfectly casue jumping without a parachute and knowing that feeling of not knowing shit! made me remember things better once they actually thought this it made it stick more and i for sure know how important that parachute is now. i feel if people dont understand this its gonna actually fuck with them so https://www.amazon.com/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learning/dp/0674729013 here is the book where i learned this. audible that if you end up taking Wyncode.

INSTRUCTORs:  ED Toro MIT grad and exelent instructor will throw as many references to you so that you can relate things you already know to the new things he is teaching you one of my roomates mr.sean G give me this insight casue ofcourst i had no idea what he was talking about when he talked about the other things either lol so i used the jokes he told tp relate them to the things he was teaching overall ed is as real as they come and straight to the point if u have a chance to talk to him milk him for as much knowledge as you can as he is always ready to share it. TIM Reen, Joe Ciancio and Bryce joe and Tim are wyncode alumns that know how to teach you since they know where your coming from you see them face problems and solve them infront of you i love there teaching style they will all ask "those this make sense?" and the only person that can stop you from learning is your ego my answer to this question is NO once i got to know them i didnt even wait for the question i just when PAUSE i dont understand this or i lost you here .. ask for help ! they want to teach you and sare there knowledeg with you!

CURRICULUM: You will not have time to learn everything and you never have enough time (this is still true now that i actully do this for a living) they pick out the things that they feel are relevant to the job market and teach them to you, you will absorb what you choose  and look back on everything else to recall it (notes are your friends shout out to SANTI for lending me hes notes !). i used everything i learned and continue to revisit what i thought i had learned. if you choose to go to a bootcamp and your reading this go to treehouse right now ! while you have time! trust me!!!(wish someone would have screamed at me like that.)

JOB ASSISTANCE:  they will assit you give you the openings and the tools to show up to a job without feeling like and idiot the assistance is seen on slack they pretty much act as a job search engine and will put a good word for you so you have better chances . i cant really speak much on it since i gota job almost 2 weeks later with out using much of there network. KEEP IN MIND JOB ASSISTANCE DEPENDS ON THERE BEEN JOBS! THE LESS JOBS THE MORE COMPETETIVE IS GONNA BE. GET EXPERIANCE Wyncode will give you some by hireding you to be a TA but aside from that you gotta come up with more real world experience. 

Overall Experience: FIRE ** 808&codebreaks Wyncode & Wynfam4life!!!! this was and amazing experiance with and amazing group of people i dont know where they all are right now but i will say i love you all!! step back i just put my whole c8 clan on a pedestal! BLess! ^^ 

DONE BETTER: every great meal deliciouse slice of cake end up in the the toilet smelling like shit so here is something that i feel can be improve in wyncode. LONGER cause hey i alwasy want more for my money!!!! more hiring partners cause there can never be enough! better mechanisam for picking groups i felt i got bambusol in my group am lookin at (retracted) and (retracted)! people should work on what they choose to work on at the end it worked out but it couls have end it bad! Wyncode does adapt what we give in retro but most of the big changes come in for thenext cohort (am jelouse of you already), i know you cant change a system you have set up right away but maybe make it more object oriented and where you an make a change in one place and apply it faster. 

conclusion if you wanna change your life and by that i mean your career then Wyncode will transform you and give you the tools to modify yourself. now i hear this other bootcamp is better well idk what to say to that cause i didnt do those other bootcamps i did this one.

If you are debating on doing a bootcamp over the question of "can you really learn everything you need to be a developer after 9 weeks?" then you are looking at it the wrong way. Even people who have been in the field for 10 years still have more to learn. So what makes this bootcamp worth 10 grand?

This isn't a factory that is going to give you the most common 100 steps you need to learn to build a web-app and get hired. They try to introduce you to as many technologies and concepts as they can so you can break down a problem and figure out how you want to solve it. You learn that there is no one "right" answer to approaching a problem. The lectures cover a wide-range of things you should learn to become a junior dev, and it is a ton of information shot at you in those 9 weeks. The point is they teach you how to use the free resources out there to teach yourself so you'll be able to grow with the industry for the rest of your career in tech.

Is it hard?

They have a motto: "You get out what you put in". I'd say they do that plus a bit more, but you have to put in the work. You definitely need to dedicate hours of undivided attention to learning the material. However, the resources (TA's, projects, and networking) make all your hard work flourish. Sure, you could use all the free resources out there to teach yourself, but Wyncode gives you the structure to achieve that in less time, plus connect you with companies and classmates who also can connect you to companies. Wyncode is as hard as you make it.

This bootcamp was definitely worth my time and money. I wouldn't have been able to push myself on my own. They won't hold your hand. You have to fight for the job, and fight to learn, and get help. However, in the end that will help you make the most of what they have to offer.

I was hired 1 month after the camp was over by one of their hiring partners, SapientNitro. This isn't just a boring, build-a-simple-website, sort of job. It's an exciting ad agency that wants their workers to continue to grow and learn. Did Wyncode hand me the job? No. The set up group interviews and then I had to put in the work to follow-up, interview well, and show my skills. Wyncode was valuable because I wouldn't have known about SapientNitro if it wasn't for Wyncode, and vice versa.

I love Wyncode and the people behind it so much that I am also a part-time TA for them now.

I'd like to preface this review by stating that I was asked by one of the founders of Wyncode, Juha, to write a review. I planned on writing one anyway prior to his request, but I wanted to wait out the post-graduation 90 day job placement period before doing so to give Wyncode a fair chance. As of writing this, it’s been exactly 100 days since I’ve graduated. This review is fully honest, transparent, and objective. I’m not holding anything back.

Also, this review is based on my own personal experience... and like anything else, your mileage may vary. That said, I’m not going to preach the clichéd "what you put into it is what you get out" hustle statement because that should be common sense. I can't think of anything in life in which that does not apply to.

As some of the reviews below reflect, our cohort had difficulties. We had a new instructor who was apparently hired right before the cohort began. It was obvious that he hadn't had enough time to learn the curriculum, and that becomes detrimental when you are learning at the speed of a coding bootcamp. We also had an awesome daytime TA take another job a few weeks in, and she wasn’t replaced, which made it tougher to get help when we really needed it. Finally, Fort Lauderdale’s former classroom was a dump. The chairs were great, but everything else sucked. It was covered in dust because the walls were unsealed concrete block, it was directly next to train tracks which caused constant (and often extended) disruption, the internet connection dropped daily, and coming and going at night was shady to say the least.

So why a five star experience? Because nothing in life is perfect, but what I got out of Wyncode was more valuable than anything advertised. 

I learned how to learn.

When things broke, and when we didn’t have enough TAs, we had to fend for ourselves. While that might seem like a negative, it really opened my eyes to what I’m capable of. In nine weeks I went from knowing basic Web 1.0 HTML and CSS to creating fully-responsive web applications. I’m proud of that accomplishment, and Wyncode gave me the resources to get there. 

Yes, there are a ton of free and inexpensive online courses to learn development. But they don’t give you the benefit of working with others to generate ideas and problem solve. The true benefit of Wyncode is the people you meet and work with daily, and the insight you gain from working together. I was forced to get out of my jaded, introverted comfort zone. I spent crazy hours and weekends with a great bunch of people. Most importantly, l learned how to learn quickly. Learning quickly wouldn’t have been possible for me had I tried to go it alone. 

To my knowledge and experience, all of the other problems I addressed have been corrected. I visited the new classroom. It’s not directly next to the train, and it’s very nice inside. I sat and listened to the new instructor for about 30 minutes and he seemed to be doing a great job. I didn’t hear any complaints in the Fort Lauderdale Slack channel about the internet connection following my cohort.

I found a really cool job with a start-up two weeks ago. Wynwork, the post-graduation job search sessions that are held weekly, gave me the motivation to get that job. Someone below mentioned that Wynwork is like group therapy sessions for the unemployed. I agree 100%, but I certainly don’t see that as a negative. Being able to hear the struggles and successes my peers were going through and know that I wasn’t alone pushed me to get where I am today. 

Also, Juha and Johanna are awesome people, and really do care. They were swift in addressing the issues I personally had, and the way they handled those issues came from the heart. They hire great, positive people from an industry that can be cold and closed off. They’ve built a great program, and they know what they’re doing.

Would I do it all over again if I had the chance? Hell yes. I see myself as a different person after Wyncode. Wyncode not only taught me how to code, it gave me some very important life skills, and I’m forever grateful for the change that I went through. Prior to Wyncode I’d never in a million years let my cynical brain say anything like that. Nothing in life is perfect, but learning what you’re really capable of is invaluable.

From the very first day the Wyncode "Family" accepted me for who I was and was constantly encouraging me to always be learning and growing. Wyncode taught me that some days we make massive strides, and other days’ mere inches but as along as our efforts are channeled in the right direction you'll always be better then you were the day before. Wyncode not only provided me with the knowledge to be a Web Developer but they provided me with a "family" I know I can always rely on. The support they offer their students and alumni is overwhelming: technical support, after class/week-end teacher assistants, and even weekly "job search" workshops. It is truly amazing how much one can learn in a collaborative environment surrounded by like minded individuals all reaching for similar goals. I will be honest it is intensive, you will be studying/practicing at LEAST 10 hours a day 5 days a week not including weekend projects and homework assignments. You WILL get frustrated but like I said the support is there you just have to be willing to put in the effort. Some of the draw backs of Wyncode is that it is only 9 weeks long and the amount of time spend learning JavaScript is not nearly as much as the time learning Ruby, but that is on purpose. See Wyncode teaches you that once you have learned one programming language you tend to be able to learn other languages a lot faster and I would 100% agree with that. So although it would definitely be great to have more time spent between the two programming languages it is not necessarily needed. Overall going to Wyncode has been one of the best experiences of my life and I wouldn't trade the people and connections I've made for anything! If you are considering attending Wyncode please attend a pitch day event or stop in one day and see what it is like I am sure you will be impressed! (Special shout out to: Juha and Jo, Ed, Jose, Joe C, Henry, and Bianca... Amazing group of people!)

Yes, it's possible to follow the self-study route and learn Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. However, the coding bootcamp route has definitely paid off for me. My previous experiences with PHP took me ages to learn with self-study and I did not understand how to use the correct tools for the job, nor how to write 'DRY' code (modular non-repetitive code).

The nine-week course I completed at the Ft. Lauderdale campus (at the FAT village art district) offers a well-rounded study of all of the web technologies and tools to create a functional web application. The course also stresses mobile-first development, so your web pages can operate in many ways like a mobile app. The curriculum is not perfect, but the instructors are intelligent and the TA's are always helpful.

While a large portion of class time consists of lectures, there are also other learning formats such as socrative, hackathons, class coding and group coding. Self-study is also important while in the bootcamp, as the projects are quite time consuming, regardless of experience level. Expect to spend many hours working to get the most out of the program.

Though I had previous coding experience, most of the others in the cohort did not. There is no expectation of programming knowledge, but the program moves very quickly. Be sure to complete all pre-work to gain understanding before the course begins.

Two other reasons I chose Wyncode were that you are given a membership at the coworking space...this provides a helpful environment with less distractions (as focus is key when working on a tedious thing such as computer code). Though placement is not a guarantee, there are access to hiring partners, networking events, and Wynterviews (group interviews).

I graduated from BrainStation's Web Development Immsersive Class in June 2016 and found the experience to be comprehensive and enjoyable. In 10 weeks, students are taught how to build a functional web application from beginning to end. Many students have no previous experience in web development and are still able to follow the course's quick pace, although it would certainly be beneficial. The course is structured in a way that students are presented with new topics in a meaningful order that allows a thorough understanding of how the different parts of a web application are connected. Although there is no formal job assistance, the staff at BrainStation is very active in helping students achieve their goals. I would certainly recommend this course and would advise prospective students to have clearly defined goals heading into the course as well as a realistic expectaion of the amount of work that is required to achieve loftier goals.

Before coming to Wyncode, I graduated from school with a degree in both Finance and Marketing. After graduation, I spent a year in Madrid teaching primary school. I have yet to mention coding in my background, because January 11th, the first day of cohort 8, was the first day I ever touched or had even seen code. I will admit, the first week I was pissed, frustrated, upset, etc. but that was only because doing this course and learning this material, I had to adapt to a new way of processing and thinking.

Fortunately, the great instructors and ta's at Wyncode really helped me through this. I felt at ease, if not overtly comfortable, asking whatever questions I had, no matter how stupid they were. All due to the atmosphere that this program has created. If I had not elected Wyncode and went with another program, I strongly believe I would not nearly be at the level I am at now. 

To be blunt, previous to Wyncode, I envisioned this career as one that is completely isolated and done while hidden in a cavernous basement pounding down bags of Dorito's and liters of Mountain Dew but this could not be further from the truth. Yeah, after Wyncode you'll be able to create things you never thought imaginable, but to me, that was only a small part of the overall experience. The intangibles of creating a network in this exciting new space and the people I met both students and in the tech community, I value just as much. 

And because this is such an honest review, there were many others in my class who were better coders than I was. With that being said, I still have a job as a developer. It's easy to ridicule this program for their job placement services if you are naive and expect Wyncode to magically gift you with a job upon pitch night. That's not going to happen. I worked to get my job but I am aware and thankful that if it were not for Wyncode and what I learned there, I would not be in the position I am now. The jobs are there for you if you work to find them. 

I took the full time immersive web development course winter 2016. It was one of the best decisions I made. Before I began the course I planned on taking online bootcamps so I studied a bit of Javascript on my own and had a solid basic understanding of the language. But I decided on Brainstation because of the curriculum. They teach the JS frameworks throughout which makes it a bit easier than having to learn Ruby AND JS for example. 

I knew I liked programming but I didn't know what to study on my own, hence why I decided to take the course. Suffice to say, I got maximum value out of the course and have to really applaud the instructors and organizers, they put tremendous effort into ensuring you come out of the course with an arsenal of skills. There was always extra projects / challenges to tackle if you finished early or ahead of schedule and the instructors and TAs are tireless in helping out. Fantastic atmosphere, fantastic learning space as well. If you are planning on getting into this field, Brainstation is a no brainer. But I do suggest you familiarize yourself with some material beforehand, spend as much time as you can learning JS and doing practice problems as it will let you focus on utilizing the tools you know to build things instead of learning to use the tools. 

The course is paced well for any type of learner, slow or fast. You will build projects for every major topic and thats where the magic happens. The more ambitious your attempt, the more value you will get out of the course. The projects are also managed by the staff to mimic real world environments, ie. agile development with sprint plans etc. Job prep is also included in the tail end of the course. You will get a sense of what is required for interviews, the importance of an online presence, personal projects and contributions etc. We were also interviewed by the parent company's technical director as a practice exercise. I was lucky enough to land a second interview and an internship position sometime after the course. 

I did however spend all my weekends working on course material and trying to build different things based on what we learned thus far. In the final 2 weeks where the entirety of the course was focused on individual final projects, I spent over 9hrs a day working on my web app. Brainstation won't guarantee any % of graduates landing jobs but if you invest a signifcant amount of time and effort into creating a small portfolio while you are doing the course, you will have a very good chance of being hired for a junior role somewhere in the city, I am confident of that. Brainstation provided a platform to dive deep into this field and extract maximum value and knowledge in a relative short span. Although I come from a technical background and have a slight inclination to technical topics, I believe anyone willing to put 100% energy into this can come out of it with as much value or more than I have. Excellent staff, excellent support, excellent course material. 

For more than half a year I had been trying to learn how to code online. 

There are dozens of pretty decent resources out there, and I knew people who managed to get certificates and start coding after all. But, unfortunately, for me it was extremely hard to A. find time and B. has someone to monitor my progress to assure the commitment. That’s when I knew I needed something drastic: I needed a bootcamp.

Once I narrowed down the geographic factor to Florida, it was very easy for me to choose Wyncode. Not only because of the positive reviews online, but mostly because I knew they were here first and had an established presence and connections that I needed to begin my new career afterwards.

If you are considering a bootcamp right now, I suggest, you go to one of the Wyncode open houses and see for yourself: lots of reviews here mention great team and assistance, so I won’t say more; but another thing that was mostly important for me was that Wyncode teaches you variety of skills apart from programming, which can be crucial for finding a tech-job. They teach you how to work in a team and take on different roles: scrum, front-end, back-end. You will have a huge network of developers, business owners and just tech-writers, if you take advantage of Wyncode’s regular events and meet-ups. Wyncoders are also extremely friendly and there is a special bond among most of them regardless the Cohort.

I was lucky to experience myself and witness the personal involvement of the whole team including the co-founders Juha and Jo in finding jobs for graduates after the course. That was very important for me: to find a job and enter the tech-world.

Studying is not easy. In fact, it’s pretty demanding. If you want to maximize results: be ready to devote all your life for at least 2 month to the program, otherwise, it can be very difficult to catch up and super easy to fall-off and get discouraged. Apart from the course itself, you will have to find your own ways to learn and explore to stay on top of the game. But it will be so much easier, once you go through Wyncode, to navigate what and where you need to research. You will learn to learn, they say at school. And for a programmer, product/project manager, tech writer, business founder or whoever you decide to be afterwards (the possibilities are vast): there is never an end to learning.

One more thing, if you have an app idea, and want to create a successful start-up, Wyncode is the perfect place to go. They always support each and every start-up that comes out of the classroom. It is their pride and honour to be as helpful as possible and match you up with the right people.

I do not work for Wyncode and was NOT paid for writing the review. I just went. Studied. Struggled. Survived. And loved it.

Prior to my experience at Wyncode, I was a Pre-Medical Student. After spending the majority of my upper level academic life studying the natural sciences, I decided it was time for a change as I was no longer happy with my academic direction. I was fortunate enough to find Wyncode. This enticed me to take a complete chance and change the path I was on. However, everyone chooses to take this jump for different reasons, I wanted to be able to have some sort of creative outlet in what was to be my career. 

Wyncode is 9 weeks of bliss and difficulty. This experience will push you to the limit, specifically if you have no programming experience prior to Wyncode. These 9 weeks will force you to walk a contrasting line. You will have moments of complete happiness when you are able to understand, conceptualize, and implement new ideas and practices. However, you will have moments of absolute frustration, anger, and anxiety when you approach tasks and objectives that don't make sense at the time. 

This difficulty is normal, coding/programming is difficult. It isnt meant to be easy, you will need to give everything you have to this program to be successful and get what you want out of it. You will be given new concepts to build on everyday, you will hear terms that you have never heard of, and you will be explained ways to implement all of this in ways that will require practice to develop fluidity. For the 9 weeks, you will have to put certaine routines on hold, you will have to remove yourself from the familiar comfort zone you were previously residing in. You will have to change your mindset, you will need to ask everything of yourself. 

With that said, I believe Wyncode to be a great and a beautiful place to learn this unique skill. Wyncode provides the environment and staff to make sure that this transition and learning curve are taken on as smoothly as possible. Wyncode's Miami campus employs a gentleman by the name of Ed Toro. He could be one of the most well versed educators in his craft. His true value lives in his patience and his desire to see every person who walks in those doors understand and learn. When Ed is not available, Wyncode schedules teaching assistants everyday, even on weekends. These are individules that will spend more than just 5 minutes with a student. They don't get tired of multiple questions and they want to see you succeed. They are there every weekend for projects and for every syntax error along the way. Every individual deserves some sort of recognition on this post, every instructor/teaching assistant who stays after hours for the greater good of the cohort, each one that answers a slack message at 1 AM, these are the people you will be fortunate enough to learn from and grow with.

Wyncode's curriculum is heavily based around Ruby and its most well known framework, Rails. You will spend a better part of 4 to 5 weeks on this subject matter. There will be one week in between Ruby and Rails that will be dedicated to HTML and CSS. Following this area of the curriculum you will encounter JavaScript. I appreciated the curriculum as a whole for building some sort of infrastructure for my programming life but I do believe more attention should be placed on JavaScript. Wyncode's curriculum currently and going forward will not make you a senior developer or a intermediate developer. Your knowledge will be very limited as it is only 9 weeks, but Wyncode TEACHES YOU HOW TO LEARN. This will be the most valuable lesson you will learn. 

When it comes to job assistance, the first thing that gets noted is that people will assist you. Rita will go in the trenches for you, she will put you in positions to get the job, but you must GET the job for yourself. IT WILL NOT BE EASY. NO ONE IS GOING TO HAND YOU OR GET YOU A JOB. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO IT YOURSELF. This should not be a shock, Rita will tell you this, Jo and Juha will tell you this, every Wyncoder prior to you will tell you this. If you don't grind, it will be noticed. If you don't work hard it will be noticed. Push yourself to get a job with intensity. 

I would recommend this experience to anyone who has the desire to learn how to program/code. It will be worth it at the finish.