Coding Temple

Disclaimer: When reading bootcamp reviews, remember that its graduates are motivated to leave higher reviews because it gives credence to their graduating institution. That said, they all have that trait. I was encouraged to leave a review, but not necessarily a good one. I consider my review honest.

Path: Full-time, 10-weeks (May '22)

Review (main):

Disclaimer out of the way, this bootcamp is really quite good. The instructor I had was knowledgeable and patient. The program is generally well organized, meaning you're unlikely to fall out due to technical problems or confusion over what's due when. Despite getting through a monstrous amount of material, they avoid over-stressing their students by keeping things "casual". 

However, don't expect miracles. If you've never touched code before, at the end of the course, you'll still only have 10 weeks of experience. Basically, you'll get an introduction to a lot of different things and be asked to produce working code that is similar to what is presented (hard enough for the period given). I do believe that anyone who graduates this course will be capable of functioning in a web-developer and even full-stack role, but mileage will vary with prior experience. Those with prior experience will have an easier time and those without will struggle at times. But there's no graduating with honors, so what you'll exit with will be the same in either case, but there will *probably* be a difference in quality of project work and understanding of material. Sometimes that doesn't matter for getting a job.

Summary: If you're looking for a bootcamp and you'd prefer not to put the extra months into it, this is a great program to consider (considering the cons).

Ask: If this review has been helpful, mark it so (if available)

Pros:

- Knowledgeable & capable instructors (disclaimer: I only experienced one)

- Course reflects current trends in tech needs and (like the industry) is being continuously updated

- Practical and one-on-one help with resume, negotiation, and "what do I want to do with this?" guidance (to some extent)

- Not overly stressful environment

Cons:

- The career coach is ferocious and obviously motivated, but there's absolutely no interfacing with interested companies. All applications are on you, which is hard to do while in the program due to how busy it keeps you. They hold out on the job board and alumni network until after you've graduated, which I haven't done yet so the result there may drive my rating up or down.

- Few of, if any, of the instructor’s aids have any industry experience. I'm unclear on how many or how much the instructors have. This doesn't mean they aren't knowledgeable (they are), but if you have a bit of experience and are wanting guidance on not just how to code, but how to code well, that's very hard to come by. This generally only comes into play when you're seeking beyond associate-level employment, however, which you won't be doing.

- I was displeased at the format of some of the "workshops." CT (appropriately) tries to instill problem solving skills by having you solve a minimum number of coding problems. They offer help with workshops, but these aren't instructive workshops, they are instead in the format, "Here is the answer to one. <quickly step through it> Okay, next." This format doesn't help an individual learn HOW to solve problems. My personal belief is that the time would be much better spent on methodology and tips and tricks.

I studied engineering in college and years later I'm now making a career change. I took the full-time online course, let me tell you, it was intense! But it completely rewired my brain. They have it down to a science, they will teach you how to learn and adapt and those things are invaluable in the tech industry. You'll do projects, you can ask plenty of questions, you follow along in a small classroom so you get attention as you're working through the example project. Then you get the recordings to go back and review lectures as much as you want. My instructors were Terrell and Ryan. They rocked, and I'm lucky I was placed into their class. 

After spending a solid two weeks weeks researching various boot camps I thought I had it whittled down to the very best ones--Springboard, Coding Temple, Hack Reactor, and some of the college led ones (Georgia Tech's and MIT's specifically). Then.... I spoke with Ryan at Coding Temple. His knowledge, insight, no-pressure conversation, and just the ease with which I could talk to him about my goals, really set Coding Temple apart. I'm cautious, especially when it comes to spending more money than I ever have in my life on an educational service (aside from college), so I still pursued conversations at the other schools to make sure I wasn't being lazy or short sighted.
Man, oh man, am I glad I found Coding Temple. I spoke with some of Ryan's teammates: Marlene and Marcus. They were high quality people as well.
I won't write anything negative about the other schools, just make sure you speak with someone at Coding Temple before you make a decision. The live lectures with the same group of students, small class sizes, and feeling I had speaking with the members of Coding Temple led to me picking them.
I took a month to prepare for the cohort. During this time I read the entire Python book they recommended, and did the same with the HTML book. A student in the school's Slack recommended CodeCademy for extra preparation. I'm glad he did, as it enabled me to go deeper with the teachers once the cohort started (I took the basic and intermediate CSS courses on CodeCademy before the cohort began).
I had the pleasure of working with Terrell and Ryan, they were quite the teaching duo. It was fun, it was challenging, and I learned WAY more than I would have on my own, even if all I did during the 10 weeks was study. That's the point of a boot camp.
It was neat to watch other students come in with different levels of knowledge. No matter where someone started, they ended the program with a much greater knowledge than when we began.
I'd like to make special shout out to Nicole and Marlene. Nicole hosts various games during the program and she's around to talk when times get stressful. It's nice to know she's there. One of my favorite things during the cohort were the guest speaking events Nicole sets up. I LOVE to ask questions and it was a real opportunity to get a much deeper understanding into the various aspects of the industry and what the day to day work is like for people in different roles, at different skill levels, and in different industries.
And now, Marlene. She's a driving force behind the value proposition of the Coding Temple program. No other program that I found offered the kind of job support that Coding Temple does with Marlene. You can feel it, and if you're careful in the questions you ask when deciding on a school, you can deduce the way other schools operate.
At the end of the day I think that's important to remember. These are all businesses--their goal is to make money. Pick carefully, but do pick. You can't go wrong with Coding Temple. They're an excellent group of people, very knowledgeable, and the follow up job support is real. It's not just you being in a pool of Alumni on Slack and now it's up to you to figure it out or attend group webinars. You'll actually get someone to talk to for the long term with Coding Temple.
I'm convinced I've made some life long friends during my time at Coding Temple. I'll always look at the family that helped train me fondly.

I took full-time Python online course. It was high space learning and hard for me to follow. However, my classmates and night teacher helped me a lot.  My advice for future students is getting the basic knowledge of  languages, such as Python and Java Script. It will help you learn much smoothly with high-speed class. The best part of this course was my career coach, Marlene. She helped me finding a job after graduation. She was always gave me advice when I needed her help on time(like 24/7)!! I luckily got a job 2 months after graduation.  

Deciding on a Bootcamp wasn't easy, it took me some time to decide on which camp would help me make the career change. I ended up picking the Coding Temple because of the focus on projects and small class sizes.  I took the 10-week Python + Data Full-time course.  My instructor was super knowledgeable and provided such relevant industry knowledge and expertise. Joel showed that he cared about his students and wanted them to be successful. Joel did a great job of checking in with his students 1-1! The entire team was great at checking in and providing a lot of support throughout the program and post-graduation until you have been placed into a job position. 

Coding Temple was hands down one of the best decisions I have ever made. I think that everyone gets a little bit of hesitation before they sign up for a coding bootcamp. The typical "I don't know if this will work out, should I do this or get a degree?" - but let me tell you something. I have a job at Draft Kings now.

Could I have gone to college and get a full blown degree? Of course. But I would have been no less than $140k in the hole. Coding Temple was only $12k. And even then, I don't believe I would've gotten the same hands on experience that got me a job at one of the greatest sports companies out there.

This program is not for the weak. It's 10 weeks, accelerated, there's a lot of projects you have to do. You go in for 7 hours a day and come home with another 3-4 hours of homework. Coffee becomes your new best friend. At the end of the day, though, this solution worked best for me. I have 2 kids at home, and while being a Dad and going to college is possible, it's difficult. You'll never know what'll happen, and 10 weeks FT simply worked better.

Connor is an excellent instructor, a real salt of the Earth kind of guy, and he loves sports! We often chatted about the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB during break time while  playing ping pong, which he's very good at. So if you decide to take this course, that might be worth practicing too, haha.

Kirsten is a sweetheart, she checks up on you to see how you're doing before, during and after the course. Don't hesitate to ask her for help in your job search, or asking her to be a reference, she's more than happy to!

If you're looking to take a Coding Bootcamp in Boston, this is the one. 

I started the coding temple this past summer in the Python/Data Science full 10 week course. Prior to this I had no coding experience whatsoever, knew very little about anything to do with software development, and really could not tell you the difference between a mac and a windows. I started the class with Derek Hawkins as our instructor and he made it very easy to navigate through the course and learn the basics without getting overwhelmed. From then we delved into various harder concepts as we almost covered a language a week. This is where it is up to the student to decide how much he or she wants to get from the class as I truly believe if you put in the work you will be rewarded. If you try to take shortcuts and not complete the material and work on the projects on your own time you will fall behind and it is not easy to catch up. Towards the last few weeks of class, Ripal was of great assistance in helping with resume building, connections, and ultimately sending jobs that were good fits for us as students. He works for you until you successfully get a job and that I believe sets this coding experience different than the others. Everyone at the coding temple looks to help YOU and make sure you get the chances you deserve after putting in the time to learn the course material. I recently got an offer from a top financial client in which I am forever grateful for to the Coding Temple.

 

 

I knew that in order to advance my career I needed to add data science to my skillset to make myself more marketable and valuable . After spending 10 weeks at Coding Temple, I could not be more than happy with my decision.  Although temporarily leaving my job to advance my career was difficult, it was well worth it.  About 5 weeks after graduation I was able to get a new higher paying job that essentially would pay my investment in Coding Temple in 6 months.   Ripal was extremely helpful in getting my foot in the door with a few different companies that looked suitable for me.  Just having that piece of mind that someone is working to do everything they can to help you land your next job is worth it.   This curriculum moves very fast and at times it's very frustrating when you are stuck on a project, but figuring it out on your own or with one of your cohort classmates is very rewarding.  It feels like real world experience  Do not expect to take this class and for it to come easy.  I put in at least 15-20 hours a week after class during the last weeks for my capstone project.   Overall from my experience as someone looking to advance their career,  I couldn't recommend Coding Temple enough

I completed the .NET program at the Coding Temple in Chicago and was very pleased with my experience. It is a very demanding and quick moving program but well worth the investment. The technologies and languages I learned during this program made finding a job easier because they up to date with what is currently being used. The projects that we worked on, both individually and as a group, made an excellent portfolio, and our final project served to give me excellent experience working on a fullstack project. On top of the knowledge gained they also prepared me to find a job after the program. Through mock interviews, resume building, and bringing in recruiters and representatives from tech companies I felt that they really cared about helping all of us find employment after the program. Big thanks to Ripal in particular for this. All in all I think that this program is worth the investment of both time and money, and should definitely be considered by anyone who wants to change careers and needs a foot in the door,  or anyone who wants to get caught up in the field.