DigitalCrafts

Digital Crafts was recommended to me by an acquaintance who happens to be an executive at an IT staffing company. I had been looking to make a career change and get into the web development/IT for several years but didn't really know how to start the learning process. I come from a technical theater as well as a learning & development background and knew that having a classroom environment would be critical to my success. After looking at a few other options, I applied to DC. Their admissions process includes an "interview" (I don't know if anyone actually ever fails the interview since it felt more like an information session) with one of their staff. I met with Jake Hadden, one of the co-founders, so that was kind of cool. The second piece of the admissions process is a coding challenge. Now I'm going to be completely honest and say that this felt more like a challenge to find the best place to copy/paste the answers to the problems, but once in the class, I discovered that learning how to Google and find answers to your challenges is a big part of becoming a Developer. So I guess they are helping you down that road early, but it still felt weird. Once accepted, you select your cohort date from the available classes and are given prework to complete. Let me just sat, complete as much of the prework as you possibly can! Now, they do go over everything that the prework covers, but because the class moves so quickly, having a base knowledge prior to class really helps to keep you from getting too overwhelmed too quickly. But don't worry, you'll feel overwhelmed anyway!

I choose to start in March which ended up being when COVID-19 forced everyone to stay at home so my desired classroom would now be a virtual environment. As it turns out, my class ended up being the first to go completely virtual. Let me just say that although I was initially hesitant, the staff did an amazing job of pivoting to using video classes! Of course, we were the guinea pigs, but they, particularly our instructors and DIRs (more on that in a moment) did a fabulous job of providing a great experience in an everchanging environment. Utilizing Zoom with breakout rooms used for personal assistance outside of the main "classroom,"  there would be a lecture and demonstration that students would be able to personally follow along to. Then deeper exercises would be given for us to work on individually. If you hit a wall, the instructor or a DIR (Developer in Residence, basically teaching assistants who are previous students) will work with you individually to help you solve your issue.  Our instructor was Lachlan and he was/is amazingly skilled at his craft and if he doesn't know an answer, can find it pretty quickly and shows you his process for that as a learning experience. That's as it turns out what the whole class is about; it's not so much about learning a particular language, it's about learning to "think like a Developer" and teach yourself how to solve your problem. As the class went on, they were very receptive to feedback regarding how the class was going and things that would help. They even implemented some of our suggestions with the cohort that started while ours was getting toward its end.

The curriculum is intense and extremely fast-paced. Just know that you will feel like you are running away from a tsunami the entire class. You aren't alone. Give yourself some time after class to work on projects and utilize the resources of the DIRs and your instructor as much as possible. They want you to succeed and know you feel like you are barely treading water! Part of the curriculum is personal career prep with resume' writing and portfolio site creation help. In fact, you can't graduate until they see you have a workable set of resources to begin your job hunt. 

They are holding all of their classes online now, and the experience is great. If you want a great school with a wonderful support staff, Digital Crafts is a great place to start your journey.

I did a lot of research on different schools and coding bootcamps, I'm glad I settled with digitalcrafts. They are fully committed to assisting you along the journey of becoming a full stack developer and they do this in 16 weeks of coursework. The instructor is world-class the developers in residence wer wonderful and all the staff outside of the classroom we're beyond helpful. the amount of networking I have been able to do because of this school in such a short amount of time is unbelievable. I truly believe if you are around a campus you should definitely apply to go to the school, even if you aren't they offer it digitally. When I signed up it was for in-person Monday through Friday 9 to 5 however we all know the events going on in the world so that changed. With that said I am utterly amazed at their ability to structure a digital course out of what has always been in person with little to no notice at all. They pulled it off and I'm sure they had no planning for this I head of Time. Any school that can still deliver on their commitments after being thrown a blocker like that is a school worth going to. 

When I enrolled in the DigitalCrafts Flex Program, I was a little apprehensive because I was new to coding and currently employed. I was worried about the time that would be needed to learn the DigitalCrafts coding curriculum. After signing up and starting the program, I soon realized that my instructors and the DigitalCrafts staff gave me so much support that it made going to school and keeping my job relatively easy. I'm now a recent grad of the DigitalCrafts program and I am looking forward to using my new skills in coding to start a software design career. Well worth it! 

This is a difficult review to write, because COVID really wrecked things for everyone. I joined the immersive in-person cohort in Houston, and classes began at the end of March 2020. I learned a lot. I feel like I can really call myself a coder now, apply for positions, and contribute meaningfully toward projects. I am glad I went through this program. I made several friends and I am really a part of the developer community.

All that being said, so many things went wrong because of COVID. We could not attend classes in-person, which was about 80% of the reason I chose this bootcamp and quit my job to go with immersive. I wanted to be immersed! The building was modern and inspiring. I knew I needed that focus and that environment and the support of others. But because that didn't work out, we adapted. Instead, classes were held Monday-Friday on Zoom, with a lecture in the morning and exercises around noon. 

DigitalCrafts did an amazing job keeping us all informed leading up to the beginning of classes. An email was sent out several weeks beforehand explaining that classes were moving online temporarily, and we had the contact information of the campus Operations Manager and CEO. They killed it, really. As we got closer to the start date, they kept us informed and updated and the process of getting everything started in this unexpected and new format was handled really well. We were informed throughout the weeks when the expected return to in-person classes would be, and when that was delayed.

My instructor was, obviously, meant to teach an immersive cohort where we would be together for hours on end and learning. Their teaching style just didn't translate well to the Zoom format. It was really hard for me to code along with the lecture. Some people were able to manage it, but I could never do it. I would miss some words, a line of code, a switch to another file. This killed my progress. The lectures were recorded and I was able to watch them later in the evening (they were posted automatically around 5pm). I would watch the lecture and code along, pausing and rewinding, coding, pausing, rewinding, etc. We had two teaching assistants (called DIRs) the whole time, and they were great about answering questions while we worked on exercises in the afternoon. The instructor was always available to come into the Zoom breakout rooms and assist, as well.

I wish I felt like I could leave a higher star rating, because I know DigitalCrafts did a lot to work with the hot mess that has been the past few months. For the amount of money I took out as a private student loan, however, I just can't say that I feel I got my money's worth. I took the loan out expecting an in-person immersive experience, and I definitely did not get that.

My advice would be: if you're comfortable doing all online classes, then this is a good bootcamp and you will be happy with your coding skills after attending. Make sure you know your learning style and that it will be a good fit with online classes. I do not think the price for in-person immersive and online immersive should be the same. They are vastly different experiences. I'm not able to say how things would have gone differently had we be able to attend in-person, but I've talked with several former students and they all had very good experiences. The feedback I always got was how much the camaraderie made an impact on their experience. The bonding through mutual suffering (because you are going to go on a roller coaster of stress and happiness and accomplishment and frustration) is a big part of being in a cohort.  

If you are like me and need that in-person experience, I would advise you to wait until you feel safe going to in-person classes and then sign up for DigitalCrafts. I really wish things could have gone differently, but these 16 weeks have taught me so much about flexibility and perseverance. That has been a very valuable lesson in itself.

Prior to attending Digital Crafts, I had very little programming experience. You get what you put into it but for me it was worth every penny. I attended the from March until July 2020. 16 weeks is not a long time and I find that a bootcamp is best for structure, networking, building projects that will ultimately help you in landing a job. 
This program is not for thoroughly understanding algorithms, data structures or OOP concepts. It’s more hands-on getting you to build code rather than learning Computer Science concepts. 
Honestly, the material I learn at DC was not unique, I was told many times by different people that I could learn everything I learned at the cohort at home, which ironically due to the COVID-19 pandemic I did but through remote learning at Digital Crafts. 
The difference between self-learning online and attending Digital Crafts was structure, accountability and my fellow builders in the cohort. Assignments and projects have due dates, you must work in teams for projects and there is a sense of camaraderie. All these things kept me on track and responsible, an element that is missing from self-learning (depending on the person).  
Boot camps take a lot of commitment. If you’re thinking Digital Crafts does everything, they don’t. They give you tools to be successful; they offer you all the help you could want and more. Class starts at 9am but class does not end at 4pm. You must commit to reading, practicing and watch videos. Take other tutorials to find a way to understand what you have learned. Otherwise, you’re cheating yourself. 
Class is fast paced; you get 1-2 days on a topic and then you move on to the next. To be successful I would suggest using google and stack overflow, these will be invaluable as you go along in the cohort. 
The Instructor (Azam) was very personable and full of knowledge but he was also a real person. He let us know as developers you won't know everything; it's almost impossible to. You will experience Imposter Syndrome, and eventually you'll get over it. It's normal. 
Even today I'm still googling, still asking questions on Stack overflow and I'm researching new technologies. 
Digital Crafts will teach you how to code, how to interact with other developers and most importantly network. Something learning online for free can’t provide to you. 

As I write this, it has been 2 weeks since I completed the full-time onsite DigitalCrafts Full-Stack Immersion program so I am still in the process of reflecting on my experiences but I’ll do my best to share my current thoughts.  I recommend doing a lot of research and reading several reviews before committing to a boot camp or other educational platform so that you ensure you’ll get the most out of the learning experience. 

Tuition 

While software developer boot camps cost can vary widely, DigitalCrafts Full-Stack Immersion program seems to be competitive with other boot camps that are full-time. I attended the Houston, TX onsite program which had the benefit of an instructor, a couple of classroom DiRs (Developer in Residences who assisted the instructor and students) and I got to learn along with classmates from many different backgrounds. 

Veterans 

For military veterans, the VA has approved DigitalCrafts for VET TEC.  VET TEC is a government program that funds veteran job training in technology fields.  VET TEC does not subtract from your GI BILL but you are required to be GI Bill eligible to qualify for the VET TEC program. VET TEC covers the cost of tuition plus allots the veteran a monthly stipend for housing during the course of the program. Check out this link to learn more about VET TEC https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/how-to-use-benefits/vettec-high-tech-program/. 

Instructors 

Each class has a dedicated instructor who will be with you throughout your boot camp. The DiRs are former Digital Craft graduates who are very knowledgeable, helpful and understand what it means to go through a boot camp so their assistance is inviable to the classroom.  My instructor Veronica is a former NASA engineer who has many years of being a software developer which allows her to draw upon her experiences. She is also able to speak about how coding is always evolving. She goes above and beyond when it comes to helping her students set themselves up for not only classroom success but for real-world success as well. She covers the course requirements but also covers material that will help you stand out among other new software developer job seekers.       

Learning Environment 

If you’ve never heard of the expression, “It is like drinking from a fire hydrant.” well you have now and that is what Digital Crafts Full-Stack Immersion program is like. It is a boot camp in every sense of the word.  You will wake up with coding on the mind, spend the day learning and practicing coding fundamentals, your evenings & weekends will be filled with coding homework, going over notes, rewrite notes, watching coding videos, speaking with your classmates, etc. 

I thought I knew what I was getting myself into but “Oh My God!” it was that and then some.  I know everyone's experiences will be different, but for me almost every moment of every day for the entire 16-week course I was consumed by coding.  With hindsight, I would have come into the course better prepared. There are lots of good free and low-cost coding tutorials and courses online. Being exposed to basic Command Line, Git/GitHub, Python, and JavaScript concepts would have been a saving grace because the immersion program covers a lot of information in a very short amount of time and all that information builds upon itself.  It is like being thrown in the deep part of the pool.  Sure, there are lifeguards around but having floaties on and the ability to doggie paddle are nice backups to have. 

Learning Onsite (The Cannon Campus) vs Learning Online 

My class cohort started in early January so we got the benefit of starting out in classrooms which for those who like to learn in person like myself, was great. 

Having access to the teachers, aides, and staff in real-time is really nice. Being able to get to know your classmates in a classroom environment is something that is hard to duplicate with an online-only class. A typical DigitalCrafts day started at 9 am and ended at 4 pm. The days themselves were a mix of lecture, note-taking, coding along with the instructor on your laptop, practical application, individual and team projects, along with an hour lunch break and several small breaks throughout the day. 

The campus on which DigitalCrafts is located is made up of several businesses. The main building where the classrooms are located in Houston is called The Cannon https://thecannon.com/. If you’re like me and pictured working in a place that is made up of collaborative workspaces, glass-walled offices, gaming areas, free food and drink, and overall has a cool innovative feel to it, well my friend The Cannon is the place to be.  An amazing bonus of our classrooms being located at The Cannon is that you get exposed to companies who are either based out of The Cannon or have satellite offices located there.  These companies are known to hire DigitalCrafts alumni, some of which got offers before they even completed the immersion course.  

Once the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, DigitalCrafts switched our onsite learning to online learning. While this took several days for everyone to adjust, in the end, it worked out well. Why I personally think that the biggest advantages that DigitalCrafts has over other boot camps are its instructors, DiRs, students being able to learn in a classroom and being exposed daily to companies who need software developers, overall DigitalCrafts adjusted well to a situation that no one anticipated needing to make when the class original started.  

Course Work 

As a reminder, I’m very new to coding but DigitalCrafts curriculum seems to be pretty well thought out and it looks to cover the popular software that companies, where DigitalCrafts are located, are looking for when bringing in new software developers.  

I researched several boot camps in my area and they all seem to have a slightly different mix of software being covered. I highly recommend that you do your research to make sure you are learning something that will be useful in the present and future job markets. 

Areas To Improve Upon 

This could be something that DigitalCrafts is in the process of working on since everyone had to adjust to the new Covid-19 world that we all find ourselves in but DigitalCrafts need more video content that students can reference. Once an instructor has covered a topic, a pre-recorded, edited version of that day’s topics, with resource links, zip files, etc... should be easily accessible to the student. While I feel that nothing can truly replace an actual instructor that students can learn from in real time, resources like these would be extremely helpful for students to refer to over lunch breaks, after school hours, on weekends, etc. 

“It’s not a race” is something that I thought of often while sitting in class as information was being disseminated at my classmates and me at what felt like ludicrous speed. While there is a lot of information to be covered in a relatively short amount of time, going at a pace where students know that there will be pausing for note-taking, troubleshooting, etc... will lessen the likely hood that students have to battle between note-taking (and possibly getting behind on what the instructor is coding), following along with the code (and getting behind on note-taking) or troubleshooting a random error (and falling behind on both note-taking and whatever the instructor is covering). Students need notes to refer to later. They also need to follow along with the lecture and code that is being presented. Allowing students time to do both helps everyone.  Students will absorb information better and instructors will spend less time reteaching information that was already covered. 

Final Thoughts 

I recommend attending DigitalCrafts Full-Stack Immersion program. The instructors are knowable, they care about the well being of their students and want them to be successful.  The information being covered is UpToDate and in demand. The tuition is reasonable when compared to other full-time full-stack programs. The office staff is active and works for your success. The alumni are extremely active and the school is all about networking and leveraging those connections when it comes to getting you exposed to companies that are hiring. DigitalCrafts seems to be willing to adapt so that it is offering prospective, current, and former students a product that has great value. If you prepare yourself for the workload, don’t give up no matter what and be willing to learn, you will make it through the immersion program.  Companies value DigitalCrafts students as evident by how many former DigitalCrafts students are current software developers and engineers.  

I hope this writeup and review helps. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about what it was like going to DigitalCrafts. Stay learning, flexible in thought, and Semper Fi! 

Sean - 

Let me start off by saying that everything you read online about bootcamps comes from personal experiences and does not reflect your experience. 

This is my experience with DigitalCrafts in Houston.

I came from the business world where you have to always be 2 steps ahead. Development requires extensive attention to detail and you always have to be in the now. Veronica our instructor taught us to not only code as developers but to think, act and reason as developers. 

All of the DigitalCrafts staff are here for the students and the connections that are built between current students, alumni and the staff is far better than I've seen in other sectors. The instructors are all professionals. There was never a moment that I felt I couldn't ask a question from an instructor even if they had no affiliation with my cohort. Josh helped my team on our capstone project extensively ,as we developed with Angular and that is his area of expertise. However, there are only a certain few individuals that we cross paths with that make an impression on us that lasts forever . Veronica is one of the few for me. So if you're looking to start .. wait for her. (My only bias statement). 

I've had mentors, professors and bosses who I learned from and to this day use those lessons in my everyday life. Veronica leaves no rock unturned no question unanswered. From the moment you walk into that classroom nervous and anxious on day one she accepts you for who you are and you are her child until the moment you graduate where she has to let you spread your wings and roam free because she knows that your able to succeed.

My class started in the classroom but ended in quarentine. I will say that it is much harder to learn online than it is in class. Not only do you feel like a programmer in class. DC in The Cannon make you feel like you're on the set of silicon Valley. Between all the start up, the complimentary redbulls and lunches. It definitely feels different from other careers. 

The experience is incredible,  the work is hard but nothing worth while is easy. 

Digital Crafts will not make you the next Zuckerberg, You will still be you. What DC will do for you is help you build a foundation of knowledge that you can build on top of to be the next BEST YOU.

Thank you DC