Epicodus

Why did I go

I decided to attend Epicodus in order to switch from game development to web development. I had done some entry level learning myself prior to attending, and wanted a structured, fast-paced experience to capstone my transition. I attended prior to the new structure (there was no intro class), so I had to demonstrate basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript understanding in order to be accepted. The application and interview process was a breeze, and they put a lot of emphasis on making sure I was the right kind of person for their program, not just capable of graduating.

 

Format & logistics

The biggest attribute that set Epicodus apart for me was the pair programming aspect. As an extrovert and social learner, this was perfect for my learning style. I was also seeking an all-consuming experience so I could really inundate myself with the subject matter, and Epicodus provided just that. As long as I was willing to show up to class ready to build every day, they were there to ensure that I had the resources and guidance to grow.

The program was also much more affordable than other offerings, and there was a huge emphasis on economic and social accessibility at the school. This led to a very diverse group of peers, which I greatly enjoyed working with every day.

 

Coursework

The coursework was constantly growing and adapting to industry trends. They realized that their job was to produce work-ready junior developers, and they stayed as current as possible with tools and technology in order to do so. Feedback channels were front and center, and any parts of the coursework that were confusing or broken were addressed overnight, if not the same day.

The day-to-day emphasis was on building things constantly. If you’re looking to get your hands dirty and build, build, build, then this is where you want to be. Everything from multiple small projects a day, to multi-day efforts, to large group collaborations, to solo portfolio items, there was always a task at hand.

 

Staff & instructors

I couldn’t have known beforehand, but the staff and instructors at Epicodus were by far the school’s greatest strength (Shout out to Mike and Courtney!). Every single person working there had a passion for the success of the students, and not just in a “this keeps me employed” kind of way. They could charge a LOT more for the quality of education there, and they could certainly make more money working for one of those $10,000+ programs. These are people who care deeply about helping people change their lives. Whenever they’d hear about a former student getting hired, they would light up in a way that was telling of people who genuinely care about the welfare of others.

 

Internship

I had a somewhat unique opportunity to intern with Epicodus right after finishing the coursework. I don’t believe this is possible anymore, but it’s still something I want to bring up because of what I learned about the school through the experience. My passion and professional interest lies in the realm of tech education, so the opportunity was exactly what I was looking for. I got familiar with the technological, logistical, and financial realities of operating a bootcamp, and I emerged with even more respect for the people that worked there. Even behind closed doors, discussions were about student success and how proud they were of everyone. I was constantly delighted by how much the staff cared about the students’ growth and success.

I emerged from the internship with a number of open source portfolio entries and an invaluable experience in the field I wanted to make my career out of.

 

You should go if:

• You enjoy working with others and meeting new people.

• You’re ready to be consumed by the experience. They mean it when they say full-time.

• You’re ready to meet them halfway and bring determination and discipline to the table.

• You understand that their main goal is to teach you how to learn.

• You’ve got the stamina and desire to build all day every day for months on end.

 

You should not go if:

• You’re introverted or shy to the point that working with others sounds awful and scary.

• You’re distracted by other aspects of your life that might make you miss class often.

• You’re unsure of your interest in web development, and this is true of ANY bootcamp.

• You’re more interested in theory and computer science subjects than work-related skills.

 

I can't say enough about Epicodus. I shopped around a fair amount for other boot camps before commiting and truly believe I made the right decision. The atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming to people of all walks of life and I'm happy to have such a diverse network of fellow programmers now. The location was perfect as well, right in downtown Portland so we were in easy striking distance to lots of tech meetups. We also had lots of speakers from nearby tech companies come in and speak about various topics.

But the most notable thing to me is that Michael (the founder) actually believes in this as a cause and is not in it purely for the money. He could be charging triple what he charges but wants to keep the costs low so it's accessible to everyone. I believed him when he said he wanted to lower prices even more. I actually had a unique experience in that I attended Epicodus twice, the second time for free! (Sorry, that was just a temporary offer to recent graduates to fill spots where people had dropped out). But it highlighted the fact that this is a unique company not all about making money.

The only thing I would be sure to think about though is if you really want to be a programmer. Epicodus has a very well designed curriculum but if you don't have a passion for learning the craft, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. But if you're dedicated and like learning in a friendly environment, believe me, your portfolio will have some shiny stuff to be proud of in it by the time you're done and you'll end up a happy developer like me!

Hi, I am very glad to have attended Epicodus. It was affordable for me and I liked what I had read and heard through my research. I moved sight unseen to the city and was happy with the location and school.    We had daily stand ups, pair programming, projects and internships. The school curriculum changes through each iteration/cohort but its changing for the better as they work out kinks from student feedback. They are also growing and adding more courses.  For example, part time classes versus full time or courses broken into 5 weeks so you can mix and match rather than follow one specific track.    After my time at Epicodus, I worked with a wonderful company as an intern and short term employee. Many different things spawned from my experience. I started learning pentesting and got certifications in that, so that I could code more securely and become more cyber aware -- especially since there is news of breeches all the time. I moved abroad and randomly had an idea for a start up.  I was accepted to a startup pre-accelerator and just completed that one. I also just finished a small crowdfunding round. Linkedin's Cofounder and Women who code CEO contributed! It was a small amount but hey, at least they know who I am.    My path was to work in a tech company, not start one. But I am much more creative now so I have a bunch of ideas for applications these days. Even if nothing works out, I have offers to work as a developer.    Code - Job - Startup: You have options. Epicodus can prepare you for the basics and the rest is up to you so be prepared to focus, work hard and put your energy 100% to make things happen. Also be prepared to move. Don't just look to only work in the location of the school if possible. 

I loved Epicodus, I think it is a great way for beginners to learn how to code. 

That being said, potential students should make sure that they really, really want to code for a living, or whatever their goal is for attending Epicodus. Epicodus will give you everything you need to succeed as a programmer, but you really have to go for it!

The only reason I didn't give their curriculum 5 stars is because they fell down a bit during the Ember.js portion of my course (the old, 15-week set of courses they used to do). Other than that the Ruby/Rails curriculum was accurate and helpful.

Epicodus really worked out for me. That and some "hard work."

I came to Epicodus with a goal in mind, get a job coding. I didn’t care what I was coding, what the salary was, or where it was I did this hypothetical coding. I just wanted to break free from my backup career in market research. I had motivation.

I studied every lesson, everynight that it was assigned. I would come home, eat, study, and sleep eight hours. There were nights off but those were when the assignments were done. Celebration was on hold until I could prove I could get my first job offer.

The course was a good fit for me. The pair programming forces you to work with different learning styles, and some work better than others. Even the garbage days held lessons. Most days were with people I wouldn’t have sought out and working with them helped in ways I didn’t expect. These interactions often led to surprise friendships, and the network I have now is nuts.

The syllabus was challenging enough that I could take on a new concept, drill on it a couple times, and then build on top of it. This is the same syllabus that led to my eventual job.

Job Story:

First off, I was lucky enough to land the internship I really wanted. I landed at a Ruby shop in Vancouver WA and it was wonderful. It wasn’t as good as others and it wasn’t nearly as bad as a select few. I would have been happy anywhere that had taken the time to teach me some coding lessons like mine did.

Leading up to our course completion, we started working on portfolio projects. These are supposed to be something you think is cool and will spend enough time to actually be cool to other people. I made a social site for hiring programmers. It had complex object relationships and functions and only looked okay. I spent a few weeks on it but really only finished the main parts that made it make sense and made me happy to present to friends.

This project was going to be presented at a reverse job fair, where students could show off a portfolio piece to roaming employers and give out some cards (get some cards, FYI). It was here that I met a bunch of companies and pitched my project as well as I could. I felt good but I didn’t get my hopes up.

In my free time I was sending out tons of resumes and cover letters. I was particularly fond of Angellist, I applied to over 160 Ruby related jobs all over the country. I was getting interviews ~2+ per week. I never held out hope for any one company, I just kept applying. I wanted the company that wanted me, wishing was not the key.

It was a week after the project presentation that I received an email from Daimler, to interview for a job working in Python and Java, two languages I knew nothing about. The project lead saw that we (Epicodus students) knew the basics in programming and could obviously pick up new languages and tools quickly, so he wasn’t concerned. Six Epicodus students were emailed to interview for the position. This was the job I wound up getting.

Today I work in an office doing work I never imagined I would ever have the opportunity to do. My team is full of kind and smart programmers and engineers that have completely taken me in. The work isn’t easy per se but it’s coding, and that’s exactly what I wanted.

New Student Advice:

I recommend taking a surface deep approach to the lessons at Epicodus. Going too deep or going off track was a common fuck-up when pairing and it only led to heartache. Epicodus lessons are broken up in the following way (as of my attendance late 2015): homework -> morning warmup -> creative implementation. Here’s what you should do:

1. Follow along in the homework. Actually do it that night, just follow along with the video, don’t think much about it. Do the homework.

2. Follow the instructions the next day. You will likely start with implementing the homework from the night before. Just go along with the lesson as it’s printed, this is the warm up, don’t skip it.

3. NOW YOU CAN GET CREATIVE. After the homework implementation, you’re given an assignment that implements the concepts you just studied/practiced in a new form. This is where you really learn. You can do it how you want (but you will likely really want the information you just learned).

Finally, don’t get lost in front-end minutia, unless that’s the lesson or you’re done with the day’s assignment. This is the design rabbit hole. It’s deep and you’re new, take it easy.

When you’re about halfway done with your studies at Epicodus, take some steps to make your job search life easier.

1. Make a portfolio. Mine is hosted on GitHub Pages for free, using Jekyll, with a template. You do not need a hand-built site if you’re not a front-end developer, just get one up that looks good and be done with it.

2. Get your LinkedIn in order. Follow the guide on Epicodus in this regard, it paid off for me.

3. Get your Resume put together. One page. No references to jobs that have nothing to do with coding. One page. Write it like some great code, short and effective. One page.

4. Get a decent cover letter together. You do not need a custom cover letter for every job, you just need some parts to be custom. I have background information that doesn’t change in my cover letters, you can do the same thing.

5. The above will take you very far in the general arena of job hunting. Angejlist also allows for sending notes and if you go there, I recommend that you send them. Treat these like micro-cover letters. Get a general template that you can alter some spots and hammer those out. Make sure your Angejlist profile is complete though, just like your LinkedIn.

About a year ago, I didn't know the first thing about coding - but I wanted to. I started Epicodus in January, this past year, and spent 4 months learning everything I could. The program is not only completely affordable, but also, completely prepared me for my new career - even though I didn't really trust that on the first day of my internship. At first I thought I had mostly learned that there were infinite technologies I had not learned. Once I got started, I realized that my teachers had been right all along - what technology you know, isn't half as important as what technology you can learn. And that is where Epicodus excels! The program hops from tech to tech, and all the while, builds a solid understanding of how to program, how to pick up languages quickly, how to work with pairs and teams, and how to navigate the tech scene. The instructors are super supportive, and in all likelihood - your classmates will be too. This is the best school if you need to go from 0 to coder, or if you need a great refresher course. If you just want to learn one language really deeply... build something in it, cause code school is probably not for you.

I loved my time at Epicodus. Being new to programming, I relied on my instructor for help, and she went out of her way to assist me whenever I needed help. I enjoyed the pair programming learning style, good for students who talk their way through challenging code - and found the curriculum to be relevant to industry demand. After I finished Epicodus, I got a chance to intern at a web agency where I participated in a team sprint and worked alongside senior developers. Epicodus continues to help students after they graduate- while applying for jobs, I got regular assistance with my cover letters and resumes, job leads, and help with interviews and salary negotiation. One of the most helpful things to my web development career has been the Epicodus alumni network, which I still keep in touch with. We formed close friendships during our time in class, and we continue to get together often at meet ups and to catch up with each other. I would recommend Epicodus to anyone wishing to start their web development career; it is an excellent investment and also a lot of fun!

TL;DR: Epicodus was a fantastic experience for me, and I would wholeheartedly recommend the program to anyone looking to learn how to code, up their skills, and/or make a career change.

I came to Epicodus mainly in order to change careers. I'd always liked programming but hadn't been able to study computer science formally in the past. I was on another career path entirely, but hating it the deeper in I got. A year ago, I decided to take a chance and pursue  programming and software engineering on a 'non-traditional' path. I was certainly impressed initially with Epicodus's very affordable tuition and payment plan options, but wondered if the quality of the program could truly be so high for such an affordable price.

After completing the program, I can definitely say that the quality of the curriculum and teaching was great overall. I also feel that the school makes a genuine effort to foster diversity in the program and bring in students from a variety of backgrounds, which was awesome. My class of 30 students was nearly half female, had several students who were visible minorities, and several who were non-visible minorities, including myself. There was also diversity in the ages of the students; I would estimate that the range of my class was early 20s to mid 40s, which was also a great asset.

In addition to the great curriculum and classmates, the Epicodus internship program is an especially strong and unique aspect of the school. Epicodus has worked hard to make strong partnerships with companies that can provide real-world programming experience. In my case, I was especially fortunate. Only seven months ago, I had pretty much zero professional programming experience and knew only very basic HTML, CSS, and the tiniest amount of JavaScript. After three months of (intensive!) full-time study at Epicodus, I began my internship. And after four months as a full-time intern, I'm about to transition into a salaried, full-time software developer position at my company. I've certainly had a good deal of luck, and this is not the experience of every Epicodus grad, but I definitely feel that Epicodus has been a great springboard to opportunity for every member of my cohort. I really can't overstate how happy I am that I took the leap and that I chose Epicodus. There's no way I'd be where I am without the curriculum, support, and connections that the program provides, and the tuition is more than reasonable for all the benefits that come with enrolling. Do it!!

You will find a new passionate at Epicodus like hundred students have done. This fantastic course just takes 4 months but give you all necessary background and sharp tools to jump into the coding market. After the course, they will help you going through processes of preparing for interviews, joining an internship and then finding a job. Epicodus is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I started the course without any coding experience. I was overwhelmed at first 2 weeks but then I fell in love with coding quickly. Their lessons are easy to learn and upgrade my coding skills by days. 

I definitely introduce Epicodus to friends who are looking for a place to start a new great path.

Attending Epicodus has been a pivotal experience in my life. I had the time of my life: learning to program, getting to know my wonderful classmates, and having great support from the people who work there, but it wasn't a walk in the park. There were times I found it difficult struggling with new material every day, over the course of four months. However, by following the instructions in class, doing the homework, and ask my classmates for help, I have come out the other side with more than I ever thought I could learn.   In class, we learned some of the industry's tools and techniques. The prominent of these was pair programming, programming with a partner. At times, it was the most challenging and rewarding way to program. Learning from each other and helping each other every day has made everyone a better programmer. By programming with others, I have built relationships that will last the rest of my career, too.    After my class ended, Epicodus offer lots of help for finding jobs and practice for nailing interviews. I have never felt so prepared for an interview as I do now. It has been over a month out from our internships and most everyone from my class has a great job. I, myself, have had several promising leads and am currently expecting to receive an awesome opportunity with a great company by the end of this week.    I truly feel lucky to have been a part of Epicodus and I would recommend it to my friends, family and anyone else looking for a positive, supportive place to make a big change in their life.

My experience at Epicodus was great, it’s one of the best decisions of my life. I came in with a few tutorials and online classes in Javascript and Python and a foundation in HTML and CSS, by no means hirable at that point. Epicodus was the only bootcamp I could afford, and I did my research and found a lot of happy alumni, so I saved up working as a server and signed up for the Spring 2015 Ruby/Rails class. Once I got there I worked like a maniac and learned a ton. If I was confused or wanted to learn more, I did that here and there on the weekends (I wouldn’t recommend working a job if you can help it). I ended up with a good internship and 3 job offers (1 from my internship and 2 of them from the job fair). I prepared to be out of work a few months after just in case, because Epicodus doesn’t get you the job, what they do well is teach you a ton, make you hirable a LOT faster, and give you some connections from job fairs, talks, and sometimes internships. The teachers are past students so they’re great support, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always have the answer, and that’s just fine because a ton of what you learn when you code is on your own or with your peers. Michael, the owner, does a great job keeping Epicodus affordable and diverse, and I’m grateful he started Epicodus because I had a job as a junior web developer within a month and I’m loving my work for the first time in my life.