Flatiron School

It's an amazing time to work in tech, but this journey is not for those not willing to fall down repeatedly and get right back up. I joined Flatiron's web development immersive in its early stages (3rd session in summer of 2013) and it was an intense experience of gaining the superpower to build anything with code.

What Flatiron gives you is a chance to focus all your energy for 12 weeks in learning and building as much as you can, with individuals who are as talented, diverse, ambitious, multi-skilled, and crazy as you are.

It is really this new model of immersive and collaborative learning that will drive you up the rather steep hill that is going from not being able to write a "for loop" to building whole applications, together with your peers.

It was about at the 8 week mark of 12 weeks where for me everything coalesced and I started to see much further in terms of what I could do with code, with Ruby on Rails. In that next week, my team and I built BikeWithFriends, a CitiBike gamification web app that won Hack of the Month at the NY Tech Meetup in August 2013, which we got to present to a crowd of over +800, and we were still coding students.

Since then, I've worked at Huge, an awesome digital agency in DUMBO with amazing people. Now I am looking forward to my new journey at Spotify in 2017, which will marry my longstanding passion for music with my growing skills in technology.

I think to succeed in the field of web development in 2017 is to learn to think like an engineer where your domain is technology and your tools are your programming languages, your development environment, and the knowledge base of your peers and the wider tech community.

Flatiron for me was only a jumping off point, and you will only see your abilities and knowledge double every few months for the first few years as you start working professionally. It's really about building up core skills in programming and continuing to become more sophisticated and refined as you go along. 

The best thing is that a good employer will expect that you are coming in with junior programming skills and will give you space and time to grow and mature. Like any other meaningful endeavor, there is no magic bullet. Time and energy/effort will result in increasing skills, which will make you a more valuable team member until you can start mentoring and leading teams/projects all on your own. 

I think it does help to do as much pre-work as you can, especially if you don't come from a tech background. Particularly knowing whether spending a lot of time staring at the computer screen deciphering where your code went wrong (and what your machine is trying to tell you) is something you can put up with and even enjoy day in and day out. 

Great troubleshooting skills is really what determines how much longevity you will have in this field in my opinion. Always review how you and your peers fix issues and code errors. That will be the difference between finishing your work on time and being able to help your teammates or getting increasingly frustrated and falling behind, eventually becoming a liability on your project. 

Also, the program is structured in such a way that each week builds upon the previous week's material. Make sure even if you don't 100% understand why the material is necessary that you can still get through the exercises on your own starting from scratch aka "the blank screen". I definitely realized I was out of my depth understanding some aspects of Object Oriented Programming in the early weeks and just did the exercise over and over again until I could get through the entire thing without referencing another team's solution. The understanding came in pieces and formed a whole eventually, but building the intuition and "muscle memory" of what I was doing was key in getting there.

Practice writing all your coding basics like looping through and getting data in and out of arrays and hashes so that stuff doesn't bog you down when you're doing the really important stuff, like designing an algorithm to count the frequency of any word in the text of Moby Dick. Speed and accuracy does kind of matter here. It would be like trying to learn algebra/trigonometry when you have trouble with basic addition/subtraction/multiplication/division. 

Flatiron was the best program I believe when I started (curriculum, instructors, job interview and placement help) and has only gotten more refined as time goes on. Listen to your teachers, take the advice of your career advisors, don't get too overwhelmed by the job interview and placement portion of the program or your salary. It's a long journey to be an excellent developer/engineer. Any opportunity to learn and grow will be a good one and be in it for the long haul. It's an awesome time to be in tech.

Back in 2013, I nervously left my job to join the 4th class at Flatiron School. I'd met a few alumni and the interview process gave me confidence in the decision, but it was still a big move. From the very first day of class, I knew I'd made one of the best decisions of my life.

I'd done a little programming on the side before attending, but the amount I learned in the first few days along put all of that to shame. The instruction was incredible, and it was amazing to see how quickly everybody in the class was able to start building really amazing things. Everybody had an intense curiosity, and pushed one another to stretch what we were learning and dig deeper into the material we were covering.

Speaking of which, perhaps the best part of Flatiron School was the wonderful group of people I got to learn with. Every single person in the class was passionate about learning how to code, and I'm so happy to say I made life-long friends while taking this journey together.

Flatiron School is an inclusive, passionate community that I'm extremely proud to be a part of. If you're considering taking the plunge like I did, you can do no better than Flatiron!

Going to Flatiron was the best education I received and most life changing experiences I've had to date! 

Prior to attending Flatiron, I was a marketing manager at a not-for-profit. Knowing that I wanted to make a career change and interest of diversifying the tech space, I was beyond fortunate to have my organization's support when they sponsored me to attend Flatiron. In addition to sponsoring me, upon return, I would come back full time as a jr. software engineer! 

Now being back at my organization, my life as a jr. dev is the most fulfilling and enjoyable work I've ever done in my life. I love my life as a jr. dev and am excited for what the future holds - all opportunities I would never have dreamed of without attending the Flatiron School!

While at Flatiron, I was inspired by not only the instructors and quality of education, but also by the community at large. I couldn't have imagined a better community and atmosphere to learn such difficult material - everyone was like a family and so encouraging. I really felt the mentality that we were 'in it together' - which is so important when going through such an intense course. There were so many resources available when I felt stuck - both emotionally and academically. I loved the focus not only on learning code, but building and maintaining such a nurturing, challenging, and supportive community that pushed you to be the best programmer AND person. I learned so much not only about web development but about myself as well.

I went through the Web Development Immersive at the Flatiron School in the summer of 2014. It was a fantastic experience that I have recommended to friends and family.

The course prepared me for my software engineering career in two big ways:

1. It helped me learn enough about web development to get my foot in the door at my first junior dev job.
2. It helped me understand how to continue to grow my knowledge of software development and computer science as my career progressed well beyond graduation.

I strongly recommend the Flatiron School for anyone serious about switching careers to web development.

Flatiron School literally saved my life. I was floundering around in the music industry going from gig to gig wondering would I would do for the rest of my life. 

After a friend suggested coding, I began researching bootcamp programs and quickly came to the conclusion that easiest slam-dunk would be the Flatiron School.

Within 8 days of graduating I was hired as a developer at a prominent tech company in New York and my career prospects seem great. 

There are four main components that really distinguished my experience:

Classmates
My cohort was filled with people who were there to work hard, be supportive and encouraging, and learn as much as they could. I learned with some phenomenally smart and creative people. Don't underestimate this experience - you need a strong support group when going through Flatiron. 

Most of my classmates would agree that each student got out what they put in. Flatiron will do the best they can to guide you, but it is not handed on a silver platter. You have to do the work.

Curriculum
Flatiron's web-development course is a well thought out introduction to coding for the internet. While the course is based around Rails, now that I'm employed I realize that Rails - like every technology we use - is just a tool for getting a job done. Flatiron places great emphasis on teaching concepts, not just the tools. My job is 100% javascript but it doesn't matter - they taught me the basic concepts about programming, the internet, and problem solving I needed to get my job and succeed as an early developer.

I gave this category 4 stars instead of 5, as my course did not go over any front end frameworks besides jQuery. But fear not! Front end has become a much bigger part of the curriculum.

Teachers
I'll simply say that the instructors were knowledgable and helpful. They really want to make sure you are getting the help you need. Towards the end things shift and they start to take the training wheels off and start helping you to figure things out on your own. A really valuable skill in the workplace.

Placements Team
The job placements team is professional and tireless. Between the placements team and my own networking, I had something like 7 interviews my first week after Flatiron. Beyond that, the placements program does a great job of preparing you for interviews - mock cultural and tech interviews, alumni panels, student profile pages, and individual support as you go through connecting with companies down to negotiating an offer. The help the gave to so many of my classmates is almost worth the tuition by itself.

Summary
For those considering a bootcamp, I have to reiterate - getting into Flatiron is not a golden ticket. It worked for me and most if not all of my cohort, but I worked harder at it than I had anything in my life that I can remember. They will give you the tools you need to succeed, but part of the reason their track record is good is because they select people willing to give 100%. They've created this atmosphere of people pushing themselves and each other to be better. If you're serious about changing your life and becoming a developer, Flatiron is an excellent way to go.

I just recently graduated from the Web Development Immersive course and will start searching for jobs soon. Overall attending Flatiron School was one of the best decisions I've made, based on:

1. Top notch curriculum, and labs that help you learn the material

2. Classmates are all great people who challenge you to bring your A-game every day

3. Career Services pros who know what they are doing and generous with their time and expertise

I feel like I'm in a good place after graduation, and can keep learning on my own. :) Overall coming to Flatiron was a great decision!

I was in the first batch of iOS dev program at Flatiron. I came from an engineering background, but had no prior experience in programming. By the end of the program, I was making iOS apps and shortly after that, I had a job as an iOS developer in a startup. Joe was an amazing instructor. We had people with different levels of programming experience in our group, and he handled that really well. I got my first job through Flatiron School. They help with interview prep, putting students in touch with companies and career advice in general. Infact, I recently moved to another company and they helped me in the interview process this time too! The folks at Flatiron school are doing a great job and I hope a lot more people benefit from the program like I did. 

I attended Flatiron School in its 3rd cohort and went on to build a successful startup as its technical co-founder. 

Flatiron School was instrumental to my success. 

Here's what I learned at Flatiron School that is unique and valuable:

1. Coding is fun -- I learned programming in Flatiron's social environment -- where people get excited about what they're doing -- and work together through thick and thin
2. Being a great programmer is building the right thing -- put aside the anxiety that other people can code faster and better. Truly great programmers understand what they're building and build the right thing. Flatiron emphasizes this through teamwork.
3. Perseverance -- solving difficult problems is what programmers do. Flatiron fosters an environment where you can fail safely and learn from that failure.
4. Self-love -- remember what you struggled with 4 weeks ago. We're always growing as programmers, and Flatiron does well at reminding students of this truth.
5. Get it done -- there's some intense timelines for major projects at Flatiron, but they ease you into it by having you deliver projects from Day 1. This builds confidence and teaches focus.
6. Getting help -- you develop friendships with peers and also mentor relationships with instructors. These are people you can go to as you keep learning and growing after bootcamp.
7. Getting a Job -- Flatiron taught me how to constantly learn programming skills on my own and present myself to employers so they hire me. Yep, I got my first job through Flatiron's career services.

I loved the Flatiron School experience, would do it again.

I graduated from the Web Immersive in December 2015 (web-0915). After finishing the program, I went on to help teach the online program at Flatiron School. Even though I currently work at Flatiron, I will still try and give my honest review of the program. 

Before starting at Flatiron I was working as a mechanical engineer and had no solid programing experience. I had followed along some programing tutorials for iOS and Android apps as well as gone through some short online programs for Ruby. I knew I was looking to make a complete career change and I was really looking to start from a beginner level. 

Flatiron School caught my eye for two main reasons, their focus on team work and their excellent jobs report allowing students to get a job after a short 3 month program. For me, the Flatiron School experience completely lived up to what I was expecting and looking for. 

The pre-work that is required before the course allows the students and instructors to start on day 1 with a bunch of basic concepts covered and with everyone on the same page. This really helps the accelerated learning process. Throughout the course, the instructors really impressed upon us the importance of working together and trying to find solutions on our own while also being there to support us when we needed it. I spent a bunch of time pair programing with other students which really exposed me to a variety of different ways to solve the same problem. This mindset has been really helpful since leaving the program when I need to carry on the learning process on my own. 

The curriculum was presented in a way that I learned how to build important tools such as Active Record and Rails before I actually got to use the tools. This gave me a much deeper understanding of them and a better idea of where to look when things break (and things always break). 

Even though I ultimately ended up coming to work for Flatiron, the Career Services department did a great job and helping me make sure I was job hunt ready. They also helped show me the tools I needed to open up various job opportunities (places to look, how to spend my time, how to leverage my network...).

All in all I felt this was an excellent experience and I couldn't have asked for anything better. 

I could not ask for a better experience. The teachers are knowledgeable and supportive. They really do care about your success. Students who didn't feel like they were keeping up with the pace of the curriculum were given extra time to go over the material at their speed after the graduation. Career center and student support are very helpful and always available. The only thing that I didn't enjoy was feelings Fridays. But it did help many other students I think. Anyway, Flatiron school is so awesome I got a tattoo of its logo

Flatiron School is a perfect amalgamation of skillful staff and course work along with the most effective and supporting community of developers. I graduated the iOS development program in May 2015 and the was immediately able to start my career as a software developer specializing in iOS. The Teachers and TAs were awesome and the Business Development team was extremely helpful in the process of introduction with hiring companies.

It is one of the best decisions I've ever made. 3 months of extreme hard work pays off at Flatiron School. I'll highly recommend someone who's looking to choose software development as a career choice.