Flatiron School

What I liked:

• Great community, and great support from the fellow students
• Frequent study groups, help sessions, gripe sessions.
• The material, for the most part, was very well taught. The material was difficult, but overall they did a very good job
• I got a $65K Full-Stack Developer Job within 3 weeks of graduating. Mission complete!
• Their classes (for the most part) are easy to navigate, easy to read and understand, and I am very grateful for all of the labs which really helped cement what they taught.

What I did not like:

• They don't tell you this in the beginning, but the course is designed solely for Mac users. They use gems, etc that DO NOT work on PC, without a lot of troubleshooting (no help from their staff). I even had an upper level staffmember tell me I needed to install IOS on my machine to continue.
• Their IDE software, which I was told was necessary, is full of bugs. Get ready for lost work, screen freezes, long load times, and failure to run.
• Their Website is also full of bugs; a suprising amount, for a course on web development.
• Their career support... the template they tell you to use for your resume is in Powerpoint format. Not Word, not PDF... Powerpoint. Their staff often cancelled after we were supposed to meet.
• Worst of all, they outsourced their technical interview to a company called "Skilled Inc", which is the WORST company I have ever had the pleasure of not working with. They're rude, disrespectful, messed up on their scheduling, blamed me, and ran off with their money. I hope Flatiron drops them like a brick.
• Especially later in the course, the material is less coherent, the support from staff is negligible, and they expect you to understand principles for the final portfolio project that they didn't cover in any of their coursework.
  
  Overall, I am SUPER happy and grateful for what they taught me, and that I was able to get a solid job shortly after graduating. We accomplished what I hoped we would. The job market is exceptional, and I am glad I decided to sign up with Flatiron. That being said, there were quite a few caveats that prevent me from whole-heartedly recommending the program.

I found Flatiron school's prep work to be a comprehensive, easy to digest and streamlined experience. Even coming from a background of intermediate web development experience, the labs re-solidified many concepts and I even learned some fundamentals I had missed through my self-teaching efforts in the past! There's an integrated IDE so you're actually working in one of the most popular text editors and a very responsive community of other students/staff to help each other out if you get stuck on an exercise. I've been accepted to the upcoming November cohort but if the quality of the prep work is any indication of the course I'm confident it's going to be great. Highly recommend for those new to programming or even if you're just looking to freshen up on the basics.

Having never coded before starting my application process to Flatiron I was incredibly nervous to start and worried that I wouldn’t even get in.

I worked on the Free Online Bootcamp Prep Course from April-May 2017. I found it to be incredibly accessible and expertly written for someone like myself with little to no knowledge or experience.

I applied in early May and was amazingly accepted to the in-person immersive program in NYC from June-October 2017. Having recently graduated, I can strongly say that this was the best and most comprehensive and rewarding experience of my life. The friendship and support I found within those walls have left me confident and ready for the real world ahead of me in my new career.

I would recommend this opportunity to anyone whose passion for code is as strong as their will to become the best that they can be.

Flatiron's online bootcamp prep course is a great way to get your feet wet with coding and see if it's for you. It also gives you a good idea of Flatiron's pedagogy and culture. The lessons are very well paced and engaging. Flatiron keeps it interesting with fresh challenges and a reassuring dose of humor throughout. I liked how the bootcamp prep course made use of the concept of "test-driven development", which provides instant feedback on your code and gives you a massive sense of accomplishment when you get the tests to pass. The IDE is also a great feature, since you'll be coding in a real coding environment on your computer and getting the feel for it. Also, the ability to ask for help from an instructor and/or fellow students at any time was really great. In sum, I really recommend it. And it's free!

I just started in the Online Web Developer Program a couple weeks ago, and my expirience has been fantastic. They give you all the tools you need to be succesful in the labs. The lectures are full of great examples based on pop culture (which is amazing!) and the tutors are available all the time and they are always eager to help. If you are stuck in something or you just want someone to take a look of your code you can always ask for a screenshare, which is very helpful. The majority of the lectures (in order to complement your learning) include links to other pages and/or videos where Avi (one of the co-founder of the school, and a great teacher) gives you the lecture. In addition, we have a Slack community, where you can connect with other students, read their experience with code and share yours. There are study groups based on the Curriculum, but if there is something you really need help with you can always ask for a 1:1 with an instructor or better you can create your own study grup so other students with the same questions can join it :) ... The most wonderful thing that I have found here is that students and instructors are always there for you, that you can ask anything and they will understand you and always try to help you. It is a supportive learning environment. 

I tried multiple tools before stumbling upon Flatiron School's Bootcamp Prep course. Finally, I had found not only great a beginner curriculum but one that utitilized a community to help students and a program that used an IDE which submitted my work to Github. 

Not only did the Bootcamp Prep help me feel more comfortable with the fundamentals but it provided features such as "Ask A Question" where you can work with other (frequently more advanced) students to solve problems you are struggling with.

The Bootcamp Prep also prepared me for the Bootcamp application process. I can happily say that after I completed most of the JavaScript Fundamentals and went through Flatiron's standard interview process I obtained a spot in an upcoming in-person immersive Web Development class at Flatiron's NYC campus.  

As I write this I still have 15% of the Flatiron Bootcamp to complete and I have already been successful in securing my first Web Development job!!!

Flatiron is an amazing place to do your Fullstack Web Development training. They have a FREE pre-bootcamp course that will allow you to see if Flatiron is a fit for you, plus if you do it you will already have completed part of the full Bootcamp! Everything about the pre-bootcamp course reflects exactly how the Bootcamp will be:

• You use the same ide
• You get an amazing curriculum that prepares you for the Bootcamp
• You get to ask questions of the Flatiron experts
• You run your code against tests

I am in regional Australia so was looking for a bootcamp that would work in my time zone; I didn't want to be working through the night to attend online lectures. Additionally, I didn't want to be tied to a timeframe to finish the course. Flatiron ticked all the boxes.

An added incentive for you fast learners out there, Flatiron charges by the month, so the quicker you get through the course the less it costs you. This also means that you don't have to come up with the full tuition up front!

As I am outside the USA the job guarantee didn't apply, but that would have been the same wherever I went. Regardless of where you live thought you are assigned a Career Coach about 75% of the way through your course. The Career Coach assists with your resume, networking skills, linterviewing techniques, elevator pitch, and so on and is an invaluable support. 

There are opportunities to create and lead study groups and you can always jump in to answer someones question instead of a Flatiron expert. One of my bootcamp friends in Israel is now working remotely as one of Flatiron's learn experts, another career option available through the Flatiron course for people demonstrating a love of mentoring and teaching.

The coursework is comprehensive and well planned and presented. There are a miriad of video lectures that are really helpful when you are stuck on a topic. Many of the lectures are done by Avi Flombaum, one of the school's founders and he is amazing, a wealth of knowledge and experience with the ability to clearly show you how to do things.