Flatiron School

A year ago I was dipping my toe into the world of web development but felt like I was getting nowhere.  I did Code Academy and Coursera courses and felt I understood the logic behind programming but had zero confidence in my ability to actually create something.  Then I found Flatiron School, completed their online full stack program, and have not only the skills to create whatever I can imagine, but the confidence needed to figure out what I don't know.  The online community is great, someone is always there to help.  My only criticism of the program is that the React/Redux curriculum could use improvement.  I had to use a couple other resources (Udemy, Full Stack React/Redux book) to complete that section.  I am now a Javascript developer for a startup and very happy with how Flatiron has changed my life!

I did the Flatiron School's Bootcamp Prep course. It is a remarkable tool for introducing the fundamentals of JavaScript and Ruby. THe course is consists of lessons on their website and coding labs on the Learn IDE. As you learn the basic concepts like data types, functions, working with arrays and objects, and looping, you also solidify the fundamentals that you will use to build a Rock Dodger game in JavaScript and a command-line tic-tac-toe game in Ruby at the end of the course. There are instructors and many, many other students that are available to help you if you ever get stuck in a lab. You can chat with instructors and other students easily on their messaging service at the bottom-right corner of their web page.

The program did wonders for me this summer. I have already recommended it to a couple friends are interested in learning more about coding.

I've done parts of the bootcamp prep, and it already shows how much the tools help for coding.  It's worth the time to look into and it can take you far in your coding path.  The best thing about the prep course and in general is the "ask a question" button.  There will always be someone on the other end willing to help you.  If you need more help, they will set up a live voice/video chat to help you further understand.  I wouldn't have gotten on the online web-developer program without it.

First a little background history, I just turned 38, this August , and I've been working in construction for the past 19 years. I used to work with computers in my teens (had my own computer school and repair shop back in Brazil along with two other friends, we were all teenagers at the time). I loved programming but life circumstances, and my own decisions made me put that on the back burner. I tried to go back to it, a few times, but with kids and family, it was a little difficult.

I was always good learning things on my own, that being computer related in my teens or the construction trade, later on, I was eager to learn anything, and often succeed.

Now the years were catching up, college tuition for my children will be coming soon, and my desire to make a change was growing harder and harder (along with my wife's shakes on, of course). I then started to take some online courses, reading some books, but I wasn't getting the results I wanted. The reason why was that it was always a side thought, no real commitment. In my work, whenever I wanted to do something unfamiliar, I would read, watch some tutorials, talk with some people, try it out a few hundred times and then apply it to my work, it always worked, but the same principle was not being applied to my studies.

Here comes the realization, in order for me to accomplish what I wanted, I would have to apply the same principles that I always used, give it full focus, bring it to the front burner.

I then decided to burn the boats, quit the job and dedicate myself fully to accomplish what I wanted, before that I did research all my options, going back to college (no viable way too expensive and too long), learning online (tried, but studying home was not working, if I were around was always the pick up the kids, pick up the groceries, can you fix this, can you fix that, paint here, paint there.), so boot camp seemed to be the holy grail (not without the cons, it was expensive, but not like a 4 year degree. Employers and industry still have reservations against it, and the thought of learning in 3 months with CS graduates would take 4 years seemed too good to be true. Well, after reading a ton of reviews, a set my eyes on 4 Bootcamps, I planned to apply and visit all four before a made a commitment. I then spoke with someone who used to recruit from one of the Bootcamps on the list but wasn't working there anymore, and he gave me fresh insight and recommended different schools, one being Flatiron School, his reasoning were that Flatiron was still a small school focused on high quality, and integration of students to the work force, at first I did not consider it because of the curriculum, they were still teaching Ruby, where most others schools were going away from it, but with a fresh insight (most graduates end up not working with the schools curriculum languages, anyway, they are just languages to teach you the concepts, and when you got the concepts you could pick up other languages easily, and the more exposure to different languages you had the easier it would become to learn new ones.), upon visiting its website, I enrolled in the Bootcamps Prep (which was free), and would give me a curriculum to follow, so I could apply for the Bootcamps.

The Bootcamps Prep course is all online using the Learn.co, which gives you some bite-sized concepts and is followed by some exercises and labs, much like other online programs (Udacity, Code Academy, etc...) the main difference being that much of the concepts were all text, almost no videos, unlike Udacity, and it was not much detailed, but on the bottom of every lesson they always included some resource materials, to look at. The way I approached it was, like a roadmap, I would go over the lesson, read the extra resources, would go to Code Academy, do some lessons there, try them out on the Learn IDE, and continue with the curriculum. It seemed a bit counter-intuitive at the beginning, but soon I realized that it was the right approach. It instilled the curiosity, and self-reliance from the beginning, help was always around the corner when needed, they have the Ask a question section where you could ask for help when solving a lab, which I try not to use much, trying to rely mostly on myself, but when I needed, they were there to help me out (sometimes other students would give you a hand, if they couldn't the instructors were always available to help out.) One important feature of the Ask a question is that you could not only ask a question but you could also answer questions asked, by other students. And on that front I tried to do as much as I could, as they say in their program, you know when you learned something only when you're able to teach it to someone else.

The Bootcamps Prep curriculum includes

HTML Fundamentals

Javascript Fundamentals

Ruby Fundamentals

and also had a section for the Interview Prep and Technical Interviewing

HTML and CSS were very superficial, I felt I needed to do a lot of self-studying besides their labs (I took the Code Academy HTML and CSS, and read the Murach5/CSS3 book while doing it.

Javascript was more challenging, but I completed in the curriculum mostly by itself with only a few extra readings outside the Prep Course.

The Ruby Fundamentals like HTML and CSS was very superficial in terms of lessons with a few videos, but, as the name suggests it was just the Fundamentals, like variables, iterations, and scope. The Curriculum for the Ruby was very similar to the Javascript, and that reinforced the notion of learning the concepts once and apply it to different languages. Basically, I took more time learning Javascript but when Ruby came, most of the concepts were the same and I could just apply the new syntax and obtain the same results that I did when doing Javascript, in a much faster pace.

The whole program was done using the Learn.co platform along with the Learn.IDE, and on the IDE, they introduced git and tests from the beginning, in fact, the Ruby Fundamentals, were almost in its entirety revolved around tests, they would explain you the goal of the lab, you would then run the tests and write code in order to pass the tests. And that, in my opinion, was one of the highlights of the program, read the goal, run the test, research, think of a solution, write code, test it, pass, and repeat, that seems to be the way programmers go about.

I visited Flatiron school on one occasion and watched a few live webinars, the community aspect of the school is evident, they highly encourage people to mingle, and that's another pro of their program, especially when your trying to enter the field, the more people you know the better, people there are very friendly, and willing to talk to you, it was a very nice experience.

When I had completed about 70% of the track, they contacted me to enroll for the online portion, but I felt I wasn't ready yet. I finished the track in its entirety and then applied. The interview consisted of 3 parts

1 – Code Challenges

2 – Admissions Interview

3 – Technical Interview

The Code challenges were basically an extension of the Prep Track, if you had done it, it would not be difficult to pass. They give a goal, you have to run the tests and write code to pass the tests.

The Admissions interview, it's where you speak with one of the Admission counselors. The interview is done by Skype, I was interviewed by Amanda, and she was great, she made me feel at ease, she just wants to make sure you're there for the right reasons and can then succeed.

The technical interview is also through Skype, in I was a little anxious, especially since my appointment for the day was canceled, but I somehow did not receive the email. I then contacted the school, and they were able to reschedule it for the same day (had my admissions at 5:15, and technical at 5:45). So basically, you go over some of your code, the instructor then gives you a new problem and asks you to modify your code to accomplish that. Joe was my interviewer, he was great guiding me along the challenge, I felt that I unperformed, but I remember Joe saying that his biggest challenge was differentiating between anxiety and lack of knowledge, well once you end the call you realized, how naive your mistakes were, and how you could do it better.

My admissions response came in 2 days later, I was admitted, for the 10/09 class, proud, relieved and then worried. I have just one month to get ready and finish the pre-course requirements, which are expansions of the Prep Bootcamps

I ended up not applying for any other school, because I felt confident in the methodology, of Flatiron school, and also because of its student outcomes reports.

I know that if I put in the effort needed, I would succeed, could I have done it in other schools, I would think yes, but how long are you willing to go about trying to find out, there is no way to find out if it would work until you start doing the work, and the way I see it, going around tasting everything will just amount to inaction, and inaction will definitely hold you back. I'm willing to put the work, the methodology is working so far, I felt comfortable in their environment, and they felt I would fit.

I would definitely recommend Flatiron School Prep Bootcamp, to anyone thinking about becoming a Developer, just be mindful, the course is not meant to turn you into a developer, it's just a start, in my opinion, is only meant to see if you would like to become one. And if the passion is in you, you would make the best of it, because you would know what you're lacking and will try to find you, they give you the roadmap, you follow it, but doesn't mean you can't make a different stop here and there to check the landscape. Be curious, try them out, in the worst case, you know it won't be the right school for you or you won't be the right career for you., (either way, it seems that even the worst case is not bad after all).

I recently finished the online immersive from Flatiron School (July 2017). I went into the program without much coding experience (just some HTML, CSS, and Javascript from Codecademy), and I had completed the Flatiron free Intro to Javascript course. I knew I wanted to go to a coding bootcamp, and I selected Flatiron for a few different reasons:

- great reputation
- full stack program
- money back job guarantee
- flexibility of at your own pace
- priced cheaper than in person immersives (also I received a 50% scholarship for Women in Code)

I really enjoyed the program. I definitely had some ups and downs going through because honestly, learning a new skill is hard, and you definitely need to self motivate for an at your own pace course. I felt that I had the support I needed from the instructors, technical coaches, and Slack community when I needed it. I also feel more adept at answering my own questions through googling (a seriously important skill) because I didn't have someone next to me the entire time or the immense pressure of finishing in 3 months. Having the time flexibility gave me to opportunity to make sure I understood the material before moving on. 

After the program, my career coach was very helpful. I was lucky enough to find a position after only 2 weeks of officially job hunting. My new position is with a Charleston, SC based destination marketing company building web applications for their client base. Surprisingly, my new position uses PHP for backend development, but because of my work at Flatiron, the company knows I am self motivated and a good learner. They agreed to teach me on the job. I would definitely recommend the Flatiron School's Learn.co web immersive to anyone that is self motivated and looking to learn full stack in a great community!

Solid intro course.  It does need to be run through with a fine-tooth comb by someone; theres a few spots where it's obvious something was updated/changed but a bit of text wasn't updated to reflect it, which may leave you confused, but they're usually small and quickly corrected if you ask a question about it.

Don't get discouraged if you run into a 'Wait, that was covered? I've never seen that before'.  It's purposefully challenging to drop the people who won't stick with it, and the learning curve on some labs requires you to look up some new things to complete them.

Whatever you do, I reccommend doing a few different intro courses.  Each one was designed by someone with a slightly different idea of whats important to explain/go over, so you'll get a better foundation that way.

I completed the Flatiron school's bootcamp prep course and am three weeks away from starting at their full time immersive in person program. I can't say for sure yet how much it prepared me for the course but I passed the technical interview for admissions! 

The prep is great because they have people online all the time (even late at night and on the weekends) to help you with questions. The course uses an IDE that is easy to learn and works well. 

I would truly reccommend this online prep course to anyone interested in learning more about coding or applying for a bootcamp.

I was recently accepted to Flatiron School's on campus Web Development Immersive program. Flatiron's online bootcamp prep course was one of the tools that I used to prepare for the technical interview. Their proprietary software is known as learn.co and it is wonderful. It includes an IDE integrated into atom. There are both Javascript and Ruby tracks filled with quality content. I believe there are also basic HTML and CSS courses as well. It starts at a level that even a beginner can understand, but you can also skip ahead to where the material becomes relevant to your particular skill level. What stood out to me the most about the learn.co prep course, was the 'Ask A Question" sidebar. If at any time you become stuck on a topic or encounter a bug or error, you can use the 'Ask A Question" button to send messages that Flatiron staff as well as all other students can see. What blew me away is the availability of Flatiron staff to answer a question. The moment you pose a question someone shows up to ask how they can help you. Flatiron Schools bootcamp prep course is also entirely free. I can't speak highly enough of it, I absolutely recommend the course. 

I was recently accepted into the Web Development Immersive at the NYC campus and am super excited to be attending the program next month. 

To start my story: I have been interested in learning to write code for some time, but never really found the impetus to begin my journey. I have worked a variety of jobs and have most recently found myself working in Non-Profit, while finishing up a bachelors degree in Management. I never really found true fulfillment in any of the work I was doing until I started working Non-Profit, but even there I have found that there is a certain limit to my achievement. As I am wrapping up my degree in the next few weeks, I have been pondering how I may better myself, so as to find personal fulfillment, while providing the maximum benefit to those who may be less fortunate than I. 

I found out about Flatiron School while looking into bootcamps, online. Seperately, a cousin who works in tech did some research for me, about bootcamps, and connected me with the friend of a co-worker. This person actually attended a different bootcamp and did not have the best experience, but she highly recommended Flatiron School because of what she had seen from graduates of the program. The seed had been planted.

I soon signed up for Flatiron School's Online Bootcamp Prep course, which is free of charge and hosted on the 'Learn' platfrom. I began going through the tutorials on my own. Whenever I found confusion, I would ask a question, and I would find an almost immediate response from a Technical Coach or a student. I was very impressed with the level of helpfulness provided, being that it was totally free and started making some progress. A week or so into it, I got a call from Cailee at Flatiron. She asked me how it was going, what my intention was with the prep course, and if I had any questions. She then informed me about an online Q&A hosted by Adam at Flatiron, which I attended and found to be very insightful. I also read pretty much all the information on their website and took a few days to digest everything, making sure to properly reflect and reaffirm my intention for the study software engineering. I then applied for the program.

The first part of the application process was a written application. I took some time to write it up and then sent it in. A few days later, I recieved an email saying that I had been invited to the interview process! The first step was a Skype "get to know you" interview, which I had with Adam. We had a very nice conversation where he asked me about my interest and intention for the program, then he let me ask him questions about the program. Luckily, the interview was successful and I was invited to the next step in the process, the technical interview.

I was very worried about getting accepted into the program, because my knowledge of code prior to the Bootcamp Prep course was very slim, but I kept my head down and worked, and reworked, through the prep course material to prepare for the interview, which I scheduled for the next week. I had my technical interview with Tony, who asked me questions about my work on one of the labs and, thankfully, I was able to answer most of his questions (though I did have a little trouble with a more advanced question he asked me towards the end). I was very nervous leading up to, and throughout the interview, but his attitude put me at ease. He let me ask any questions I had at the end of the interview and then that was it. The interview process was over.

The next few days seemed like an eternity while I anxiously waited to hear back. A few days later, I got the email announcing my acceptance. I was ecstatic! They informed me that I needed to complete some pre-coursework, and review some documentation before attending, so that is what I am taking care of now, while wrapping up my final classes for my degree and transitioning my responsibilities at work.

Overall, my experience thus far has been greater than I would've imagined. I have already spent many hours and long nights working on the projects on the 'Learn' platform, but it has helped to develop more of a hunger in me in wanting to learn more and become fully immersed. I am very grateful for this opportunity and very excited to be attending come the end of August!