Galvanize

Galvanize did it. Well no, acutally, I did it because it took a lot of work but Galvanize helped me get there. I went from working for non-profits with zero tech skills to doubling my salary writing code.

The market is good right now for developers, that definitely played a factor. So if you're thinking about coding, now is the time. I highly recommend Galvanize. They really care about their placement rates and are very public about it so it's a good choice. As far as other bootcamps, I'm not sure, but I can talk about my experience with gSchool:

They had completely shifted their curriculum from Rails to JS. We were one of the first cohorts to go through it. Looking back, I think they could have been a little more organized with the curriculum. It was intense early on and then independent work for the second half. It should have been spread out more with more guidance towards the end.

Even so, Galvanize is fucking awesome and I learned everything that I needed to know to get a job. My instructor knew his shit and made sure we did as well.

Also, one thing that might set Galvanize apart from the rest is the community aspect. The environment is modern and hip. They host multiple startups and events that I was constantly immersed in the tech scene. By the time I graduated, I had made really good connections and friends.

Galvanize is without a doubt the best decision I have so far in my life. I have completely altered the path I thought I woud follow, giving me opportunities, connections, and a community of incredibly people that I never woud have had otherwise. It is an intense and challenging program, as is to be expected in a condensed bootcamp format, but it was worth every penny...I don't say that lightly, given the loan I took out for the program. I have hard technical skills and an ability to learn new concepts quickly and effectively, allowing me to pick up new frameworks and technologies in a way I never could before. 

There's a reason that the Huffington Post and the NY Times have written rave articles and reviews about Galvanize and its graduates. Let's start by discussing what separates Galvanize from its competitors. 

A. Galvanize's full stack immersive program is 6-months long. Longer than most programs of competitors, but much needed to truly come out of the program as a decent full stack developer. The program begins quite structured, with lectures and assignments daily. After the first quarter, you have less lectures, and more assignments that are to be completed on your own or in groups. The concept of gradual release is extremely beneficial and mimics a typical workflow of a developer in the field (ie: there won't always be someone there to hold your hand and answer all of your questions). Galvanize is big about the concept of learning to learn- and let me tell you... once you learn to learn, you never stop (or want to stop). Let's just say that learning Meteor in a week wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

B. Galvanize buildings are a combination of start-ups/freelancers and the immersive bootcamps, and that is just awesome. Picture this. You're sitting in a common area on a Saturday morning, hacking away at an assignment due Monday. A man, who is a member at Galvanize walks up to you and strikes a conversation. Turns out, that man is the CEO of a startup in the building and guess what?! They are hiring junior developers. From networking events held monthly, mentorship luncheons with companies, opportunities to shadow devs in the building, and even to the random conversations I had over a beer or two (yes, there is a keg with free beer in the building), the connections I made with professionals in the tech industry through Galvanize are priceless. This is one of the main reasons I chose Galvanize and one of the main reasons why I believe their program is so successful.

C. In the end, you're trying to get a job... and a good one. Galvanize has an outcomes team that is specifically responsible for finding you jobs and counseling you through the entire process. As a student (and alumni if you finish the program), you have access to exclusive job opportunities via an internal job portal. Many of these companies and these job roles target Galvanize graduates exclusively because they know they are reliable and strong developers. Was it easy finding a job?! Actually, yes. I got my top job and one of the top 3 salaries in my class two weeks before graduation. The last quarter of the full stack immersive program is predominately working on capstones and presentations, technical interview practice and lectures regarding salary negotiations and resumes. Hiring day, which occurs two weeks before graduation, is a day dedicating to showcasing student capstones. Each student presents roughly 4 minutes in front of 30-50 potential employers (all who are looking to hire). After presentations, there is a networking luncheon, a speed-dating sort of round where employers chat with each student, AND a science-fair styled showcase of all the companies, where students can visit booths set up by companies. It's a lot of talking and networking within one day, but most students come out with second rounds of interviews scheduled with companies, and some, even jobs. 

Now let's talk about my ratings.

A. Overall Experience: I gave it a five, but I would give a TEN if possible. Really. You give up your life, your job and for me, I moved halfway across the country just for this program. You shell out all of this money in hopes that everything will work out... and it does. If you put in the effort and the hours, you will come out with a great job- regardless of whether or not you are the top coder in the class. For me, Galvanize personally connected me with my dream job- which is where the 5 extra stars come into play. 

B. Instructors: The instructors are awesome. They all come from really unique backgrounds and bring a lot of unique developer experience to the table. Instructors are available during work hours and many go above and beyond to be available late at night and on the weekends. Each class has 4-5 instructors and usually 1 FSR (like a TA) to assist, so I never felt like I was on an island. Instructors enjoy solving problems and coding too, so often times they bring a new perspective on how to solve a problem or address issues you're experiencing in your code. 

C. Curriculum. It is a Javascript-based bootcamp. The stack is: NEAP (Node.js, Express, Angular, PostgreSQL) and in addition, we scratched the surface of: Ruby, Python, Java, Swift, Mongo, Socket.io, Test Driven Development and Agile Workflow. Lots of students learned new technologies for projects as well. If you are coming in with little to no experience in coding, work on JavaScript and JQuery as the first half of the program heavily revolves around those. Also, class hours are 9-5 M-F, but you WILL put in additional hours every.single.day. Just plan to put in 50-60 hour weeks at minimum. Don't worry- pomodoro timer is a real thing and there is a ping pong table for breaks. 

D. Job Assistance, see above.

All in all, Galvanize was worth the money and the time. I came out with a great job, amazing friends, and irreplaceable knowledge of how to learn as well as the necessary foundation of a software developer. It's hard work, but it pays off without a doubt. 

Hi! I finished my Denver cohort in Jan 2016. If you are considering a data science Denver class I would recommend visiting a class and noting: interaction with students and instructors, how smoothly the labs run, and how the intructors review material supporting quizes and exams. Ask the students how they are doing and what they are learning. It will be your money and time so make sure you are comfortable with the learning environment as a place where you can thrive.

If they refuse to let you visit a class, consider that a red flag.

I would also ask for the number of students employed in the Denver area with salary info. Our cohort has had a difficult time finding Denver jobs. As of this writing, 4 months after the classes ended, many are not employed. If your intent is to stay in the Denver Metro area, this may not be the program for you. One person from my cohort and two from the previous cohort had to leave Colorado to find employment.

PROS:

The other students were very motivated, interesting and collaborative. Galavanize does a great job of finding qualified students.
The ziphian materials presented in the repositories are wonderful. If you take the class dig deep for them. They were not used as part of the circulum in Denver.
The California staff visited twice during our session and were amazing with providing context and coherent lectures.
The labs were actual business case studies with relevent uses of algorithms on business data
The math, stats and computer theory was presented and then applyed to a a real world problem 
The Denver training site is in an incubator and home to a full stack class so you are surrounded by people who are inovating and discussing new ideas
The Denver training site has lots of amneties like breakout rooms, wireless, gym, bike corral, and spectacular views
Guest speakers came about once every other week to discuss their use of data science in their company which put a great context to what we were learning
One week prior to the Data Science course they offered a Python course that really helped and was a great bonus

CONS:

The labs, reading materials, quizzes and lectures were often unrelated.
Many of the 30 minute quizzes were over materials that were never covered and not reviewed (so what was the point?)
The instructors were not always constructive to questions with responses like: "google it", blank stares, "I don't know, ask someone else", and shoulder shrugs
The labs were not properly prepared so we often spent valuable time trying to configure our computer by updating libraries, importing a new data file or running different syntax
The Career Services team was located in a different building 15 minutes away and had very limited availablity
Time management, planning and communication were lacking with informal meetings and no schedule for the day. As a result, I did not feel that my time was valued by the Galvanize staff.
Confusing and inconsistent learning environments and teaching styles.
The staff was constantly "reactive" to what needed to be done. They were avaliable for questions but not great at explaining concepts to relate to the lab and quiz materials.
Instructors were graduates of the previous course so their knowledge did not run deep

 

 

Good luck ! 

Galvanize is simply the best data science bootcamp that exists. I'll walk through how I came to that decision, alongside sharing information and experience coming out of it. For you to get the most out of this program, you should be a rockstar with stats, math, and programming background and good work experience.   I knew about 1.5 years before joining Galvanize I would transition from my R+D engineering role at Intel to data science. I applied to every bootcamp, and chatted with members from:

• Galvanize
• Insight (PhD only)
• Metis
• NYC Data Science Academy
• Data Incubator (PhD only)

Additionally, I read blogs from members who had gone through the program. Below was the most influential blog I read from Ike Okonkwo. My blog detailing the experience is below as well. Zipfian Academy - All 12 weeks - Ike Okonkwo (Winter 2014 Cohort) Blog - Scott Cronin (Fall 2015 Cohort #9)   I went to Galvanize because it was:

1. The most intense 12 week bootcamp
2. The most well designed and iterated (now on cohort #12 as of March 2016)
3. Well rounded with additional focus on resume, recruiting, and interview prep

Coming out of Galvanize, I obtained 5 job offers within a 2 month spread and had my choice of what I wanted to do. Note -  you must be talented prior to coming into Galvanize. The interview process has 4 steps to verify you will be successful in the program as it is too intense if you do not have a background foundation in programming, math, and stats.   It is important to realize that you have to bring knowledge to the program so you can share with others. Likewise I learned a ton from others in my cohort. This is what makes the program great. Once you finish it, you are connected to the single strongest data science community in the world. Two of my job offers came from being connected to the Galvanize community.

I went to the 12 week program in 2015. They have a three step interview claiming the bar is high for the program, but these days there is a booming in number of student accepted and graduated, while resources are the same or even worse due to loosing experienced instructors. Students not being in similar level for a 12 week program is serious issue itself, leaving students with lower prior experience in more difficulties to catchup with the curriculum.

The material they teach is cutting edge with means of the programming machine learning tools, but not the most useful for industry if you are looking for an actual job in data and analytics. 

There is no real effective job assistance provided, there are so many graduates that the only person in charge of outcomes will not even get enough time to answer your emails. The most effective interviews that I got were not through Galvanize.

I went to a 4 week bootcamp and got a great intro into coding, however for getting career ready this is the place to go. Yes, its the most expensive bootcamp, however that money is worth it because of the exposure to technlogies, depth of language understanding and connections that you make here.

This program will be great for you if:

-> You are able to learn on your own (there is a mixture of lecture and on your own pace learning)

-> You are serious about wanting to become a web developer

 

I have just finished up with Hiring Day and am going into my last week here at Galvanize, SF in their Data Science Immersive 12-week program. I think that most of what I have to say will apply to nearly everyone in my class. Going into the program I was skeptical of what I was paying for and how much of what they were promoting is real. I'm hoping this review will clear some of that up. The program is exactly how they promote it and at the end of it most of my classemates and I were discussing how happy we were that we took the plunge.

I'm not going to describe the course work and week by week nature of the course, there are plenty of blogs online written by students who were in the course (the school actually encourages it). If you are looking for one, one of my classmates has been writing about their experience here: http://www.jscottcronin.com/blog/

I'm wanting to talk about what I think is the biggest reason to attend Galvanize in particular versus some other bootcamp, the Staff. I think that this is their strongest asset and one that they continually try to improve upon. The instructors and TAs (or DSRs as they call them) are constantly available for help and doing everything they can to help you succeed. I had plenty of struggles throughout the course and anytime I needed some help I could ask a classmate (all of which are super smart and want to help too), if we couldn't figure it out there was a TA or a Instructor ready to help. During project time, a classmate of mine had one of the founders of the original school come and assist them with a problem they were having trouble with. There are people behind the scenes working to make sure that you are ready to put your best foot foward once you are done with this program, whether is it coaching, resume review, interview prep, anything you need. It feels as if everyone one in the building is pulling for your success. 

As I said they are constantly trying to make sure everyone is getting the most they can out of the course. They give out assessments almost every week and try to talk to people who might be having trouble with certain topics. I've been the target of a couple of these. The only way you wouldn't be able to get help or assistance from the staff is if you went out of your way to avoid it. Even then, they'd notice and want to at least have a talk with you to make sure everything is going well.

When it came to presentation time, Hiring Day, and meeting with several companies I felt completely prepared. I know that I put in a lot of hard work myself, the course requires it, but the guidance and assistance I got whenever I asked was invaluable and something I know most, if not all, of the rest of my class can agree on. 

They are there for you even after the program is done and their alumni even comeback to give guest lectures on various topics trying to help more people succeed the way they did. Knowing now the attention and energy the school, alumni, and building staff, puts into the success of their students, I would HIGHLY recommend anyone who is even thinking about doing this program to go ahead and take the leap. I loved my experience here and want to keep that going wherever I go next.

I was a student in the San Francisco cohort and I made a big change leaving my job to come to SF. My experience was that if you were willing to put in the work, Galvanize would provide everything you need to come out of the program as an exceptional developer with multiple job offers. My overview of the program:

-Good teachers with excellent knowledge base who were supportive and fun to be around.

-Interesting projects and excercises, with exposure and opportunity to contribute to real world projects.

-Great campus - community, fun environment (always so much going on - constant exposure to start ups and active companies looking for developers).

-Professional introductions made by Galvanize to potential employers through Hiring Day.

For me the decision to attend Galvanize Full Stack was lifechanging. I feel like I completed the program and joined an ongoing community of support and opportunity. I couldn't be happier with my decision. 

 

I'm in the Full Stack Immersive Web Development Program at Galvanize San Francisco (http://www.galvanize.com/courses/full-stack/san-francisco/). Attending this school is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I'm a woman, and let's just say I'm over forty and leave it at that. The point is, I am not the typical web developer demographic, so I was a bit aprehensive coming into the program. 

My experience has been better than I ever imagined. I have never looked forward to Monday mornings more in my life.

Our instructors explain concepts clearly and succinctly; they are tremendously encouraging to everyone, and if there is ever any issue (and with people working this hard, encountering so many new concepts every day, there are bound to be issues) they address them in a calm, caring manner.  

Did I mention I'm female, and over forty? Thought so. Yet, every day, I'm encouraged and treated as an intellectual equal by some of the smartest, most talented instructors I have ever had the good fortune to learn from.

I may be the person Tony mentioned below, that our lead instructor helped last night at 11:30pm. I certainly did get help as soon as I reached out, at that time last night, but I wouldn't be surprised if our instructor was helping other people at that time as well. He helped me solve my issue in 15 minutes; it was wonderful. 

Students are constantly working in informal groups and pairs; we are encouraged to help each other succeed. I feel like I'm making life long friends in this program.

I am so thankful I am in this program. I'm sorry it ever has to end.

 

 

I am a current student in the full-stack program and want to respond to the previous person’s post and share my experiences.

1. So what if the instructors are from GA? What matters is that they are professional, know the material, and teach it well. I understand it that Galvanize poached GA’s 2 top instructors and having been in many a classroom, I can tell you that they are very good.

2. The classroom is in no way competitive and there is no pack mentality other than the mentality that you have to bust your butt to be a developer. We constantly work together with our fellow classmates and actually like each enough as people to spend time outside the classroom together. We don’t pair program and anyone who pines for it at our current competence level only wants to mask his/her programing shortcomings behind his/her pair partner. No way does the course discourage anyone from not working with your classmates on labs and classwork, but it is ultimately up the individual to work through each assignment to best best learn it for his/herself.       

3. “If it was easy, then everyone would do it” 

    You are supposed to spend hours on HW, get stuck, look up documents, ask the instructors, and use your classmates as resources. However, learning web development is achievable and the instructors make themselves very available to help us. The lead instructor even responded to a student’s homework question on Slack at 11:30pm last night. They hold us to a very high standard, do not sugar coat how difficult the material is, and how much we would have to work sacrifice to learn it well. Some individuals would interpret this sort of tough love as a personal attack where it is meant to teach us self-reliance. To say that any of the instructors are the gatekeepers is a patiently absurd statement and whoever feels like that is just passing the buck when it comes to his/her education. I guarantee you that whoever feels like that is not still in the classroom with me at 10pm in an honest effort to finish the HW.  

4. End of rant. Galvanize is an excellent program, but you get what you put into it.