Hack Reactor

I am 100% happy that I chose to study at Hack Reactor. 10/10 with rice would do again.

I did the full-time remote program. I have a BFA and was a bartender before I started. I did a lot of self study, built some apps on my own, and was rejected once before attending.

My knowledge and understanding of Javascript, frameworks, and full stack development increased in a way I couldn't have replicated on my own in the same amount of time. The soft skills that you learn here are also extremely invaluable and it's what set me apart from others while searching for a job afterwards.

It was extremely hard, probably the most demanding 3 months of my life, but Hack Reactor taught me how to learn on my own, which has proven useful since my first day at my new job I was using PHP.

Advice: apply for the scholarship, and make time to take care of yourself while you are in the program.

As a former public school teacher I was skeptical of the overall Bootcamp Experience.  The fees seemed exorbitant, and the promises of employment appeared out of line with my own perceptions of the job market.  After reading reviews and shopping around town I realized that Hack Reactor wasn’t offering what most bootcamps were,  they were providing an environment that allows people to push themselves to learn more than they thought possible. Even the entrance process was far more rigorous than what most bootcamps covered in the first part of their programs.  After taking the tour and talking to some alumni I decided that I would take the plunge, and I am truly thankful that I was able to be apart of this transformative program.

From the first day it was evident that the entire staff valued my experience.  The rigors of the curriculum proved to be an immense challenge, but one that I was never alone in.  All of the staff is incredibly supportive, and I was surrounded by the most inspirational group of peers I have ever met.

The curriculum is constantly evolving, and Hack Reactor provides the most up to date skills employers are looking for.  Most importantly though, they allow you to explore and experience the autonomy that will be needed day to day on the job.  During the first week, there was a lecture on the importance of the adopting the “Growth Mindset,” and  I can’t think of a more appropriate analogy for the overall experience of attending Hack Reactor.  If you show up every day with an open mind, work really hard, and push past minor setbacks along the way, you will come out the other end employable as a software engineer.  

A year ago I decided to pursue a career software because I was looking for a challenging, yet rewarding skillset, a good work/life balance, and a comfortable salary.  Hack Reactor has provided me with all of the tools I needed to make that happen, and I can’t recommend them enough!

Hack Reactor (LA campus for me) was an excellent experience that I would recommend to anyone looking into coding bootcamps. I was very hesitant to do it at first because of the price and uncertainty, but I do not regret it at all. The course material was designed in such a way to teach us problem solving and autonomy as much as the technical skills to be full-stack JS developers. The instructors and staff were also top-notch and were helpful every step of the way. They are notably great at listening to feedback and are constantly improving as they get suggestions from students and industry experts. The work is tough and the days are long, but it was all worth it in the end.

I attended Hack Reactor May - July 2017, and can confidently say that it was  among the best personal and professional decisions I have made in my life. Not only does the program truly prepare you for a field in web development and software engineering, but the staff are also incredibly helpful and invested in your success. The curriculum is challenging but fun, and pushes students to learn autonomously in a supportive environment. I also had the incredible opportunity to stay on for 3 months after completing the program as a "Hacker in Residence", which is probably best described as a TA. The experience gave me the opportunity to fortify my skills and act as a mentor for students completing the course. I found that having recent students in this kind of role helped build my confidence, both as a student and as a graduate entering the market place. After completing my residency as an HiR, I landed a great job in Austin after about a 2 month search. 

In addition to great material and structure throughout the program, after graduation you have access to dedicated career services who will support and coach you through the job search. I would highly recommend Hack Reactor to anyone interested in a career in tech, especially if you have no prior background. 

During my 20+ years in technology as an entrepreneur, product developer and marketer - much of it working with developers - I often wondered what was going on under the hood in the products and services I was creating and selling.

After 9 years at American Express, and having become obsessed with cryptocurrencies and the emerging blockchain ecosystem since discovering it in 2013, I left in July 2016 to add software engineering to my skillset and hopefully gain an ability to begin to understand technologies like Bitcoin on a deeper, technical level. 

Hack Reactor was the perfect choice for me, and I wrote about the my initial 5 weeks in the program in this blog post: Wrestling with a New Paradigm and Relishing the “Obstacle As the Way”
Coding bootcamps bring tremendous value — to both employers and a U.S. workforce in need of serious retooling 
https://medium.com/@john_packel/wrestling-with-a-new-paradigm-and-relishing-the-obstacle-as-the-way-d42c7674a1aa

Fast forward a year and I'm in my dream job at ConsenSys, combining my product development experience with my new full-stack dev skills to create the MVP for a decentralized loyalty platform inspired by the local currency movement (I architected the app and am coding much of the back end), Localties.io. 

I highly recommend adding software engineering to your skillset, I fully endorse Hack Reactor and their approach to achieving measurable results through data-driven real-time iterations based on weekly student feedback and the skills employers are currently demanding, and I'm happy to speak with anyone seriously considering a bootcamp. 

I'd taught myself web development and had been doing it for a bit before coming to Hack Reactor, and had also done several courses on algorithms.

In fact, partway through the first half of the course, I noticed that I already knew all the concepts being taught. Should I keep going?

I did keep going, and that was a great decision. Even though I had more experience than the usual person who attends Hack Reactor, I gained the three benefits I hoped for. 

First, in-depth JavaScript. Hack Reactor isn't really a 0-60 program, more of a 20-120. While many JavaScript engineers have a somewhat superficial understanding of the language, Hack Reactor grads really, really know it. JavaScript has libraries for every programming concept you can think of, and being very comfortable with several different versions of the language unlocks all those libraries.

Second, experience collaborating with other engineers using industry-standard Agile techniques. This approach is built into the curriculum, and then you build it in to your team's projects during the second half of the course. You have the opportunity to use tools like ZenHub or Waffle to drive and coordinate your development.

Third, a great portfolio. Using a great tech stack, my team and I built slick-looking applications in only a few weeks. When I applied for positions, both the app and the code really impressed people.

Many of my fellow students at Hack Reactor had no prior experience, but with hard work they were able to gain impressive skills. Some students have computer science degrees and come for coding experience. Some, like me, have a bit of prior experience and come to round it out and build a portfolio. That portfolio really works!

I thought the entire course was very well structured and targeted to provide maximum value and learning, and you build a great sense of community with your fellow Hack Reactors, which turns into a great network after you graduate. I also thought the career advice and resume preparation was very professional and well-done.

If you come, be sure to sleep and take time off. Some cohorts are especially motivated and it can be easy not to stop. Personally, I've noticed that students who never take a break actually have a tougher time. Give your brain a chance to put it all together

I had a great experience during the boot camp and after. During the course, there was always someone there to help, and they were great at restraining themselves so you still had to learn on your own. I got enough instruction to help and motivate me to keep learning and just little enough to give me the confidence to succeed.

After the course, the staff and my classmates kept in touch weekly through video chat which is amazing for what will be a very stressful time in your life. There was a lot of support offered and the networking through Hack Reactor is very good. Everyone in my class got at least one interview through their network or from a rep invited to come to the school, and I ended up getting a job with someone who had previously gone through the program. Total time for me was 8 months, 3 months in the program and 5 months to the first day on the job (I was the last in my class to land one btw)!

Growing up I always gravitated to computers.  I was part of the ‘computer club’ growing up.  I built computers, and I programmed.  For one reason or the other I felt that it would be impossible for me to complete my dream of becoming a Software Engineer.  Hack Reactor helped me complete my goal.

I went through Hack Reactor Prep, I interviewed, I got accepted, I went through pre-course, I went through the immersive, and I spent time as an Hacker in Residence.  Now I am working as a Software Engineer.  Hack Reactor works.

Remember Hack Reactor is in the business of creating Software Engineers.  Traditional 4 year institutions are in the business of giving you a diploma.  If your goal is to become a Software Engineer then you should go through Hack Reactor.  

The Hack Reactor staff is dedicated to student growth.  Your colleagues will be some of the most dedicated, and passionate folks that you will ever meet.  All of them will come from different walks of life.  All of them as crazy as you.  All of them crazy as you about becoming a Software Engineer.  

It will be one of the most challenging things that you will ever go through.  I worked very long hours to not fall behind during the immersive program.  Having said that, it was worth it.  Hack Reactor has given me a second chance at life.  

My experience is of April 2014. I was in the 12th cohort of Hack Reactor, so things might have changed. But this is my experience:

If you are planning to go serious into software, Hack Reactor is the best thing you can possibly do. If indeed you are serious enough, plan on disappearing from life for 3 months to fully dive into software engineering with JavaScript and related technologies. Forget about your previous life, and prepare yourself for the new, better life. It will not be easy, and it will not be soft on you - yet it will be truly amazing. Expect to walk into the building at around 8:30 am, and leaving maybe around 11pm, 6 days a week. You get to a point when you can no longer think or talk coherently (or at least I couldn’t), then you zombie your way back home, and sleep. Even then, some of my teammates even stayed longer - and some of them didn’t sleep at all sometimes (not that I would recommend that). As somebody else put it (I can’t remember who it was, but it wasn’t me), it’s like being extremely thirsty and trying to drink from a fire hose. When the program ends, you will be incredibly tired, but also proud with yourself. You will be pretty excited and looking forward to succeed in your first job as a software engineer.

The program:

People come from all over the world for Hack Reactor, myself included. I think that speaks for itself, but feel free to keep reading.

First half:

In the first half, you are pretty much very thirsty and start drinking. The pace is incredibly fast (remember not sleeping?) and relies on you being able to pick up on things real quick. You will try to absorb 100% of what’s going on, and then you’ll realize that’s impossible, and lower your standards a little bit. Even then, the amount of knowledge and hands on practice that you get is amazing. You will forget what day of the week it is, and start thinking of time as 2-day blocks, (in which different sprints happen, each covering key topics or new technologies/libraries). You will not realize how much you’ve grown (and will not believe it when other people and instructors tell you you’ve grown). The first half of the program, after 6 incredibly intense weeks, ends with a 2 day solo hackaton, where you get to “take yourself for a test drive” ( - Ryan Stellar), building anything from your own imagination from the ground up. Any ideas you’ve always wanted to do ? This is the time. And you can probably do it by now, and if you can’t, you can learn how to real fast.

Second half: 

The second half marks your transition from an eager junior to a more experienced senior student, where you get to work more in small and mid-sized teams. There’s two projects you complete in the remaining 6 weeks, and by the end you also get some very sweet guidance on job hunting efficiently. Some people choose to work for third party companies, some don’t. Whatever you choose, it will be another amazing experience, and by the end, you will have a very impressive set of projects to show off in hiring day. Hiring day takes place a few days before you graduate, and basically features a bunch of cool companies and startups getting to know you and convincing themselves on how awesome you and your friends are.

Staff and instructors:

By now I am sure you’ve heard on how awesome Marcus/Phillip/Fred/Ryan/Ruan and pretty much everyone is, but you may not be fully convinced. Well, if that’s the case I probably can’t convince you either, so just play the number’s game. All of us seem to share that opinion, so it’s probably very accurate. You will not be disappointed.

The people (classmates):

The most amazing and ridiculously brilliant people, all in the same room. 

The experience:

Overall, around 4.8 / 5. It’s not perfect, but it’s very close. And the people at Hack Reactor take feedback very seriously, so it just keeps getting better and better. Specific suggestions that the previous class made were already incorporated into mine. It is always innovating and searching for new ways to make it even more awesome. The amount of work that goes into user experience is impressive. If you manage to get past the technical interviewsand the cultural fit, you will have a blast going through the program.

I have had 2 jobs since Hack Reactor, one at a bigger tech company (LinkedIn) and currently in a start-up. I have had multiple promotions in these ~3 years since graduating HR. Hack Reactor helped me achieve my true potential (cliche, I know)

tldr - go to app academy

I was accepted into Hack Reactor, then 6 days before I was supposed to enter the program, I was told I couldn't come anymore. I passed the technical assessment, even did the Pre-course work, but a week before my cohort was supposed to start, we were told we had to have a "counselor check" (which was never part of the admissions process until we were notified). Then after the counselor check, I get an email saying I was "provisionally accepted." Keep in mind, that was AFTER I was already accepted. So I send a reply email, then get a call, and I was told that reply email was totally inappropriate. I disagreed and then I was told I wouldn't be able to come to this cohort after all. So I just withdrew completely from Hack Reactor at that point. There are a bunch of reasons this was really unprofessional, but the first is that this "counselor check" could have EASILY been done after the technical assessment (MONTHS before the starting cohort date), thereby letting me know months in advance if I was fully accepted. This is why people think coding bootcamps are sketchy, and I have to say, after my experience, they are right to think that. My advice, check out App Academy, which seems like a legit and trustworthy bootcamp.