Le Wagon

As UX designer who owns a startup in online education with a background in industrial engineering, I wanted to enhance my knowledge of coding in order to understand my product better and strengthen our developing manpower. The reviews of Le Wagon were great but what convinced me to go there was the testimony of Le Wagon alumna. The structure is very well organized so that you learn in the best conditions with the support of tutors and the community. Once the boot camp is done, you have access to all the material that was given to you including the videos of the lessons that were given to you. But what truly makes it amazing is that you then belong to an international community of game changers in the web industry and else. This has been a life changing experience for me and many others.

The lack of negative reviews I found online gave me very high expectations about the bootcamp. Le Wagon managed to surpass them all. Learning new languages? Coding a fully functional website? All of that in just 9 weeks? Believe it or not, it is possible at le Wagon.

From writing your first line of code to building your final project and see it come to life, the amount of knowledge you get during these 9 weeks is truly impressive. You would be amazed by how much you can learn and build in such a short period of time.

More than just a school, when you join Le Wagon you become part of a community, a family some would say. It’s not all about coding. Le Wagon organizes bi-weekly yoga sessions, events and meet-ups with entrepreneurs to name a few. The working environment is so great that I decided to become a teaching assistant and pass on the knowledge I had just acquired. Leaving Le Wagon was just not an option for me.

All in all, joining Le Wagon is one of the best decision I’ve ever made. Make most out of everyday you spend there because it will be over before you know it..

A life-changing experience, I still can’t believe what I’ve learned in such short of time. I can honestly say my expectation was overly exceeded. When I applied, I was just expecting to gain coding skills which obviously makes sense since it’s a code Bootcamp, what other can you expect right? I mean that’s all I was looking for, but then Le Wagon happened! On top of coding skills, I gained two other very important skills, which are problem-solving skill and can do attitude and I can confidently say these two skills have had a positive impact in my life since then.

So, it all began when I was working on my final project at university which was also my business idea. It involved making a business plan for an application, though it annoyed me that I didn’t understand the technical part of my idea and that I wasn’t going to contribute much on this side. But then the idea came in my mind, what if I can learn it? That’s how I started searching and exploring my options. I found Le Wagon and at first I was very sceptical and thought it was too good to be true, mainly because all reviews were positive, I mean ritually Le Wagon’s every public appearance is positive but then I took my chances and went for it, after having a Skype call with Guillaume (who is Bootcamp Manager at Le Wagon Montreal). That was one of the best decision I ever took!

During Bootcamp, I loved the entrepreneurial StartUp mood environment we studied in, every day was different and unique, and the most exciting part was our final project where we had to come up with an idea and actually implement it in just ten days. My three teammates and I came up with an idea to build a chatbot that can recommend the perfect gift in just a few minutes and within the user’s budget (Regalo that was the name of the app). The journey to build the app was breathtaking, mainly because we couldn’t believe that we were able to do it and we were! We did it! I mean I can go on and go on. And Yes, I would definitely recommend anyone to attend Le wagon Bootcamp. It’s an intense nine weeks, It’s not meant to be easy but it’s definitely doable. My advice to you is to have a positive attitude and don’t give up on yourself, I can do it, You can do it!

I spent many late nights and weekends trying to teach myself how to code, over many months, with very little results. I was sure that if I quit my job and dedicated myself full time to learning how to code that I could teach myself properly, and certainly not pay money for a bootcamp when there were so many online resources. After quitting my job and spending a couple of weeks of long days in a library teaching myself, I had spent most of that time stuck on tiny coding problems, and I knew that the only way I could progress quickly was by having a teacher. After doing research on what the top bootcamp in Melbourne was, I settled on Le Wagon.

I’m so happy that I did!! Le Wagon surpassed my expectations, I had expected non-communicative teachers who would lecture in the morning and bail during exercises. Instead, I experienced some of the best teaching in my adult life, and the ratio of students to teachers/teacher’s assistants was so good that I had as much face to face time for help with exercises that I needed - in fact, asking for help was encouraged. While the bootcamp moved quickly, the teachers provided all the foundational tools I would need to explore complex topics further in my own time, and even sometimes provided additional after-hours support. I am so impressed with Le Wagon and recommend it to everyone that I meet!

I would not hesitate to recommend LeWagon to someone who is looking to get into coding for any reason. TThe course is designed to provide students with the tech skills necessary to enter the job market for tech-related roles, while being sufficiently product focused to allow them to build their own product for those looking to kick-start their business. It’s not easy and very intense, but if you are dedicated and committed to learning anyone can complete it and come out the other side a developer!

I was an IT & account manager for different companies based in Morocco, I have always been a tech hobbyist & a self-taught person inquisitive to learn more about new technologies & programming languages, coding in particular was something I truly love to do, but I needed an intensive program or courses allowing me to practice through pair programming instead of learning it solo. 

For a time I have been dealing with this energetic determination to change my career and embrace the tech industry, I was carrying it too far until i began to search all over the internet for a coding school, there were so many bootcamps all over the world with plenty of challenges & resourceful courses online but only one hindrance ... there wasn’t any coding bootcamp back then in Morocco. 

Until one day, while visiting the official website of Le Wagon, I was already informed about how the reviews regarding this school were positive, I also watched some of their demo-day videos from different batches all over the world and it was really motivating. Boy was I surprised to find out that Le Wagon was in Casablanca, no doubt that this would be the perfect place where I could be part of a coding bootcamp such as Le Wagon, since there is an emerging & growing tech industry at a tremendous speed in my city and I felt so bad that I didn’t had all the necessary skills or experience to be part of this. 

Le Wagon was already one of the top schools I surely considered, the whole program was extensive & structured with essential programming languages to learn, it is the only coding bootcamp that describes fairly well the skills you would acquire only in 9 weeks, my thought at this time was “what are you waiting for ? “ ... and then the red van adventure started ! My first day at Le Wagon was even more surprising when I noticed the diversity of the students & teachers, it was even more impressive to notice that 60% of my batch were women who wanted to change their life, learn how to code & build their own web apps, that was even more inspiring when I got the chance to know how everyone was motivated, not only change their career, but also to build their actual ideas & products regardless of their culture or gender. 

It was beyond my expectations, a school that is first a community with people from different background & culture sharing the same passion as I do with one single similarity, they’re all coders (or students willing to become one). 

I’ll never forget the first thing I heard from our driver that recommended us to get out of our comfort zone, to know each others because the 9 weeks isn’t just about learning how to code but to learn & work together, Le Wagon isn’t just about lectures, pair programming was the cornerstone to improve our technical skills on a daily basis and to truly adopt the real mindset of a competent developer by working as a team. At first you learn Ruby, a powerful object-oriented programming language easy to write & understand for anyone who never ever did any code before, then you start with the basics from HTML, CSS, Javascript , SQL and finally the Ruby On Rails framework allowing you to build a complete & powerful web application in no time from a beginner standpoint until a more advanced one. 

7 weeks of pure code with lectures first in the morning & challenges during the whole day with the optional advanced challenges for the enthusiasts, not to forget to mention the livecode where teachers & assistants gather us by the end of the day, so that everyone solve one complex challenge together as one team. 

With the help of a dedicated staff of Teachers & Teachers Assistants, they did an amazing job to be here for us students, throughout our daily struggle of learning, practicing , completing the challenges & filling us with even more resourceful information to guide us through this journey of becoming a fullfledged developer. 

The two last weeks of the bootcamp are truly intense because it is the perfect time to really build something with all the skills you learned in such a short amount of time, and that is when you realize how “getting out of your comfort zone” feels like during project weeks, you get to face this new challenge to work with your classmates as a formed team, researching & developing together the final project with an amazing technical workflow, communication and synergy throughout the development. We ended up communicating with each other like we were already a team of experienced developers thanks to these intense 7 weeks of pure coding & challenges. 

After Le Wagon, I became a freelance web developer, I learned to be a real problem-solver during my batch and craving to face more challenges that will help me throughout my career, also to develop furthermore all the acquired technical skills with the right methodology on-hand, thanks to this amazing experience. I realized that anyone can learn to code, anyone can change their career if they are truly willing to & also, anyone can share their ideas & experiences to build their own project by meeting new people, and it is never too late for that. 

So my question for anyone who wants to learn how to code & build their ideas : “What are you waiting for to get in the red van too ? :) “

Hi, my name is Otávio and I am a Le Wagon alumni from batch-#204, taken in Rio de Janeiro between October 15th and December 14th, 2018. 
Some background about myself: I used to be a logistics project coordinator for a telecomm top 3 company. Worked for the US Government also, in a diplomatic mission. My career focused on international logistics, supply chain management, contract and process management mostly. I can honestly say I had no prior experience in programming before the course. Setting up Macros in Excel would be the closest thing. 
In the years I worked in the telecomm industry I was lucky to see technologies being developed and had a glimpse to where things are going to. IOT (internet of things), small cells, smart cars, startups... and none of that happens without a good amount of programming. 
How did I come to find Le Wagon? Talking to a friend who's been in Europe's IT industry for a long time I asked how one could insert him/herself in the IT realm without having to go through the classic computer science graduation path. That is when I learned about this growing trend of coding bootcamps. The first on the list he gave me was Le Wagon, to which he included a "best bang for the buck" tag. On a quick search in the net I found many Le Wagon alumni and their experiences (which at first sounded too good to be true). And they were considered the #1 coding bootcamp. Further in the search found some posts about this growing trend on bootcamps and how they were being considered the next MBAs but for the IT industry. And what really drew the line for me was when I reached out to Pedro, one of Le Wagons partners in Brazil & Latin America. He said that he was a photographer before starting to code at Le Wagon in Paris 2014. He liked it and believes in it so much that he brought Le Wagon to Brazil and LatAm as a matter of fact. 
It is a 9 week program. The first weeks are brutal. It's like getting home after running a triathlon (but for the brain) knowing it will happen the same thing on the next day, for the next several weeks. What kept me sane were a couple of lines Pedro told us on the very first day: "Guys, you will get desperate! You will get frustrated! STAY WITH US !! It will all fall into place at one time..." Every time I got desperate, and it wasn't only once, I remembered myself of that. They also have good TAs (teaching assistants) and lecturers who also went through the program and know our pain. It all fell into place for me during the second half of the bootcamp. 
The bootcamp is orientated not only to those who wish to become a developer, but to those entrepreneurs who wish to begin their own startups, future product owners and digital nomads. We had people from 24 to 48 years of age. I wasn't the oldest with my 42 summers in the bag. The environment is amazing. A collaborative pair programming learning process where we sit every day with someone different than the previous day. I felt lucky that in my batch I had no case of "ah no, that one again, bummer!" Everyone got along. A lot of coffee! Every Thursday there was an event with outsiders from Venture Capital owners to startups pitching for a CTO and people sharing their story of hard work, pivoting and success. Oh, and after these talks Le Wagon offered free beer. On Wednesdays there were Yoga classes to help sooth the body. Even though it was a lot of hard work, we knew there would be some yoga, talks to insert us more and more into this IT environment, and the beer to help us relax a bit. 
In the end we leave as junior developers with a good amount of skills to help us keep improving. The Le Wagon platform is also really well thought of with video lectures and information on every class with have during the bootcamp. We are given full access to it for life as well as to the Le Wagon Slack channels. In Slack we have access not only to our batch but also to job postings, all of the wagon alumni, teachers, mentors and many others. 
The whole experience changed my life. Met really interesting people. Made good friends. Learned awesome skills. And left with two projects as portfolio. 
When I was in school as a young kid, knowing another language or two would count a lot. Today it's default. The equivalent to that right now is coding.

TD;LR : Why are you still here, reading reviews ? No time to loose ! Go apply to Le Wagon.

If you like:

- Challenges

- Go out your comfort zone

- Meet amazing people

- Learn quickly with efficiency 

Then you really should consider Le Wagon. 

Regarding my background, I was working in Finance, learning CFA when i decided to swtich careers, i had 0 knowledge in coding before the bootcamp and now I'm able to create a copycat of airbnb.

Don't fool yourself, it will be hard, you'll be very low at some point but don't forget, once you are down you can only go up ;)

I have always struggled with formal education despite completing high school and Quebec’s CEGEP program.  I was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school and have found that trying to juggle up to 8 different subjects at the same time is almost impossible for me.

I’m now 22 years old and gave university a shot for two years. During my first year in psychology, I discovered that I loved programming, and during my second year, in computer sciences, I discovered that I hated university.

As an alternative to university, Le Wagon was a massive help to me. It perfectly suited my learning style, by keeping up a steady flow of new and interesting information without ever totally overwhelming me. In addition to covering new topics constantly, Le Wagon’s challenges and buddy system, in conjunction with formal lectures, helped teach skills not just theoretically, but practically too.

The staff of Le Wagon were practically family to me by the end of my 2-month stay. They were understanding, helpful and always a pleasure to be around. I hope to stay in contact long after my graduation.

The final project I completed with my team will always hold a special place in my heart. I didn’t come to Le Wagon with a solid grasp on just how far we would come in a short 2-month period, but the products we finished far exceeded anything I could have imagined.

Le Wagon gave me an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world:  between wonderful friendships with people of all backgrounds, and a solid foundation of lessons on both working in code, and finding work.

In short, I would highly recommend Le Wagon to anyone who feels they are interested in changing their lives and learning to code!

Even though I had mixed feelings when I applied for Le Wagon due to 1) Ruby as a programming language and 2) uncertainty what former students are able to teach you, I found the Le Wagon experience in Bali to be amazing and exactly what I was looking for.

The most important takeaway from the 2 months is the confidence to just go out there and learn any programming related subject I'm interested in (even if it might take some time). I gained the necessary skills to teach myself new concepts and debug code that is not working first time.

Quick hint: If you do Le Wagon, definitely choose Bali. It is a no-brainer, trust me.

The coding bootcamp at Le Wagon Amsterdam taught me that you don’t have to be working with computers since you were a 12 years old in order to become a web developer.

I have been a working professional since I came out of high school and even with work experience in the finance sector I felt that I was less and less qualified for the jobs of the future by the day. We live in a world that is digitalizing rapidly which requires new skills from it's workforce. Knowing this I realised that no matter what position I am working in, I will need to be able to code and or at least understand fundamental concepts of development in order to progress in my career.

Applying to this programme made sense to me as it was more compact and real life oriented than a bachelor in computer science and ended with us presenting a fully functional application to investors and potential employers after the camp.

Even though the bootcamp was one of the most challenging experiences I had (50 hours a week of high intensity learning) I never felt overwhelmed as the teachers were really competent and would help by giving hints when stuck with a challenge. Due to the extra activities we would participate in at the days end (Drinks, Lunches and City tours but also professional workshops and speakers) the atmosphere was always great and the students got along very well with one another. From my experience it is very common to stay in touch afterwards!

Personally I am very happy to have participated and I recommend every person that want’s to get into tech but is uncertain on how to start to take part in this awesome experience!