LearningFuze

I chose to enroll at LearningFuze was because it was an establish bootcamp and I had heard good things about it.  After completing their introductory courses it confirmed my decision to continue in to their full-immersion program.

The emphasis on establishing the basics and making sure you started with a solid foundation was what I needed.  Coming from zero programming knowledge, I was unsure I would be able to keep up. The staff is extremely dedicated and helpful in making sure you learn at a steady pace and don't get left behind.   

One of the biggest things I appreciate about the program is getting the full picture of what it takes to start a career as a web developer.   The curriculum is about giving a realistic view of what is needed to succeed. It's not just about learning the right stack or the lectures/projects.  Those are great, but it also includes getting you ready for the job search, how to network, opportunities for meetups and listening to speakers from the industry.  You not only are taught technical knowledge but soft-skills that will help you come out of the program prepared  to join the workforce.

LearningFuze was a good investment for my future career. I went to LearningFuze having little knowledge about web development and coming out with the ability to buil apps and learn and adapt to other programming languages quickly. I also get to meet people with similar mindsets and get to work in team setting that will prepare me for future work environment. In addition, the instructors are very helpful. I am so grateful to have learnt from them. I enjoyed my experience a lots, and highly reccomend LearningFuze.

LearningFuze was a great experience. I had always wanted to learn how to code but just didn’t know where to start. Attending the Root classes at LearningFuze was a great intro and peaked my interest of code even further. The instructors do a great job of explaining each fundamental concept and are always available for individual help, which was awesome!

Just like any bootcamp the pace is fast! Which is great and the best way to learn if you are serious about learning how to code. Daniel a senior Instructor at LearningFuze is one of the most passionate, dedicated and caring teachers I have ever had. He is one of the many things that make it such a great learning environment.

The course is structured in a great way that not only builds your skills/portfolio but also teaches you how to prepare for interviews and job search the right way. I feel very prepared coming out of the class I highly recommend LearningFuze to those who want to learn web development.

I can say without a doubt that this program is worth the money. I went through UCI with a double major in both humanities and science, so I've had my fair share of instructors and classes. I don't think I've ever been through a program where the teachers try so hard for you to suceed. The instructors are willing to set up extra classes for struggling students or even stay late to help students with their projects. Unlike a lot of university courses, this program endeavors to be current with the job market and teaches accordingly. It's a tough program and really pushes you to your limit, but with such a supportive staff, it's hard to fail. 

I am currently completing my last week of the 12 week program. I did plenty of research on coding programs and attended various information sessions within the OC area before deciding to join LearningFuze. I mainly joined because of how passionate the instructors are and the highly collaborative environment. Both were signs of great culture and I knew I wanted to be in an environment that would push me to reach my potential.

Coming from a non-coding background, there was a level of uneasiness entering an unfamiliar industry. LearningFuze does a great job accelerating the knowledge of newcomers while still providing people with more technical backgrounds the level of challenge they need to grow. The curriculum has been refined over many years yet it still adapts to the skills employers are looking for, what students are interested in learning and the evolving best practices.

This program doesn't just feed you a list of rules to abide by as you code. You learn the logic and reasoning behind the best practices to become a well-rounded problem solver who can tackle even the most unfamiliar of questions. Since it typically takes years of experience to even come close to mastering the intricacies of any technology, building the skills to prepare yourself for an ever-changing industry will providing a foundation for a lasting career.

LearningFuze also provides assistance when it comes to the job search. Students go through a rigorous process to ensure their portfolios are ready to be shown to employers. Speaking and networking events are constantly being pushed to students and LearningFuze has its own network of companies to recommend students who have completed their portfolios to. LearningFuze also provides interview prep, resume reviews and lectures on how to optimize your job search.

I truly believe in LearningFuze and hope that this review provides a glimpse into the value of the program. I had a fantastic experience and although I do not know what may have happened if another path was taken, I am confident that I made the right decision to join.

LearningFuze provides a pleasant learning environment with very helpful instructors. Dan is remarkable when explaining tough concepts; he breaks it down with simple analogies that helped me understand and digest the topic. 

The program is fast paced, intense and like most reviewers said you get what you put in. I, for the most part, spend 10-12 hours a day to learn and absorb the learning materials as much as I can, I only go home to sleep and shower. I thought I couldn't maintain that for 3 full months, but I did. How?

At LFZ I was surrounded by like-minded, motivated people who want to learn to code as much as I do and I loved it! I'm not only learning from the instructors but also from my classmates, seniors, alumni and guest speakers from various tech companies. 

The curriculum gave us many opportunities to work together as a group. So we teamed up together, we got stuck on problems together, we solved programming problems together, and it was super fun and rewarding experience. 

As every night goes by, I looked forward to what I'm going to learn the next day. It won't be easy, but I knew I'm going to get a lot of help and support from the instructors learning the materials.

Days and weeks passed by, and before I know it 3 months happened, 2 weeks later I got an internship in Irvine. 2 months into the internship, and I got a full-time job in Los Angeles. 

Doing a boot camp was a big decision for me. Like you I researched different ones and read reviews. I contacted a couple of boot camps, attended info sessions, and I decided I like to move forward with LearningFuze, and I'm delighted I did.

I have just wrapped up the 12-week full immersion program at LearningFuze and wanted to share my thoughts because I know when I was looking for a boot camp I wanted to read as many reviews as possible.

LearningFuze was not the first boot camp I attended. I started out at another full immersion program in the area and I realized very quickly that I had made a mistake. Having spent two weeks at another program, I feel I have a unique perspective on the quality of instruction that LearningFuze offers.

Here are a couple of the things that I found most important.

LearningFuze focuses on coding fundamentals. You need to start with the basics and work your way up. The lead instructor, Dan, takes great care in making sure you understand the code you are writing and that you aren’t just memorizing the syntax without grasping the underlying concepts.

If a boot camp is trying to teach you React.js in the first or second week of the program when you can barely write a for loop in Javascript. Run away!

LearningFuze has plenty of instructors available to help you. One of the most frustrating things about the first boot camp I attended was the lack of assistance. There was one instructor for 14 students. If I had a question, I had to put myself in a queue and sometimes have to wait a couple hours if I was stuck while he was helping other students. What a waste of time! LearningFuze has at least seven instructors. I think the ratio of students to instructors is about 5 to 1. This makes it so easy to get the help you need. I have never had to wait very long at all to get the help I need and there are instructors on site almost every Saturday also.

Once the boot camp ends, the instructors are still there for you, assisting with getting your portfolio put together and polished.

What you need to know

Doing well at a boot camp requires a tremendous amount of time and dedication. If you are not able to put in the effort, it won’t matter where you attend school. You should expect to be putting in about 12 hours a day and working on the weekends too. Make sure your friends and family know you will be MIA for about three months.

It is challenging, but it is a great experience!

I am writing this review from the standpoint of completing 7 out of 12 weeks of this intense full immersion program. I still have 5 weeks left and everything about the program has been constantly exceeding my expectations.

My prior programming experience:

• HTML/CSS/JavaScript from codeCademy/freeCodeCamp
• Java exposure from my previous logistics job

I had a lot of holes in my understanding of programming concepts and didn't know how to bring it all together. It was difficult learning on my own due to my limited knowledge and lack of mentorship.

Which prompted me to start my search for a coding boot camp where the environment would push myself past my limits and build a stronger foundation in programming.

How I found LearningFuze (LFZ):
I inquired several coding boot camps around OC/LA through SwitchUp, CourseReport, and info sessions. LFZ stood out the moment I took up their free offer of sitting in on some of their lectures.

The staff, current students, and alumni are very transparent about their boot camp experience. It was a breath of fresh air compared to some other institutions around the area, especially for someone who was brand new to programming.
 

Why I chose LearningFuze:
After a few days of sitting in on their lectures, I discovered that I loved the teaching style of Lead Instructor Dan. He breaks down problems to a human level/plain english to solidify the concept and then correlates that idea to the code. 

After a few weeks of sitting in on lectures here and there, I decided to bite the bullet and enroll into their Root Level One class (1 of 2 of the pre-requisite classes before joining full immersion)

It was after taking the Root Level One class that I decided to really try and join the full immersion by moving on to their RootJS class (the second pre-requisite class before joining full immersion)

I was amazed at how well the other staff could explain concepts and really relate to the student because guess what? The majority of staff have been through the full immersion and excelled at the program. There is a student-instructor ratio of 5 to 1,
so help is never too far away.

No need to worry about office hours because everyone at LFZ (including alumni) are reachable through the LFZ Slack channels. Whether it's fellow students, alumni, and staff; everyone is friendly and open about code that I feel it nurtures a great environment to have focused learning on programming.

What is the full immersion like?

The curriculum is INTENSE.
A prospective student should take a Root class at LFZ and really see if programming is for them before proceeding any further.

JavaScript, JavaScript, JavaScript!!!!!
If there is something I could have improved on before joining full immersion is more practice with JavaScript. This was the same advice I was given by alumni, current students, and instructors. They were 200% correct, but I do not regret too much about beginning the full immersion at the level of JavaScript I knew at the time.

Although the curriculum is well structured, it is fast-paced. I struggle every day, but it is all worth it because what I learn is so invaluable. Students are not only taught programming languages, but how to approach a problem and think of a solution. We are taught to break down problems down to a human level and translate our human solution to a coding solution.

Expect to spend 10-14 hours Monday-Friday to learn from lectures, practice-problems, and projects. Maybe 8 hours on Saturdays to help catch up for when you fall behind (yes almost everyone will fall behind)

The program is designed to have students fail. This is because the faster we fail, the faster we learn from our mistakes and keep moving forward. Students would rather fail during the boot camp than to fail at an actual job.

The curriculum also covers whiteboard interviews and resume / portfolio building.
As many other reviewers have stated before. You really get everything out of this program depending on how much time/effort you put into it.

Advice:

1. Be 100% committed, you will have to make sacrifices. Especially with Netflix, friends/family/significant others. Just communicate well with who need to keep in touch with.
2. Communication is KEY! If you have questions, don't stay quiet! Just ask if you don't understand or else you will fall behind.
3. Attitude. We are all here to learn, don't ruin it for others by being a jerk.
4. DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS!
   To be honest, I still struggle with this everyday. I need to constantly remind myself that there will always be those better/worse than me. What I learned is that everyone from all walks of life can bring something to the table. So don't count yourself out so early in the game
   It's a marathon, not a race.

LearningFuze is a great bootcamp with instructors who will do their best to solidify your JavaScript skills. I was always asking Cody for practice problems in the beginning to build my foundation and he was always willing to help and come up with new problems. Dan is excellent at breaking problems down and trying to make sure everyone is on the same page and understands thorogougly before moving onto the next topic. For any future students reading this, make sure you are disciplined enough to put in 10-12 hour days and even weekends. For the most part, I was always the earliest to arrive and last to leave because I knew that I would be distracted at home. It will be tough to want to study and code on the weekends, especially Sunday but it will make a significant difference. What's great is that LFZ is open on Saturdays with instructors being present. I took a part-time Javascript course for about 3 weeks at a previous bootcamp in the Irvine area and made the switch over to LFZ and I have no regrets - at the part time program, our homework was to do codeacademy and freecodecamp... The prototypes and the curriculum at LFZ are superior and you will get what you put in.

This bootcamp iprovides everything you need to be successful. Compared to other programs, LearningFuze gives students the most bang for their buck. The instructors are extremely knowledgable and always there for you.

You truly get out what you put into this program. They do a great job of setting the playing field for you and help initiate your career in development. The most important thing you can get out of this program is the ability to learn and continue learning as you move forward.

The program structure simulates the real world work environment and encourages collaboration and communication amongst the students and instructors. Not only do you develop your technical skills, you have a change to develop soft skills.

This program is beyond exceeding my expectations. Coming into a program that is as condensed and accelerated as a boot camp, I was very concerned on the quality of education I would be receiving. I was quickly relieved as the instructors are extremely knowledgeable. Of course they teach the material, showing great knowledge of the code itself, but they teach more than just syntax and language. A main focus is the thought process behind every decision, and how to arrive at the correct solution for the problem you are currently facing.

I would suggest this program to anyone that is looking to get into software development