SPICED Academy

We all get that this is NOT a university program, this is a bootcamp where people with previous degree/ or comparative experience should be allowed, it should be clear from the beginning that you won't learn to code in 3 months. 
Unfortunately everybody can get in and the course is even sold as appropriate (the cost is almost 10k) for unexperienced/ starters coders which is very close to a scam......
Once started you jump on a high speed train and there is no support at all/ no time to catch up with your colleagues/ teachers, which turns up to be very demotivating for your learning process. Totally not recommended if you want to learn to code

I was happy that I managed to complete the bootcamp but beware, the methodologies and ways of teaching are not very well adapdted to neophyts. The sooner you start preparing for the course, the better. The freebootcamp pre-training is far from enough.

The pace is extremely fast which doesn't leave time to process and digest information so don't hesitate to get external help if possible.

The number of teachers is not enough for the number of students which can be very frustrating while working on projects.

If you manage to survive until the end, you will be able to create and do nice things with a bit of confidence but the foundation will not be stable and strong.

Bear also in mind that you will only be fed knowledge about coding and not much about what it is to be a web developer.

I just finished the first ever Data Science course at SPICED and I couldn‘t be happier about the whole experience.

The curriculum is great and well thught out. Every week we covered a new topic, which can be summarized like this:  In the first 4 weeks we covered the basics of coding/data science (python/pandas/numpy/scikit-learn/Machine Learning theory), then in the next 4 weeks we focused on deep learning (Tensorflow/Keras) and all kinds of different neural networks, and finally in the last 4 weeks we looked at topics like distributed computing, databases, deploying of python projects and of course worked on our final project.

Kristian, the head teacher, is just amazing. He knows everything about Python and Data Science, and - maybe even more importantly - you can see that he really enjoys teaching. This makes for a very special combination! He is great at explaining difficult topics in a simple manner, so you can pick them up quickly. Also, he is always trying to make the curriculum as interesting for the students as possible. So for example, each week he asked us what areas of that week’s topic are of special interest to us, so he could adjust the topics/material according to our interests. I think he is what makes this data science program really special. In addition, the whole environment (employees/fellow students/equipment/facilities etc) at SPICED is very pleasant and makes for a great learning atmosphere.

All in all, I’m very happy I decided to take this course. I had a great time at SPICED and learned a great deal! I would definately do it again.

After several years as a Customer Success/Account Manager in the B2B SaaS sector, I decided to learn how to program and code. I was first drawn to SPICED because it's located in Berlin, but I ultimately decided to join its Full Stack Web Development program because of its people. 

The entire team at SPICED is determined to help you reach your goals, whatever those might be. Personally, I knew before joining SPICED that I did not want to become a developer. I wanted to complement my business experiences in tech with real life coding knowledge. Additionally, I knew that I wanted to join a company in a hybrid role that combined client relations and product management. I was able to land this job after one month of graduating from SPICED. 

I highly recommend SPICED academy!

For me personally SPICED was a life changing experience, I never expected to be a web developer, especially after only 12 weeks and now I found a job as a Software Engineer.

It could be stressful at times and students could get lost and even decide to drop out, but this is a part of the experience when at the end you see the outcome of your coding skills you forget all about that and it will be totally worth it.

so my advice would be that you keep going no matter how hard it gets! 

The teaching part was great and clear as the teachers are always around and would happily help regarding any questions. 

Not to forget mentioning the atmosphere, we were like a family there spending 8 to 10 hours together every day. I still miss being there! 

an advice that I would like to give new applicants is that you should focus on the pre-course and try to study the basics of Javascript before starting the course so you don't get overwhelmed, because the course moves very fast and the topics switch fast so when you know the basics then it will be easier to keep up with all the technologies switching.

Tbh, it's not easy to become a web developer, and to be even more honest, it's certainly not easy to learn it all within a few months.....three to be exact. SPICED does a great job of giving you all of the necessary resources and access to learn, but as with everything, it was up to my colleagues and myself to make it a priorities.

With that out of the way, it was an incredible, harrowing, difficult, worthwhile, trying, and enlightening experience. There were a thousand times, honestly, that I thought about dropping out because my background and life beforehand had absolutely no bearing in computer science, web development, or programming at all. But, staying in and pushing through was by and far one of the best decisions I ever made. My cohort was a diverse group of people, not only in backgrounds but also in interests and motivations, and they ultimately were the support group that I needed to make it through this 3 month course.

Of course, there are a thousand things that I would change in the last few months, like studying more, applying myself to the coursework, and probably having a social life outside of it....LOL.... but I would not change any of my decisions to attend SPICED or change my career path to that of a developer -- I mean, shit, I went from a bartender to now a full stack developer working on hella intense projects now.

So --- if you want to change your career path and want something more, and you have the drive / determination to stick with something difficult despite it being tough sometimes, apply and get to it. But, if you're not one for putting in the hard hours and diving deep into the coursework, don't. Just want to make that clear, because again, being a web developer is tough and doing it in 3 months is even more so. You've been warned...but if you like the challenge, then welcome to it!!

I graduated from SPICED Academy in Berlin and got a job in the US within 1 month of graduation. I have been working as a software developer for a company that makes math and science simulations for schools.

Before deciding to learn web development I was a high school science teacher.  A couple of years ago I knew I wanted to leave the classroom and saw web development as my next venture.  I started studying on my own and I made some progress, but it was slow. I knew that I needed a mentor and someone who could scaffold the learning for me so that it was easier to progress There’s a lot of information out there – some of it digestible and some of it not. With a bootcamp you get a curriculum, a solid path and person to whom you can ask questions. I knew that I was going to quit teaching at the end of the school year so it seemed like a great opportunity to go live abroad for some time. Both my husband and I have always want to live in Europe. I thought the best way to keep studying and get the European experience was to attend a bootcamp in Europe. So we looked for an English boot camp that had the right curriculum and the right timing. SPICED was it.

My experience at SPICED was amazing! The teachers are fantastic and the curriculum is very cleverly structured to get you the most gains in the least amount of time.  Other than HTML and CSS the whole program is focused on Javascript which allows you to develop strong Javascript skills. The head teacher, David, is extremely knowledgeable. The way he introduced the topics made the concepts easily digestible.   He modeled how he would write code so that we could see his process.  He talked about beginner pitfalls and helped us understand why our programs should be structured in a certain way, but at the same time left room for us to solve challenges on our own.  Most assignments could be tailored to different skill levels; there was always a required set of problems, but often there were extra challenges for those of us that wanted/needed them.  

Besides teaching the ins-and-outs of the Javascript language, SPICED instructors taught us the fundamentals of software development. After leaving I found it easy to pick up other languages and frameworks. Many of the projects that appeared to be for one purpose could actually be used for something else. I attended a Hackathon a few weeks after leaving SPICED and worked on a project hat hoped to hook up black, female entrepreneurs with others. The founder essentially needed a social media site and because I had just built one at SPICED, I knew just what to do.  Each new project I encounter I apply something I learned at SPICED whether that be something specific like how to write an AJAX call or, more broadly, how a piece of software is architected. Even though the curriculum focuses on certain platforms (my cohort learned React and Redux, for example) SPICED will give you a fantastic foundation to get started in software development.  

tl;dr SPICED is great, definitely go there, if you are really up for it!

I was part of SPICED's full stack cohort from July to October 2017 and I am very happy I decided to go with SPICED. Already one month after graduation, on November 1st, I started my new job as a Full Stack developer at a digital agency in Vienna, Austria.
So, I am writing this review with a bit of time having passed since graduating from SPICED and already having gone through the first couple of weeks as a professional developer.

Having had very little experience with coding prior to coming to SPICED (except for tinkering around with a few courses on codecademy), the curriculum was challenging from day 1. But after all, I was signing up for something called a 'boot camp', so I already had a feeling that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

The two teacher David and Matt were a great help throughout the entire journey and are one of the great assets of SPICED. They do not spoon feed you answers, but rather try to steer you in the right direction when you are stuck.
Personally, I absolutely loved this approach of them being there whenever you need help, but otherwise letting you figure out your stuff at your own pace and in your own way.
That being said, I would not recommend SPICED to you, if you are not fully committed because no one will spoon feed you answers and ultimately it is your responsibility to make sure you keep up. 

I have made the experience, that I learn the most, by actually writing code. Some of my fellow gingers (ginger was the name of our cohort ;)), took the approach of first wanting to read up on documentation and trying to understand the topic they were dealing with. This approach didn't really work for me. I tried to struggle my way through an exercise line by line. If I had no idea where to start, I tried to come up with the first line of code as a start and worry about the rest then. As you progress as a programmer, you start thinking out solutions prior to writing your actual code, but especially in the beginning, this approach proved very valuable to me. 

My favorite project I worked on at SPICED was the petition project, which started around week 6 or so. Prior to that, we had been working on small exercises that taught the basics. The petition project was the one project where it finally all came together, we built our first full stack web app and we got to apply pretty much everything we learned in the weeks prior to that. I still remember the moment, when I successfully deployed my petition to Heroku - that was when I realized how much I was learning and how fast I was progressing.

Even though SPICED is great and all, the first couple of days on the job were quite intimidating, but that quickly gets better. Of course, I am still the most junior developer on the team, but I never really feel like I am completely lost or less appreciated because of that.

One thing I did not yet mention but which makes my time at SPICED very memorable are the people there. The SPICED family is quite small and cohort sizes are not too large (I believe we were 8 people in our cohort at graduation), so you really get to know the people around you and the atmosphere in the office is always very warm and welcoming. 

The course at SPICED was beyond expectations. Although a lot of work had to put into learning complex and advanced coding in 3-months, the instructors David and Matt are great and teach and teaching you the logic behind things. Not only did SPICED teach you how to code but you also form friendships with the people in your cohort as well as other cohorts. You all become part of a big family that is helping each other out. The best part of the week is 17h00 on Fridays when you open your first beer and just enjoy the end of a hard working week.

 

Moreover, there is Paul who is open to showing and suggesting places to go to around the city and of course, Shilpa who is taking care of every concern that comes your way.

 

Overall, very satisfied and great experience that helped me land a job in 2 weeks.

 

Would recommend to anyone!