Learn SQL at These 468 SQL Bootcamps

• longer duration of the course (4.5 months compared to 3);
• broader program and more workload on the course (Beginner and Middle level topics, 2 two-hour lectures/practices on weekdays + 4-hour practices every Saturday as opposed to only Beginner level topics and 2 meetings of 2 hours);
• choice of your own topic for the graduation project (instead of the whole group creating different variants for a real client based on a specific task, which the client paid for, to have the graduates choose his task, as it happens at Projector);
• not the least reason was the work of the sales manager, who provided me with the level of service that was not in the first failed option and the usual communication with the sales manager from Projector, whose interest in getting me on the course was not felt.

• support from the academy throughout the course;
• the teacher! Her level of knowledge, ability to explain, interest in the success of students, willingness to help with every question that arises;
• own LMS, where each lesson has homework, several video lessons, and a lot of quality textual information taken from various well-known and not very reliable sources;
• slight changes in the program or individual homework at the choice of the teacher — it was done to give us only the necessary knowledge, based on real cases in practice;
• a well-thought-out process of defending the graduation project and the ability to defend it in English;
• friendly community within the group and overall at the academy;
• the presence of educational events, workshops, and free career counseling for each student;
• cool merch for all students;
• the ability to split the payment for the course into a convenient number of parts.

• somewhat outdated links to some information;
• in general, the order of video lectures sometimes confused, and sometimes there was a feeling that the videos were taken from previous versions of this course;
• the teacher's answers to questions about the course/graduation project, even within the allocated time, were long and postponed to another day, despite her online presence;
• minor errors in tests and in some places not very well-thought-out UI/UX in LMS.

• In-person vs. online: I started my LEARN Academy cohort in February 2020 and for better or worse was able to experience both the in-class and online (Zoom - remote) version of LEARN Academy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an ideal world, one should attend the in-person experience in order to further solidify friendships within your cohort, the teamwork aspect of being able to discuss code in-person with a whiteboard, and just the general fun of being able to walk around the classroom with a Kombucha in your hand and see what your peers are code. Nonetheless halfway through my bootcamp, we pivoted to remote and we didn’t skip a beat. I feel that all aspects of the curriculum were maintained and we were even able to quickly start utilizing important digital tools more heavily (Git, Slack, VS Code Liveshare) that are fundamental for remote dev work in the future anyway. Overall “in-person” I feel is ideal for learning, but LEARN was super successful in replicating the “in-person” experience online. 
• Internship: The internship is a TREMENDOUS value add for choosing LEARN Academy. I had the opportunity to join a company and work alongside 5 developers at a fast-growing startup in San Diego (keep in mind I started to learn to code just 15 weeks prior). My internship was extended and I continued to work for 10 months at the same company gaining practical coding experience every day. I was hired as a contract worker with no benefits, but nonetheless, it was an invaluable experience to work on actual production code. The internship is guaranteed for 4 weeks but I would say ⅓ of my cohort was asked to extend for 1 or more months and they were also paid for their extensions and were able to put actual development work on their resumes. 
• Tech Stack: The tech stack I learned while at learn was React, Javascript, HTML, CSS, Ruby on Rails, and Postgresql. All of these technologies are widely used today and if you are new to the industry they serve as a solid foundation to grow from. My internship was entirely in Vue but I used my React foundational skills I learned at LEARN to rapidly learn the basics of Vue (over the weekend from when my classroom experience ended and internship began the following Monday). 
• Quality of teaching instruction: During my course, I had three daily instructors committed to my cohort ~6 to 1 student to teacher ratio (they pivot the number of instructors based on class size). All in all the teachers I had were able to meet me at my learning level and explain complex concepts into more easily digestible content. They were ALWAYS available to answer questions and held office hours. Like most things in life you get what you put in, so make sure you ask questions all the time and ASK for help when you need it. We also had an excellent Professional Development week, led by the Career Services Manager, and in addition, had access to other developers at several of the dev agencies that were in the same building. If my instructors didn’t immediately know the answer to my question or debug my problem they were able to get back to me with my answer in a timely manner. In addition, we had various guest speakers and panels (from the SD tech scene) which made class each week super interesting. 
• Prep Materials: The best resource that LEARN offers in terms of preparation for the bootcamp is their JumpStart weekend. I highly highly highly recommend you participate in that weekend as that was the defining experience that made me decide whether I liked to code and whether I had the confidence in myself to pick up skills quickly over a short period of time. I went into my cohort with about 2 weeks of prior Javascript training and the JumpStart weekend but it was really not enough. I highly recommend people begin studying at least 3 months prior to your cohort (I fully realize that is easier said than done, with life and work, but anyone who came in with prior coding knowledge in my cohort accelerated their learning 2x-5x compared to myself who just wrote my first line of code 14 days before my first day of class.) 
• Facilities: LEARN Academy classroom was GORGEOUS in Union Co-work near Petco Park in downtown SD. Unfortunately, I could only attend for 8 weeks due to COVID but the surrounding made you feel like a true web developer in the chic industrial glass-lined classroom. Also the free Kombucha, coffee, tea, and beer (after hours) wasn’t too bad! They also have two main classrooms so we were frequently able to do check-out (sharing what you learned) at the end of the day and learn what the other cohort who started before us was working on that day.
• Community: The LEARN Academy Community is the most vibrant tech career pivoter/bootcamp community in San Diego hands-down. Pre-COVID LEARN held bi-monthly meetups in its classrooms, celebratory cohort get-togethers, project demo days, and evening guest speakers. Now the community of course has shifted remote, but the online Slack community is also super active. On Day 1 you are welcomed into the Slack group and tons of people who were in your shoes starting the bootcamp who now have fancy developer jobs in the San Diego area (and beyond) are willing to help answer your questions and refer you to positions. Once you are a LEARN alum you enter a network of tech leaders at major tech companies throughout San Diego/California and beyond. One additional thing (which I think they still do), is if you want they pair you with another LEARN grad to serve as your Mentor. To this day (Jan 2021) I still meet with my Mentor each week and he has been an invaluable resource post bootcamp for skill development, motivation, and job search help..
• Growth Areas for LEARN: 1) Improvements to my experience include a more clear path of what milestones I needed to achieve in my coding skills before being ready for Day 1 of the bootcamp. I was provided resources but had no idea where to start. I believe that they are now offering propriety prep materials to new students (I just haven’t reviewed them as they were not available to me when I started) 2)Focus more curriculum time on unit testing. We learned Jest Javascript testing (for maybe 1.5 weeks) I feel like it is a critical developer skill that I personally did not pick up quickly and should be prioritized earlier.  3)Introduce earlier data structures and algorithms into the curriculum, as many technical interviews nowadays focus heavily on them. Overall at the end of the day with 12 weeks to go from 0 to junior dev I understand it is tough to squeeze it all in, regardless LOTS of personal self-study is necessary to keep up with the pace of the class if you come in with no prior coding skills.

1. Brush Up on Python: Before diving in, reinforce your Python skills. There are plenty of resources online or in print that can help.
2. Statistics is Key: A solid grasp of statistics is crucial as it underpins much of AI. 
3. Stay Calm and Engaged: The pace might be brisk, but give yourself time to adjust. Utilize the resources provided, like pre- and post-session Q&A times, and don't hesitate to seek tutoring for a deeper understanding or help with assignments.

The application process can be daunting and intimidating, however, each step has its reasons. This makes each cohort learn and progress in a homogeneous pace, which is key to a successful completion of the TDI. 

I was part of the D.C 2017 winter cohort and the 8 weeks were key to position myself as a Data Scientist in the industry. You share and work collaboratively with the rest of the cohort, making it invaluable because you are not only learning from the diverse curriculum but also from your peers. At the end of the day, Data Science is both a Science and an Art, so different perspectives and approaches to problem-solving definitely enhance your skillset. 

Additionally, there is a focus on soft skills, from getting your resume up to speed to effective communication. Each week there are dedicated sessions on how to tackle interview questions, how to sell yourself, and how to navigate opportunely the recruiting process, complementing TDI's rigorous technical curriculum. 

Going to the TDI was not only enriching but also enjoyable. You come out of the program with a powerful network of top-notch data scientist, a second to none skillset and the right toolkit to navigate the corporate world.