BrainStation
BrainStation is a global digital skills training and workforce transformation provider that offers bootcamps and courses in data, design, development, digital marketing, product, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and leadership both online and at state-of-the-art campuses in New York, London, Miami, Toronto, and Vancouver. Established in 2012, BrainStation has worked with over 500 instructors from the most innovative brands to develop cutting-edge, real-world digital education. Whether students are looking for career transformation or professional development, BrainStation has a learning option, with full-time diploma programs, part-time certificate courses, and specialized skills training.
BrainStation’s courses and bootcamps offer a collaborative, project-based learning experience, with regularly updated curriculum to ensure professionals gain the most relevant skills in their field. The class structure combines engaging, live instruction with interactive sessions and a hands-on, project-based curriculum. BrainStation also provides a variety of flexible learning options, including a proprietary online classroom and learning environment. This environment lets students attend live lectures, collaborate with fellow professionals, and receive immediate, real-time feedback from instructors – from anywhere in the world.
BrainStation has trained more than 30,000 alumni in over 100 countries across the world. BrainStation’s bootcamps offer personalized career services, including career coaching to help learners meet their career goals. Networking and career-oriented events are also available at BrainStation.
2,286 BrainStation Reviews
- Billin YuUI/UX Designer • Graduate • User Experience Design Bootcamp • New York CityVerified by LinkedInApr 16, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
An amazing learning experience and a turning point in my life
It’s been 8 months since I graduated from BrainStation full-time UX design bootcamp. It was an amazing experience which turned me to a designer as I wished. I’m now a UI/UX designer in a development agency and having fun. I got the job offer in week 9 - big shoutout to my instructor Brad who helped me with the performance check during the interview process as well as my TA Uzair who helped refurbish my resume and cover letter completely.
A bi...
It’s been 8 months since I graduated from BrainStation full-time UX design bootcamp. It was an amazing experience which turned me to a designer as I wished. I’m now a UI/UX designer in a development agency and having fun. I got the job offer in week 9 - big shoutout to my instructor Brad who helped me with the performance check during the interview process as well as my TA Uzair who helped refurbish my resume and cover letter completely.
A bit of my background: Before joining the program, I was working as a 3D artist in a VR studio, then quit coz it’s crap. Then I was home tutoring high-school kids for half a year, then stopped coz it’s frustrating (I was making good money out of it but not my thing). I wanted to be a designer doing some cool shit, but never had a job opportunity to get started. I sent my resume and portfolio to a bunch of companies in Vancouver, got responses, got tests, got interviews, but never got the position. I realized leaving the industry for a couple of months (when I was tutoring) made my sense dull and skills rusty - I need a place where I could sharpen everything again and get my thunder back.
I’m gonna share some reasons I joined BrainStation and how the results ended up. If you have a similar situation and consider whether to join the program or not, my story may help you.
I’m a layman. I need a place to teach me both practices and theories. I tried counting on myself to learn the skillset and toolkit of UX design, but it was frustrating coz I literally didn’t know where to start! To learn software first? Or read books? Or do a small project? UX is such a giant shit blackhole and could almost suck everything in: business analysis, research, information architecture, UI design, interaction design, visual design, content writing, or even front-end if you wanna be entitled as ‘full-stack designer’ (fascinating) - whatever you can possibly associate with product development. Yeah UX design is such a sugarcoated beast, sounds high-end, easy-going, user-friendly, but in reality quite intimidating and could bite your head off - if you dive in blindly without fair guidance. As a 3D modeler before, I did know Adobe Suite, but in terms of the current tools of UI/UX design such as Sketch, InVision, Principle, etc., I’m a total outsider. Fortunately, during the pre-course, I learned the essentials of Sketch and InVision from the step-by-step tutorials; then throughout the next 10 weeks, I was improving my hard skills considerably by working on the weekly homework and capstone project. The instructor and TA would teach us tips every now and then to quicken our speed of work. As for theories, I did know user-centered design and some relevant approaches such as user stories, usability testing, but they were too scattered in my mind and never systematically came into shape as a ‘UX tree’ or ‘UX umbrella’. What BrainStation does is breaking down the whole UX topic to 10 smaller ones - each topic per week. Each week we focused on one topic and did homework around it to deepen our understanding. Meanwhile, we could update our capstone project by adopting the new stuff learned this week. The weekly basis is fast indeed, even crazy (using one week to investigate UI design, are you kidding, that’s even a job title!), but come on, this is a bootcamp and we only have 10 weeks. This curriculum is brilliant in my opinion (and PPT is well-done): it takes care of all epics of UX design such as research, IA, UI design, etc. - which should be mastered more or less as a UX-er; but in reality, we could (and should) leverage our advantages and choose to specialize in one or a few directions. Taking myself as an example, I’m more interested and better at visual stuff than research, IA or business whatever, so I actually put more weight on the chapters of UI and visual design but honestly much less on certain sections (I got 55/100 once in one of my assignments, shame… ).
I’m lazy. Yes if nobody pulls me up, I could stay in bed for whole day. I tried saving money and studied on my own - and wonderfully, I slept in till 11 am, opened my laptop reluctantly, and lost morale in one hour. You know what’s so good after I joined the program? I COULDN’T SLACK OFF! Yeah I was busy like shit: class from 9 to 5, homework stacking up, capstone project crying for feed, workshops awaiting, portfolio pending - gosh, don’t ever underestimate ‘FULL-TIME’ training (this is not a joke). Frankly, the workload is immense - I was working in the evening, during the weekend, sometimes burning night oil. It’s not only because I myself wanted to work harder, but once I saw my classmates working their asses off, how could I sit still and enjoy the couch potato time? Most importantly, we paid to learn, so the only way not wasting the money is - work hard!! It’s painstaking, but it will pay off. Everyone in my cohort was progressing so much - I’ve seen people who made stunning interfaces in the end even having zero design background at the very beginning.
I’m an introvert. I bet you all know socializing is as important as swimming when you’re in the job-hunting vortex. Sadly, I’m afraid of socializing and terrible at selling stuff. ESL is a reason but it’s more about my personality. I desperately needed a community at that moment where I could find a comfort zone with like-minded people. And yes BrainStation is like that for me. Amazingly, our cohort had 12 folks, and we teamed up differently for multiple projects, so everyone had a chance to work with each other. Every Friday, we went to a bar to grab beers after class. At the night of graduation, we barbecued and sang karaoke like a bunch of weirdos! People are professional at school but could be so wild afterward! The instructors are also super approaching (yeah they joined our beer too) and other staff are quite helpful (just ask them if you need a favor.) Besides, we have tech-talks, workshops, and presentations every week, so don’t worry, you’ll be pushed under the spotlight and try your best to entertain the audience! In summary, if you’re like me, not good at networking, then at least you will have your cohort and the staff, which will become your own community and, it’s still growing.
Last but not least, I bet the tuition is a big concern to most of us and I admit it’s not a small amount indeed. I was jobless and broke from the moment I gave up on tutoring, so yeah I thought about this a lot. So I tried two options to make it less unaffordable: firstly, applying for the scholarship. Do ask the staff what kind of scholarship you are eligible for; secondly, there’s an installment option to pay off the debt in 12 months (and I chose this). Good news is you can use the tuition for tax return, yeah! And once you land on a new job after graduation, I suppose you won’t mind this educational investment. (The common salary of junior UI/UX designer in BC is 40k-50k)
In conclusion, this was my happiest training experience, maybe because I finally found what I like to do. I hope my story could help you in any way. Good luck and keep it up!
- Jackie LeeUI/UX Designer • Graduate • User Experience Design Bootcamp • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 15, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
User Experience (UX) Design Full-Time
I switched from Architecture to UX Design only knowing the basics about the field. Like many others, I had my skepticism about being able to learn about everything in UX Design within 12 weeks time. After completing the program, I can say that BrainStation genuinely cares about teaching you relative and applicable skills to do a full career change. It is dense, fast-paced and full of excitement every day.
Pros:I switched from Architecture to UX Design only knowing the basics about the field. Like many others, I had my skepticism about being able to learn about everything in UX Design within 12 weeks time. After completing the program, I can say that BrainStation genuinely cares about teaching you relative and applicable skills to do a full career change. It is dense, fast-paced and full of excitement every day.
Pros:
- Our instructors, Alex and Ann-Marie, always provide a full understanding on why we are learning the material. They also answer any questions we throw at them without hesitation.
- The BrainStation team is very approachable and are constantly seeking for feedback to make your experience better
- The guest lecturers that visited and the tech tours gave us industry insight on the current practice and allowed us to compare and validate the importance of the course content
- Demo Day helped me successfully engage in deep conversations with industry partners and reaffirmed my understanding of the design process
- Career support post graduation
- The one day Hackathon that allowed us to work alongside Web Dev and Data Science students
Improvement Opportunities:
- We had a good amount of open studio for our capstone project in the last few weeks, but it felt like there can be more structure to guide the students on their projects during those times.
Overall, I feel very confident committing to the career change with what I learned. You will still have to keep learning about certain concepts (and they stress that learning doesn’t end after 12 weeks) as you can definitely start to deep dive into UX concepts. I find that those who succeeded from the program are the ones who: fully prioritized school, empathized, asked many questions, and is always learning outside of class. Be prepared. - Arthur CheungWeb Developer • Graduate • Web Development • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 15, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Web Development Winter 2019
Tutors are able to delivery the course contents and very helpful, encouraging and supportive.
The course contents are up to date.
The manager constantly gave insight and reminder to the class throughout the course.
The after course career support is current and the manager gave insight of where to go next in the alumni slack channel. The course material is still available after course. It is great that class participants can have a slack channel to exchange messages and ...Tutors are able to delivery the course contents and very helpful, encouraging and supportive.
The course contents are up to date.
The manager constantly gave insight and reminder to the class throughout the course.
The after course career support is current and the manager gave insight of where to go next in the alumni slack channel. The course material is still available after course. It is great that class participants can have a slack channel to exchange messages and ideas. The vibe of the whole experience is very motivational and high in sprite.It is a very good place to learn and improve this new web development skill set.
I fully enjoyed the company and acquired the new knowledge during the whole course. Hope to keep connected.
- ClementGraduate • Data Science Bootcamp • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 14, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Learned a lot in 12 weeks
Looking at where I was from where I started to where I am now, BrainStation has been a transformative experience. While expensive, the data science diploma program laid a strong foundation of knowledge for the most in-demand skills needed for data science. There is a lot of content packed in these 12 weeks; students who are unable to keep up will quickly find themselves having to catch up. My only wish during the 12 weeks was that the program was longer, allowing more time for the more com...
Looking at where I was from where I started to where I am now, BrainStation has been a transformative experience. While expensive, the data science diploma program laid a strong foundation of knowledge for the most in-demand skills needed for data science. There is a lot of content packed in these 12 weeks; students who are unable to keep up will quickly find themselves having to catch up. My only wish during the 12 weeks was that the program was longer, allowing more time for the more complex subjects to sink in.
The school environment is great. BrainStation does a good job of finding a diverse group of peers that are strongly passionate in their fields. Instructors were also very helpful and always willing to help. We also had guided tours of businesses and had guests from data science departments come to speak about the industry to us.
- Daniel AgangaGraduate • User Experience Design Bootcamp • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 14, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Worth the money
Overall, a very satifying experience.
The educators and the T.A's were very helpful and the lectures were excellent. The staff are quite friendly and they will help and offer support after graduating.prospective students should be aware that it is a lot of work and if they don't stay on top of assignments they might struggle.
- DaveGraduate • Web Development Bootcamp • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 13, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
A wonderful experience
I can't say enough good things about Brain Station. While it is expensive, you do get your money's worth. The entire staff is very dedicated to making sure you are doing well, and absorbing the content. The instructors and TA's are always there to answer your questions.
The building is really nice and modern. The tech talks and office tours of nearby business' were very interesting. Demo Day was a great way to meet potential employers.
The course content was great. We l...
I can't say enough good things about Brain Station. While it is expensive, you do get your money's worth. The entire staff is very dedicated to making sure you are doing well, and absorbing the content. The instructors and TA's are always there to answer your questions.
The building is really nice and modern. The tech talks and office tours of nearby business' were very interesting. Demo Day was a great way to meet potential employers.
The course content was great. We learned so much over the 3 months. It can be intimidating to learn so much in such a short time, but the instructor did an excellent job conveying everything in a way we could understand.
Fantastic!
- JordanGraduate • User Experience Design Bootcamp • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 12, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
UX Design Diploma (Full-time Immersive)
Summary:
-Teaches you how to learn at an accelerated pace and for immediate implementation
-Industry Relevant Hard Skills
-Soft Skills to work in agile, collaborative environments
-Amazing Career support and coaching
-An approachable and friendly team
Learning Highlight: They have an in-house hack-a-thon building on the skills of UX, Data Science and Web Dev allowing for real-world experience...
Summary:
-Teaches you how to learn at an accelerated pace and for immediate implementation
-Industry Relevant Hard Skills
-Soft Skills to work in agile, collaborative environments
-Amazing Career support and coaching
-An approachable and friendly team
Learning Highlight: They have an in-house hack-a-thon building on the skills of UX, Data Science and Web Dev allowing for real-world experience in collaboration across teams
BrainStation is a learning experience like no other. Key strengths include developing and implementing a curriculum that allows the student to maximize their 12 weeks of learning.
As a student, you are expected to learn and execute at an accelerated pace versus many of the traditional learning environments. The BrainStation education team supports and coaches you on this journey. Learning how to learn quickly and execute has been discussed as one of the most important skills for future proofing your career and would highly recommend this program on that basis, in addition, they provide excellent development of UX/UI skills that are relevant and marketable.
The industry partnerships, demo day and post-course support allow alumni to feel supported and a sense community as they enter the job market.
Lastly, classes are diverse and come from eclectic backgrounds creating a rich environment to formulate different ideas and discuss a variety of opinions. In UX, I am not sure there is a more important skill.
- Reema GowdaFull-Stack web developer • Graduate • Web Development Bootcamp • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 12, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Full time Web Development Diploma (Bootcamp)
Attending BrainStation is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I was a bit nervous going into it -As I was new immigrant. But the community is warm, supportive and very welcoming.
My coding journey with BrainStation began when I enrolled in their Winter jan 2019 Diploma in Full time web Development. Before attending BrainStation, I had to spent many hours assessing other courses and bootcamps in the city. Although they all seemed qualified in their own right, I ...
Attending BrainStation is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I was a bit nervous going into it -As I was new immigrant. But the community is warm, supportive and very welcoming.
My coding journey with BrainStation began when I enrolled in their Winter jan 2019 Diploma in Full time web Development. Before attending BrainStation, I had to spent many hours assessing other courses and bootcamps in the city. Although they all seemed qualified in their own right, I decided BrainStation was the best fit for what I wanted out of my education and career.
The instructors did an amazing job at making the classes engaging yet challenging, and they also managed to keep the learning environment relaxed and fun.
The bootcamp is very well structured in terms of learning and instructors availability, which enables you to learn fast without feeling overwhelmed.
I had a blast doing the bootcamp, had a blast working on the assignments and discovering my new passion for web development. I would 100% recommend the courses at BrainStation to anyone who is hoping to build skills in the field of internet and technology.
- Dakarai TurnerUX/UI Designer • Graduate • User Experience Design Course • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 12, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
UX/Ui Design Full-Time
Going to BrainStation was one of the best decisions I've made in terms of my carrer. It allowed me to transition into a new industry with the confidence to find a job after graduation. BrainStation also does a great job putting you in situations where you can build your network in the industry. From your classmates/educators, to industry events, to guest speakers, it really helps you establish a network that you'll need post-grad.
- KarinaGraduate • User Experience Design Course • TorontoVerified by LinkedInApr 12, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
UX/UI Design Diploma
I'm so happy I chose to take the UX/UI Diploma program at BrainStation. Prior to starting the program I was coming from an industry that is completely unrelated to tech (performing arts, event managing, and matchmaking) and was hardly tech savvy. The program allowed me to fully immerse myself in this new field, and I feel like I've come out the other side of it with a solid set of skills and tools that I can take forward into this new career. It also instilled confidence in me both with th...
I'm so happy I chose to take the UX/UI Diploma program at BrainStation. Prior to starting the program I was coming from an industry that is completely unrelated to tech (performing arts, event managing, and matchmaking) and was hardly tech savvy. The program allowed me to fully immerse myself in this new field, and I feel like I've come out the other side of it with a solid set of skills and tools that I can take forward into this new career. It also instilled confidence in me both with the tranferable skills I already had from my previous industries, and the new technical skills I learned during the course.
- BrettPrograms Associate • Data Analytics Course • VancouverVerified by LinkedInApr 12, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Data Analytics Course
I really enjoyed my course learning the basics of data analytics that covered multiple topics including Excel/Google Sheets, SQL, and Tableu. The teacher was great explaining topics in a digestable way and we even had a TA that could come around for more personalized support during class. Additionally, the homework assigments helped me practice and remember what I learned in class.
- Patrick IsaacGraduate • Web Development • New York CityVerified by LinkedInApr 11, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Phenomenal Experience
Insane.
That was the only word I could think of as I learned more about the school. I thought to myself that there is no way that a person like myself would ever learn so much information in such a short amount of time. Sure, I had a background in Computer Networking, but I did not feel that having such a background would help me as much. Fast-forward 3 months later, I am now confident in building a web application from scratch. From creating the look I was going for on the front...
Insane.
That was the only word I could think of as I learned more about the school. I thought to myself that there is no way that a person like myself would ever learn so much information in such a short amount of time. Sure, I had a background in Computer Networking, but I did not feel that having such a background would help me as much. Fast-forward 3 months later, I am now confident in building a web application from scratch. From creating the look I was going for on the front-end to the overall functionality and communication on the back-end.
I have nothing but the utmost respect for the entire BrainStation team and I cannot thank them enough for the most amazing educational experience I’ve ever had. The one thing that I valued the most was that I felt like an actual human-being as opposed to just some other student with a number attached to my profile. You are surrounded by people that are there to help you grow, whether it be the instructor, classmates or even people from a different program. During school I would always feel challenged and frustrated at a certain concept that I just would not understand, but as time passed, that feeling turned more into a sense of accomplishment.
If you are someone who is looking for a quick career change (and I really mean quick), BrainStation is the place to go.
BrainStation Alumni Outcomes
Recent BrainStation News
BrainStation Alumni Reviews Summary
How much does BrainStation cost?
BrainStation costs around $16,500. On the lower end, some BrainStation courses like Social Media Marketing Course cost $2,450.
What courses does BrainStation teach?
BrainStation offers courses like Artificial Intelligence Course Online, Cybersecurity Bootcamp Online, Cybersecurity Course Online, Data Analytics Course and 29 more.
Where does BrainStation have campuses?
BrainStation has in-person campuses in London, Miami, New York City, Toronto, and Vancouver. BrainStation also has a remote classroom so students can learn online.
Is BrainStation worth it?
BrainStation hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 2,286 BrainStation alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed BrainStation on Course Report - you should start there!
Is BrainStation legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 2,286 BrainStation alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed BrainStation and rate their overall experience a 4.66 out of 5.
Does BrainStation offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like BrainStation offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read BrainStation reviews?
You can read 2,286 reviews of BrainStation on Course Report! BrainStation alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed BrainStation and rate their overall experience a 4.66 out of 5.
Is BrainStation accredited?
PBSS - New York, United States, CIE - Florida, United States, PCC - Ontario, Canada, PTIB - British Columbia, Canada