Chegg Skills

tl:dr;

I enrolled in Thinkful's full time web development program in Feburary and graduated in July. I am currently about to go into the careers phase of the program, but I already have one job interview scheduled for next week (they had actually been telling us to begin to apply for jobs about after 14 weeks into the program). My overall experience with Thinkful has been very positive and I would recommend them to anyone seriously considering an online bootcamp to learn full stack web development.

 

The details: (for those of you considering Thinkful)

I'll try to write this in a way to be as helpful to prospective students as much as possible. A lot of it may be me just rambling about my personal experience, but I hope it will be useful for prospective students.

About me- I taught myself how to code for roughly a year before entering Thinkful and had completed a significant amount of Free Code Camp. This meant that I had a head start and found the boot camp relatively easier than other students, many of whom found the boot camp very challenging; quite a few struggled and dropped out. With this said my experience of the bootcamp is going to be more relatable to people who have prior self-taught experience. I also strongly recommend people considering boot camps who don't have any prior coding experience to spend a few months teaching themsleves before considering a boot camp- this comes with multiple benefits: firstly, you actually know very well whether or not this is what you want to do (sounds silly but you'd be surprised how many people just jump with both feet into boot camps), secondly you will be leagues ahead of your peers- and this actually puts you in a good position because the curriculum is designed around the average student and if you are above average, you are performing well and in a comfortable position and... thirdly this will improve your chances of getting not just a job- but a better job outside of bootcamp since you will be far better than you would've if you went through the boot camp without experience. FreeCodeCamp is a great place to learn on your own.

Applying to Thinkful & The precourse

When applying to Thinkful, you will schedule a phone call with a program manager who will assess whether you are a good fit for the boot camp or not (no pressure at all, just a phone call). After the phone call, you will be given access to the precourse and a mentor who you will schedule two video chats a week with to help you through the precourse. The precourse teaches basic HTML/CSS/JavaScript knowledge/skills that you will need to begin your journey in the bootcamp with. At the end of the precourse, you will have to undergo a technical evaluation that judges your coding ability, for our cohort of students this came in the form of 5 JavaScript coding problems to solve within an hour (this is how Thinkful ultimately is able to gauge whether a student has a shot at succeeding in the full-time bootcamp or not. This is very important to other students really, because you will be working with other students and you want to be working with other students who aren't going to hold you back... many other boot camps don't even control the quality of their students and let them be weeded out during the boot camp rather than prior to it, so you can consider this a sign of a good boot camp). 

First Two Weeks

The first two weeks covers REST API and jQuery- you will make your very first project at the end of the two weeks. The instructor for these two weeks really convinced me that I had selected the right boot camp, he was perfect. The assignments he provided were well thought-out and fool proof yet with enough challenge that a growing developer could improve on.

Weeks 3-7

This week included a 1 week break, so really it was just 4 weeks. These 4 weeks were about learning Node.js and database technologies such as PostgreSQL and MongoDB. This is the part of the course that really picks up, and unfortunately our cohort in particular seemed to be the subject of testing for a new node curriculum (I might be wrong, but it seriously felt that way). The instructor would edit the assignments we were working on... on the day of it while we were working on it. This caused quite a bit of frustration in the students despite the instructor's ability to teach. Despite that, we all came out learning everything we needed in these 4 weeks (except a lot of students still felt uncomfortable with PostgreSQL, this resulted in almost all students favoring the use to MongoDB in later projects instead, a large part of this to blame is that many students faced technical difficulties during the PostgreSQL week).

Weeks 8-9

This week is dedicated to learning React.js, an advanced front-end web development framework. Many students truly enjoyed this part of the course as they liked coming back to the front-end and doing many cool things with it. I personally found it a challenge since I had used jQuery for so long, unlike other students whose minds jQuery was beginning to slip out of since they had only used it for roughly a little more than a week. For an experienced jQuery user, React can take some time getting used to.

Weeks 10-11

These two weeks are dedicated to creating your very first full-stack project. You will do everything from front-end to back-end; the structure of your database, how the server communicates with the client (visible web page), the design for it... everything. This is the point where afterwards we saw a huge amount of students drop out of the program from our cohort. This is really the part of the program that is the true test to see if you currently have what it takes (and if you don't manage to succeed, it probably just means you need more time to learn, but the boot camp isn't going to wait for you). Thankfully for those students who felt they needed more time after these two weeks, they were able to swap over to Thinkful's Flex program rather than drop out, so they could continue the boot camp journey at their own pace instead.

Week 12

Break week~ a lot of students used this time to keep polishing their projects and review.

Weeks 13-14

Data Structures & Algorithms- This is where you learn computer science fundamentals and coding challenges that job interviewers may pick your brain about. This is the part of the curriculum that gets you ready for interviews at even heavy-hitting job interview companies. The instructor for this part of the curriculum was a really tough instructor but an outstanding one. She would single students out and call them out to present their work and/or their thoughts about how to solve a particular coding problem. I'm pretty sure she scared the living heck out of a lot of students but we all loved her for it- she was an outstanding instructor as she was also a tough one.

Week 15

This week is dedicated to your 3rd capstone project- a full-stack project that uses a data structure to create a learning-based application using spaced repetition theory. You will be assigned a partner for this project who you will then divide the work up with.

Week 16

"Flex Week"- during this week you can choose a technology that you personally would like to learn (perhaps your specific area has lots of jobs for Python for example and you want to learn it). Many students opted to learn React Native, which allows React developers the ability to create mobile applications for both Android and IOS simultaneously.

Weeks 17-19

These Three weeks are dedicated to working on the final capstone project. Our cohort was divided into teams of four. During this time I got along really well with my partners as we created our most polished project yet. Our project not only included a web application but also a mobile application. I felt very good about these three weeks.

Weeks 20-21

These two weeks are dedicated to getting ready for the job hunt. You will work on and finalize your portfolio in these two weeks and submit the portfolio for review and get ready to graduate.

Overall, my experience at Thinkful was a great one and I fully don't regret spending the large amount of money on it. I feel confident and ready to start a career as a web developer... and I have my first job interview just a week after my graduation!

I come from a humanities background and began the Full Stack Flex program with almost no coding experience at all (just a handful of CodeAcademny lessons a teeny bit of HTML/CSS familiarity). Like a lot of people here, I was initially suspicious of intensive online learning. I thought if would feel transactional and impersonal. And at first, I struggled with how to best use the time with my mentor. But as I progressed through the course, I  became more comfortable with my mentor and extremely grateful for his expertise.    I’m a big fan of Thinkful’s project-based approach. While many of the lessons felt sparse at first, I was always able to deepen my understanding while building out a full project. In addition to the (essential) mentor sessions, Thinkful offers lots of ways to get help on projects, like a very active Slack community and frequent video chat Q&A sessions with professional developers.    Most important, for me, was Thinkful’s IRL Portland community. Throughout my time in the program, I was able to meet up multiple times per week with other Thinkful students for dinners, workshops, and study sessions (both Thinkful-organized and informal). While all of Thinkful’s coursework is technically online, this additional local community provided me with an essential support system and resources for further learning.    If I were to do it all over again, I probably would have put in more time self-studying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript fundamentals prior to starting the course. Because I was only working part-time while in the program, I hoped to finish at an accelerated pace, but ended up needing the entire six months. Other than that, though, I have no regrets. I finished Thinkful with a strong portfolio and a totally new skillset. I was pleasantly surprised by how interesting my work was to potential employers. I interviewed at a number of local companies and received an initial offer three weeks after graduating from Thinkful.   Just this morning I just signed an offer letter for my first job in the tech field—a full-time frontend dev position at a small creative agency—and I'm very excited to begin this next chapter!

I chose Thinkful over other online progams because of the mentorship, the community and the cost.  Thinkful delivered in those aspects!  I was paired with a great mentor who walked me through the lessons when I got stuck, I attended any Thinkful event I could and met other amazing students, mentors, and Thinkful staff, and I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to pursue a different career path (There's a scholarship for women!).  I was able to find a job before my graduation date!

Unlike the web development bootcamp, I would say that prospective students should have some background in statistics and programming before coming into the course, or be willing to put in the additional time to learn more.  (This is probably true in any data science course.)  Before becoming a Thinkful student, I had a decent background in statistics and some (mostly self-taught) coding experience in Python.  My last job was doing data analysis.  Because the field of data science is so broad, there is a lot to cover. The more you can bring into the course at the get-go, the better.  And this include time!  I personally would not have been able to do this course while having a full-time job.  

Also, data science as a field is relatively new and constantly changing.  Thinkful's data science lessons, while robust, only scratch the surface of what is out there.  This is why the project-oriented nature of the program is so important.  Working on projects allows you to put what you learned into practice and expand on the course material.  Having a mentor to guide you offers another way to learn beyond the material.  While data science concepts are important, one of the most important things you will learn in this course is how to Google effectively and how to troubleshoot your code.   

You do not need to enroll in a data science bootcamp to become a data scientist.  There are plenty of resources out there that are less costly.  It depends on your learning style!  I knew I would benefit from a mentor that could talk me through difficult concepts and hold me accountable when progressing through the course.  As someone who struggles with networking, I knew it was important for me to pick a program with a supportive community.  This community eventually got me a job offer!  For me, Thinkful was the right choice. 

 

If you can afford to take the time to commit 5 months to the program, I strongly recommend it. The two aspects of the program that I think helped me succeed throughout my time as a student and now as a graduate were the length, and the community.

For an immersion program 5 months can feel like a long commitment, but it allows you to dive deeper into the concepts that may not come as easily to you. I found that at various times throughout the program certain people in my cohert were putting in more time depending on how confident they felt about a given concept. Also the longer program allows you to produce on more projects in various group dynamics (solo, partner and small groups of 4 or 5), which is extremely helpful when interviewing for jobs. I found that potential employers were as interested in hearing about my experience of balancing work on a team of 5 people, as my technical experience.

Also, I can't emphasize enough how impressed I was with the online community that Thinkful creates. I've grown to be quite close with the members of my cohert as we worked through this program together. The daily live classrooms and partner programming made me feel like I was never alone even if I was learning from the comfort of my own living room. The mentoring Thinkful provides, also helps to make the online experience feel very approachable.

I will acknowledge that it took a certain amount of financial privilege to be able to take 5 months off of work in order to attend their engineering immersion program, but if you have the flexibility and passion for learning software development then I strongly recommend attending Thinkful's Engineering Immersion Program.

I did not have much coding experience before attending thingful. I enrolled in full-time course which is intensive. I was struggling in the beginning as I was not very comfortable with pair-programing and fast-pace setting, but I tried to adpat quickly. I learned a lot from this program and could not believe that I could build React full-stack applications in a short amount of time. Capstone projects only allow one week to build with your classmates but it really helped me improved a lot of skills from planning steps, drafting wireframes, to creating components. My debugging skills also improved siginifcantly. Another nice thing about full-time course is I could access TAs everyday as we were doing daily assignmnents so it really saved me a lot of time debuggings. Their instructors are extremely knowlegable and their program manager (Theresa) is doing great job to support students in any aspect. Finally, their career service (Stephanie) is really helpful when it comes to the huting job phase, she provided me a lot of good tips on job search. However, in order to suceed in the course, you need to put in a great effort but you will see compound rewardings soon!

I attended Thinkful from Jan-May of 2017. To be honest, I had a lot of prior programming experience, which may not be typical of a bootcamp seeker - but the fine people at Thinkful always went out of their way to adapt to my needs. The curriculum was always well designed and executed, but parts of it were too simple for me, so they found ways for me to expand my knowledge. The mentorship system really sets Thinkful apart - I've been to dozens of meetups in Seattle and met with students from several other bootcamps and I always felt extremely grateful to have attended Thinkful rather than any of these other schools. That said, when I graduated Thinkful had not yet developed deep enough partnerships in the Seattle area so I found the job search long and excruiciating, though eventually successful. My job coach was wonderful and always did everything she could for me, but the market was really tough, and a lot of companies won't even look at juniors with CS degrees, let alone bootcamps. I stay in contact with my job coach and she assures me they are working hard to improve their connections in this area so future students should have a much easier time. If you are a prospective student in the Seattle area, make sure to ask about their progress on this front. You will get a great education and the staff will do everything in their power to motivate you and keep you on track, but help getting a foot in the door will make a world of difference.

The flex full stack bootcamp is hard to do remotely but worth it. I worked full time and put in about 15 hours per week and finished in 12 months, well beyond the 6 months.  I think you finish in 6 months if you work park time, not full time. I learned the MERRN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Redux, Node), but I lucked out with a mentor who really pushed me to make architectural decisions in my apps, to push myelf, and use webpack. I got a got a job two months after graduating at a fortune 500 company and it is honestly my dream job. I would recommend this bootcamp. 

If you put in the time, Thinkful will be an amazing return on investment. I highly recommend the engineering immersion program for that reason-- the teaching assistances were key to my success. We learned the MERN stack, but having some knowledge in HTML/CSS/JavaScript or another language will aid you prior to starting the course. Expect to spend 40-50 hours a week minimum studying, so try some coding on your own and make sure you enjoy it! I loved pair programming with other classmates and I found a job before I graduated.

I participated in Thinkful's 6-month Flex Program and felt blown away by the results. Let me preface this by stating that I was a theatre major in college, so feel free to make any assumptions about my math ability from that. Thinkful's curriculum increases at a perfect pace to understand everything before moving on. I had several moments throughout the Bootcamp where I felt like I wasn't going to be able to grasp a topic, but without fail after 2 - 3 days learning about the topic I always came around. In short, this bootcamp is for people from all backgrounds and regardless of previous web development knowledge. After graduating I found a job working for Booz Allen Hamilton after one month.

I had an awesome experience with Thinkful. It was a lot of work, even more time, a lot of frustration but even more reward. 

Chris, our instructor that led the node/express portion of the course was literally one of the best teachers I have ever had. The amount of support by the TAs and mentors is unparelleled. If you are struggling there is no shame in asking for help and help you they will, everyone that had given me their assistance stayed with me until I thoroughly understood the concept in question. I also really liked the way most of the course was put together with instructor led lectures, then you break off into pairs to practice what the lecture was about and then ended the day with help from TAs and a mentor session to cover anything still not fully understood. 

That being said there were some things that could be improved. I really did not like the consitancy with some of the instructors using vim as a code editor instead of vs code (which is what all the students used at the time). This discrepency was very hard to follow especially when learning react. During a topic or two that was covered, I think the instructors could have spent a little more time with us during the lectures to go over concepts. 

All things considered, Thinkful was definitely worth it in my opinion. You only get out what you put into it though! If all the resources are used that Thinkful offers (which is a lot) and you really, truley are attentive during lectures and put in the effort, the reward will definitely be a job of your choosing!