Coding Temple

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the cohort. I would recommend committing to the classes without having to worry about a job, as it's very demanding especially if you are new to coding. The instructors that I had (Dylan and Christian) were very knowledgeable and chill. They were always willing to help out with whatever questions you had. The workload can be demanding at certain points but overall it was manageable. The post-graduate job assistance programs are extremely impressive as well. I would recommend not taking the self-paced program, as I have heard that it's much more demanding/difficult.

Writing this anonymously to prevent any backlash. I'm a former student of Coding Temple and I have mixed reviews for this bootcamp. I was able to recently find employment in a junior dev role thanks to some of the staff who helped me in my journey along the way. I have pretty high remarks for my instructors and their seemingly bottomless pit of knowledge.

I wanted to wait until I was good and into my position so I can have real-world experience to compare with their curriculum and how well it prepared me and came away with some takeaways.

Honestly, I feel like I was robbed of actual real information that my instructors wanted to impart on my class, but was told that there are strict guidelines for what they were supposed to teach us. First off I'll say that the overall gist of things we'd need to know in order to become successful in a full-time developer position are accurate. However, the actual technologies we were being taught make very little sense. Why we were learning Python extensively for almost 10 weeks, I'll never understand it. The amount of companies hiring for Python developers in web development is next to non-existent and not sure where they were getting their website statistics (at the time) from. I was able to land a gig at company that's pretty vast, so they have hundreds of developers at their employ. On my team there are about 15 developers and I told them about my experience and what I'd learned. They all told me it seems like I got scammed (-_-). The surface level technologies I learned about were fine, but as far as the web developer role I was in, they mentioned that almost no job hires a web developer with Python skills. If they do, it's either completely unrelated to a web developer's day-to-day once you get into a job OR it's a VERY SMALL portion of a larger responsibility to know JavaScript like the back of your hand. We spent about 7 weeks on Python and close to maybe 2-2.5 weeks on JavaScript. The irony in this is that most web developer positions need you to have proficiency in JavaScript, C#, or Java. The curriculum SERIOUSLY needs to be revamped. While I understand Python is a good language to learn for beginners, the sheer amount of idiosyncrasies you need to learn within JavaScript alone would've worked wonders for my development, dare I say my entire class' as well. The frustrating part is that my instructors kept mentioning to us things to continue learning in JavaScript, but I had a feeling that they weren't able to dive deeper simply because they were restricted to the curriculum.

To be transparent it seems like the higher-ups pulling the strings at Coding Temple don't know the first thing about coding and are only concerned with coming up with ways to get more money. I was able to reach out to some of the other students from other classes and some of them had experiences that were a little jarring to say the least. Coding Temple touts very highly their job placement numbers, but after talking to quite a few students across a year or two's worth of cohorts, I find it extremely hard to believe that their placement numbers are accurate, dare I say untruthful. There's absolutely no way they have a 90%+ job placement rate. Almost no bootcamp has those numbers unless they actually have a program in place to work for the actual company you attended your bootcamp (which Coding Temple doesn't offer). They offer job placement ASSISTANCE, but finding a job is all dependent on what the current job market is, your skillset, who you interview with, and a little bit of luck. 

Marlene, the one who I talked to for job placement assistance at Coding Temple, was wonderful and she helped A LOT with finding somewhere to get me placed. Unfortunately I feel like she's being set up for failure simply because Coding Temple didn't teach us the skills necessary to optimize our job search and if you're ever in a process where you're depending on recruiters to help you find a job, your skill set matters a WHOLE LOT! 

Don't mean to pile on here, but some of Coding Temple's ethics also need to be re-worked. I also found out from some former students that they offered financial incentives (gift cards, etc.) to students to give them good reviews. On top of that, they don't even ask students who've had possibly negative or "okay" experiences to give reviews. I won't say it's shady, but there's a cloud forming above this review as we speak.

Overall, I honestly would not recommend Coding Temple to anyone. I get it, other bootcamps are more expensive, but I would've taken the extra hit to my pockets to attend somewhere else.

I recently completed the self paced bootcamp in a little over 4 months. 
Pros:
It was very educational. 
I was allowed extensions to complete my work.
The staff is very helpful and supportive.
Material is organized and there are plenty of resources.  

Cons:
You learn a ton of material very quickly in a short period and I don’t think it is enough time to fully store to memory. 
You are excited about graduation only to find out it’s just the beginning and you basically need to do tons of  more work to be job ready. (My expectations were that I would be completely fit for a job)
You have the exact same experience as thousands of other boot campers

Overall, I felt like I was tricked into thinking I would be set to get a job right after graduation. I was very disappointed and discouraged when I was unable to solve Leetcode problems and I couldn’t remember some of the material from certain modules. Maybe this is a reflection of my learning style, but I wish we had more preparation of what the real world would be like when you graduate. CT is a business and their goal is to get as many people to sign up as possible, but do you research and find out if paying money for a bootcamp is right for you. It wasn’t for me. 

TLDR: I think the course's alumni support outweighs the learning experience but that’s not to say I didn’t learn, just that the style didn’t entirely suit my needs. Please be absolutely sure you enjoy coding before making your decision. Career coaches Marlene & Aubrey were absolute lifesavers and I cannot stress this enough.
Cons:The course itself is, as you've already read, extremely fast paced. You will learn patterns and kind of learn what to code and where but probably won't always understand why. I'm someone who really needs to nail the fundamentals behind any concept to truly learn something so I struggled with the way it was structured. For me, it was a ton of exposure to many different frameworks/environments which is extremely useful to have on your resume but I never felt like I fully understood the fundamentals of any one particular topic including data structures and algorithms but this is normally at least a semester long course at a college. I did some decent research on different bootcamps and during my interview call I was told I would be learning DS&A weekly but that wasn’t really the case. Personally I just needed more time to learn. If you're committed to doing the full time route you should expect to learn a lot on your own afterwards.
Pros:I got a job. I got a job rather quickly that I would not have been able to get with just my prior experience and self teaching. It's not a software engineering role but it is a tech job and the bootcamp opens up many other kinds of opportunities. I was able to get this through the alumni network and the MASSIVE support provided by Marlene and Aubrey as career coaches, as well as Sam the alumni technical instructor. You have their support for *life* and I know I will be keeping in touch and reaching out to them in the future as I continue my journey. My instructor Brian and TA Tatyana were EXTREMELY patient with everyone in my cohort and truly wanted us to succeed.I genuinely felt that they cared about our growth. Honestly, I loved everyone in my small cohort of 8 and we had a ton of fun every day. I spoke to a couple others that completed the program and got a developer job almost immediately but you do have to put in the effort. It's learning all day, learning more on your own in the evenings, learning after the course. I do think the course does a great job of covering relevant material.
I would recommend that you take the pre course work seriously and give yourself enough time. I would also recommend that you go through some basic tutorials and watch/read lots of coding bootcamp reviews and make sure this is absolutely something you can see yourself doing because it will be extremely difficult to keep up with learning if you don’t enjoy it. If you’re in Illinois, see if you qualify for the WIOA grant. I personally think the cost was too much but many bootcamps are around the same range. I think if you’re someone with some prior coding experience and are struggling to find a job, this would be a great fit.

Course was rigorous but worth it. I learned a lot about frameworks and technologies, as well as gained insight about how to find jobs in the tech industry. There is a lot of work to be done on your own if you want to be truly successful, but it is expected not to have anything spoon fed. As of right now, I'm 4 weeks into the job search part of the program (after the 10 weeks of class) and I learned a lot about how the application process works and what to expect. There are a lot of resources that Coding Temple offers, which comes in very handy. 

Disclaimer: When reading bootcamp reviews, remember that its graduates are motivated to leave higher reviews because it gives credence to their graduating institution. That said, they all have that trait. I was encouraged to leave a review, but not necessarily a good one. I consider my review honest.

Path: Full-time, 10-weeks (May '22)

Review (main):

Disclaimer out of the way, this bootcamp is really quite good. The instructor I had was knowledgeable and patient. The program is generally well organized, meaning you're unlikely to fall out due to technical problems or confusion over what's due when. Despite getting through a monstrous amount of material, they avoid over-stressing their students by keeping things "casual". 

However, don't expect miracles. If you've never touched code before, at the end of the course, you'll still only have 10 weeks of experience. Basically, you'll get an introduction to a lot of different things and be asked to produce working code that is similar to what is presented (hard enough for the period given). I do believe that anyone who graduates this course will be capable of functioning in a web-developer and even full-stack role, but mileage will vary with prior experience. Those with prior experience will have an easier time and those without will struggle at times. But there's no graduating with honors, so what you'll exit with will be the same in either case, but there will *probably* be a difference in quality of project work and understanding of material. Sometimes that doesn't matter for getting a job.

Summary: If you're looking for a bootcamp and you'd prefer not to put the extra months into it, this is a great program to consider (considering the cons).

Ask: If this review has been helpful, mark it so (if available)

Pros:

- Knowledgeable & capable instructors (disclaimer: I only experienced one)

- Course reflects current trends in tech needs and (like the industry) is being continuously updated

- Practical and one-on-one help with resume, negotiation, and "what do I want to do with this?" guidance (to some extent)

- Not overly stressful environment

Cons:

- The career coach is ferocious and obviously motivated, but there's absolutely no interfacing with interested companies. All applications are on you, which is hard to do while in the program due to how busy it keeps you. They hold out on the job board and alumni network until after you've graduated, which I haven't done yet so the result there may drive my rating up or down.

- Few of, if any, of the instructor’s aids have any industry experience. I'm unclear on how many or how much the instructors have. This doesn't mean they aren't knowledgeable (they are), but if you have a bit of experience and are wanting guidance on not just how to code, but how to code well, that's very hard to come by. This generally only comes into play when you're seeking beyond associate-level employment, however, which you won't be doing.

- I was displeased at the format of some of the "workshops." CT (appropriately) tries to instill problem solving skills by having you solve a minimum number of coding problems. They offer help with workshops, but these aren't instructive workshops, they are instead in the format, "Here is the answer to one. <quickly step through it> Okay, next." This format doesn't help an individual learn HOW to solve problems. My personal belief is that the time would be much better spent on methodology and tips and tricks.

I studied engineering in college and years later I'm now making a career change. I took the full-time online course, let me tell you, it was intense! But it completely rewired my brain. They have it down to a science, they will teach you how to learn and adapt and those things are invaluable in the tech industry. You'll do projects, you can ask plenty of questions, you follow along in a small classroom so you get attention as you're working through the example project. Then you get the recordings to go back and review lectures as much as you want. My instructors were Terrell and Ryan. They rocked, and I'm lucky I was placed into their class. 

After spending a solid two weeks weeks researching various boot camps I thought I had it whittled down to the very best ones--Springboard, Coding Temple, Hack Reactor, and some of the college led ones (Georgia Tech's and MIT's specifically). Then.... I spoke with Ryan at Coding Temple. His knowledge, insight, no-pressure conversation, and just the ease with which I could talk to him about my goals, really set Coding Temple apart. I'm cautious, especially when it comes to spending more money than I ever have in my life on an educational service (aside from college), so I still pursued conversations at the other schools to make sure I wasn't being lazy or short sighted.
Man, oh man, am I glad I found Coding Temple. I spoke with some of Ryan's teammates: Marlene and Marcus. They were high quality people as well.
I won't write anything negative about the other schools, just make sure you speak with someone at Coding Temple before you make a decision. The live lectures with the same group of students, small class sizes, and feeling I had speaking with the members of Coding Temple led to me picking them.
I took a month to prepare for the cohort. During this time I read the entire Python book they recommended, and did the same with the HTML book. A student in the school's Slack recommended CodeCademy for extra preparation. I'm glad he did, as it enabled me to go deeper with the teachers once the cohort started (I took the basic and intermediate CSS courses on CodeCademy before the cohort began).
I had the pleasure of working with Terrell and Ryan, they were quite the teaching duo. It was fun, it was challenging, and I learned WAY more than I would have on my own, even if all I did during the 10 weeks was study. That's the point of a boot camp.
It was neat to watch other students come in with different levels of knowledge. No matter where someone started, they ended the program with a much greater knowledge than when we began.
I'd like to make special shout out to Nicole and Marlene. Nicole hosts various games during the program and she's around to talk when times get stressful. It's nice to know she's there. One of my favorite things during the cohort were the guest speaking events Nicole sets up. I LOVE to ask questions and it was a real opportunity to get a much deeper understanding into the various aspects of the industry and what the day to day work is like for people in different roles, at different skill levels, and in different industries.
And now, Marlene. She's a driving force behind the value proposition of the Coding Temple program. No other program that I found offered the kind of job support that Coding Temple does with Marlene. You can feel it, and if you're careful in the questions you ask when deciding on a school, you can deduce the way other schools operate.
At the end of the day I think that's important to remember. These are all businesses--their goal is to make money. Pick carefully, but do pick. You can't go wrong with Coding Temple. They're an excellent group of people, very knowledgeable, and the follow up job support is real. It's not just you being in a pool of Alumni on Slack and now it's up to you to figure it out or attend group webinars. You'll actually get someone to talk to for the long term with Coding Temple.
I'm convinced I've made some life long friends during my time at Coding Temple. I'll always look at the family that helped train me fondly.

I took full-time Python online course. It was high space learning and hard for me to follow. However, my classmates and night teacher helped me a lot.  My advice for future students is getting the basic knowledge of  languages, such as Python and Java Script. It will help you learn much smoothly with high-speed class. The best part of this course was my career coach, Marlene. She helped me finding a job after graduation. She was always gave me advice when I needed her help on time(like 24/7)!! I luckily got a job 2 months after graduation.  

Deciding on a Bootcamp wasn't easy, it took me some time to decide on which camp would help me make the career change. I ended up picking the Coding Temple because of the focus on projects and small class sizes.  I took the 10-week Python + Data Full-time course.  My instructor was super knowledgeable and provided such relevant industry knowledge and expertise. Joel showed that he cared about his students and wanted them to be successful. Joel did a great job of checking in with his students 1-1! The entire team was great at checking in and providing a lot of support throughout the program and post-graduation until you have been placed into a job position. 

Coding Temple was hands down one of the best decisions I have ever made. I think that everyone gets a little bit of hesitation before they sign up for a coding bootcamp. The typical "I don't know if this will work out, should I do this or get a degree?" - but let me tell you something. I have a job at Draft Kings now.

Could I have gone to college and get a full blown degree? Of course. But I would have been no less than $140k in the hole. Coding Temple was only $12k. And even then, I don't believe I would've gotten the same hands on experience that got me a job at one of the greatest sports companies out there.

This program is not for the weak. It's 10 weeks, accelerated, there's a lot of projects you have to do. You go in for 7 hours a day and come home with another 3-4 hours of homework. Coffee becomes your new best friend. At the end of the day, though, this solution worked best for me. I have 2 kids at home, and while being a Dad and going to college is possible, it's difficult. You'll never know what'll happen, and 10 weeks FT simply worked better.

Connor is an excellent instructor, a real salt of the Earth kind of guy, and he loves sports! We often chatted about the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB during break time while  playing ping pong, which he's very good at. So if you decide to take this course, that might be worth practicing too, haha.

Kirsten is a sweetheart, she checks up on you to see how you're doing before, during and after the course. Don't hesitate to ask her for help in your job search, or asking her to be a reference, she's more than happy to!

If you're looking to take a Coding Bootcamp in Boston, this is the one.