Devmountain

DevMountain has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in my life. I decided I needed to change paths from studying illustration to something more technical, and I've always wanted to learn how to code. I was looking at another 3-4 years and a whole lot more than $10k in tuition, to obtain a CS degree. That's when I found DevMountain, and I'm so glad I did. I have learned more in the last 3 months than I have in school for 5 years combined. At DevMountain the housing is free while you attend, and they give you a mentor that can help you learn every step of the way. DevMountain is also 100% willing to work with you on whatever learning style works best for you. If you need to take more time to learn certain subjects, they can place you on a different track, so that you don't fall behind. They also won't charge you if you need to take more time. Their fee is to teach you a certain set of skills, however long it takes you to learn them. That being said, you need to be willing to work hard. If the lead mentors know you are working hard, they will do everything in their power to help you succeed. 

I attended DevMountain from January 2nd through March 31st of 2017. I did the immersive web development bootcamp in Provo. I stayed in the housing, which is an amazing value. Every room has a decent sized bed, and some have desks. The apartment I stayed in was furnished with a couch, a love seat, and a dining table with some chairs. There was also plenty of dishes and cooking ware for the 3 of us in my apartment.

The actual class was amazing, yet exhausting. I didn't know humans were capable of learning so much in such a short amount of time until I came here. It may sound overwhelming, but there are plenty of resources there that you can take advantage of to help you stay afloat. 

The Provo campus is filled with fun. DevMountain has a game night every other friday night where all of the students get together to play games and have fun. There is also free breakfast on Fridays. At graduation, they usually throw a huge party called a hackathon that is a lot of fun. The campus includes foosball and ping pong tables too, which are nice to use when you need a break every couple hours. 

The curriculum is very in depth. It's probably more than you need to know to find a junior level position. I learned Angular, Angular 2, And React while I was at DevMountain. Angular 2 was not part of the official curriculum when I went there, but one of the isntructors helped me to teach it to myself for my personal project. 

I couldn't reccomend DevMountain more. Less than three weeks after graduation, I was hired as a Junior developer with a 60k/yr salary. It was a life changing experience.

This was the best learning experience of my life! I've had some college and the full-immersion teaching/learning model was the best. Another reason this was the best experience for me is the staff. EXCELLENCE, bar none, is how I would describe them. From the full-time staff to the visiting teachers and alumni guest speakers to the mentors, I always had the support that I needed when I needed it. The final reason why I feel that DevMountain gave me the best experience is because of the curriculum. The frameworks, libraries, and languages being taught by DevMountain are the exact ones needed in the job market right now to be successful. My only negative critique is job assistance. I was expecting more direct leads in the nearby job market to companies looking and willing to hire Jr. Developers. However, with an abundance of bootcamp grads and seemingly most companies' aversion to hiring Jr. Developers, the job market would have been much more easily navigated had there been better support finding jobs. This seems to be changing with the newly formatted Job Fair being held on 1 June 2017. It should feature a collection of local companies looking to hire Jr. Devs so I am hopefully optimistic that the job assistance fortunes of recent DevMtn grads and current students will be getting MUCH better!

After spending hours researching bootcamps in the area and ones that were teaching the most relevant frameworks and libraries, I chose Devmountain. Me and two of my brothers signed up together and we really gave it our all. I had some prior coding experience from college and both of my brothers have never coded before, so I had a little edge going in and after the first few weeks, It felt like we were all near the same level.

My advice to anyone thinking of attending. Just dive in and don't look back, fair warning though, If you want to succeed at this boot camp you have to go all in, we were there 10-11 hours a day 5 days a week and coding at home on the weekends. It wasn't hard to do because the instructors are very motivating and the mentors are very good at helping you figure out the solution together, rather than simply giving you the answers.

If you want all in results you have to give all in effort, it's that simple.

I am working in the industry already, my younger brother is interviewing like crazy, and my other brother graduates in 2 weeks. Hands down, best decision ever.

Anyone looking to begin their journey into web development should seriously consider DevMountain. The staff is top-knotch and the curriculum is designed to cram the highest possible amount of learning and topics into a very short period of time.

It is not an easy course, and you will be expected to take initiative and actively engage with the content EVERY DAY, but you will get out what you put into it. The format of the course works if you are serious about learning.

I would recommend DevMountain to anyone.

My experience at DevMountain was fantastic. I met some great people, some of my closest friends have come out of my bootcamp experience. There is plenty of opportunity for questions and mentorship. The leadership is top-notch. This isn't a free pass into a new career. No bootcamp can guarantee you success in finding a job. Your success is directly correlated with the amount of effort you put into your pre-course preparations. Do the work, do extra work. You should be coming into a bootcamp experience with a solid grasp of the fundamentals.

I enrolled in the Immersive UX Design program at DevMountain's Salt Lake City location. At the time, I was living in the Bay Area and moving to Salt Lake for this course was a huge decision. The fact that it was going to be their first full time cohort gave me a little pause, but after corresponding with the enrollment staff and looking into their curriculum I decided to go for it. I just graduated and can honestly say it was one of the best decisions I've made for myself! The program was fast and intese, but incredibly thorough. My instructor Brandon Beecroft was absolutely phenomenal and was able to somehow be the best teacher each one of us needed. We had plenty of help when we needed it, and plenty of autonomy to do our own work. While I do have a background in research, I haven't had much background in design but it wasn't necessary for this course and I'm pumped about the possibilities moving forward. You don't get a grade or any type of certification at the end, but the portfolio you create during the course serves as proof of the skills you've developed.

After graduating just 3 weeks ago I've already gotten job offers. I credit that to the awesome mentors and connections our teacher helped us to leverage, and the training we got from Meaghan on how to build effective resumes and LinkedIn profiles. For anyone considering make a career change, I'd highly recommend DevMountain. 

Quick Back Story

I want to start this story with full disclosure and a note for anyone out there who is reading this and has ever thought, "im not smart enough for this" or something to the like. because I myself have thought that before, and sometimes, i still do. But i want you to know that I attended Devmountain to change my life, and it helped me do just that. 

I went into this school with 2 weeks of coding experience. TWO WEEKS, people. In retrospect, i probably should've studied a little longer and maybe had a tad more time under my belt before applying but i didnt, and i succeeded, so oh well to that thought.

The Curriculum

They have a lot of ground to cover in your short, 12 week stay, and you feel it. The content is very fast paced and sometimes you'll feel pretty overwhelmed. Sorry if i'm scaring you, what i'm trying to say is that you need to want this for yourself. This can't just be a "skill" you're just going to learn and put in your back pocket for future use. I mean i'm sure you want this if you've already applied and paid for the course. 

The reason i bring up the difficulty is that I wasn't entirely aware of how hard this was going to be, I'm an average joe whos never coded before and by the time i was only a few weeks in I was able to write basic apps using Angluar, jQuery, Javascript, CSS and HTML. It was all very cool to me. By 6 weeks we were all able to write somewhat more advanced apps using more advanced tools like NodeJS, and SQL. I wasn't the best in my course, nor was I the smartest but I did ok because i wanted it, and because I had people to lean on. Which brings me to my next point.

The Teachers and Staff

The teachers and staff at Devmountain are the most memorable to me. They're thorough, they're caring and they're blunt. Which you need sometimes. If you're not doing so well you dont want someone just telling you you're doing fine to be nice. You want your moneys worth! and thats where they really shine, they will tell you when you're doing something wrong or inefficiently and present you with a better way, or give you advice on things to read, or practice. They're supportive and kind. When I felt like i wasnt getting it, or i wasnt smart enough someone would come along side me and pick me up. It was the kind of comfort I needed to make it through the process when i was filled with doubts. 

I deeply enjoyed the help and guidance i received while attending Devmountain.

Outro

Devmountain is tough, but because i wanted to succeed, and i wanted to learn, i did. Devmountain changed my life and gave me a career i can finally be proud of. I left Devmountain on December 16th with experience and knowsledge to show employers that I was worth there time, and guess what? I had a job by January. 

DevMountain was the best decision I have ever made, It was hard, and my whole family had to sacrifice to get me there. But I'm in a place now that I could never have reached without the experience and skills that i acquired at that school.