Coding Temple

Those are the words that I would use to describe the experience that I had as a Full-time .NET student at Coding Temple. I can't emphasize enough how disappointed I am and was during my time as at this "school". 

The Layout of the School
 I don't really know where to begin with my dissatisfaction with Coding Temple. I will start with the bizarre physical set-up of the school itself: it's very similar to a college frat pad, but within the pad, there are two classrooms, both are poorly insulated from sound, but the .NET classroom is especially so. You can hear literally everything from the surrounding rooms, almost down to a whisper. Outside of the classrooms, there's a living room, with a fooseball table, two couches facing a big screen TV, some video game consoles, a bar-style kitchen, and an area to play darts. While this set-up may be appealing to some people, it wasn't for me, at all. You can hear literally everything that goes on in the living room, from the classroom: you can hear other students cheering as they play fooseball, loudly speaking to each other, and the TV blaring all-day. Since the classroom is also separated by a glass window, without blinds or shades, you can also see everything, too. There were so many daily (hourly, really) instances during the lesson that one of the  students from the adjoining class, came out and made a ridiculous amount of noise. The isntructor, and the Coding Temple staff pay no attention to the fact that people are trying to learn (and mind you, paying quite a bit to do so)in the classroom, literally five feet away from them. Bottom line: if you are easily distracted (or, not even easily... absolutely anyone should expect to be distracted), this set-up will likely cripple your ability to learn.

The Students
I came into the program, with absolutely no experience, but I was clearly in the minority. Almost all of my classmates had some or considerably heavy exposure to computer programming. Because of the speed of the course, the depth of the subject and the careless assumption of the staff, there is essentially no learning curve: you jump right in, with very little introduction, and just do it. The program seems to clearly not be intended for students with no experience, so if you're like me, and come with no experience, you will likely sink very quickly, and have no concept of what you are doing, or how to even begin to get started. What you don't know, you may as well teach yourself, because the level of support provided is completely rushed, unsatisfactory and unuseful. 
The issue was not only felt by me, but by a couple of others who also dropped-out of the cohort. The class started out with eight students, and after a week, there were seven, after two weeks, six, and after the third, five. The rigorous framework is not the issue, it's how it's delivered, and more realistically how absurdly disorganized the lessons are. 

For the students that did have experience, prior to enrolling, they seemed to understand what was going on, or could grasp what was being introduced, but there seemed to be quite a few murmurs about lack of clarity, even from them. 

Staff
The instructor for the course is really quite intelligent, and knows the industry, inside and out. He is patient if you have a *specific* issue, but for me, he was extremely technical in his delivery, often using jargon that I had never heard, with little to no explanation, which is okay for some subjects, but for computer programming, it can be incredibly frustrating to follow or connect the dots when a teacher is unable to convert that jargon into something more user friendly for novices or early learners. Oftentimes, his lectures left a lot to the imagination; there was a lot of skipping around, random, poorly placed visual components, and complete ommission of important topics. 

The speed was, as to be expected for a bootcamp, break-neck. We were expected to "learn" JavaScript in 2.5 days, and by learn... I mean, master. It may work for some people, but those sorts of expectations are completely unreasonable. If you can't keep up, you had better grab an energy drink, and prepare to teach yourself, at home, on your own, using a different resources (not Coding Temple's), to battle through a way to catch-up. Even then, the next day, there's something new, and if you didn't get the prior lesson before the new one, have fun putting the pieces together. The Coding Temple staff won't help you with that, either.

The staff is, for the most part, generally pleasant, but nobody goes out of their way to be especially helpful. The teacher assistant that spent time in my course was an interesting guy: he had no interest in the subject that was being addressed, slept on his laptop during one of the days, and was not actually "present". Aside from him, once class is over, the staff goes into the living room, and hangs out, plays video games or watches TV.  So, if you need something, you have to interrupt whatever is going on, and ask for help... It feels very juvenile, uncomfortable, and unnecessary. 

The Format
The course is 10-weeks long, so there's definitely an element of urgency to mastering the subjects presented to you, in that short amount of time. The pace may be an issue, and could be the reason so much was omitted from the lessons. So, filling those gaps that weren't taught can be an overwhelming challenge. Most of the gaps that need be filled in should be done, outside of class, on your own. Having to fill those gaps, while also catching-up with the pace of the course, is essentially the most frustrating part of the experience. The course does an incredibly poor job covering the basics of really, anything. The instructor speaks to you, as if you already know the jargon (even if you don't), and provides nothing in the way of crash-coursing any concepts. Again, you hit the ground running, and if you want to succeed (and more importantly, get a job), and you're a beginner with no experience, this should serve as a warning to look elsewhere for a more learner-friendly bootcamp. 

The Tuition
The tuition is $10,000 for a full-time course, which is pretty high, but not as high as some other bootcamps. With a price tag that reaches 5-figures, you are making a sizeable investment. With an investment like that, you can only hope for a return. In my case (and possibly your case), this was just wasn't true. You are better off taking your hard-earned money and either investing it into a more reputable, stable and well-established school, or saving it and studying on your own. Coding Temple is nowhere near worth the cost of tuition. The amount of time that you put into self-teaching, while in the course, and the constant head-scratching while listening to the instructor, and of course... the endlessly loud environment, makes your investment worth nothing. Here's what you pay for: a seat in a shabby classroom, lectures that are disorganized and lacking direction or clarity, free granola bars, a place to hang-out, and resources to help you find a job (if you get that far). That's it. It doesn't seem like you are paying for an education,  you are paying for Coding Temple to provide you with networking opportunities. For some people that may be okay, but not for me... Not for $10,000. That's what networking events and LinkedIn are for.

Take Away
Do I regret my decision to enroll at Coding Temple? Absolutely. I can definitively say, this was one of the worst decisions I've made in my life, and I am sorely, financially regretting it. Was it worth it? To me, not at all. I really, truly, learned nothing. The one lesson that can be taken away from my time at Coding Temple is this: if something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. In the case of Coding Temple, everything sounded great *before* enrolling, and then came crashing down once in the program. 

Bottom line: if you would like to learn how to code, consider applying to a different bootcamp. There are many others in Chicago that are much more respected and esteemed. Coding Temple may work for people who already know how to code, and just want a place to hang out for ten-weeks and then get a job, but if you actually want to learn, and want to see true value in your investment, you may be incredibly disappointed. 

Note: This review is somewhat in response to the anonymous review posted on 4/2/2017, titled Disorganized and Unprofessional. Read that review if you want to know what Coding Temple is like for someone who is not genuinely interested in computer programming.

If you are interested in computer programming, and you've taught yourself enough about the subject to know that you can see yourself doing it for a career, then you should be more than happy to fork over the $10,000 investment in Coding Temple. The experience is 100% worth it if you want to start your way on becoming a programmer, or if you already have some experience and are just looking to refine your skills, you should still do it. You'll learn a ton, and more importantly the knowledge you gain will be immediatly applicable in the real world (meaning at a job or in personal projects). 

If, however, you are not interested in programming, but instead are interested in making money from programming, then you will, I imagine, end up very unhappy at the end of your 10 weeks and $10,000.

My compatriot below, though his complaints are valid, should not deter any serious students from enrolling in Coding Temple. At least go down and give the place a visit. As soon as you step into main hangout space you'll be sold. While, yes, a monster TV, on-tap beer, and a ping pong (not fooseball) table seem like a recipe for distraction, it's really not that bad; and the boon of having chips, oatmeal, gronola bars, nuts, fruit snacks, coffee, and alcohol available whenever you need them is invaluable. 

Not to mention that Joe (the .NET instructor) is a top-notch teacher, easy to talk to, and has what seems to be a bottomless wealth of knowledge about programming and the programming industry. If you have tried to teach yourself coding before and find that your brain is flooding with questions, fear not, for Joe can probably answer those questions, almost always in a non-jargony way.

Final thing: The reviewer who gave this school such a scathing review is a good example of someone who should not do this program. That's not to say that this reviewer is wrong, but I was in his/her class at Coding Temple and know that he/she was not only not interested in programming, but in fact didn't even do the small amount of pre-work we were asked to do before the start of class. I think he/she gave some of the questions a go, but clearly did not put in the effort required to understand the basics of programming. The pre-work is designed to give even complete beginners somewhere to start, so that by the time class has started, you at least understand enough so that everything the teacher says isn't gibberish. If you don't do the pre-work, don't learn about computer programming outside of class at least a little bit, and don't actively want to do both of these just for fun and learning, then don't expect to have fun at a place called Coding Temple; you would do well to respect the warning of my former classmate. If you don't love (or like the idea of) coding 24/7, then Coding Temple is going to be a torture chamber for you.

TL;DR You'll gain a hollistic, pragmatic understanding of computer programming, and you will get a job after (or even during) the program if you put in any amount of effort, and, most importantly, if you actually enjoy coding (or are at least interested and have done some prior research). 

TLDR: this bootcamp was good for exposure to full-stack web development, not for actually gaining competency. See below for practical advice.

Going into the bootcamp, I had about 7 months of programming experience, mainly in Python and front-end languages such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. I was faily proficient at coding (completed several online courses including MIT Intro to CS and Lambda schhol free JS course, read a couple of books, ~140 points on CodeWars, ~25 problems solved on CodeAbbey, etc), however now I wanted to take my abilities to the next level. I gave this course my all--I was almost always the first one to show up at class every day and the last one to leave, and spent 3+ hours outside of class every day and another 12 hours every weekend on the coursework, review, and supplementary research and learning. I really wanted to love this bootcamp, but came away feeling very disappointed.

My main gripes:
-For a bootcamp called Coding Temple, I was surprised at how little coding we actually did. They say in the marketing material there is a coding challenge every morning and homework every night. We had a morning challenge exactly 3 times in 11 weeks of the course. We had homework about 1.5 times per week. During class and while doing our portfolio projects, there was more copy/pasting of code than actually writing code yourself.
-They have given thought to the curriculum, but not how to actually teach the curriculum so that students achieve understanding and competency. Class is basically an instructor doing a code demo at the front of class all day, and you're not even encouraged to code along. I would try to code along every day, but be unable to keep up after about 40 minutes. When asked to go back and let me catch up, it was always met with "I will post this to Slack in a few minutes". I'd then be able to copy/paste code from Slack to catch up, but that was useless. You learn by repitition, and watching someone code something up and then later copy/pasting their code is no way to learn how to program, in my humble opinion.
-The instructor was certainly knowledgable and a very competent programmer, however was not actually a good teacher. When I asked questions, the answers were usually very verbose and confusing as though he was speaking to a computer scientist, not a more novice programmer. Sometimes you need to have things explained to you like your five (ELI5), but that was not to be. Sometimes I'd ask questions and be more confused after receiving an answer and left not really being able to form a good follow up questio, stuck at basically, "I still don't get it" which would sometimes make the instructor frustrated or angry. I'm sorry, I'm just trying to learn.
-My general impression was the instructor was speeding through material, racing to the end every day so he could check a box "I covered X topic," with little regard for if or how well students were comprehending the material. I would regularly poll my classmates about how well they're understanding the material and the code being demoed, and they'd usually reply somewhere in the 20-30% range.
-Almost no work on core CS fundamentals like algorithms and data-structures, which will be highly relevant when looking for a job.
-I felt like I had only a little better understanding of OOP after then course vs before the course, even though this was one of the main things I hoped to improve upon during the course.
-When researching various bootcamps, the organizers of this bootcamp sold me on the idea that C#/.Net stack was in high demand. Halfway through the course, I learn that this will be the last C#/.Net full-stack bootcamp they will be offering in Chicago due to lack of demand for .Net devs in Chicago.  WTF

Good part about this bootcamp:
-It was good for gaining exposure to various different web dev technologies, and learning how a web app fits together from the back-end to the front-end. You may not gain a high-level of competency with these technologies, but at least you'll learn the tools of the trade, what they're used for and get a basic understanding of them so that you can continue wokring on them later.
-Learning a strongly typed programming language like C# is very valuable, and I'm glad that this is now my main programming language.
-Having something tangible like a coding bootcamp on resume does help a little bit, particularly getting past initial HR screening from what I've heard.

Advice:
-If this really was the "Best Coding Bootcamp" in 2017 and 2018, then I can't recommend bootcamps. Talking with recruiters and HR people, and people from other bootcamps as well, I've found that they don't seem to think a coding bootcamp is "enough".
-Becoming a programmer is all going to come down to YOU. You will have to spend an innumerable number of hours learning this stuff. A bootcamp is good in that it forces you to spend those hours for a few months, but you're still going to have to spend an incredible amount of hours continuing to learn and code to gain any degree of competency.
-If you want a poor-man's version of this bootcamp that will be as good if not better than this bootcamp, do this:
    -find out the curriculum to this course
    -take a git course/learn git, create a github account
    -get a monthly subscription to codewithmosh.com for $15/month (to be clear: I have no affliation with this site, I just find Mosh to be a good, effective teacher)
    -go to the library every day at 9am, and spend 6 hours doing the Code with Mosh courses that are equivalent to the topics covered in this course. Every Day.  No exceptions.
    -supplement those courses with YouTube videos, and reading on StackOverflow. Look around, there's really good courses out there if you dig a little. For example, this Scrimba course is great for React (https://scrimba.com/p/p7P5Hd/cQ726Sr)
    -YOU MUST CODE ALONG WHEN DOING THESE COURSES!! If you're just going to watch the videos, don't even bother.
    -push all your code/projects to github to build a portfolio. You want at least one push to github per day, every day, for three months straight. Employers look at this.
    -after or while doing a Code with Mosh course, make a simple project of your own using the same technologies of the course you're following to get repitition and ingrain the skills you're covering.
    -take a course on algorithms and data-structures, read a book(s) on them, etc.
    -that's it. Mosh is a better teacher than you're likely to find at a bootcamp.  You just need to be disciplined and consistent.  Go on StackOverflow or an IRC channel of a given technology to ask questions.  You will need to keep learning continuously.
    
I have been following the above approach for the past month, and feel it is superior to what the bootcamp.  

I have been finished with this bootcamp for almost 2 months. I have applied to 80+ jobs and attended a few networking events. I have gotten some attention from employers, having done about 20 phone screenings and a half-dozen or so coding assessments. I have had one legit interview, which I believe was the final round of the interview process. However, I've had no luck so far. I'm going to keep persevering, but my job prospects are not looking too rosy at the moment. While there are a ton of developer jobs available, there's only so many junior develper jobs that I actually qualify for and have the skills to get. Also, don't expect Coding Temple to hook you up with any jobs--they'll help with your resume and refer you to a few recruiters, but that's about it.  Still, I'm going to continue to practice and I'll get a job sooner or later (I hope).  I will update this review if/when I get a job. Otherwise, Coding Temple has a money back guarantee if you can't get a job, so perhaps I will have to test how well that guarantee actually holds up.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this bootcamp.  I think it'd be a good value at about $300/week, nowhere near the $1000/week price tag.

Hi, Guys

please understand me even if I use broken English! XD

I just move our from South Korea 1 year ago. when I moved, I decided to become a programmer. and I study by myself for 4months and try to apply to some company!

eh... as you know, I couldn't get any any any mail.

I didn't know what to do, so just research for this and I found here 'Coding Temple'

I started 2016. Dec and study really hard(hopefully I did) and it was hard! Because as you know learning programming is not easy, and I am Korean.. have a language barrier. but my wonderful teacher! 'Joe' helps me a lot. and not only him 'Derek' and 'Joel' and 'Ripal' they always find the answer and try to explain to me.

and now, I am working company as a front developer(I am so happy about this company). 

anyway, overall 'Coding Temple' will be a good choice for you if you want to become a programmer. but please don't forget this. you have to study a lot and prepare for the portfolio. it's not easy and the hardest thing is to apply to the company and get a job.

but again, Don't forget this. They always help you with getting a job. 

Are you Ready? Then let's Jump on Coding Temple and become a programmer

p.s> class will move really fast. and if you don't ask to teacher he will not explain to you. because he doesn't know you understand or not. ask and ask! it will be good for you

While researching coding bootcamps in Chicago, Coding Temple stood out to me because of the focus on the Microsoft .NET stack, small class sizes, and positive Course Report reviews.  I signed up for the Winter cohort after attending a Meetup, where I was able to connect with several alumni and the course instructor to get my questions answered, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  As someone whose only prior experience with coding was some HTML/CSS and a single Ruby on Rails tutorial, I felt the course was really well-paced and there was a lot of individual assistance throughout.  Joe, the instructor, is incredibly knowledgeable and has a strong professional background that informs the content of the curriculum, ensuring you learn how the theory and technologies are applied in a real-life work environment.  I was very happy with the portfolio of work I put together over the session, and there were several opportunities to present projects to recruiters and practice for technical interviews.  Ripal, the business development manager, was a great resource throughout my job search, and was excellent at connecting us with contacts and positions that suited our interests.  A few weeks after graduating, I received two job offers in the industry, and I'm grateful to everyone at Coding Temple for providing an effective experience in a positive, friendly environment. 

Six Months ago, I found myself on this very site reading about Coding Temple as well as other bootcamps hoping to learn more about this interesting new avenue. I had dabbled in HTML/CSS, but had nearly zero experience when it came to actual programming. I decided I wanted to change that. Before long, I was booking a visit to head down to Coding Temple's office in downtown Chicago to check it out and learn more about the programs available. 

Right around Christmas I made the decision to go for it and signed up for the inaugural Python Full Stack course. It was a scary decision to say the least but I would do it all over again if asked. The Python course was awesome, Joel (the instructor) was knowledgable, kind, and most importantly went to great lengths to make sure all students in the class were able to comprehend the material. 

I can't say enough great things about Joel, Coding Temple, or the Python course itself. Going into my final week, I accepted a job as a Software Developer at a very large IT consulting firm and am also comfortably handling a couple of my own projects thanks to what I learned at Coding Temple. 

In addition, I spent a lot of time talking with Joe (the C#/.NET instructor) and sat in on a class of his as well. He is a veteran of tech through and through yet plenty amicable and comprehensive in his approach in his own right. 

If you're like I was six months ago hoping that this might be something that could change your life for the better, give it a shot. I don't think you'll regret it.

I attended the introduction to C# event through Meetup this weekend and it was much more informative than I expected for a free workshop.  The presenter/instructor, Avi, that taught the workshop was extremely knowledgeable and helpful.   

My main intention for attending the workshop was to see if I would fit in the 12-week course that is coming up in January and I was assured that my very limited understanding of programming would be just fine.  I'm looking forward to future workshops and hopefully being accepted into Coding Temples next course.

I was a student for Coding Temple's first cohort and I can defnitely say that it was a valuable experience. The instructor, Hitesh, was an expert at all the topics that were covered and was able to answer every student's questions and provide us his insight from his career experience. The class size is kept under 8 students so everyone has their indivdual attention and learning needs accomodated for. There are multiple projects assigned throughout the course that forces you to take a "learn by doing" approach; projects that are then available to add to your portfolio of development work.  Since it was a part-time camp with an intense amount of topics that needed to be covered, the instructor also made himself available outside of class to assist anyone that needed additional help. Coding Temple provides you with all the resorces and infomation needed to develop your skills to be fit for an entry level development role. The experience was nothing short of superb. 

I was part of the full time/full stack .net course. Since the beginning it was a challenging course but the instructors are there to answer any question you may have; the classes are small so you can get the most out of it. The thing that I loved about the course is the hands-on experience, the chance to create your own projects, so you can see what you really know and what you need to study a bit more. It was really well taught; to the point that someone who never had contact with coding could learn and comprehend it. Super friendly environment, the staff are all great people that will help you at any way they can. It was a great experience overall; definitely one the best choice I've made.

I attended Coding Temple's full stack development course this year and  found a Software Engineer 1 position less than 2 months later!

I do have a background in programming, I was in college as a Computer Science major for 1 year before dropping out, plus some visual basic experience in high school. If you have no programming experience going in you will do just fine IF you treat the 10 weeks like a full time job 40+ hours a week.

I would recommend this course to anyone looking for a rigorous program that teaches current code practices needed to get a job in the market today. You must be willing to work outside of class and do ALL of the pre-work. I myself went through a c# tutorial class from WiBit.Net as well as completing the pre-work before starting the first week. The people who dropped out of my cohort were the same people who did not complete the pre-work and got overwhelmed quickly. So as I said before, people of all backgrounds CAN excel in this program, if they have a genuine interest in coding and a desire to work/learn.

There is a lot of material and not a lot of time. We were only able to spend 1 week on angular which was not nearly enough in my opinion. The sections on C#, .NET MVC were the core strength of the program.

The atmosphere of the program was fantastic, felt like a San Francisco startup without the crazy! Joe, the .Net instructor, was an amazing teacher who can answer any question you can throw at him. His teaching style was engaging and informative. The small class size was the reason it was such a good course. Joe spent as much time as possible 1 on 1 with every student. The personal instruction and 1 on 1 help I received from Ripal with my resume and job search was what made the course exceptional! 

Computer science is a Field that moves quicker than you can write textbooks about it. Having a senior developer who has been working in the field as your mentor and teacher is worth every penny.

4 steps to understanding

1. Clueless - you don’t know what you don’t know

2. Naively Confident- You think you know, but you still don't know what you don’t know

          -This is where I was at going into the program

3. Discouragingly Realistic -You know what you don’t know

          -This is where you want to be, it means you can REALLY begin learning  

4. Mastery Achieved- you know it

          -I am not sure if any programmer has ever achieved this level in this ever                 changing world!

If you are willing to put in the work to figure out what you don’t know, coding temple can get you over the first rise and over your first pothole if you are willing to ask questions and try. How far you master your skill past that is up to you. If you are serious about being a software dev Coding Temple is far and away worth your time and money.