Code Fellows is closed
This school is now closed. Although Code Fellows is no longer accepting students or running its program, you can still see historical information and Code Fellows alumni reviews on the school page.
Code Fellows is a technical skills training academy in the Pacific Northwest that offers full- and part-time software development, ops and cybersecurity courses online and in-person from their Seattle, Washington location. Code Fellows guides people from all backgrounds to change their lives through fast-paced, career-focused education. Since their first cohort in 2013, Code Fellows has taught over 1,600 graduates and iterated on their curriculum and format to ensure students receive the most industry-relevant training as effectively and efficiently as possible. Code Fellows shapes passionate learners with immersive training to meet industry needs and improve diversity. Students are immersed in their learning with daily lectures, pair programming, weekly presentations from full-time instructional staff who are seasoned industry professionals, one-week project sprints, and more. Code Fellows graduates work at Amazon, Microsoft, Zillow, Expedia, XBOX, NIKE, Amazon, Starbucks, Nordstrom, and over 800 other companies.
The modular style of the Code Fellows program allows students to test into the course level that is most appropriate for their current skill level. In addition, the modular class structure allows students to choose the schedule and timing that meets their needs.
Code Fellows believes everyone should have the opportunity to succeed. Code Fellows offers scholarships to help individuals who come from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds find rewarding careers in tech. They are committed to breaking down systemic barriers and ensuring all people are treated with respect and dignity. They are united with their staff, students, alumni, and partners in the fight against systemic racism and injustice.
Code Fellows supports both domestic and international licensing partners through its Powered by Code Fellows program. Code Fellows also offers a tutoring program and platform to both students and non-students, technical instructor certification, and corporate training.
Summary:
The skills and resources Code Fellows taught got me a great job with promotion potential in the industry where I want to be working. It wasn't easy, but it was well worth the investment.
Background:
I took three courses from Code Fellows at the Portland Campus during their transition to the current curriculum in late 2015:
--Unix and Git for Everyone (now essentially Code 101);
--Foundations I (a mix of Code 100 & 201); and
Summary:
The skills and resources Code Fellows taught got me a great job with promotion potential in the industry where I want to be working. It wasn't easy, but it was well worth the investment.
Background:
I took three courses from Code Fellows at the Portland Campus during their transition to the current curriculum in late 2015:
--Unix and Git for Everyone (now essentially Code 101);
--Foundations I (a mix of Code 100 & 201); and
--Code 201.
All the courses I took were nights/weekends, as I was employed full-time.
As a college graduate with some graduate training, I found the Code Fellows instructors and staff very accessible and personable; but most importantly they were enthusiastic about going the extra mile to help their students succeed. The courses are very challenging (but doable), so their willingness to provide guidance, feedback and mentorship off-hours (the instructors for my courses have other full-time employment) was indispensible for my classmates and I.
My IT background was in OS/Networking with no coding experience, but I was working in electronics maintenance at a regional medical center (thanks, Great Recession!) when I decided to improve my skillset to be more competitive in the job market. Code Fellows stood out to me because they had local, resident courses; their website is well designed, easy to navigate, and has informative, plain language content; but, most importantly, they offered both day AND night/weekend courses (which isn't common). ...I needed to keep my day job, so I could keep my house.
Curriculum:
The coursework is accessible and well presented. The format is generally: See (lecture & examples); Walk-through (guided self/team work); Do (home/group work). Or, for fellow military: Crawl, Walk, Run.
Early assignments were pretty easy, but with the 'stacked module' approach our assignments grew immediately and continually more sophisticated. New assignments built on and expanded previous work. This is cool because you get a lot of reinforcement; it's difficult because you have to stay on the ball and caught up.
A word about the pre-work and homework: It was difficult. The prework made my life during the course MUCH easier. People who struggle completing reading assignments and homework will have a very hard time in Code Fellows courses. I had to dedicate 2-3 hours out-of-class for every hour in class. It was worth it!
Outcomes:
I didn't take the full curriculum because I was obligated to stay at my previous employer for another couple years. Job Assistance is, understandably, only available to students in the higher courses.
My personal outcome is that I was selected for a developmental IT position with the US Forest Service, in a unit that has developed and implemented data acquisition and analysis software and a relational database available for public access. My training with Code Fellows was the deciding factor for being selected for this position.
Not only was the Code Fellows training instrumental for being hired, but it also gave me a very strong foundation for beginning to learn Java and Python, which are required for my duties.
I'm very excited to be begining a new chapter in my professional life, and thankfull to Code Fellows for providing me the keys to unlock!
Prior to attending the 201 (Beginning JavaScript), 301 (Intermediate JavaScript), and 401 (Advanced JavaScript) courses at the Portland location I was wrapping up a decade-long series of jobs that left me feeling unfulfilled and unchallenged. I wanted to improve my skills so that I could provide my extended design and development services to a broader range of freelance clients and projects.
Despite feeling throughout the 4.5 months of instruction that I was struggling to ke...
Prior to attending the 201 (Beginning JavaScript), 301 (Intermediate JavaScript), and 401 (Advanced JavaScript) courses at the Portland location I was wrapping up a decade-long series of jobs that left me feeling unfulfilled and unchallenged. I wanted to improve my skills so that I could provide my extended design and development services to a broader range of freelance clients and projects.
Despite feeling throughout the 4.5 months of instruction that I was struggling to keep up, the support from the teaching staff and my peers was unparallelled. Once I graduated and began my job hunt it was clear that, while I didn't know everything there was to know about JavaScript, I had a firm foundation to build on, my in-class experiences provided a wide array of applicable examples for interviews and, and all of that stress and worry about breaking into the development world paid off in the end since I ended up landing a software development role a month and a half after graduation.
If you're serious about getting into development, I highly recommend this program!
I took the JavaScript Dev Accelerator last year before it changed to the 401 course. It was a lot of work and if you're not willing to completely go for it and immerse yourself then you're not going to succeed, but if you can handle a crazy workload and are really ready for a change then it can be the right course for you.
I don't know about other courses, but everyone I know from CF ( I dont' talk to everyone from the class ) is working in the tech industry. We did JavaScript, s...
I took the JavaScript Dev Accelerator last year before it changed to the 401 course. It was a lot of work and if you're not willing to completely go for it and immerse yourself then you're not going to succeed, but if you can handle a crazy workload and are really ready for a change then it can be the right course for you.
I don't know about other courses, but everyone I know from CF ( I dont' talk to everyone from the class ) is working in the tech industry. We did JavaScript, so I can't speak to other classes.
It is for profit and it would be better if it was part of a community college program I think, but that said the teaching staff really cares and wants you to succeed. I don't want to sugar coat it, you will likely have a bunch of interviews before you get a job, but if you keep at it, there are jobs out there and plenty of them will give you a shot and if you can complete their code challenges then you can get the job.
I think the harsh reviews here are too harsh, but the positive can also be too positive. There will be a lot of hard work and nothing is perfect, but I am happy working in tech now and I know my friends from my CF cohort are too.
My year long journey at Code Fellows was nothing shy of amazing. I’m 36 and was looking for a career change. Information Security has always been a passion of mine, I’m the IT guy at work but in information security the tools you use will only get you so far. I needed to learn how to code.
Code Fellows was my savior. The atmosphere there is amazing; being surrounded by like minded people that want to see you succeed is priceless. The teachers and T.A’s are ver...
My year long journey at Code Fellows was nothing shy of amazing. I’m 36 and was looking for a career change. Information Security has always been a passion of mine, I’m the IT guy at work but in information security the tools you use will only get you so far. I needed to learn how to code.
Code Fellows was my savior. The atmosphere there is amazing; being surrounded by like minded people that want to see you succeed is priceless. The teachers and T.A’s are very knowledgeable and make you feel like the priority. The work was definitely challenging; you’re going to be coding a lot, like at least 20 hours a week a lot and that is just for the night classes.
In the end, my experience at Code Fellows was unforgettable. They provided me with the confidence to start my own cyber security consulting firm; Semtex Security Inc. and now I know if I have any questions I’d always be welcome back with open arms. If you’re thinking about a career change and getting into programming I highly recommend Code Fellows.
You can check Semtex Security out at http://www.semtexsecurity.com and look for our first security app [tattle] coming to Android early 2018.
I received a fantastic job offer less than a month after graduating from the JavaScript 401 in Portland. After my first week at the job, I proved myself competent and widely productive as I hit the ground running. Most of everything was attributed to the invaluable skills and best practices learned from Code Fellows’ classes.
I jumped right into the company’s Git workflow, no problem. I have also impressed more than a few of my coworkers here...
I received a fantastic job offer less than a month after graduating from the JavaScript 401 in Portland. After my first week at the job, I proved myself competent and widely productive as I hit the ground running. Most of everything was attributed to the invaluable skills and best practices learned from Code Fellows’ classes.
I jumped right into the company’s Git workflow, no problem. I have also impressed more than a few of my coworkers here (who have taken classes from other code schools) with concise and functional programming skills I acquired from the 301 course. Learning the Angular.js framework in 401 was challenging. However, when I was prompted to learn the Meteor framework for this job, I was very quick to learn it- as most concepts translate in component-based architecture.
All in all, Code Fellows didn’t teach me everything I need to know about web development- but instead gave me the tools, the skills, and the confidence to tackle any future obstacles and technologies that come my way.
I took the iOS Development Accelerator as it was called before the curriculum was changed to a different format. I completed the course at the end of September 2015 in good standing. I am still unemployed, and have had very few people look my way for interviews. I've had a couple of phone interviews, and not one in person interview.
I bought into the promise of "you can start from nearly no understanding of software development and become an attractive candidate for jobs within ...
I took the iOS Development Accelerator as it was called before the curriculum was changed to a different format. I completed the course at the end of September 2015 in good standing. I am still unemployed, and have had very few people look my way for interviews. I've had a couple of phone interviews, and not one in person interview.
I bought into the promise of "you can start from nearly no understanding of software development and become an attractive candidate for jobs within 2 months." Hoooo boy, let me tell you, that's just not how it works. I really wish it did. Maybe it does for front end web dev stuff, but not for actual app development like iOS. A two or three month course is not going to prepare you for that kind of work. I didn't want to believe it either. I thought I was different, that I could make it. Nope. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's the truth. Very few companies will look your way. Why would they? There's so much established talent in Seattle, not to mention they have the resources to recruit candidates from around the country and in some cases from around the world.
If you want to do software development, I would highly recommend getting an actual CS degree. That's what I wish I would have done. You realllllly need to know in depth the way to think like a programmer, which these courses can't do for you. Not in that timeframe. Trust me. You will learn specific programming paradigms and frameworks specific to whatever you are studying, but not the deeper concepts that really need to be the foundations of that other stuff.
Our instructor was an iOS god, and even with that there was just no way to teach career changers how to be a developer companies want to hire. The only people from my cohort who got jobs were those who were switching stacks - they already knew how to write software and had worked for years in the industry.
I didn't really get any help applying for jobs besides a resume review and tips on how to prep your LinkedIn page. That's stuff you can find out how to do by googling around for 5 minutes.
I haven't taken a job since I "graduated" to spend most of my time working on becoming a better developer and applying for jobs. Still unemployed. I'm lucky, I have the luxury to do that, but I feel bad for people who can't. Lots of my peers had to go back to what they were doing before to pay the bills.
Please, take some time to think about doing a program like this. This isn't some magic pill, no matter what people say. I don't want people wasting time and money like I did; it set me back a lot. I also don't want to dissuade anyone from following their dreams, I'm just telling you that if your dream is to be a software developer like mine is, this is not the way to do it. Consider it a favor, take care and good luck.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at the email address below (no spaces):
e d r e a s e @ gmail . com
Brook Riggio of Code Fellows
VP of Education
Oct 14, 2016
Just really happy to be studying and learning here at CodeFellows - haven't been here for very long, but I already feel welcomed, included, and safe. The sense of community is really strong, the standards are high, and all of the staff is incredible supportive and encouraging.
I'm currently in 301, and Rick is a really great teacher - he asks you the right questions to help you discover the answer on your own, and encourages you to "break things" as a way to mo...
Just really happy to be studying and learning here at CodeFellows - haven't been here for very long, but I already feel welcomed, included, and safe. The sense of community is really strong, the standards are high, and all of the staff is incredible supportive and encouraging.
I'm currently in 301, and Rick is a really great teacher - he asks you the right questions to help you discover the answer on your own, and encourages you to "break things" as a way to move past where you are stuck. He also sends out links that are super helpful for extra practice (and credit!) with jQuery and javascript. And even though it's been a week of a ton of information to take in, the format of morning lab/standups/lecture/pair-programming has been really helpful in the area of retention.
In 201, Brian and Craig were awesome! Brain is a really amazing teacher - his pace, his intuition for where the class was tracking/not tracking with concepts, his consistent review, and overall knowledge/organization were always on point. It's an intense pace, and a lot to take in, but the teachers are really in tune with where the class (and individual) need more support/review.
My experience here at Codefellows has been super positive, engaging, and beneficial.
Don't believe self-reported, manipulated job placement statistics published by a for-profit "educational" company.
I took three courses from Code Fellows in 2015, the last of which was an iOS "dev accelerator" (they have since changed their course names) which came with a "money back job guarantee" for a $60,000 a year dev job within 9 months of graduation. Only about 30% of our graduating class have gotten dev jobs. Those who had profe...
Don't believe self-reported, manipulated job placement statistics published by a for-profit "educational" company.
I took three courses from Code Fellows in 2015, the last of which was an iOS "dev accelerator" (they have since changed their course names) which came with a "money back job guarantee" for a $60,000 a year dev job within 9 months of graduation. Only about 30% of our graduating class have gotten dev jobs. Those who had professional programming experience prior to attending Code Fellows got jobs. No one else did. Don't believe anything these people tell you, and certainly don't buy the hype. Worse than spending $10-20k on tuition, you'll end up wasting a year of your life like most of us did. And in spite of having a "money back guarantee" on the tuition if you don't find a job, they very cunningly found numerous ways to "disqualify" the majority of the students who didn't find jobs from actually ever getting a refund of any sort! Don't trust these people. I deeply regret that I ever did.
Remember, in life, if sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This was a perfect example of that. I deeply regret my decision to attend Code Fellows. I would definitely not do it again.
Their "job placement assistance" consists of someone who reviews your resume for layout issues and typographical errors and sends you a weekly "let me google that for you" list of job ads found elsewhere on the Internet. Their "hiring partners" are companies they manage to rope into attend a meet and greet for students where representatives from companies will try to engage in polite conversations with noobs and career changers, explaining that they're really just looking for experienced devs (i.e. programmers with years--I repeat, YEARS--of experience).
Code Fellows instructors will also repeat various mantras in an attempt to lull you into a false sense of confidence. "How can anyone learn to code in less than a year of coursework?" you'll ask. They'll explain correctly that no one can possibly become an expert programmer in that short amount of time, but that doesn't matter, because what Code Fellows will do for you is get you an entry level job... some sort of "apprenticeship" where "you'll get paid to continue learning!" BS. Total BS. Start ups can't afford to hire someone who doesn't know what there doing and large companies most likely take a chance on you.
You'll end up paying a ton of money for someone to read PowerPoint slides to you and let you use their space to work on your own laptop. Many of Code Fellows' instructors are recent Code Fellows graduates with little or no actual full-time tech industry experience.
I was simply too naive. I even had friends who are experienced developers or grad students in computer science programs at schools like UC Berkeley try to dissuade me from attending any "code school". When I asked them what they thought of the whole code school trend they responded with one of two answers:
1) "They [any code school] will be glad to take your money."
or
2) "What the hell is a code school?"
Worse than wasting your money on a code school, you will waste a ton of time. You'd be better off investing that time and money in a traditional computer science degree. That's all these company want anyhow.
You may think you need a bullshit certificate on your resume to help you land a job. Trust me, graduating with a "Code Fellows" certificate will end up being more of an embarrassment and red flag for employers than an asset. Just don't do it. And if you don't believe me, read on:
http://www.salon.com/2016/09/17/hacker-house-blues-my-life-with-12-programmers-2-rooms-and-one-21st-century-dream/
https://www.wired.com/2016/01/in-2016-the-coding-bootcamp-bubble-is-bound-to-burst/
http://fusion.net/story/303385/coding-bootcamps/
Don't do it. Learn from our mistakes. Do anything else, including just teaching yourself or taking community college courses on the side. But whatever you do, DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB AND ATTEND A CODE SCHOOL. I wish I could have that time and money back.
Don't do it!
I like that Code Fellows teaches the foundations of what we need to know to be successful, we start with the basics and build upon it. Job support so far seems stellar, helping students prepare resumes and Linkedin profiles, as well as giving resources to make the job search successful. There is a lot of support and help from instructors and TAs, great staff, and a great learning environment that really empowers students to be successful. The stress and lack of sleep has totally been...
I like that Code Fellows teaches the foundations of what we need to know to be successful, we start with the basics and build upon it. Job support so far seems stellar, helping students prepare resumes and Linkedin profiles, as well as giving resources to make the job search successful. There is a lot of support and help from instructors and TAs, great staff, and a great learning environment that really empowers students to be successful. The stress and lack of sleep has totally been worth the skills I have gained from this program.
My experience with Code Fellows was challenging, fun, intellectual, and life changing. Coming from a science background, I was expecting to be challenged, but not nearly as much as I was at Code Fellows. The staff (I had Tyler and Duncan as teachers) and TAs were extremely welcoming and talented, and class sizes were capped under 30 which helped keep individuals at the focus of the curriculum. Code Fellows teaches the most cutting edge programming languages and techniques, as well as focus...
My experience with Code Fellows was challenging, fun, intellectual, and life changing. Coming from a science background, I was expecting to be challenged, but not nearly as much as I was at Code Fellows. The staff (I had Tyler and Duncan as teachers) and TAs were extremely welcoming and talented, and class sizes were capped under 30 which helped keep individuals at the focus of the curriculum. Code Fellows teaches the most cutting edge programming languages and techniques, as well as focuses on resume build and passing technical questions, helping prepare their students for graduating into the "real world." Following graduation, they offer assistance in finding a position, however the job placement is a much more self-directed process. None-the-less, I was able to get interviews even before graduating, and had 5+ offers within two months of completing the program.
One of the most challenging aspects of Code Fellows was learning how to learn, rather than learning all the ins and outs. There simply is not enough time in the Code Fellows courses to leave with a technical depth that rivals Computer Science 4 year graduates. However, Code Fellows does a great job of bridging this gap by focusing on teaching how to make students resourceful through coding challenges that require building on the skills that are taught in class. This is one place in particular that Code Fellows did a great job of offering enough office hours as well as enough teaching staff to steer students in the right direction while not giving them the answers. Additionally, each week, students participate in one larger project with a group of peers to simulate the dynamics of working on a tech team. Of all the teachings at Code Fellows, learning how to be resourceful for myself has been the most beneficial.
Since graduating Code Fellows, I joined a start up of 6 people, and after 6 months, our startup was invited to be part of Y Combinator's Summer 2016 batch. My skills were put to the test since the day I started. A lot of the "basics" for my position were ingrained by Code Fellows - Angular, node.js, testing. However, I have also been given larger responsibilities as a result of the ingenuity and adaptability that I was taught at Code Fellows.
Code Fellows offers a great launchpad into a tech career, you just need to be willing to put in the work, and motivated to succeed.
My experience with Code Fellows started with the one day 101 course in October of 2015. Since that first day, I decided to continue and dive into the rest of what Code Fellows had to offer for me to learn. What started as a genuine curiosity, when I first started, quickly became a really fun and exciting new career option for me. I really have enjoyed seeing the progress I have made from the beginning of the courses from knowing nothing about coding, to now TAing the 401 JavaScript and sea...
My experience with Code Fellows started with the one day 101 course in October of 2015. Since that first day, I decided to continue and dive into the rest of what Code Fellows had to offer for me to learn. What started as a genuine curiosity, when I first started, quickly became a really fun and exciting new career option for me. I really have enjoyed seeing the progress I have made from the beginning of the courses from knowing nothing about coding, to now TAing the 401 JavaScript and searching for a career in this field.
The teachers and all of the staff of Code Fellows have made a huge impact in my 9 or so months that I have spent here and it's been wonderful. Everything from helping me with simple CSS issues to rewriting my resume and preparing for interviews. It's been a blast here and I have enjoyed it very much.
Description | Percentage |
Full Time, In-Field Employee | 81.7% |
Full-time apprenticeship, internship or contract position | 12.1% |
Short-term contract, part-time position, freelance | N/A |
Employed out-of-field | N/A |
How much does Code Fellows cost?
Code Fellows costs around $12,000. On the lower end, some Code Fellows courses like Ops 101: Explore Ethical Hacking & Cybersecurity Careers (Full-Time, In-Person) cost $99.
What courses does Code Fellows teach?
Code Fellows offers courses like Code 101: Explore Software Development (Full-Time, In-Person), Code 101: Explore Software Development (Full-Time, Online), Code 102: Intro to Software Development (Full-Time, In-Person), Code 102: Intro to Software Development (Full-Time, Online) and 45 more.
Where does Code Fellows have campuses?
Code Fellows has in-person campuses in Seattle. Code Fellows also has a remote classroom so students can learn online.
Is Code Fellows worth it?
The data says yes! In 2019, Code Fellows reported a 100% graduation rate, a median salary of $72,500, and 98% of Code Fellows alumni are employed.
Is Code Fellows legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 229 Code Fellows alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Code Fellows and rate their overall experience a 4.47 out of 5.
Does Code Fellows offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Yes, Code Fellows accepts the GI Bill!
Can I read Code Fellows reviews?
You can read 229 reviews of Code Fellows on Course Report! Code Fellows alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Code Fellows and rate their overall experience a 4.47 out of 5.
Is Code Fellows accredited?
Code Fellows is a private vocational school licensed by the State of Washington. Code Fellows was the first code school in Washington State to be approved by the Veterans Association to receive the GI Bill. Learn more at www.codefellows.org/gi-bill
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