Northwestern Boot Camps

This coding bootcamp really is only useful and doable if you have already had some degree of coding in your background before. That is to say that I was part of the november cohort and the program heavily emphasizes that you can learn to code with zero experience. During the first few weeks while going through HTML and CSS, it is extremely easy, they spend a lot of time and resources trying to teach you to build and style webpages. After that it goes downhill. At the point that you actually start learning to code, the course removes all useful tools that would make it helpful for new coders to learn Javascript and every other language they teach after. They take away the powerpoints, you spend 10-15 minutes at the start of class being asked to do exercises for new concepts you have not learned which in turn means you spend 15 minutes of class lost, at some point the entire 3 hours of class becomes all activity even for concepts you haven't been introduced to, and there are only 2 TAs for the entire class plus the instructor so it's close to impossible that everyone will receive guidance during these exercises meaning you're out of luck and just have to wait for the instructor to go over the exercise - which often is not a good explanation and ends with you being told "there's a lot of ways to do this" which is true but not helpful in a class that is supposed to teach you.

The worst part of this all is that there are two cohorts running at the same time and one day out of the week the cohorts come together. It was painfully obvious after a few weeks that one instructor really knew how to teach the concepts, and his students were really able to come to class and demonstrate what they were learning. My cohort often came together with this class and were horrified that they second cohort learned things in advanced that our class didn't get exposed to until we met up with the second cohort and found out we were behind. Basically, you can have two completely different course experiences depending on the instructor which isn't fair to ask professionals to pay $10,000 for a mediocre experience and to know that one class is getting the better deal while the coordinaors ignore the fact that they have an instructor that can't teach leading one of their courses. 

I have not been able to recommend this course to others and I genuinely believe that if you are new to coding, you should spend time using some free resources online to familiarize yourself with some coding concepts because this course will drive right over you and end before you know it. None of the assignments are orignal and you can literally google the assignments and see that every other coding bootcamp does the same assignments so to do this course at Norhthwestern SPS you're really doing it in hopes of name recognition. Before signing up, I'd ask them about the completetion rates, attrition, and graduate placements to find out the success of the program. 

I attended one of the first of Trilogy's cohorts at Northwestern Coding Boot Camp. I have evaluated the course based on the criteria provided here.

Instructors: My primary instructor was nothing to write home about. He seemed to be a strong coder, but didn't have much of a knack for instruction. He'd often seem underprepared for lectures and make answers to students' questions more complicated than necessary. He was serviceable, but I would have preferred a more natural educator. The other cohort's instructor, who often taught the conjoined Saturday classes, was spectacular. He knew how to communicate the content of the course in ways anyone could understand, and was able to teach specific principles while also tying them into the bigger picture.

Curriculum: Both the layout of the course and the slides used in lectures were pre-created by Trilogy. They seemed like a pretty solid overview of full-stack Javascript development. The lessons moved logically from basic HTML/CSS into JS, Node, SQL, React, and the rest. There was a break during the course for about a week of Python instruction, which seemed like a waste, as it was barely enough time to learn basic syntax and a few functions. That time could have been used to give complicated end-of-course technologies like React more time to be properly explained. Beyond that, I feel the curriculum could have benifitted from a bit more conceptual learning. I get that the best way to learn to code for many is by doing, but theoretical knowledge is still a big part of the interview process, and while there were occasional exercises geared toward this, it did not feel like it was enough.

Job Assistance: This is the aspect of the course that really did not live up to expectations. The head of career assistance came across as condescending, and didn't feel particularly helpful during nor after the course. I was put under the impression that the career resources would play a large role after the end of the course, including practice interviews, coaching and more. I experienced very little of this. I was primarily put in contact with a remote assistant, who mostly sent the cohort a few online leads every few days (which could easily be found from a simple LinkedIn/Angel search). They would check in with me every week or so to see how my job hunt was going, and despite not having results, would offer little feedback. I figured that being connected to Northwestern University would lead to networking opportunities, but beyond a few visiting lecturers throughout the course and a mixer just after graduation, I was put in contact with few people out in the field.

Overall Experience: I would consider myself a model student in this course. I came to class prepared, went above and beyond in my homework assignments, and took time outside of class to dive deeper into the curriculum. By the time I finished, I was able to create a full-stack React website (albeit maybe not the prettiest/most efficient one) by myself, and I am proud of that. However, after 10 months of applying to jobs post-graduation, I finally had to give up and accept a non-technical position. The course inspired me to continue to develop myself as a coder, but I doubt if I will be able to obtain a job in the field without additional formal education. Overall, I appreciate what I learned, but as someone who wanted a new career, I can't say that this course did what I wanted it to do.

I took this bootcamp in hopes of getting a good education and foundation for coding. I was really excited about the different topics being covered. The entirety of this bootcamp from start to finish was a collousal waste of my time and money. 

1. Job Assitance

         1. Some lady in Texas sends you postings from various job websites.

         2. No real person in front of you to help you find jobs. I can do this shit on my own. You'll be told, during the sign up phase, it's Northwestern's career services on campus. 

2. Signing up

         1. These people will blow up your phone trying to get you to sign up. You will be  pressured into making a payment ASAP. 

         2. They will tell you lies such as a promise of Northwestern's (not Trilogy's) career services, the curriculum and overall quality of education.

3. Instructors

        1. Imagine a grown man throwing a fit because students cannot learn from him. Just imagine someone who is having difficulty conveying an explanation and getting mad at his students for not understanding.

        2. When we experienced issues with the instructor we alerted our student success manager ( the one replying to everyone on course report. he was well aware of all the issues written on this page... I'm annoyed we're getting the poliet "please contact me to discuss concerns" when we did exactly that DURING the course so stop acting so oblivious and trying to save face for prospective students that are reading these). The success manager would let the instructor know and you can bet your first child that we would be geting a weird awkward attitude from the instructor the next day. At times, the instructor was even told what student complained and the instructor was especially bitchy to those particular students. It was a soap opera. 

4. Curriculum

      1. Another student said it best on here. The instructor reads off code and tries to explain it. I don't know why they figured this was the best practice. I didn't learn anything from looking at a bunch of code I've never seen before and have someone struggle to explain it awkwardly. Like seriously wtf. 

      2. The brochure that I was given about the curriculum had things we were never taught. Yes we asked why we were skipping these thngs. I can't remember the vague BS answer we were given. 

      3. I have friends who did other bootcamps. This is trash compared to the other ones. Don't be me and waste 10k and 3 months of your life. 

      4. It was cheaper attending here - especially with the early registration discount ($500-$1000). So if you'd like throw $9000-$9500 in a dumpster fire as I felt I did then maybe this would be right for you. Seriously I dont care about a discount I'm here to learn and get a quality education. I did not at all sign up because it was cheaper. $9000 IS NOT CHEAP. I'm not the type of person to have 9 grand lying around to gamble.  I was totally down to throw $16,000 at a bootcamp but the Northwestern quality and all the lies really sold me on the program. My next point  (shadyness) really sums everything up. 

5. Shadyness

     1. This is Trilogy not Northwestern no matter how much they try to sell you that this is all Northwestern. I never heard of Trilogy until the first day of class. Please stop lying to students when you are trying to get them to sign up. Shady business practices. 

     2. This weird thing where the student success manager is responding to everyone on course report to address their concerns when we literally spoke with him about these exact issues in person during the course of the program. You were well aware of all the issues. This is weird stop it. 

    3. The course was a compelte fuck up and they knew it so they had someone come in from their head office to see what was going on. Select students were offered the opportunity to retake the course while others were offered a crash course, tutoring and some other crap. You should've addressed our concerns from the get go and  given us what we paid for. Brett's review of the course really articulates this drama beautifully. 

All in all I'm mad and feel that a great alternative to the bootcamp (while saving you a ton of money!) is Udemy. You get a 30 day money back guarentee and it's $10 a course. Plus the instructors know how to teach! Not some man baby who gets offended when people (politely and with sincerity) ask him to change up his teaching style. 

FYI if you any specific questions about the course feel free to message me on here I'll give you an honest answer. 

Question everything about this program. I felt blindsided when I found out that this program is run by Trilogy not Northwestern. What this means is that the curriculum, instructor and career services are all Trilogy NOT Northwestern. I was expecting a Northwestern level education and instructional staff, I got something that was far from it. This program was a catastrophic failure for me. I'm writing this review because I think people need to know about my experience. I know other people who are taking a different bootcamp and are doing much better then me. I feel like I made an investment in the wrong bootcamp. 

I am shocked at how terrible this bootcamp has been. I am a little over 2/3 of the way through the course and it has been a disaster. I will be leaving this bootcamp not being confident in anything we have learned. The instructor was horrible and could not teach the topics properly, he would have days where he would be mad at us for not understanding what he is saying. A student dropped the course two months through the course which is very telling. Many of the students are in the same boat and feel as though we've all wasted our money. I'm not lying or joking when I say this program is TERRIBLE. This has been a huge investment that I regret. I wish I went with a more reputable program. The only reason I'm posting this review is because I had extensively researched Northwestern's bootcamp and had seen nothing but positive reviews. I want to warn others of my experience so that they don't go through what I went through. I have already told my friends to go with others programs. I feel like our class is owed a partial refund for how much of an absolute side show this class has been. Heed my warning.

The Northwestern coding boot camp was great. I think, as with any course you take, a lot depends on your teacher. Our set of Instructor and TAs were excellent. They were genuinely interested in seeing each student succeed and were always helpful. They dedicated a lot of time after class hours to help students and gave up much of their free time to share their knowledge and experience in extra help sessions. They were always motivating students to do better and were themselves motivated to teach. 

Career assistance was great too. They provided plenty of advice, guest speakers, and networking opportunities. Especially for those that have not had experience in web development, the classes on honing your resume and understanding how to present yourself and your portfolio was a great help.

This is a great choice for those that need to maintain full-time work, but would like to dive into coding. However, you really only get what you put into it.

I took this bootcamp with absolutely no coding background but an interest in the coding/ IT world. 

I think you can be successful in this class if you are willing to put in the hours of time to keep up. The pace is FAST. This is a BOOTCAMP. You probably will not grasp every concept. If you hold on and do the work to keep up the best you can, you will have a wonderful experience and learn more than you ever thought possible in 6 months.

The pace of this class is very, VERY fast. I've felt confused almost the entire way so far. Granted, I am only a few weeks in, but my head is still spinning. It gives you a very quick overview of lots of different languages and their uses. A few months in you will be able to write some basic websites. 

Although I didn't get to use the career resources to it's fullest (I got a new code-related position only a few months into the bootcamp!), the resources I've been given have been spectacular. My career coach was willing to meet and stratagize with me from day one. He has been so helpful and followed through completely- with a willingness to offer help every step of the way. 

This bootcamp has been awesome, despite the VERY fast pace. The other students are wonderful, instructor has real-world experience and is funny and engaging, the teaching assistants are the absolutely best. The resources are there for you, but you need to be willing to reach out and use them! The student success manager is always available and willing to help. 

I highly recommend this class if you're a quick learner and have six months to completely devote to this program. 

I work in the financial services industry and enrolled in this bootcamp in order to gain a better understanding as to how the underlying technology that runs this industry functions.

Through this course, I was exposed to numerous Javascript libraries that unexpectedly allowed me to build tools for my company and clients to manage and mass analyze data from silo'ed data sources - doing things above and beyond the scope of my job.

For example, I learned how to request financial market data through various APIs, join the data with proprietary data, run calculations (through Javascript code and libraries that I was exposed to in class) and store / access the data and calculation results through MongoDB. Prior to starting this course, I would have assumed that this task was 'impossible' or could only happen if our technology team were engaged to scope / deliver the project. Instead, I am now able to do things like this during "down time" at my job - I truly didn't know what I didn't know before I enrolled in this bootcamp.

I attended a part time, 6 month winter/spring cohort.  This was such a great, immersive experience. I loved my fellow students more than anything else.  Also, thank goodness for the high energy vibe.  I needed it to be able to participate !!

Boot camp is a *big* time commmittment and if you are working another job, be prepared to feel sleepy.  Despite the real phyiscal and mental challenge of working and learning at the same time, it really is a great way, especially if your employer will help foot the bill, to level up your skills.  They have an awesome person leading curriculum development now, too - so I'ts going to be even more fantastic.  

I will say, of this or any other boot camp, start making your portfolio early.  It is hard to get a job without one, and it takes a lot of energy to try to do it all at once.