Rutgers Bootcamps

I entered this program very green and very nervous. I had little experience coding and was embarking on a new career in a new field. It's truly incredible all that I have learned and accomplished in six months. My instructor, tutor, and TAs were wonderful - so patient and smart - even when I felt stressed I never felt alone. I entered knowing only HTML and CSS. Now I can build a server and React app - amazing! My confidence has soared and I have made a family in my cohort that I am forever thankful for. I am excited to start my career in web development and I have the strength and support of the Rutgers Bootcamp to thank for my preparedness.

If you're thinking of registering my advice is - DO IT! 

If you're enrolled my advice is - install the slack app on your phone so you're always up to date with shared resources and support, take advantage of the free tutoring, and make time to stay for office hours. 

You CAN do it! And there's so much help if you need it!

Working in HR for 6 years in different industries, interviewing hundreds of people, I think this is enough for me to understand "You'll need this in the future", "this", I mean, the developer mindset. Take a look at the "Zen of Coding", you will understand why a programmer mindset can help you in lots of ways ----whether it is a challenging software problem or “hacking” other aspects of your lives like travel planning or winning the game in Dave & Buster's or relationships.

I got a management degree (yep, not a science degree) and zero experience in coding. But all these "disadvantages" did not stop me. Because when I thought deeply about the kind of work I truly love, I realized I’m happiest when I have my head down, solving problems. And taking Rutgers Bootcamp Program is a great decision I made to help my career change. I’ve never pushed myself as a learner as much as I’ve had to in the last year. I learned:

• Languages: JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL.
• Frameworks/Libraries: React.js, Node.js, jQuery, Handlebars, Express, SCSS, Responsive Design, Bootstrap.
• Software/Engines/System/Deployment: MySQL, MongoDB, Git; Heroku, Netlify.

And most valuable part of this program is you will learn how to "learn" and how to destructing the assignments. I want to give a shout-out to instructor Alex and TAs (Andrew, Z, and Brian). 

So if you’re at that career change crossroads to become a programmer, scared to take the leap—take it. It’s never going to get easier, but it will get less scary as soon as you take that first step. This program is definitely the first-step worth taking. 

Prior to taking the Bootcamp I was creating websites using Wix/shopify/weebly etc. for clients and wanted to understand more about what went into building a website and hosting the site myself. I used to dabble in code back in myspace days so when I saw Rutgers was having a part time bootcamp I jumped on the opportunity. I liked the fact that I could still work my fulltime job and attend the course. 

Compared to other Bootcamps I saw online Rutgers was close to my work/home and a name I trusted. The class goes over different languages like HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery, Bootstrap, ajax, MySQL and more. All of these languages will be helpful to know through my Web Dev journey and I am greatful I have had such a great experience learning the basics of these programming languages. 

My professor Alex Rosenkranz and all the TAs (Brian, Z, Andrew), are always working with you and push you when you want to slack off. I had a great experience everytime I went to class.

I would (and already have) highly recommend Rutger's Coding Bootcamp to friends/family/strangers.

After only 2 thirds of the bootcamp, I landed a job as a web developer at the United Nations. Many, many of my colleauges landed jobs at Amazon, Chase and became React Developers and Software Engineers at some big names companies. The support you'll receive is beyond exceptional, the materials will really prepare you to the real job market needs and demands. Excellent experience. Excellent support during and after bootcamp. 

Here is a video about me that Rutgers Coding Bootcamp has done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ID0NSHBZa4&t=1s 

You can receive a support from the CEO of the company, an amazing guy with intelligent outspoken and humble personality. Amazing team. I loved each and every one of them. I don't know what's amazing about them but you feel that all of these people are gathered around you for you to succeed. They push you to succeed and they go above and beyond what's needed to make sure that you are receiving a second to none quality of education. 

Do you need a bootcamp?

Absolutely yes. Retooling is a must in todays day in time. Every 4-5 years you must retool and sharpen your skills to stay on top of the fast changing technology. 

Can any bootcamp provide the right retooling to you?

Absolutely Not. I have done my homework very, very well before signing up to Rutgers bootcamp. I have collected data about each and every school in the NYC-Jersey region and I didn't choose Rutgers bootcamp for a random reason. I used to live in CT and I moved my entire family to Jersey to attend this very bootcamp and not any other one.  

I took this bootcamp six months after getting my undergraduate degree in Mathematics because I didn't have the skills I needed to the job I wanted. This was after declaring that I wouldn't go back to school for at least 2 years! I am so happy I went back on that declaration! The six months that I spend learning coding were so fun! I learnt so much and had a phenomenal support team. The skills I learnt in the bootcamp help me greatly in my current job (which I absolutely love doing!) and I'm so thankful to my instructor and my TAs for all the help they provided me!

I was looking for a career change and decided to go into programming after my research in many career options. Rutgers Coding Bootcamp had the best learning and career pathways and i do not regret a dime i spent with them. 
My instructor was the best and so are the other instructors.. They all have an open door policy and with a great learning and teaching environment so you do not feel left out. I learnt so much and when it came to opportunities they offered it to me as it came.
They provide you the materials and the rest is for you to work hard to put it together. That encouraged me a lot and boost my confidence to. They have internal opportunities such as teaching assistants and tutoring that helped individuals like me to return a teaching and learning favor to others. 
I owe my knowledge and current job to the career services team who provided me with the tools i need to succeed on the job market whether looking for a job or going through an interview process.

I had wanted to learn to code for a while, and decided to research some classes and liked the idea of taking an intense 3-month course to learn web development.

It was money well spent, the class is extensive, teaching various technologies and languages like HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery, Bootstrap, Node.js, SQL, MongoDB, and React.

Beyond that the professor and staff are amazing, always working with you to achieve your goals, it is truly an amazing experience to be in such an amazing environment to learn and challenge yourself.

If you are interested in web development and want to challenge yourself and have an amazing learning experience I would highly recommend Rutger's Coding Bootcamp.

A full-time 15 week program that primarily focuses the MERN stack(as of Feb 2018) to build full-stack web applications. The course provides a structured learning experience that will help students learn what goes behind creating and deploying web development projects.

The program was absolutely great. I learned a great deal within 15 weeks, but that being said it should be noted it is primarily the responsibility of the student to make sure they are sucessful. Treat this experience as a full-time job. Be sure to do the course pre-work as well as maybe a bit more(there are plenty of prep courses if you google them) to make sure you are not drowning in the material when the program begins. 

Not everyone will be on the same level as you when you enter the course. Some have experience, some do not so it helps if you get yourself up to speed. This is that so during the course, time isnt wasted on getting your computer set up and learning GIT so you can really get into the meat and potatoes of the course.

Time is valuabe in this course. The more time you put in, the better the results. Know that part of being a web developer is to be able to learn things on the fly, on your own. 

That being said, I wish that this program offered direct placement for those who did put the time in and did exceptionally well. It is not the direct fault of the career services staff because they have been nothing but helpful given the tools that they have. I would say however the structure of the relationship between the course and the career services is a bit distant. This should be much more clear cut before a student commits their money to this course. The price of this course is reasonable, but know there is no job placement. Career services does help with their resume assistance, job leads, and great bi-weekly video conference meetings along with positive renforcement. 

Overall. This is a great course due to the agility to adapt to the everchanging industry, but it comes with the territory that you are getting to working level when there is much more underneath the surface. Learn as much as you can independently and stay focused on achieving the goal that you set for yourself.

This program is really hard and it is really important. If you take this seriously, and stay on task and keep learning outside the classroom and keep pushing on, you will really be set up to understand programming. I am coming from virtually NO programming experience. Full disclosure, I do have a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. However, we did not learn any coding. I did understand servers but the way they teach that small portion at the end anyone will leave understanding servers just like I did. I did not know the in-depth things I know now about servers, like running them. This is an amazing class and it is worth it. It was super hard and you have to be willing to put in the extra time on your own. I was doing free coding camp, Udemy courses and reading Javascript books during the class. I was watching a lot of YouTube Videos and rewatching our class videos. If you want to learn to be a full stack or front-end developer, definitely worth it. My instructor, Alex R and my student success manager, Funda, were amazing. The student assistants were amazing too. I honestly will miss class. We are still connected through slack and still have support. People are still asking our teacher for coding support after we've graduated and bless his soul he is still responding! Lol. They will help you get your portfolio, github and career search together.   

I have a background in IT but I changed careers 13 years ago.  I spent 13 years in a completely unrelated and non technical industry.  At some point I realized I had no career path left to me. I decided I wanted to go back to technology, and a bootcamp would be the best way to re-invigorate my skills in technology.  I always wanted to learn to properly code(i was mostly self tau\ght prior), and I always hated traditional courses teaching programming languages - they focused too much on making the language perform math calculations, instead of making it actually DO SOMETHING!  Make something move! Make something happen! keep me interested!

This program did precisely that, it kept me challenged, interested, and I had a BLAST!  My instructor Alex was incredible. My TAs Arron, Christian, and Tammar were incredible.  My student success manager (Juanita) was perhaps the most inspiring out of anyone. She was brilliant, engaged, and always caring and fun.  

I felt so blessed to be part of such an awesome program.  After graduating I joined the tutorial team, and that really accelerated my learning.  Eventually I would become a Senior Tutor, and I gave over 400 tutorials to over 80 different students.  I made contacts around the country just by teaching that will likely stay with me for the rest of my life.  

I had been applying and interviewing for about 7 months solid, and it has been about 6 months since graduation. I never stopped applying, but I j applying to EVERYTHING, and just started applying to things I *wanted*.

I received a job prospect from Career Services for a Technical Project Manager,  I have a wide variety of skills, so I said "what the heck" and asked to be put on the list of candidates.  The employed contacted me a few weeks later and asked if I would be interested in a Senior Developer position.  I had no problem with that! I proceeded through two interviews, one by phone, and one over Zoom, followed by a coding challenge.  I spent a lot of time and effort on the coding challenge, and I made SURE to document my work. I took it about 5 steps further: I had to solve a problem, and submit code to fix it.  I solved the problem, built a front end for it in React, deployed it to firebaseapp for hosting, performed unit testing to prove I solved the problem, and made a very detailed readme file explaining how to use the file, how to install it, how the pieces worked, and the outcome and code for the unit testing.

The employer was extremely impressed with my level of detail and documentation skills, communication skills (a lot of which I learned while tutoring!), and my ability to go above and beyond what was asked.  They made an offer withing 3 days of my submission of my coding test. I accepted the offer. I can only say it feels like a dream job - it's EXACTLY what I was looking for - a diverse and challenging environment, fully remote position, and amazing and supportive managers and coworkers.

So, one day I was at work checking my e-mail when I saw an ad for the Rutgers coding boot camp. I had always wanted to get into coding but didn’t think afford the traditional route of a 4-year degree. After learning more about the boot camp I decided to take the risk. The full-time course was the most mentally challenging thing I have undertook. I cannot say enough good things about my instructor Franklin. Not only did he inspire us to keep going, I always felt like he genuinely cared about us succeeding. I gained a great foundation for which to build upon and continue learning. This model of class will only work if you are motivated to succeeded and requires lots of time out of class dedicated to furthering what you learned the day prior. Initially I had some worries about the career services part of the deal, mainly the “profile coach” as they were called felt remote distant and non-responsive. However, the career director Timamu really made it her mission to help me find a job. When I was feeling stressed out about lack of calls she was there to reassure me and keep me on the right path. I can not express enough gratitude for Franklin and Timamu because of them I am beginning a career as a junior developer and I could not possibly be more excited for future.

 I’m leaving this review because I am very pleased overall with the RCB experience.  Hopefully I can reach one of you out there, combing through these reviews that may be on the fence. Let me just say that I know what you’re going through. I joined RCB  after about six months casually looking into different Bootcamp’s in the area.  I was sold on Rutgers mainly because they are a brick-and-mortar school with over a century of history, and putting their name and reputation behind a coding Boot Camp took almost all of the risk out of the equation. I also appreciated the fact that it wasn’t a 90 day program but rather a six-month program. Although it was very intense, it was still very doable while working and raising children. 

 I started the boot camp in August 2017, at 42 years old, no college degree, and working in the hospitality industry for 15+ years.  Two months before the Bootcamp started I did everything I could to get up to speed from online tutorials to YouTube.   I had very little coding experience and excepted the fact that a lot of the younger people going into this program were light years ahead of me.  Fast forward six months later, I’m graduating in February 2018, I win an award  and was asked by my instructor to apply to become a TA.   After a long and difficult interview process,  I was getting paid to go to through the course again this time as a TA.   It’s now May 2018 and I have two  job offers. 

So is this worth it? It all depends on you. I made this the most difficult six months of my life and it paid off for me. There is a theme you will see in all of these reviews and it is so true. You will get out of this what you put into it.  My cohort had a 20 year old computer science student,  a 63-year-old man who worked for IBM, a lawyer who worked for a telecommunications firm, an accountant, a database administrator working for the United Nations, and various other people from different backgrounds.  I would say 90% of them knew their way around computer better than I did.  I had to work extremely hard to get through this but I did and I know you can too. Rutgers coding Boot Camp  became not just a career, but a life changer.