Turing School of Software & Design

I have only been out of Turing for a little more than a year and 6 months and I am making six figures. So financially, I'm doing quite well and it is all because of the school. I think I cleared around 30k the year before making the switch. Now it's not all about money, but the investment is a big one, and I want to make sure that you know it will pay off. It all comes down to who you are as a person if you will succeed or not. If you can work hard, and focus on the task at hand you will be fine. They need software developers, I'll repeat, they need software engineers. You will never be lacking for employment again if you attend Turing and work hard. I only know Turing so I can't speak of other schools, but let it be known that Turing has its issues like all schools do. But their issues are not related to their technical know how. They like to push the envelope for better or worse in terms of making the world a better place. They do this through a progressive agenda. It's great but be prepared for it, and if you are totally averse to that school of thought, then you might want to check out somewhere else. With that being said, you will learn a ton, and Jeff Casimir is the real deal. The guy believes in education and believes in you and is making the world a way better place. My life has been changed so much for the better. If you are telling yourself its too good to be true, its not, you are going to work your butt off, and sweat and grind at a computer for a long time. But if you asked me, I would say its the best decision you'll ever make. Go for Turing, Go for Turing. Tell them you want to learn Go. 

I have mixed feelings about Turing because of what it has become.

On the one hand, it does provide a quality introduction to both the theory underpinning today's technologies and the technologies themselves. On the other hand, the administration preaches a toxic political philosophy that ostracizes people that just happen to be in the majority of the tech industry, but never harmed anyone consciously in doing so. If you're fine with regressive left ideas being thrown in your face everyday, you'll enjoy every day at Turing.

I spent the better part of my 20s, jumping between jobs after a liberal arts degree that gave me few career options. I studied for the LSAT, GMAT and GRE and wasn't convinced that grad schools were worth the money and time.  I started thinking a lot about coding and taking some evening and online courses.  I thought a bootcamp was a good option but didn't think 12 weeks was going to be enough to learn. I eventually saw Jeff Casimir speak at Denver Startup Week's Bootcamps panel and was thoroughly impressed with his mission and Turing's program.  

Turing is a non-profit which means that you don't get a beautiful startup-y building with views of the mountains, you get a basement.  You don't get free food or access to tech parties but you get exceptional instructors who are willing to come in on weekends (with no extra bonuses to their salaries) to help you learn to code- they just care that much.  

The curriculum doesn't just teach you how to use frameworks and memorize rules. It teaches you how to think like a developer and how to code. Test Driven Development is a mantra here. It's not surprising that many of my classmates have ended up with jobs in other languages outside of what we were taught.  The curriculum covers a lot of foundational content and it's not easy.  The program is rigorous, to say the least, so prepare to put in lots of hours. And if your projects are consistently subpar, expect to retake a module or two.  

Turing was the hardest thing I've ever done but I received a job offer within 10 days of graduating.  I feel well prepared for the work that I will be doing, as every aspect of the job is something that I've covered in the curriculum. 

Outside of the curriculum, projects are geared to teach you how to work in teams (which is very challenging with code) and the program covers lots of soft skills (like public speaking and group debates), which makes you a more well-rounded, and open-minded developer coming out of the program.  I interviewed and met several CTOs and recruiters who consistently told me that they were only considering hiring bootcamp grads from Turing.  

If you're looking for a program that is evenings only or can be done as quickly as possible, you need to ask yourself if you really want to learn programming all that badly. Turing is really the only solid option out there.

I used the reviews here as my main source of learning about Turing before I came, and my initial reaction was "This sounds too good to be true. Is it? Or is the hype real?" Now that I'm a graduate, I can verify that the hype is indeed real. I had a lot of higher education coming to Turing at a number of different kinds of colleges, small, liberal arts school, large public school, and prestigious private institutions. At each institution, I was told I'd be taught how to think by excellent teachers and I'd be in an inclusive, supportive community. I never had anything near that at my prior educational programs, so I certainly approached Turing's similar claims with some caution. However, as others have echoed here, Turing has great teachers, great community, and great results. I got a dream job before I graduated at a place I had been trying to work at since I was in college, and this was due to both a connection Turing had there and their teaching me the skills to be an asset to the organization. Something notable about Turing is also that they truly value diversity and actively and continually try their best to promote inclusion. They are very receptive to feedback on how to acheive this, and like with the curriculum and program structure, make changes quickly and iterate on the results. If you're here reading this investigatig Turing, please reach out to a Turing staff, student, or alumni to chat! We are super friendly.