Turing School of Software & Design

Turing does a great job of providing the tools and base knowlege to be successful as a developer, but they also foster a passion for continous learning and self improvement.

Turing has a learning environment like no other, people work on projects and attend lessons all day, then are inspired to learn more in their free time. Turing creates an unquenchable thirst for programming knowledge.  I thought I knew what it was like to be in a passionate academic setting, as I majored in political science at a university in Washington DC, but the staunch political debates pale in comparassion to the Turing thirst. 

An example, my group had been working 12 hours to complete a project, we were tired and worn down. Then someone announced they were going to checkout Paper.js, a few hours later instead of sleeping we were making shapes dance and spin around the page. 

Turing creates the innovators of tomorrow.  

My experience at Turing has thus far exceeded my high expectations. In the finishing week of my first module, I feel like I have been challenged mentally to my limit while developing the fundamental skills, habits and attitude needed for creating useful, efficient software. The program is very difficult and takes full dedication of your time and energy, but the reward is incredibly gratifying by learning so much so quickly. The teachers and staff are insightful, willing to provide their time and deep knowledge and make the school enjoyable to come to every day. There are very few places where you get to be surrounded by so much talent and determination, it's an addictive environment.

 

Hello! There are a ton of things that I think are absolutely great about Turing, and I'd like to share my experience at Turing with anyone looking into bootcamps. The first great part of my experience has been the welcoming communitity. It's very diverse, and welcoming to people of all cultures. I'm only 19 and came straight from my first semster of college. I showed up young and inexperienced, but everyone has welcomed me. There are people of all backgrounds, so I don't see "fitting in" ever being a problem for anyone. The community is big enough so that you can always find someone to work with, or someone with experience to help you out, but also small enough that instructors and staff can still keep track of how your doing and give you anything you may need. The huge plus is that the staff is very responsive to feedback, so if there is anything about the teaching styles, or even the workspace that you could see improved, it happens as soon as possible. We are all like one big family. I'm in the last few weeks of the program, and boy, the program is pretty intense. But it sure does pay off. Now that I'm looking for jobs I find myself feeling confident and qualified to work with any problem that gets thrown at me. Everyone puts in a ton of hours, and by the end of the 7 months the amount of material learned is crazy.

The Interview:  I SUCK at technical interviews.  My mind goes blank, sweat starts forming in my palms and I generally bomb.  Going to Turing didn't stop that from happening, but it did make it so that it didn't matter.  After 7 months of training things that seemed strange and bizaare and required lot's of time to work out in my brain became almost automatic.  Don't know how I would have done with a shorter program.  It took me months before this stuff finally 'clicked.'  

My Current Job: I got a job offer the day I graduated.  Literally.  Cool thing is, it's for programming languages I didn't even study at Turing.  I know that seems kind of strange right now, but employers are less conserded about what languages you 'know' and more concerned about a demonstrated ability to learn.  My current employers knew the Director of Turing and one of my mentors.  Along with my interviews and review of my coursework, were convinced that I would be able to tackle the rigors of learning TWO new programming languages, move to a new city, and build web apps from the ground up.  

Curriculum:  There was definitely room for improvement here.  Like other posters have said, I was not the biggest fan of their teaching style.  However, since the staff at Turing take and respond to weekly feedback I would find myself listening in to classes I had taken 6 weeks ago saying to myself "Oh man! I wish they had tought that to me like that!"  Turing knows when it sucks and continually works to make it better.  

Job Assistance:  Just like anything in life, you get what you put into it.  I busted my ass filling out applications, sending resumes, and doing interview take home assignments.  All this on top of our normal course load.  When the people around me saw how seriously I was taking the job search  both mentors and Turing staff alike went out of thier way to help me land an amazing job.  

It's very simple.  Go here, put in the work, get hired.

If you have any other questions, hit me up any time.  

 

 

 

 

 

Many of my peers will speak about what it's like in the classroom. I, on the other hand would like to dive into what it's like as a developer after Turing. 

Interview: The foundation gained from Ruby in module one coupled with alogrithmic strategies taught by the instructors really built a foundation to understand problems naturally. My interviewers were usually impressed with how well I paired thanks to the emphasis on paired programming during classes and projects. The most important part of the process was being able to recall database relationships, test driven development, and best practices in design principles. For multiple companies that I spoke to, most potential employers valued my time at Turing as having one-and-a-half to two years production experience.

Job: I was fortunate enough to join the wonderful team at WellMatch, and upon being hired I had a lot concerns around my skill set. Although I had made it through the hurdles to graduate, I definitely had a mild case of imposter syndrome. However, after a few weeks, the work flow felt very similiar to when I was at Turing. From version control (github) to agile practices such as standup and retro, it definitely eased my worries. Since we had been used to swimming in the deep end, learning new technologies, or adapting felt like second nature. At this point I realized what I learned from Turing was not just how to code, but really how to learn. 

What I really wanted to point out about the cirruclum itself is the iterative property of the cohorts. Going through the program I definitely feel that improvements were happening real-time. Based on our experiences, other classes were immediately receiving tweaks that would better prepare them through the life cycle. Now that I'm participating as a mentor, I felt each class that comes in is stronger as Turing matures. 

Highly recommend and would buy again!!! :)

 

I am honestly still in awe of how much my life has changed since deciding to leave teaching and become a software developer. For the river rats out there, it's something akin to swimming a massive chain of rapids and at the other end being a bit unsure of:

1. What just happened?

2. How you survived?

3. What's next? *Hope it's as awesome as that was.*

The question I'm asked the most by people considering Turing is this, "I have zero coding skills, are you sure it's the right place for an uber beginner?". In my opinion it's the only place for an uber beginner. I had zero applicable techinical experience when I was accepted to Turing. I had degree in literature and had spent the previous six years teaching seventh grade language arts, and I honestly don't feel like it ever held me back during the seven months.

The instructors are not only excellent slingers of code, but they are excellent teachers. This was a huge factor in my decision to attend Turing. Coming from the world of education, I wasn't going to entrust my future to a place unless I felt confident they actually knew how to teach. Jeff Casimir, Jorge Tellez, Josh Cheek, Rachel Warbelow, and Steve Kinney know how to teach.  Even better, they constantly seek feedback and act on that feedback.  I was a member of the first cohort, and it would be an absolute lie to say that there were no bumps along the way. The instructional team at Turing is continuously iterating on their curriculum and instruction, and there are few things more important when it comes to education.

Before you decide to leap, it's worth taking a moment to seriously consider your grit. Turing is all consuming, as mentioned in some of the other reviews. Beyond that though, Turing will challenge your perservance, self-confidence, response to constructive feedback, and ability to bounce back from failure. Learning in an environment like this is not for those that give up easily. It's the single most rewarding thing I've ever done, but the journey was not graceful and I did not emerge unscathed.

All of us did this in order to change careers, and I have great news: It's so awesome out here in the real world of software development. I work for a company that makes me feel valued, and that I started contributing to during week one. I'm excited to go to work every day, because I love what I do and the people I get to do it with. I learn everyday, and am constantly amazed that I get paid to this. The money's not bad either.

I was first introduced to Jeff Casimir when I saw him speak at Refresh Denver; he gave a talk called "Just be f&*king awesome". Great title I thought, so I listened to what he had to say. And by the end of the talk I had started my application to Turing. Was it because Jeff was so eloquent and deft at wordsmithing that he somehow talked me into this life changing descion? Was it that his pitch for becomming a student of software magically implanted a desire to be a Turing student in my brain?! Or was it because what I actually wanted more than anything in this life was to Just be F&*king awesome myself? Well, actually it was a bit of each. But it wasn't Jeff all by himself, it was the whole experience. Never before had I seen a place or a group of people so nakedly, honestly, and heartfully devoted to the growth and success of others. 

Turing changed my life, and I don't mean that in a, "Woohoo! I did it!" sort of way. In 2007 I started a teaching career as an 8th grade science teacher; I had a four year degree in biology and wanted to make a difference. I taught with everything I had for six years, earned a Masters in technology and instruction, and fell victim to the system as so many do. As a teacher I learned a lot, I learned that I was at the mercy of a greater system overwhich I had almost no actual control. I learned that my potential for creativity and innovation would slowly be stripped to the bone by a culture of standardized testing. And I learned that my future would be (at least in my opinion dismal). I woke up with dread each day, and came home with burden.

My wife and I literally hated what we were doing minute to minute (she too was a teacher). So we decided to take the greatest risk that I could have ever imagined. We piled together what money we could, we both applied for Turing, and by some miracle we both got into the first class of Turing. We quit our jobs, and in June of 2014 we stepped off the edge of a cliff not knowing how things would end. 

The seven months I spent at Turing where some of the hardest I have ever lived. I have never been so frustrated, so tired, so confused or challenged. I also have never felt so empowered, so self-reliant, or so rewarded. Turing is incredibly humbling, but what stands to be gained is beyond description. The staff at Turing continues to blow my mind, each and every one of them is there because they believe in the students, and because they have the expertise to teach these skills fast and hard. Turing teaches deep knowledge, and builds actual developers - often from nothing. Students of Turing will and do succeed, my wife and I are proof.

I once wrote a game in Apple Basic, that was in large part the extent of my coding experience (and that happend in the late 80s). My wife, who was a 7th grade english teacher had never written / seen / thought about code or being a coder. In seven months we both learned not only how to develop in Rails, but how to write clean, elegant Ruby. Beyond that we learned how to manage web services, how to untilize APIs, how to build gems, create decorators, develop front end UI/UX, integrate JavaScript, develop for preformance utilizing tools such as redis, cron jobs, and background workers. How to interact with clients, and deliver in sprints under agile methodologies. We learned about EmberJS, eager loading, and strong test driven development. In other words . . . we learned how to just be f&*king awesome.

My wife and I both have incredible jobs, and when I say incredible, I mean the type that you read about in those articles that have titles like, "The 10 most amazing places to work. Ever".  From day one I was a contributing member of my company, giving insightful, useful contributions. I am writing production code, and I am learning everyday. I am incredibly well prepared to do this.

To a potential Turing student I would say these things:

• Turing is hard, incredibly, intensely hard. It will push you well beyond your limits and give no quarter along the way.
• Turing is not for the feint of heart. It is a huge risk: financially, personally, professionally.
• Turing is not perfect. They are learning how to be the best, as a student so are you; the greatest success will happen when you work together.
• You are entering into a VERY competitive field. The world of software is packed with insanely smart people, and there are a lot of juniors who are looking for work. You need to be at your best always, and be patient (it took me 89 days to get a job offer after Turing, it was WORTH the pain, effort, and wait)
• Do NOT expect Turing to plop a job in your lap. This is your future you are working for, so the hunt is on you. Think of Turing as a big ole' hammer, in the end it is up to you to hit the nail.
• There is no other program out there that can compare. I did the homework, and I earn nothing for saying that. It's just the down right truth.
• Don't come to Turing and fall in love with Denver. Denver is a very small, very startup heavy market, and it isn't going to be an easy to place to land a job when you're done. (I mean that, its a long shot, and mostly in need of senior devs. Be ready and willing to move on.)
• If you go to Turing and give it everything you have and see it through to the end (which means beyond completion of the program and into your first job) you will kick so much a** its not even funny.

Turing changed my life, not evey part of it was happy, not every part was fun, but I wouldn't trust it if it was. If you get an offer to be a student at Turing you would be fool to turn it down.

Turing is what I've always wished the education system at-large would be. To summarize: it is a remarkable and intense program where gifted instructors teach you a practical, hard skillset. There are 'grades,' but unlike my bachelor's degree, this education is wholly focused on learning. This is a subtle, but monumental difference in perspective. No one cares about a GPA. There is no ranked order of students. You're not fighting to eek out an A- instead of a B+. You're here to learn. Pure and simple. When you embrace that idea, its freeing.

Now, I presume you've made it this far, because you're comparing code schools. I only considered gSchool and Turing, based on my proximity to them (already in Denver). In the end, I trusted some former (developer) colleagues who advised me to follow Jeff Casimir and apply to Turing. Their reasons were simple and compelling:

• Jeff is a very experienced teacher and taught the first iterations of successful gSchool students prior to starting Turing,
• Jeff is very well connected in the ruby community, and he will leverage that network to help you find a great job, and
• Turing is a nonprofit, so there are no questionable incentives to appease shareholders.

Folks commonly wonder how much experience everyone has when they begin. I went through the fairly standard rigmarole of free and paid courses: code school, codecademy, one month rails, and so on. When I started out, I felt like I had a little edge, because I was familiar with the terminal and had a smidge of proficiency with programming syntax. The edge didn't last long, as folks pick up that stuff in the first couple weeks. Some people come in with significantly more experience, and that can be a source of stress if you let it, but it's better just to make friends and view them as an opportunity to boost your own learning.

On the subject of classmates, I loved that mine came from a wide variety of backgrounds, but shared a common drive for learning and self-improvement. The screening process at Turing is a good one, and as a result, the community is collectively very bright, driven and passionate. Folks will have very different learning styles and speeds though, and learning to pair program is very difficult. How well you learn to work with others in the program will go a long way towards how well you do in general. It took me way too long to realize that the best way to get ahead is to stay behind and help others.

The program itself is very demanding. Class takes place from 9a - 4p, but I regularly spent 10+ hours a day in those classrooms. Before/after-hours were spent practicing assignments, reading docs, workings on group projects and participating in organized extra-curricular learning sessions (favorites: data structures & algorithms (dsa) and the javascript study group).

The program is made up of four six-week modules, with a week-long intermission week in-between each module. The intermission weeks are not a week 'off', but they are beaufitul oases. Despite having reading/homework, these weeks are essential to recharge the mind and allow you to do things like six weeks-worth of laundry, or see some sun. The last intermission week gives you time to perfect your resume and start applying for jobs.

There's 101 other things worth mentioning, but here's a final thought: Turing is constantly evolving. There has been zero instructor turnover at the point of writing, so each new six weeks - instead of spending energy bringing new staff up to speed - is spent experimenting with ways to improve the curriculum, processes, and community. My current roommate just finished his first module at Turing. I can tell you with certainty that his first module was more rigorous and thoughful than mine. And that's how it should be.

Two months after graduating, I was fortunate enough to be hired by a very reputable software consultancy, making nearly twice my last salary. This education catapaulted me into an inspired network and a fulfilling career, and for that, I am forever grateful. Find me on social media if still have any unanswered questions.

Comparing DBC: If you are new to programming, as I was, then the "0" program of DBC might not be enough. I like that at Turing, I got 6 weeks of just Ruby. Curriculum that came from Katrina Owen and Jumpstart Labs was a better fit for me than that of the DBC "0" program. I'm not saying anything negative about DBC. DBC and I parted on friendly terms and I still have friends from my DBC posse.

(that's all I got on comparing DBC, the rest has nothing to do with DBC) 

Shoulda-Coulda: I was asked to repeat the first Module of Ruby at Turing. I said no because I hadn't budgeted for an extra 7 weeks. I wish that I had planned on repeating one of the four Modules. If you are like me, struggling with confidence and balancing a family then please plan on repeating a section. It's actually one of the components that helps set Turing apart from other programs. My one shoulda-coulda is that I didn't repeat the first and most challenging module.

Not-a-fan: I wasn't always a fan of instruction - being a math teacher in a formal life, the "I do", "We do", "You do" was not considered best-practice in my district and we discouraged other teachers from this kind of teaching. The reason for this is because the data did not support that math students benefited from this style. I would bet the same holds for students of programming. I would have liked to have seen data-driven teaching and not the "fly-by-the-seat-of-you-pants type" that is most common.

Challenge: Balancing learning as much as your brain can hold and being an awesome team member to support the projects you will build was amazingly difficult. Turing is not easy and not for the faint of heart.

Tip for the struggling: I was a struggling student, my classmates knew it too and so in projects, expectations of what I could do were low. Only you can pull yourself out of a rut like that, so keep at it and find students that are willing to help you. I was lucky to have great friends that helped and tutored me. You really have to be an advocate for yourself at all times.

Instructors: You will be blessed with amazing programmers who choose to make a half of what they could in the real world so that you can be awesome. Enjoy and take advantage of this.

Guests: We met some of the biggest names in programming and some of those big names were our mentors. What they had to say was invaluable. Ask them questions.

Mentors: Mentors and Instructors keep Turing on the crest of programming best practices. I impressed my boss because of my knowledge of how to build an app with others using GitHub workflow.

Jobs: Do everything that the teachers advice and you will get a job. I did. I'm currently working remote for a small family oriented consulting firm. It's the right company for me. I owe my fellow students, teachers, and Jeff the biggest thanks because without their help I would not be where I am.

 

I know it is cliche to say something is a life changing expereince but Turing was an incredibly intense 7 months which helped make me the person and developer I am today.

Students - Turing has amazing people.  There are 18-22 students there who are all comitted to becoming awesome junior developers.  They are all there for the same reason and there is increible camraderie and a sense of competive helpfulness.  People are looking to do the best job they can but not step all over each other to do that.  Almost everyone there cares about being helpful where they can.  I feel like I have made life long friends as well because of the program. 

Instructors - Jeff Casmir the Director of the school has been teaching people for over a decade, and has been teaching people programming for a large part of those ten years.  It is a I do, we do, you do, type of ciriculum with about 1/2 lecture and 1/2 project work time for in class hours. (There are a lot of out of class horus with the weekly amonout of hours averaging about 60, +- 10 depending on a varitey of factors) The entire team is dedicated to doing the best they can to teach you what you need to know.  These instructors are here because they want to be and not for the paycheck.  They certainly could make A LOT MORE money working somewhere else.  Many of them are former teachers as well.  Super beneficial because they are good at conveying their thoughts and actually teaching to your skill level.

Job - Yea but what about a job you say?  After all I assume most of you are not interested in the program to make $$$ when you get out.  As of Feb 15 14 out of 17 from our cohort have been hired.  Very small downside is if you go here you have to be at least a little bit willing to branch out of the greater Denver area to find a job.  This will be the reality in the latter part of 2015.  Sorry not everyone can stay in Denver.  Good news there are still plentiful jobs in Denver and Turing even holds a Job Fair.  It's like speed dating for finding jobs.  Also Boulder has a very big tech sector and if you want to move to any other city(New York, DC, San Fran, Berlin, Sydney, Austin, Columbus, etc...) There are alumni connections or Jeff knows someone there because he is a boss.  

Post Turing - Right now I've had 4 final interviews and waiting to hear back from two final interviews I had last week.  I've gotten all these inteviews because Jeff knows someone at these companies.  People at my interviews have said the following things...

"Wow you have a lot more practical knowledge than people from other coding bootcamps we have interviewed"

"It seems like you know your Database and Rails relationships very well"

"I like how you took time to communicate what you were thinking and your plan for solving this problem"

To be honest I'm a completely middle of the pack developer is my class, but I was suprised at my own ability to answer some of the questions thrown at me.  I know a lot because of what Turing has taught me!  

-Robert Gu

 

I attended Turing from May 2022 to November 2022 after deciding to pivot careers from Oil & Gas. Turing's instructors were knowledgable, kind, and accommodating. They sought to sufficiently challenge me and my classmates to advance our understanding and abilities, but were still willing to assist when necessary. Since the program is majority project based, Turing fostered a great collaborative working environment. I gained great experience working with peers from a variety of different backgrounds and diverse skillsets. One of the best parts of the program, though, was that you weren't thrown to the curb when you finished your last class. Turing offered great assistance from staff on mock interviews, resume and cover letter prep, and networking, which resulted in me being able to find a great job in a new industry. My time at Turing was well spent and helped me to develop a valuable programming skillset that I'm excited to use in my future.

I had a group of friends who had completed bootcamp at a different program three, maybe four years prior.  I left my role in FAANG and was working low-stress jobs while looking at college degree programs and bootcamps.  I finally made the choice to sign up with Turing, who sold me on the length of their program.  The length of the program in my eyes, was more time, more reps, and more instruction.  After the first three months at Turing in the Front End program, I was incredibly excited on the field.  The JavaScript fundamentals taught, projects, and instruction were top notch (to me).  

However in the back half of the program, it really felt as though the wheels had fallen off.  The instructors tell you that being a developer is largely about teaching yourself material without handholding.  While I completely agree that being autonomous is important, I really felt as though it was three additional months of me just sitting on YouTube with very little (even sometimes no) structure whatsoever.  If I had my choice, I would have happily taken three additional months of intensive instruction similar to the first half of the program, where I felt I gained a ton and the program was more collaborative.  I feel as though I could have self-studied after I graduated the program.  

Instructors definitely seemed lower-motivation in the back half of the program also, but I can understand the fatigue of being on Zoom all day and grading the same project and code over and over again contributing to that.  Looking at the second half of Turing through the lens of my experience of the first half of the program, it was a major disappointment.

Some positives: the Mythical Creatures/iterator method work was incredibly fun, Demo Comp was always incredible, and seeing fellow classmates landing jobs after graduation, and lastly their JavaScript/CSS/HTML was very solid.