UCLA Extension Boot Camps

This course has everything you need if you want to become a junior web developer. The teachers and TAs were great, very informative, and helpful. The information in the bootcamp is incredible, and if you take it seriously, study hard, and really work for it you can succeed as a junior web developer after doing this course with no experience previously. If you're looking for a career change, or an alternative to a degree this could be great for you. It is an INTENSE course, and not at all the same as a 4 year degree, so be prepared. You will have to study all day and night to succeed, but it will be worth it in the end.

I have background in electrical engineering and although I had some previous programing experience before starting the program, it was still very challenging. The pace of the program was workable but I had to manage my time effectively since I has taking the course part time with a full time job. 

In this program, you will get as much out of it as you are willing to put in. The time and effort you spend on assignments will help grow the and reinforce the skills taught in the classroom. The course will not go over every detail of the languages covered but it will provide enough of an understanding to enable you to continue learning on your own. The instructor and TAs are great; they did an excellent job of explaining difficult concepts and providing necessary support.

Overall I found the experience very rewarding and felt like I gained the skills needed to start a career in software engineering. 

I recently completed the UCLA Full Stack Web Bootcamp. It was one of the most meaningful educational experiences of my academic career. This was money well spent!

The course is challenging from a number of perspectives. First, while individuals with no prior programming experience can succeed in the course, I would advise that anyone who wants to enroll, focus on JavaScript (or another language) prior to entering the program. Spend at least 30 hours on an online education site like Udemy, Treehouse, or FreeCodeCamp prior to entering the program. The pace of the program is fast and it will be to your advantage to have some experience with JavaScript or another programming language. I noticed that individuals who had prior programming experience (but were not necessarily experienced programmers) where more successful than those that did not. Also, some students mistakenly spent the majority of the pre-work on html/css instead of the programming aspect (JavaScript). HTML/CSS is easier to pick up. Javascript will be a challenge for beginnier.

Secondly, many of the topics in this course, are in normal circumstances, a semester long class. In this case, the topics are covered within a week (or less). It is incredibly important to spend at least 20 hours outside of classroom time studying/practicing what you learned in the class.

Thirdly, I had prior programming experience but when we started the backend part of the course I was basically a beginner. This is where many people started to feel frustrated (including myself). But if you practice, you will feel more comfortable. The key in this program is to practice, practice, practice!

In order to complete the Boot Camp successfully I would suggest the following:

1. Spend at least 30 hours on JavaScript prior to taking the course.
2. Use TreeHouse, Udemy, and/or FreeCodeCamp or some other resource simultaneously as you’re taking the course. All are excellent resources for everything that is taught in the course.
3. Align yourself with individuals who you are comfortable working with. This will be important for the group projects.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and/or schedule office hours with the professor or a TA. The program provides great support so don’t be shy!
5. Be prepared and have some exposure to a topic before the lecture. This will make it easier to understand.
6. Clear your calender for 24 weeks! It's going to a fun ride!
7. Bonus: There is free parking along Veterans if you’re willing to walk (about a six minute walk).

I

Overall very rewarding experience. The instructor and TAs  were passionate about coding and really cared about the success of their students. Student Services was also very receptive to feedback to make the program better. The material was challenging and requires a lot of self discipline, no one is going to hold your hand, but if you are passionate and are putting in the work yourself, the instructional staff is always very supportive. Also, no one is going to hand you a job after program completion. I always felt very supported by my instructors and my classmates and I would definitely reccomend it to anyone seriously considering a big career change. 

In the beginning, I personally didn't know what I was going to get from the course. I saw all of the reviews and promotion that were promising job placements and things of that nature. The class moves at a fast pace, but if you put the time in and passionate about the subject this class is perfect for you! I love to code and this class gave me a great footing, now I freelance and about to start applying for jobs with a lot more confidence that I had going in! I know I have the skills to compete in the job market, I was taught all of the fundamentals and given resources to continue to grow on my own whether that is with or without a company. I am very grateful for this beautiful opportunity and if you are also looking to become a coder this is a great place to start!

The Coding Bootcamp at the UCLA Extension was challenging but absolutely doable with the resources provided by faculty and one's own personal commitment. At first, the material can be intimidating, especially for people who do not have any prior experience programming, but there was pre-work given before the first day of class in order to give every student exposure and to motivate and bring awareness to the difficulty of the course. The pace of the class is quick and it is very easy to fall behind, if that happens, you will be doomed to play catch up while the pace of the class gets quicker and quicker. I found that all of the assignments and in-class activities were dependent on your knowledge of the previous lessons in order to fully grasp the new material. 

It is very important to be able to teach yourself and know when to ask for help. The staff does a great job being supportive of every student's learning and providing help outside of class. 

Omar is an excellent professor, he obviously a master of the craft and teaches it in the easiest way for everyone to be able to understand and will go the extra mile to help his students. He firmly believes in every student but will show tough love if a student does not make their own contribution. 

What you get out of the program is what you put into it. 

The course is very challenging for a student who has no background in the subject. Expect to put in tons of time outside of class if you want to succeed. At times the class can start to slow down, but do not let these brief breaths of air fool you. It can be very easy to fall behind if you do not continue to pay attention and practice outside of class. 

The instructor Omar and all of the TAs and support staff are extremely helpful and available. Omar regularly hosted review sessions outside of class time, and he really cares about the success of his students. He really pushes his students to succeed especially for the ones that really need the push. 

The reason I chose this bootcamp over all the others in LA was because it answered three questions I had about choosing a bootcamp. The first was could I keep my full-time job and take this bootcamp? The second was does this course teach the most relevant technology being used by hiring companies? And the third was are these teachers experts in their fields and are they good at teaching? I'll explain more below.

This course is no joke even though it is part-time. In fact, the process of going to work everyday and then shifting gears at the EOD to cram new concepts was one of the most difficult experiences I have ever been a part of. The payoff was immense and totally worth it though. The work ethic that was required to finish the homework and projects shines through when you begin your job interviews and solo projects. It was like working two jobs at once but your second job is a constant reminder as to how amazingly thought-provoking your new career can actually be. That and you can afford to eat and pay rent while you gain skills for a new career.

The curriculum changed halfway through the course for our class. I only bring this up to emphasize the awareness the counselors and teachers had to re-evaluate the course to make sure the languages and frameworks being taught were the most relevant in the industry. The shift from PHP to Java showed that this bootcamp is not a mere money grab by UCLA but a serious program that wants their students to find success in the real world. I was very happy about this and I saw it reflected in my job search as well.

Finally the teaching staff. The two main instructors were current senior level software engineers that very clearly love what they do and wanted to share their knowledge with the students. I really liked that the TA's were all basically former bootcamp grads that also have a love of learning programming and loved sharing that with others. The career counselors were all super supportive individuals that were always there if you needed them. No complaints here for any part of the teaching department.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this bootcamp for people that really want to get serious about jumping into a coding career. The amount of time and effort that it takes to do this and keep a full-time job is immense. You must make sacrifices if you want to seriously make it through. But that's going to happen regardless of the bootcamp you take. The reason you should take this one is because you can keep the lights on at your house while you do it, the course is changing and stays up-to-date with industry standards, and the teachers are top notch and very professional.

This program is a bootcamp, so be prepared to invest some serious time and energy outside of class to really keep up. The program is perfect for those working full-time or who have other obligations. The staff are constantly checking in with you and are available for extra review of concepts. The career assistance has been on of my favorite aspects of the program, which includes company tours, guest speakers, resume and LinkedIn profile help. This program is a great introduction to programming concepts and provides a solid foundation for aspiring web developers. I would describe their approach as pragmatic rather than academic. 

Before going into detail, it's important to explain the context around my particular objectives.  I'm an experienced startup exec on the business side of things who wanted to learn to code, not to change careers, but to become a better tech entrepreneur.  So my experience is about learning, more than the career-change aspect of the program. Before starting the program, I'd only just started to try and learn to code.  Having stumbled through some online courses, I realized that, being a classroom learner and people person, it'd be a lot better to learn with others, and to follow an integrated curriculum.  I reviewed all of my options for bootcamps, and since I needed to attend a part-time program, The Coding Bootcamp at UCLA emerged as the best part-time option for me.  It is a 6 month program, and it is fairly intense, especialy if you have a full-time job.  Expect to put in about 10 hours in the classroom plus 15-20 on homework and projects.  You will definitely learn, a lot, perhaps too much!  The curriculum is very up to date with the latest frameworks, libraries, and technologies.  To be clear, learning to code like an expert will take you several years, and will be a lifelong activity, since there is just so much material to cover.  You will not be an expert after 6 months, but will learn a lot and become very confident about how to find the answers.  You will also have a roadmap for further learning.  By the end of the program, you will have coded dozens of applications (at least one per week, for the homeworks) and 3 group projects (two of them fullstack).  The teachers are great, and very commited.  Shout out to Michael, who is a coding/debugging machine and might even have a superhuman brain...and to Omar, who is also super smart, funny, engaging, and goes above and beyond helping students.  Gabrielle, the career counselor, is incredibly good at her job, and the classmates are amazingly supportive.  The community definitely makes the learning more fun and effective. I miss it already, and would definitely recommend the program to anyone who wants to learn to code.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.