UCLA Extension Boot Camps

Omar Patel is a great professor. He's very hands on and engaging. He's very open to new ideas of teaching to better engage students and get them excited about learning the subject. He makes himself available outside of class, puts in the extra effort to get you the help you need, and wants you to succeed. With every problem, he challenges you to figure it out on your own, but gives you the tools you need to get to the end result.

The course is challenging and requires a lot of studying outside the class. You will succeed with the help provided, the TA's and Omar are great, but if you aren't willing to put in the work or seek out assistance when behind, it will be extremely difficult to catch back up.

When taking this course, expect to be challenged and expect to put in the work every week, and be ready to take advantage of all the assistance provided outside of class time.

On top of teaching the material, Omar provides a lot of assistance in finding jobs, more than would be expected of him.

Ever wanted to learn how to code? Interested in joining a supportive community? If so, then the Coding Boot Camp with UCLA is right for you! I know it was right for me in my personal experience. I had limited coding knowledge prior to joining, but after 6 months, I became confident in my ability as a junior web developer.

Overall Experience: 
Perhaps the most important mindset to have entering the boot camp (or any boot camp for that matter) is that you need to put in the time to learn not only in class, but outside of class as well. You get out as much as you put in after all. With that in mind, the program was designed to help you help yourself. Every week there is a homework assignment designed to challenge you and expand on the lectures in class. There are also 3 projects where you work in teams; these projects are meant to start your portfolio for your career search. 

Curriculum:
The curriculum for this program was made to give you the strong foundation you need to continue learning even after the boot camp. The pace is quick, but you'll get the hang of it so long as you put in your hours coding. The curriculum starts off with front end technologies, then back end. All of which you learn are in demand technologies based off of market research. The instructors also tend to send you additional resources (like video tutorials, articles, etc) related to the curriculum. 

Instructors:
With their own personal knowledge and experience in the tech community, the instructors can really give you insight into the job market and the sort of skills you need to expand upon to make yourself competitive. I really enjoyed learning from my instructors and appreciate how they went above and beyond to help me out. I never once felt like I was on my own when I was learning, and I always knew that they were there for me if I needed help.

Job Assistance:
The career assistance is really focused on helping you find opportunities to interview for. Going to interviews itself is always a learning opportunity. If anything, I think the one thing that has helped the most in this aspect is the community. Your fellow classmates, instructors, and counselors all have resources they share with you to help you enter the tech industry. It's really up to you to then pursue them. Not even a 3 weeks after I completed the program, I already found a job where I can use the skills I learned in the boot camp. 

Basically, the Coding Boot Camp with UCLA has been worth every dime and penny. No regrets there!

This course is not EASY!!! It requires time and dedication. But don't let this discourage you, the faculty team is supportive and knowledgeable. The instructor, Omar Patel, is amazing at presenting coding concepts and teacher's assistance makes themselves readily available for office hours.  

This course is part-time, but you'll have to study and work outside of class to grasp the concepts. It is recommended that you put in 20 hours/week, at times you'll be frustrated and doubting your intelligence. But happens to most students, I had felt this way once or twice during this course but I survive and you too can do same. 

To do well in this course you'll need the following:

1: Time Management: Allocate time to study the material, do not rely on being spoon fed for material.

2: Resilience: This is going to be difficult with a lot of material being thrown at you. Just remember your ultimate goal, and how this course is going to help achieve this goal. 

3. Open-mind: Learning to develop is completely different and new and requires a different mindset.   When learning these skills step in with an open mind and explore a new perspective of thinking. 

If you are looking to start a career in development I highly recommend this course. I've done my share of research regarding coding camps before picking this course and I am happy with my decision. This program offers great curriculum and value.

 

1) Overall Experience

I had a very positive experience.  As i mentioned before,  my goal was to get a job in tech as a developer and this program helped me do just that. There is no magic involved, just like with anything else, you get what you put in. Before starting the program I had basic understanding of HTML and CSS, and very very basic understanding of JavaScript. Upon completion of this program I knew how to build full-stack JavaScript applications.

As I said before, just like with any other Boot Camp, you are going to get what you put in.

 

2) Curriculum

The curriculum is designed to teach you in demand technologies. The curriculum does a good job of covering everything from the front-end to server side. The projects and homework in the curriculum will give you relative freedom and creativity to build applications that are based on the in demand technologies. Most importantly it will teach you JavaScript in depth, from on screen interaction to server side scripting and data manipulation.  

 

3) Instructors

The instructors and TAs were awesome! ALL are professionals in their fields. The instructors and TAs are very passionate and engaging. I never had a problem getting help from them. If ever there was something I did not understand or a problem that at the time i could not overcome they would go out of their way to help me.  

 

4) Tips for success

I've had close to 0 programing experience before this program, and a few weeks upon graduation I've already secured a contractor position.

What can I say? You get what you put in. If you have 0 programing experience just like I did, be prepared to go above and beyond, doing the minimum is not going to be enough. That goes for ANY boot camp, not just this one.

Take some time prior to the start of the program and take some online courses

(There are plenty of free courses available online). That will help you get the ball rolling and help you spend more time building apps and projects rather than trying to understand the syntax of the programming language. Ask plenty of questions, I can guarantee you that if you have a question about something there is at least one person that has the same question!

During the program I would encourage you to continually learn topics of interest on your own.

f your aptitude is high and you feel that you are not being challenged, figure out a way to challenge yourself. See if you can incorporate other technologies into your projects or homeworks.

Practice , practice and practice!!!! The only way to actually learn programming is to build stuff.  

This program is great for all levels of students, from first time coders to students with CS degrees. The program is really well designed and structured to build upon the previous weeks lesson and assignments.

Even though this is "part time", it is very much a full time commitment. While I have a CS degree and have been coding for some time, full stack was still new and at times it was a challenge to keep pace with the homework assignments AND work a full time job. Working fulltime and enrolling in this program is possible, but I would highly recommend discussing with team at UCLA Extension if you have the technical foundation to work full time and complete the homework and projects. Classes are essentially total approximately 12 hrs per week, then you will be working on your homework and projects between 10-30hrs per week. Even if the homework is easy, the more you put into this program, the more you will get out of this program. That goes for both the technical AND the career building aspects of this program.

I was already employed as a backend developer and took this program to learn the overall "stack" and the tools and technology involved. While the specific technology taught is not part of my day job (I code in python), learning Javascript and NodeJS, along with the essential base engineering for web appliations has greatly improved my abilities at my current position. The career building information was also fantastic and has given me a great foundation how to present my skills and apply for a new job when I'm ready.

This program was worth every penny spent and very happy to have enrolled and recommend it highly! 

This course is extremely helpful in starting a career in software development by learning new material at a great pace and providing you with as many resources.

The class curriculum is flexible and can change dependent on student learning flow and the industry's evolving job requirements. The initial class schedule is based off the needed logic/material to learn basic web programming. As the course moves forward, the teachers and career advisors become open to any suggestions or changes that will help you to better understand material at your pace and/or increase your likelihood of finding a job. I really liked how students were able to vote on learning certain topics in the class and were given many opportunities for reviewing the material.

The teachers were also always readily available to help. In class, they are open ears majority of the time. They have a professional graps on the material and are very open-minded to the all levels of student experience.  Although they have their own jobs outside of class, they do try their best to respond to their student's messages/inquiries.

The homeworks and projects were engaging and range in difficulty. Students are typically given two different levels of homework, beginner or advanced. You have the freedom to choose one or both, which helped many students choose their own pace. As someone who has learned a different programming language before, the advanced homework was definitely doable for even the beginner programmer. It all depends on your learning pace and work ethic.

The career curriculum is just as helpful as the class material. The career advisors are constantly providing students with online resources, in-class sessions and bringing in accomplished developers/businesses to provide insight. The career sessions taught the class how to write resumes, search for jobs, speak in interviews and everything in between. Gabrielle and Alex, the career advisors of our cohort, were always welcoming and never batted an eye to any of the students. They will take time out of their day to meet or speak on the phone about any comments, concerns or suggestions.

The best thing about the course was being able to balance it with a full-time job. There were times when my time was very limited, but the pace of the course really helped me keep up with the material. The course requires you to keep an open mind and to constantly keep working hard for what you want.

I highly recommend this course over many other bootcamps as they have shown sincere caring for their students. Whether you never studied programming before or have been doing it your whole life, there is definitely something you can learn from this course. As long as you work for it, you are guaranteed to achieve your own success.

I recently completed a cybersecurity bootcamp, and I couldn't be happier with my experience. This bootcamp is an excellent choice for beginners who want to delve into the world of cybersecurity. My instructor, Tony, was not only patient but exceptionally skilled at explaining complex topics in a clear and understandable manner. I gained a solid understanding of the basics of cybersecurity, thanks to Tony's guidance. I highly recommend this bootcamp to anyone looking to start their journey in cybersecurity.

I have taken this UCLA WEB DEV FULL STACK PART-TIME course without any prior coding experience. My instructor was Diarmuid Murphy along with instructor assistant Meg Meyers. I want to say thank you to them for having so much passion and patience while teaching us. Great job! At the end of the course, you will learn how to build full stack web applications, with the most concurrent coding experience needed. The group interactions develop real life skills for communicating with co workers or future clients. One big advice i can give anyone is please take your time before starting the course learn HTML and CSS which may take around 3 weeks. Also, learn Java-Script basics. By doing this, you will have a much smoother learning experience. During the course, key to success is repeating what you learned that exact week. Do not worry take this course it is 100% worth it. It taught me not only coding, but that i can learn new things. The pressure makes you stronger! 

To the person reading this, congratulations, you've made it this far and have taken the first step in pursuing this very nascent dream of delving into the complex and alluring world of cybersecurity. Perhaps you're like myself, who initially came to the program from the vastly different world of sales and marketing, or you've been moving up the ladder in the realm of IT, or, as is sometimes the case, you're motivated to impact the world in a positive and fulfilling way and recognize the importance of cyber defense and the many roles and positions available in this constantly growing and evolving field. 

This course changed my life, in ways too powerful to describe. On a personal note, a week before the course began, I was laid off from my job on a random Monday morning, with my items already in a box, carelessly discarded and left feeling lost, shocked, and confused as to where to go next. With my stress at an all-time high and the safety of a salary to help finance the rigorous studies forthcoming now gone, I came into the course already overwhelmed and doubting myself, almost doomed to fail before I began. I quickly realized that this defeatist mentality would get me nowhere, and sure enough, I turned a negative into a positive and used these hardships in a constructive way to double down on the chips, go all in, and give this program my all. 

It wouldn't be fair for me to write a review of this course without first mentioning my professor, the always punctual, consistent, professional, passionate, devoted, and inspiring Tony Schreiner, who, more than anything, was the key to me falling in love with cybersecurity. A good teacher can make or break a subject or student, and in the case of Professor Schreiner, his teaching and passion for cybersecurity reverberated through the screen; more than reading PowerPoint slides and logging off as soon as class ends, Professor Tony motivates and inspires, offers his plethora of real-world experience to compliment the often heavy nature of the software's used, and is as patient and devoted to his students and their personal success as he is to his own. And while he will be the first to tell you that success, whatever that may mean to you, is only matched by the effort you put forth, I can guarantee that if you show effort, drive, and focus during this course, Professor Tony Schreiner will go above and beyond to prepare you to succeed in the field and stand out amongst your peers. If I can be even half the professional he is in my career, then I will already stand head and shoulders above the rest. More than a professor, he is a mentor, and if on that first day of class, with your stomach in knots wondering if this is all too much and maybe you should turn back while you still can, you're greeted by him, consider yourself very lucky, and just know you are in the best of hands for the next six months.

The support you receive from the T.A's, who, in my experience, were all graduates of the program, is second to none, and if you have any questions at all, you are sure to receive assistance from someone who has walked the path you're on. The support from the career center, the guidaance cousnelors, and the direction given were all instrunmental in allowing me to anrow down my scope and delve into the more promising career avenues.

The course itself is advertised as a "jump in the deep end", meaning it'll be loaded, technical, and require concentration and focus if you aim to succeed; while this may be true, I would, in keeping with the "aquatic" theme, categorize is as more of a planned walk from the shallow end, to your knees, then the tippy-toes, and finally full laps in the complex and treacherous waters that are cybersecurity, while the lifeguard looks on. The lessons learned in week 1 will carry over into week 2, and week 3, and while week 4 and so forth will all be different, each more exciting and head-scratching then the last, the fundamentals learned previously prepare you to understand and master the chapter of the week and leave you prepared for the next. 

As I write this, I am not too sure what do with my free nights anymore. Without realizing it, I became quite attached to this course and the familiar faces in the Zoom chat. I am not sure what the future holds, however I am sure that with what UCLA and Trilogy Education provided I will be capable of anything.

If you are considering this program and course, you've made the right choice. As a proud graduate, I can assure you that this was the best decision of my life, and I am ecstatic to see where it takes me in the near future. Perhaps one day I'll even be a guest speaker, working in the field; only time will tell. But the good news is that, with the base given to me by this program and my CompTIA exam right around the corner, success, while never guaranteed, is highly probable. 

I attended the “very expensive” cyber security boot camp which advertised high success in getting a job after the class. I took the class and then passed the Comp Tia security plus certification and cannot find a job. All entry level programs want someone with a Bachelors degree or higher. They tell me this bootcamp does not meet their standards and they are indicating this course may be useful for people already in the field. This course alone does not lead to a job in cybersecurity. I’m very unhappy that I took out a loan to take this class and worked hard to learn the material and did not get a good job to help me pay it back.