University of Utah Professional Education Boot Camps

The U of U full Stack Coding Boot Camp is a great solution for anyone who wants to learn coding. As it is a full stack course you learn everything that you need to run the front end and the back end of a website which opens some fun and interesting doors into non-web developer uses.

This course is a very fast paced. you will spend 13-17 hours in class every week, your homework will take between 4-20 hours to complete every week, and as for myself I spent 5-10 more hours studding supplemental material for the course. So, given the pace of the class you really cannot fall behind and must have a lot of time available. That said it’s worth it. 

One note on Job Assistance provided by the Course. When I took the class the career services portion was not very good. Trilogy and the U of U have spent considerable time and effort making it better and now when you come out assuming you do all that is recommended you will be very competitive. 

I was thinking over and over on how to Started Bootcamp since I had Zero knowledge on computer science. It turned out on an amazing experience itself.  I learned so much in so little time. The instructors and TAs care a lot about students,  they were very helfulf and understand that not all of us were able to process the information in the same way. It was may times were I was lost but fortunatelly  there is a lot of help with the program. It is very important to meet the homework deadlines to not feel overwhelmed at the end of the program. It is very rewarding to see all hard work is pay off and  reflected on my final project. Then I could realize how far I could go in just 24 weeks. 

I really enjoyed this course. It was challenging at times and I wanted to give up every time. But Im glad I stuck with it ad finished it. The skills that I have learned will enhance my career trememdously. Wheather you take this to advance your current career or to completely change your career path, I recomed it. The skills you learn are valable, but you have to keep in mind that it takes a lot of dedication and work. Totaly worth the money and time spent. The instructors and TA's were very helpful and there is plenty of support from the school. I didnt do the job assitance as I wanted to stay with my job.

The class was an invaluable addition to my career toolbox. I took this course as a learning opportunity so I could talk to my own developers in a way they understood and I could decode what they were reporting to me. The University of Utah boot camp delivered above and beyond my expectations. I was able to secure a promotion and a raise after I completed the course as my employer recognized the value it added to the company. 

The instructors really care about your progress and understanding of the material but the class is time boxed and there is a lot of material to cover both in and out of class. I can’t stress enough how studying on your own will key to success. The class will be what you make of it. If you put in the time and energy you will do well. If you aren't able to sacrifice the time, you should look elsewhere for schooling. The classes were fast paced, intriguing and packed full of information, but the self-learning outside of the classroom is what will move you ahead in the program.

The curriculum is complete and relevant to the workforce today. I appreciate how the program keeps up with the most current technology and imparts it on the class.

Lastly, the career services team is fantastic. The help they provide in getting you ready for the workforce is a special bonus. I know as a hiring manager, a polished resume and portfolio go a long way to getting in the door. However, it’s not mandatory and you have to go the extra mile to fit it in with the regular workload but it is completely worth it.

Overall I’m grateful to this program for giving me the tools and experience to better my position in life.

My motivation for taking this bootcamp was to have a job working remote doing something I am truly interested in. I came to this bootcamp with little to no background in development. My instructor was the best in giving us real world expereince as a web developer. The course does give you so much information that at times it can seem as if a fire hose is pointed straight at you. Rely on your classmates and TA's and don't be afraid to ask for help. Also, making sure to code every day whether it's review, practice, or homework is also a huge benefit. This course is time consuming but rewarding. I would recommend anyone who is wanting to go down this career path to apply!

I loved this bootcamp.

Pros:

• My instructor! Not only was he very knowledgable and flexible (especially in the early stages where we all felt like headless chickens), he knew how to put up with a class full of 20-to-50 year olds who were all in this for different types of reasons. He also made it very obvious that he cared a *lot* about us and wanted us to succeed.
• My TAs! These guys had previously taken the bootcamp and were an immense help and resource. We got to know them very well, even hanging out at one's house while we made food together and worked on our applications.
• My classmates! I made so many friends and we are planning on sticking together for a long time. We really gelled and wanted to be sure we kept up with each other in our paths to find new careers and new sites/apps we were building.
• My education! I went into the bootcamp already being very familiar with HTML/CSS but not much else. Over the course of 6 months we got a *lot* crammed in and I learned a lot of things. Web Developer jobs are always asking for a variety of different languages & skillsets, and a huge part of what we learned was out there on those job applications.
• My future. TWO WEEKS after graduation (which was also extremely fun, where we held a large event in a space downtown full of recruiters, tech companies, and families, with catered food and a diploma ceremony) I was offered a job. I put in the work: I had a portfolio (thanks to the bootcamp), a polished technical resume (thanks to the bootcamp), and I applied to as many jobs as I could. And my new place loved what I had to offer -- even pointing out that a '6 month bootcamp' was great, compared to some 13 week ones they had heard of. I had been SO SCARED of the fact that my education came from a bootcamp that I hadn't considered that it was, well, a damn good one.
• The U's help! We had a student success advisor who was always trying to keep up with how we were doing. We filled out weekly surveys when logging into class and sometimes if I said I was feeling overwhelmed, she would immediately reach out to help keep me from falling into the shame spiral (WE ALL DO IT, CMON). Plus both she and my instructor gave me nothing but positive energy the whole time, which helped with the whole morale thing.

Cons:

• Cost. I took out a small personal loan for this course, with the mantra that "Don't worry, you'll be doubling your income...  You can do it..."  And it's true, my new job will definitely make it easier for me to pay off this loan much faster.  And in two years I'll be worth even more.
• Personal time.  It's basically college man, it's night class. 3 days a week in class and a TON of homework and studying. I did not have any free time during this bootcamp. But even so I forced myself to prioritize and make time and fit in one class of Tai Chi a week to calm myself down during the harder parts... :)
• You get what you put into it. I absolutely loved this course and wholly endorse it, obviously, having found a job. But if you don't put in the work, if you don't work with your team mates/classmates, you're going to have a bad time.

First off you should know that prior to this bootcamp I had absolutely no development experience whatsoever. So if that's the same for you don't let that intimidate or discourage you from taking this bootcamp! It does take hard work and sincere effort (afterall what doesn't if you want to be great at something) but if you are serious about learning and expanding your coding skills then this is a fantastic bootcamp for new-comers! 

My motivation for taking this bootcamp was because I wanted to change my degree and career path to computer science. I was a student at the University of Utah studying civil engineering as well as working in the civil engineering field in Utah as a structural engineering intern and draftsman. Because I was working full time and going to school I needed a way to look into computer science before I knew I really wanted to change my degree. When I saw that classes were held at night and on Saturdays I knew that it would fit my schedule. Like I said I had no prior knowledge of anything web development related so I took this bootcamp to learn as much as I could before solidifying my decision to finish a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. What I found is that the skills I learned in this bootcamp are used in the real-world and helped me greatly to find and apply for jobs at a junior developer level. After going through this changing process I am so happy that I took this bootcamp and made the decision to become a developer!

I graduated March 2018 from the bootcamp offered at the University of Utah and was asked to come back as a TA in February. Shortly after graduating I received a promotion at my job to improve the intranet system for the entire company using PHP which I had to teach myself. I am one of two developers for the company. I used the skills I learned fairly early on in the bootcamp in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, Bootstrap, and Google Firebase to help me create a scheduling web app for my work which was then used for the small department I used to work in and helped me to receive my promotion as a full-time developer. I use all of the technologies and skills taught in this bootcamp at my job because they are so relevant to real-world work. I am also working as a freelance web developer for two other companies that have reached out to me after graduating asking me to create their online presence in wordpress which I had to teach myself to use. 

Lastly, I would say the greatest skill I got from being a student here is learning how to learn. Meaning that I have learned how to teach myself new languages, how to keep up with the ever improving tech industry and be patient with the process of becoming proficient at something new. I highly recommend this bootcamp!