Bottega

I researched several boot camps before choosing Bottega and I'm glad I did. The instructor was with us every day with the goal of making sure we understood the material. Was it intense? For sure! I mean this is web development! But repetition breeds familiarity so hard work and success in the program go hand in hand. I read beforehand many people recommending part time instead of a full time boot camp. I would say now that is wrong. You want an instructor with you. Go full time. Also, embrace the struggle. You're going to struggle for sure, but that is where the deepest learning happens. Mistakes are fantastic because you remember them and learn a lesson! To sum up, go to Bottega and go full-time! You won't regret it!

For me I am a person who learns best in good environments and good teaching, at first I was scared about doing this. However I have a feeling this is going to be one of the best decisions I will ever do. learning from my teacher Alex was amazing, he is by far the best teacher I have ever had he has amazing patients and is so knowledgeable  it made learning fun.  I believe this a great start for anyone who wants to start learning how to code and I could not recommend this course enough. 

I wouldn’t say that I had a bad experience taking this course but I definitely think it’s overpriced. I took the part time course and the content wasn’t bad. It was Python backend and react front end with some systems design stuff. I ended up graduating relatively quickly and the main reason I signed up for this is because of their job assistance program. Everything seemed to go smoothly until I graduated. Their job assistance program is worthless unless you live in Salt Lake City. I got zero help finding a job. My advice is go to Udemy and learn there and then add a bunch of recruiters on LinkedIn. You’ll have better luck. 

I loved my experience at Bottega. I literally went from zero coding experience to getting a Jr. Developer job in 12 weeks. The course is designed in a way that exposes students to information, and then has them practice with hands on experience the concept they just learned. For me, this was the most efficient and effect way to learn. I loved my teacher, my classmates, and the CTO who made all the videos we watch is great.
The most important thing however, was the honesty and genuine nature of the program. Everyone involved in Bottega I felt was honest and really desired my success. I always felt encouraged and motivated because of the culture created within Bottega. I recommend this program to anyone who wants to get into the tech industry. 10/10!

In November 2018 I started the part time Software Development program with Bottega. I struggled with the content of the program and stopped at 17%. I thought that maybe it was because I was working full time and was trying to learn by myself. In the summer of 2020 since I was not working I noticed that Bottega had a full time program with an online instructor for the same program. Myself and a few other students in my cohort had switched from the part time program due to not being able to grasp the bulk of the material. Mind you if I had to code along with the video this part I could do. But executing it or being able to fully understand the concepts without doing it with someone I can not.  I had originally signed an ISA to pay back 10 % of my income for a certain amount of time. I switched to the full time program and to my surprise the content and material was the exact same. I had to agree to pay back 16.5% of my income. The instructor DOES NOT TEACH you watch the same videos that you would watch in the part time.  They start a zoom meeting and push the buttons on the videos. They give you the quizzes in the platform and sometimes make up their own quines.  Do not pay more for full time. Unable to learn the core concepts I did not want to move forward so I asked to be placed in the next cohort. When I told the instructor how I felt and that I didn't want to continue not learning anything he tried to convince me to keep going.   I thought that it was just me. Then a few class members reached out to me and guess what? It was not just me. They agreed that it was the structure and content of the course. After trying to study and go back over the material I realized that it just was not for me. I notified the school that I would not be continuing with the program.  I stopped at 33-34% of the program this time. After notifying the company that I would never get a job in the industry or complete the program their nice willingness to help changed. The entire tone of the messages changed to them being upset and telling me that I was going to have to pay for the portion of the course that I had completed. I told them that I was not and that I did not agree to this. The school is run by a husband and wife. The wife (admissions)said that she would contact the financial team ie. her husband and they would let me know the portion that I had to pay.  I had to contact them per the company that I signed the ISA with to tell them to remove the ISA. Her husband then said that I had to pay a prorated amount for the portion of the course that I had finished. This is not what I agreed to and I will not be repaying any of it. I agreed to pay once I completed the program and got a job in the industry. Also when I resigned the new ISA I didn't notice that they took the industry part out. So now if you complete ANY AMOUNT OF THE COURSE. Bottega will try to get money from you not matter what industry you work in. The company is run primarily by a husband and wife so there is also a conflict of interest in admissions and the ISA. The husband is over the instructors as well. They push that they're accredited and in the process of becoming a University to try to make them seem trustworthy. Do not be fooled as the delivery of the content is done by one person on video who most of the time hops around on topics, over explains, under explains and says don't worry if you don't understand this a lot. Please just find another boot camp. Find one that is not misleading and that does not seem to be only concerned with the money. For me it was the way that the content was delivered on most of the videos. Those in the cohort that were beginners like me struggled as well. There were two with prior knowledge they did better. Bottega does not have technical interviews that you have to pass to get in like most bootcamps. They let everyone in. I think that this is a dis-service to those that may not be able to grasp the concepts. From what I have experienced I feel that they do this for the money.  If they let everyone that applies in and even if people don't graduate or become software developers they will still try to get paid....They are not truthful in telling you this upfront. If I could give zero stars I would. 

The full time course at Bottega completely changed how I look at software. I used to be nervous and feel like I was never gonna understand how to develop and within the first 2 weeks already had me learning more the I could have anticipated.

When Bottega says they teach you to think like a developer the mean. If you're looking for a great school, this one is a great choice, they teach you many different tools and the course is super in dept with lots of coding and sealing that knowledge into your brain. 

I was supposed to be a full-time, in person student, but with COVID, campus was shut down just before my cohort started. I had a great instructor, Dan Floyd. Dan is still fairly new to web development. A fairly recent graduate of Bottega himself, he still didn't understand some things. However, he had a very obvious love for development and would often start class with something he was excited about having learned the night before during personal study or at one of the several meetups he attends. I had been studying web development on my own for about a year before attending and that gave me a huge leg up. I would recommend preparing as much as you can before attending if you want to get the most out of it. 
A boot camp style learning environment is not right for everyone. There were several students that left early or did not finish on time. The learning is very structured and the first half of the program relies heavily on following along with video tutorials. The second half, which was much more enjoyable for me, offered a bit more flexibility. Projects were assigned and we were allowed to work on solving those problems in our own ways, using the skills we were building in the first half of the program. 
This is not a college degree and it is a lot more intensive any college courses I've taken. They call it a boot camp for a reason. The schedule is rigorous. This is application based learning and you may miss out on some of the theory that can be very helpful in this career path. As someone who thrives in a structured environment, I was able to flourish with the strictly scheduled days with very particular assignments offered here.
If you're able to keep up, you will learn a lot of valuable skills in a very short period of time. They can't teach you everything, though, so you need to have a desire to supplement what you learn in class with outside sources. 

I graduated about a month ago and I'm still a bit unclear on how their job assistance is supposed to work. They do not guarantee anyone a job, but they have helped with resume and LinkedIn building. I'm currently working to apply for an apprenticeship program that is offered in partnership between Bottega and the Department of Workforce Services.