UT Austin Boot Camps

I am a graduate from the UT Austin Data Analytics and Visualization bootcamp and I am very glad that I made the decision to take this bootcamp. The instructors and the support from TA's and everyone else on the staff is top-notch. 

• The curriculum is well planned and deals with real-world, business related topics.
• By the end of the bootcamp you will have a portfolio, with examples ranging from custom visualizations to machine learning.
• Support from the stafff as well as tutoring available.
• Cover topics in Python and Javascript which are in high demand.
  • D3.js, Leaflet, Pandas, Matplotlib
  • API's, JSON, Flask apps
  • Tensorflow, Keras
• Career Services does their best to help students network they were consistently reaching out with different meetups and job openings in the area.

The course is not easy. You will need to have enough time to dedicate to homework and activities, but, if you do your work and trust the process, you will come out with the tools needed to start your career as a data analyst/developer. I am very thankful for the whole staff and the work they put in. 

Shoutout to everyone in the program!

If you are prepared to spend the out-of-class hours needed to really understand the fundamentals of what they're teaching, the Full Stack Boot Camp is phenomenal.

That cannot be stressed enough--there's no way any boot camp could teach you everything you need to know about full stack development, but having direct access to such amazing instructors, TAs, and student success personnel several times per week is incredibly helpful.  When you look back after graduation, the sheer amount of material you cover from start to finish is staggering, but all of it is delivered at a pace that keeps you constantly challenged, yet never overwhelmed or unable to make progress.

It starts out relatively simple, and quickly ramps up into concepts that both frustrate and educate in equal measure.  But if you put in the time to really understand why you're struggling (and use the resources available to you--TAs, office hours, instructor questions, etc.), the material that the course teaches will help you in every area of development.

Personally, I used it as a transitionary program to move from the technical department to the development department at my company. I was in development meetings by the second month of the course, and I already understood the concepts of what my development team was speaking about, and wasn't lost on explanations or implementation of the application...and I still had four months of the Boot Camp to go!  The things you learn right out of the gates are 100% relative to current web application development, and the staff does an amazing job of attempting to adjust the curriculum when they are notified of weaknesses.

That validated everything they were advertising, in my opinion...I already knew enough to work as a functioning developer at roughly the 1/3 mark of the course.  The lessons got more complex and we introduced new libraries on a weekly basis from there, but overall, it was extremely beneficial, and exactly what I was looking for.

My only recommendation would be to allow a little more flexibility in parts of the curriculum (perhaps do not use one specific templating engine, but allow the students to choose from the multitude of them that are out there, for example), but I could see how that could quickly go off the rails with TAs and instructors that are already operating at max capacity with the current libraries that it uses.

I have already recommended the course to some co-workers who have asked about making a similar transition, and will continue to do so in the future.

This program will take you from 0 to a 100 in no time the phase is super fast but the instructor and the TA's will make sure you keep up, the study plan updates in a daily basis, Jim (the instructor) is engaged in real life technologies and will drop invaluable knowledge on many aspects of this field, you will feel that he is concerned in your evolution to the next levels, sometimes you will feel like he is a human Wikipedia for web developement, UI, and UX. I highly recommend this program as long as you are willing to put the effort. It carries a big name with big results. 

I felt that the Data Analytics and Visualization boot camp at UT Austin is a very well designed, comprehensive program that covers the Data Analytics field well and is designed with data industry's needs in mind. 

It covers over 25 different tools, technologies, and languages. Each topic starts with simple code/examples and builds up to difficult problems. The pace is fast but TA's are always there to help you as soon as you face an issue, during the class. The lectures are recorded so you can listen to any lecture if you miss. If you have questions from a previous lecture you can arrive early and ask them to TAs or to the professor or ask them in the break or after the class. You can attend lectures remotely, too.  

Another point I liked is, this boot camp has career services homeworks and guidance too. I found these services very useful. 

The professors are knowledgeable and patient in answering questions. Sometimes they show alternate ways to do the same thing, which improves one's understanding. 

For projects you can choose your own project so there is a lot of flexibility. If your team ends up choosing a hard project, you will have to work hard, but help is always there from TA's and professors. 

I am very happy that I took this course. I learned a lot in just 6 months. I also enjoyed the course, even if I had to work very hard. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get into data analytics or improve the skills further. 

Feedback for new and potential students

I wanted to move from academia to industry so that I can work as a part of a team on a daily basis. Because I hadn't had prior experience in industry and took a 1-year break in 2016, I couldn't easily land a developer position in early 2017.

I decided on the UT Coding Bootcamp due to its comprehensive, up-to-date curriculum. No other bootcamp in Austin (other than maybe General Assembly) offered as much content, well-scheduled and relevant nowadays, in 12 weeks. I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot. My instructor and TAs, Eric, Erik, and Brandon, were all great.

Because I had math and CS background, I picked up new ideas and skills fast. If this is your first time to coding, I recommend that you learn actively. Constantly code in class and don't plagiarize (don't wait for answers either). Hang out with your classmates, go for lunch together, learn from them, teach them, and support each other.

On two occasions, we didn't get to cover enough material to complete homework over the weekend. I actually found these times to be the best, because I got to do research and teach myself. The next few days in class became a breeze. :)

The other highlight for me was the team projects. I was lucky to have had great team members who were eager to learn and contribute. I think whether you will enjoy your team projects will depend on how much leadership skills you and other members have had prior to the coding camp.

For more information, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn!

Feedback for the curriculum design team

Overall, the exercises matched the course curriculum well and helped us complete our homework and team projects. I could tell that the exercises were written by multiple people, and some files were better commented than others. Maybe work on having a consistent coding style?

Because the frameworks are constantly updated, the exercises were outdated at times. I'd like you to introduce ES6/ES7 early and use Bootstrap 4 and Laravel 5.5, in particular. Some of our PHP exercises didn't work, so we ended up giving up on the PHP homework.

The flashcard homework (cloze) was the weakest one with minimal instructions, so I'd like to see it dropped in lieu of a more interesting assignment.

I decided that I wanted to change my career path and get into web development.  My background was electronics and I wanted to do more software where I could could use creative problem solving instead of "make this thing that's broken work like it used to." I looked around and read a lot of reviews for numerous boot camps and in the end, I picked this one because:

A) It had very high reviews

B) The curriculum was reviewed by UT, thus having its "stamp of approval"

C) The curriculum is also reviewed by members of the tech industry, allowing for it to adapt to the changing needs of employers

D) It was Post 9/11 GI Bill approved (a big plus)

Curriculum (4.5 stars):

Overall the curriculum was very good.  We started with the basics (HTML, CSS) and worked our way up through JavaScript, Ajax,  jQuery, Node.js, SQL and Sequelize, NoSQL and MongoDB, React, React Native, PHP, and other technology.  As stated below, this course was not designed to teach you everything but introduce you to these web technologies just enough that you understand what they are and how they are used.  The course ensures that you also have a pretty good portfolio by the end of it via homework assignments.  It was not uncommon for many of us to go back and redo some of them after we graduated once we had more experience.  If anything, it creates a really good starting point for the creating of an impressive portfolio.

My overall biggest criticism is that I felt that there could be a few days more devoted to JavaScript, considering how it's practically the cornerstone of the course (and web development). My second would be that, while the curriculum creation team knows the material well, it shows throughout the course and the examples that they don't have a lot of experience teaching.  This can lead to lessons that fly a little too easily over some of the heads in class. Luckily, the instructor and TA's help ensure that this is only temporary. Thirdly, I feel there needs to be more communication during the weeks following up to the start date, with tips on what to brush up on every week or two weeks, giving those who sign up way in advance a better understanding on what they can do to prepare.

Instructors (5 stars):

Awesome instructors and TA's.  Our instructor was very knowledgable about everything in the course and then some.  His vast, real-world experience in web development allowed for him to teach and mentor us in not just the subjects but also about the industry itself.  He, and the TA's, did an excellent job explaining things in a way that make them click.  They also devoted time outside of class to help us if we needed it.  Plus they provide feedback that helps make your assignments better and where they can go from there.

Job Assistance (5 stars):

Excellent job search preparation and assistance.  Throughout the course, you will start to prep your resume, tweek/create your online presence, and practice for interviews for the eventual day that you start applying for jobs.  They help you with all these aspects and continue to do so after the course is over by providing networking events weekly, giving webinars on various job search topics, and providing weekly one-on-one time to see how your progress is going and give advice on how to snag your first gig.  While they will put in your resume for certain jobs where they have established a connections, the job hunt will still be 99% on you.  They just provide excellent advice, assistance, and help direct you where the jobs could be hiding.

Advice for new booters:

This is an intense course.  They continually tell you it will be like drinking from a fire hose.  The purpose of this boot camp is not to teach you everything.  Its job is to expose you to and teach you enough of different web technologies that you'll be able to know what they do, how they work (and work together), and just how much you still need to learn on your own.  This boot camp (in fact most of them) are meant to help you dip your toes into the vast ocean of web development.  

Just remember, in web development and in this course:

1) Everyone has to start from the beginning.  Don't beat yourself up for not knowing a lot.  Just take great notes and make a plan for how you're going to continue educating yourself.

2) You don't know everything.  You never will.  Nobody does.  Nobody is going to judge you on your knowledge/skill level.  As long as you constantly striving forward toward the goal of improving yourself, nobody is going to think less of you. If you run into somebody who does, they are the 1% in the industry that are nothing but sad, little people so don't waste your time with them.

3) DO NOT GIVE UP! I mean it.  This course is hard.  You will have to devote ALL your time to get the most from this course.  On average, I spent 40 hours a week outside of class working on the assignments.  It was worth it.  Don't quit! It doesn't get easier but you do get used to it.

4) Ask for help and help others.  Web development is more than just technology; its also about communication and teamwork.  There will be some things that don't make sense to you and that's fine; ask one of your classmates who does.  Same goes the other direction; help others when you can.  You can create some very strong and lasting relationships with this course so take advantage of it.  Also, nobody likes an a-hole who doesn't help others when they can.

5) Don't stop once you've graduated.  You will never stop learning and the only way you're going to one day get that dream job is to work hard and get good.  I spent 50% of my time job searching, 30% working on my portfolio, and the last 20% on diving deeper into a technology.  Don't make the mistake of spending 3 months learning and working hard just to stop and let it all slip away.

Overall/TLDR (4.75 stars):

Worth it.  I quit my job to devote 40+ hours a week for 3 months to learn web development and change careers.  I would do it all over again.  They have an excellent curriculum with the UT's blessing, awesome instructors who understand how to help you learn, and amazing job assistance that give you more than enough tools to find your first job.  It doesn't teach you everything; it only teaches you enough to know where your deeper learning needs to start.  It may be like drinking from a fire hose but you get used to it.  You get out what you put in and when you put in all you've got, you get a great coding boot camp.

I applied for the UT Coding Bootcamp over a year ago because I wanted a career move, something that would be intellectually challenging and would constantly involve problem solving. I figured development would be a good move and being fresh out of college it was looking like I would have to go back to school for another 2 years to get a bachelor's or master's in computer science. That is when I stumbled upon the "educational bootcamp" world. After looking at a few other bootcamp schools, I decided on the UT Coding Bootcamp because of its brand name recognition, it was highly recommended to me by one of my mentors and its 6 month part-time program allowed me to work full-time during it so that I could afford it.

The class was wonderful. The instructors and TAs were helpful and kind and I made some good friends in the class as well. A bit of advice to those looking into taking the course: you get out what you put in. This isn't a normal classroom setting. You aren't working for the grade, you are working to learn and that is what is important.  People take the class for various reasons, most (I believe) take it because they are looking to jump start their career in either web or software development. If this is you, then I suggest taking full advantage of the career services. That includes various things such as having guest speakers from companies come in and speak a little bit about the industry and what they do. There are mock-interviews and guidance for building out your resume. All which were perfect for someone like me who has little experience putting myself out there in the professional world.

The most important advice I could give to someone who goes through with the class is to take advantage of the career services that takes over after the class ends. You will be able to coordinate with your career director over slack on a daily basis and have weekly web conferences.  The career director was essential in helping me land a job as she used her resources to assist many of my applications with internal or external referrals. Also, she would gladly answer my meticulous questions like "How should I word this thank you email?" and "How can I make my resume A+ quality?" Job searching is an emotional rollercoaster and it's nice to have someone to lean on with a bunch of knowledge in that domain.

I graduated from UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp in August 2017 and landed a job as a Junior Web Designer shorty after. I wanted to transition more into development and still wanted to keep my full-time job. I saw that UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp program offered evening part-time classes, you will graduate in 6 months, be taught by developers who work in the field and they assist with job placement. I liked that the program came from a top rank university (The University of Texas – Austin) because I would receive the best education.

I have previous experience in Web Design, but I wanted to understand programming better, learn backend technologies and frameworks that I never used before but heard about. UT’s Houston Bootcamp is intensive and to be successful in this program you need to put 100% effort into your projects and assignments.

The instructors and TAs that I had for my cohort were very knowledgeable, helpful and encouraging. Also, the Career Director and Student Success Manager were supportive of student needs.

If I could give any suggestions for future students planning to attend UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp, please do the following below:

1. Ask questions even if you feel like it’s a stupid question. Your instructors/TAs/fellow students are there to help you.
2. When tutoring services becomes available, schedule tutoring every week. Even if you think you understand what you are doing, it doesn’t hurt to use these extra resources.
3. Always constantly check the curriculum/syllabus. See what you are going to learn the next week and prepare yourself to study the next subjects in advance.
4. Make friends, network and create study groups with your classmates.
5. Really give it your all when you are working on your projects/assignments.
6. Try to get to know your mentors and ask how you can improve yourself as a developer.
7. When you start working on your portfolio website in the beginning, keep updating it. Do not wait until the last few weeks of the Bootcamp to create your portfolio.
8. REST/TAKE BREAKS, coding for hours can be stressful.

The things I would suggest for UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp to improve on is extending the homework deadline for complex projects. I attended 3 classes each week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) and by the time we would get the assignment assigned to us, I really felt like I had 2 days to work on the assignment. This was because we were still covering material in the middle of the week to help do our assignment due on Sunday.

Other than that, I thought my experience at UT’s Houston Coding Bootcamp was great. It was stressful, but the friends you make that have a similar interest in coding make the experiences memorable. Those programming books I bought once before, I can now understand better.

If you have no idea where to start in the world of web development, this program is great for teaching you the basics and learning some industry-used technology. The main takeaway is that you get out what you put it. Even if the assignment seems super easy, the amount of effort you put in it will still impact you later in the program. In projects especially, challenge yourself because these will be seen by potential employers.

Don't hesitate to talk to TAs and your instructor. They will help you if you are willing to put in the effort.

If you already know a good deal about web development and the technologies industry uses/may use in the future, this probably isn't for you and may do better with personal research instead.

I am so glad I chose the UT Coding Bootcamp. I was able to continue working full time with attending class during the week and on the weekends. It was not easy, but very much worth it.

Having a passion for coding, this camp was perfect for me to round out my skills, learn new libraries, and make me more marketable to my employer. We learned the in and outs of the MERN stack, and high level back-end and front-end web developement. I really appreciated finding out the camp changed the course because of local market demands.

At times, I felt like the course didn't dive into the material deep enough. However, that is sort of the point to the Bootcamps, it gives you a solid jumpping off point to do more in less time than you could on your own.

The passion from the teachers and TAs was very encouraging and got me excited to be in class every day. The staff has also been very active at keeping us in the loop and getting us ready for Demo day. I've never felt like there wasn't support available. Everyone is avalible within hours, and very responsive on Slack. Tutors were also availabe for even more help.

I met a lot of people, made a new friends, and have grown my network exponentially! The other cohorts are working on meetups and networking events to meet prior graduates and future students. There is a big sense of community.

Ultimately, I got way more out of the UT Austin Coding Bootcamp than I ever thought. I looked at other camps, but the biggest deciding factor for me was being part of the University of Texas system. Attending class on campus made me feel even more invested in the class, and having UT put their name on the class gave the bootcamp the validity that other bootcamps do not have.