7 C's Review #4: What to Consider when Choosing the Best Coding Bootcamp for You.

What to Know When Choosing the Coding Bootcamp that’s Right for You

The fourth in our series on coding bootcamp reviews

Nucamp’s review of Hack Reactor

Are you thinking about a career change into the tech industry, but don’t know where to start?

Learning to code is great way to enter the IT job market.

And coding bootcamps can teach you how to code in a short amount of time.

Many prominent companies are hiring coding bootcamps graduates every day.

So, how do you decide which bootcamp to attend?

 

In our Reviewing Online Coding Bootcamps blog series, we described the 7 criteria to help with your decision: cost, commitment, curriculum, class format, community & collaboration, career services, compliments & critiques.

The next school we're assessing is Hack Reactor, which offers three full-stack software engineering courses.

• 12-week Full-stack Software Engineering Immersive
• 36-week Full-stack Software Engineering Immersive (part-time)
• 19-week Full-stack Software Engineering with JavaScript and Python Immersive

The 7 criteria you need to research when choosing the coding bootcamp that’s right for you.

1) Cost:

The cost of all 3 Hack Reactor’s bootcamps is $17,900.

Students can register for a free basic prep course to brush up on JavaScript skills

They offer several financing options if you don’t pay in full up front.

(Note: financing options are based on the time of the writing of this review in Dec 2022.)

• Pay half up front, and the second half at the mid-point of the bootcamp.
• ISA – Income Share Agreement. After graduation, once you secure a job earning $60,000/year, you pay 10% of your monthly gross pay for 48 months or until you reach the cap of $25,000. ISAs are not available in AL, CA, IA, SC, or WA.
• RIC – Retail Installment Contract. After graduation, once you secure a job earning $50,000/year, you pay $521/month for 48 months which ends up costing $25,000. This option is only available in CA and WA.
• They also offer financing through two lending partners.

 

2) Commitment:

12-week Full-stack Software Engineering Immersive requires 60-80 hours/week— 63 hours of class time a week, plus independent and group study.

The full time, live online classes are held Monday through Friday 9am-8pm, and Saturdays 9am-5:30pm.

Plus, a 90–120 hour prerequisite class on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is required before starting the bootcamp.

 

36-week part-time Full-stack Software Engineering Immersive requires 20 hours/week—11 hours of class time a week, 9 hours of independent and group study.

The part time, live online classes are held two weeknights from 6pm-9pm, and Saturdays 9am-2pm.

Plus, a 90–120 hour prerequisite class on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is required before starting the bootcamp.

 

19-week Full-stack Software Engineering with JavaScript and Python Immersive requires 40-60 hours/week—40-50 hours of class a week, plus independent and group study.

The full time, live online classes are held Monday through Thursday 9am-7pm, plus 10 pre-scheduled Friday classes 9am-7pm.

 

For all three courses 100% attendance is expected. There are no excused absences. Students must request a LOA in writing to the Program Lead.

 

3) Curriculum:

For both the 12-week full time, and 36-week part time Full-stack Software Engineering Immersive, students must have coding experience, complete a code challenge, and pass a 75-minute Technical Admissions Assessment exam to be admitted.

Topics covered include data structures, algorithms, JQuery, AJAX, MVC, ReactJS, NodeJS, ExpressJS, authentication, SQL, MongoDB, Redis, ORMs, Object-oriented architecture, Git.

19-week Full-stack Software Engineering with JavaScript and Python Immersive is designed for students with no prior coding experience.

Topics covered include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, React, PostgreSQL, MongoDB.

 

4) Class Format:

Classes are 100% online with a live instructor.

Classes include Q&A, lectures, practical labs, timed exams, independent study, and group projects.

The student to teacher ratio is 25:1

 

5) Community & Collaboration:

Students are encouraged to work on group projects throughout the bootcamp.

After graduation, students have access to Hack Reactor’s alumni network.

 

6) Career Services:

Career services start before students graduate from the bootcamps.

Students must complete tasks and participate in career prep exercises as a requirement for graduation.

They get 1:1 career coaching geared toward their skills and goals.

Students focus on:

• Writing a professional resume
• Practicing mock interviews
• Polishing portfolio projects
• Creating a Linked In profile

 

7) Compliments & Critiques:

Course Report Reviews:

Angely rod: – 12-week immersive

"I love Hack Reactor and what they did for me. However, I will say - they changed their model. They now do regional classes with ~70 students. More tutors (around 15) and less teachers (about 5-7 mentors). It's less personal, less support (you have to actively seek it out). I don't think it's the same. It's much more autonomous - you will get the education you seek."

Chip: 12-week immersive

"I would recommend the 6 or 9 months version instead. It's really not about, 'I have the time to do the 3 months full-time immersive'. I would think rolling over students in 3 months course is better for them but Have a normal life, be able to sleep, and honestly digest better the material and get better ready for job. That is everything! And really, many students from the 3 months have to repeat the junior half."

Joseph: 12-week immersive

"I think one extra week of focus on job search and practice would've been great. It felt really jammed in at the end. I wanted more personal resume reviews, interview practice, maybe talk with alumni about structuring job search days, etc. I really only feel like I refined my job search to an art months after graduation and I think another week in the program with a focus on that would've put me on that path sooner. In the end, it all worked out though, and I'm so happy with the friends I've made and the knowledge/skills I've obtained."

Tammy: 36-week immersive

"Even if you are a working dev who wants to level up your skills I promise it will be challenging. I came into HR as a beginner so for me, meeting the basic minimum requirements is plenty hard. But each project has advanced content and if that isn't enough there's another section called 'nightmare mode.' The staff will make sure you are being challenged - but for most of us the basic curriculum and speed at which you need to finish things is plenty."

 

Course Report's rating: Hack Reactor vs Nucamp:

Hack Reactor - 4.69 average rating from 325 reviews.

Nucamp - 4.75 average rating from 1612 reviews.

 

Key Takeaways:

Hack Reactor’s three bootcamps focus on full-stack development.

So, if you’re only interested in front-end or back-end, then their curriculum is more than you need.

At almost $18,000, Hack Reactor is one of the more expensive bootcamps. And for students who chose the ISA or RIC the cost is $25,000 when all is said and done.

Read the fine print before you commit to a financing plan like an ISA or a RIC.

Make sure you fully understand how it works.

Although you don’t start paying until you’re working, one of the reasons people attend bootcamps is to receive an education without accumulating student debt.

For some, these payment options are their only choice, and they’re willing to commit to that four-year monthly bill to get their foot in the door.

Hack Reactor also requires a huge time commitment.

It will be nearly impossible to take the 12-week or 19-week bootcamp and work at the same time.

It covers a lot of material in a short amount of time. While some appreciated the fast pace, other students mentioned needing more time to digest the material before moving on to the next topic.

Because of the intensive inflexible schedule, it has strict attendance polices.

If you miss one class, you’re so far behind that it’s tough to catch up.

Many reviewers commented on how the pair programming isn’t enforced, so some students were left on their own because their partners were too busy or already way ahead.

The reviews of their job search services were mixed.

Some commented that they were rushed.

But many graduates gave high marks for the support provided by the alumni network.

Each student’s needs are different, so some appreciate the fast-pace and long hours, while others found it overwhelming and had to repeat sections of the bootcamp.

Each student has different needs, circumstances, and learning styles.

Each bootcamp offers different scheduling options and class formats.

Before committing to a coding bootcamp, be sure it meets your specific requirements so you can successfully reach your career goals.

 

The Nucamp difference

At Nucamp, we're committed to ensuring you have all the information to choose the best coding bootcamp for you.

Nucamp’s primary mission is to educate and help people successfully upskill or make a career change into the exciting and ever-changing tech industry.

Plus, we make it accessible and inexpensive.

Our coding bootcamps are high quality, flexible, and one of the most affordable in the industry.

Nucamp offers a variety of online coding language courses including:

1) Web Fundamentals bootcamp (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) that spans 4 weeks for $449

2) Back-End, SQL, and DevOps with Python bootcamp that spans 16 weeks for $1,540

3) Front-End Web Development bootcamp with React.js that spans 17 weeks for $1,540

4) Full-Stack Web Development bootcamp that spans 22 weeks for $1,940

5) Complete Software Engineer bootcamp that spans 11 months for $5,169

 

Classes are part-time, online, and structured with one week of self-paced, hands-on, guided study.

Then a live online Saturday workshop with a dedicated instructor.

We keep our student to instructor ration to 15:1.

Our instructors all teach part-time for Nucamp because they all work full-time in the IT industry.

They use the technology that they teach every day in their jobs.

This ensures our instructors have real-life industry experience and stay current on the latest trends.

 

We’re confident we can help you make that career shift and encourage you to compare what Nucamp's online coding bootcamps have to offer.

To learn more, please schedule a call with a Nucamp advisor.