7 C's Review #1: What to Know When Choosing the Right Coding Bootcamp for You

The first in our series on coding bootcamp reviews

Nucamp’s Review of Flatiron School

Are you considering learning to code, but having a tough time deciding which coding bootcamp is best for you?

Choosing an online technical bootcamp can be difficult with the large number of options available.

Best Coding Bootcamps 2022 | Best Colleges

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

The first school we're assessing is Flatiron School.

Based in New York, they offer an online Software Engineering Course.

 

What you should consider:

1) Cost:

Flatiron's Software Engineering course is $17,900.

(Industry online coding bootcamp average costs range from $1,500 to $17,000.)

Tuition can be paid in full up front.

Paid with a 12-month no interest installment plan

Paid with a loan through either Ascent or Climb. Ascent offers loans with monthly plans up to 36 months. Climb offers up to 42 months of payments.

A $7,500 'Cost of Living' loan is also available for attendees of the in-person programs.

Scholarships are also available for those who are eligible.

(Note: Financing options listed in this article were updated in January 2023.)

2) Commitment:

Bootcamp students can choose either a full-time schedule or a flex schedule.

The full-time schedule is a 9 hour a day commitment, Monday through Friday over 15 weeks with live instructors.

The self-study flex schedule can be extended to 20, 40, or 60 weeks. Students work independently from recorded lessons.

Note: The average coding bootcamp is about 14 weeks long (via coursereport.com).

3) Curriculum:

Their online software engineering course is a full-stack curriculum including both front-end and back-end development.

The core languages taught during their software engineering course are HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Ruby, and Rails.

4) Class Format:

The full-time option allows for live virtual classrooms with instructors. The average class size is 20 students per edfoundationsrq.org .

The self-study flex schedule is based on working independently from recorded lessons.

The average class size is 40 students per edfoundationsrq.org .

There is an offering for flex students to sign up for optional study groups or 1:1s with an instructor.

5) Community:

There are live lectures, instructor office house, and collaboration with other students.

6) Career Services:

They provide access to career coaches who help with resume reviews, job search guidance, and technical interview preparation.

7) Compliments & Critiques:

Course Report Reviews:

Taylor A. - Course: Online Software Engineer Immersive

First of all, I loved my Flatiron Experience. The content is put together well enough, but I recall several sections where if the wording didn't make sense, the only way to move forward was to group up and figure it out with the help of others. As far as interviews go, the preparation leaves a lot to be desired.

Sam M. - Course: Online Software Engineering Immersive

My only quibble with the way the instruction was structured was because everyone was learning at their own pace, sometimes I would find the class meetings helpful and informative and sometimes I would find them difficult to parse, depending on where I was in the material. Where we should have been at by the time we attended a lecture to get the most out of it was wasn't made clear. This is a small critique though as most lectures were helpful and really, all of the information I needed was in the written lessons anyway.

Anney Park

Pros:
I learned the most while pair programming which we did a lot of.

Cons:
There were too many students to coach ratio and it was hard at times to get one on one interaction and help when needed. Some of the curriculum was outdated especially in the later modules so there was a lot of independent study and research that had to be done to better understand and prep for the code challenges.

Marissa Nolan - Course: Online Software Engineering Immersive

There is a lot of autonomy, so be prepared to be self-motivated. They don't have one set course for learning as there are a multitude of resources, so you'll have to experiment and decide what works best for you. That was tough for me having no background in coding and as I usually do better with a set "learn this, then read that, then do this" type of layout.

Alex Aaron

Prior knowledge is essential: For incoming participants with no prior programming experience, I would advise you to go above and beyond to secure a base level understanding of certain concepts before the program begins. The program requires that you complete a preparatory course before your cohort begins, but I urge new participants with no programming experience to supplement their materials and go beyond that course before their start date.

 

Course Report's rating: Flatiron vs Nucamp:

Flatiron School - 4.53 average rating from 544 reviews

Nucamp - 4.75 average rating from 1520 reviews

 

Flatiron School Legal Challenges

In 2021, Flatiron School settled a case in Massachusetts for $89,000 over "allegations that the school used high pressure enrollment tactics and failed to provide proper disclosures about the program."

In September 2020, Flatiron School faced allegations of claiming false, misleading job placement rates and starting salaries.

You can read more about the class action here: ClassAction.org .

In 2017, Flatiron School settled a different case with New York State for $375,000 over false job placement and starting salary claims.

 

Key Takeaways:

The two primary drawbacks are the cost, $16,900, and surprisingly that the part-time option does not offer any live instruction.

We highly recommend that coding students receive live instruction at regular intervals to ask questions and get feedback on how your coding skills are progressing.

Decide what is most important to you when choosing a coding bootcamp. Make sure to speak with the school's advisors about the bootcamp that you are considering.

At the end of the day, your decision needs to align with your values, budget, and schedule.

Everyone's criteria will vary.

 

Start your career in tech.

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.

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

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.