Student Testimonials & Reviews

After a year and a half of trying to learn it on my own, all those gaps when I was self-teaching are filled in because there’s so much collaboration with the instructor and the TAs. Seeing how the different things work together to make you a full-stack developer and having someone to hold your hand through understanding all the different components and how they work together makes a huge difference.

I loved being in that mode of learning. It’s humbling to be a learner and to be a sponge, and it helps in other areas of life also. All the teachers and TAs have that humility and with technology, there’s always more to learn, so that was great to experience.

Halfway through the boot camp, I started applying for opportunities, not expecting much. I applied for a web development position and got the job! I started last week.

If you have interest and you’re willing to spend the time, it’s totally worth it. You learn so much and in the end, you will be prepared to enter the workforce. It’s hard to go back to school and also be a working professional. When I thought about returning to school for coding I realized it was a big commitment, but it’s worth it. It is very immersive and intensive but, you can do anything for six months.

I’m really grateful this program exists and that the University sponsors it.

What inspired you to learn to code at the coding boot camp?

Before starting the boot camp, I fell into doing a little bit of website coding and became more interested. I started to self-teach myself for a year and a half before enrolling in the program. I was considering going back to get another degree and started Googling/looking for other programs to find out what options I had.

What will you be doing, post-graduation?
I actually just landed a new job, already. I was only halfway through the boot camp when I started applying for interesting opportunities, not expecting much. I submitted an application for a web development position and ended up landing the job. I started last week.

What did you find most challenging about the program and what were your key takeaways?
The most challenging part was the beginning because everything was foreign, so at first, I wasn’t even sure how to ask the right questions. I spent a lot of time on basics in the first month or so; once I understood more, it got easier. I ended up learning the basic terminology and able to ask the right questions.

After a year and a half of trying to learn it on my own, all those gaps when I was self-teaching myself were filled in because there was so much collaboration with the instructor and the TAs. Seeing how the different things work together to make you a full-stack developer, as well as having someone help you understand all the various concepts and how they work together makes a huge difference.

Aside from just learning how to code, how did attending the coding boot camp impact your life?

You become so immersed in the boot camp that you learn quickly if this is really what you want to do. I found out that I really, really loved it. It helps me outside of just my professional life too. Coding helps you think critically about many things. For example, how things work and breaking things down. I loved being in that mode of learning. It’s humbling to be a learner and to be a sponge. All the teachers and TAs have that humility and with technology, there’s always more to learn, so this was great to experience.

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is considering attending the coding boot camp?

I would say just do it. If you have interest and you’re willing to spend the time, it’s totally worth it. You learn so much and at the end, you are prepared to enter the workforce. Like I mentioned, it’s hard to go back to school and also be a working professional. I realized this was a big commitment, but one that was worth it. The program is very immersive and intensive, but you can do anything for six months.

I’m really grateful this program exists, and that the university sponsors it. I would want to say thank you.

What inspired you to attend The Coding Boot Camp?

On several occasions, I tried the self-teaching method to learn how to program, but I always ended up either not making it through all the online material or would get stuck on a topic that just didn’t make any sense. I decided that the only way I was going to become a web developer was through some sort of structured teaching to keep me on track. I needed to have personal interaction and guidance for what I was learning.

When I was told that the University of Utah was offering a full stack web development course, I knew I had to jump in and do it. A coding boot camp seemed to be the right fit for me since I wasn’t very thrilled about the idea of going back to school to get another degree while spending thousands of dollars more than the cost of the boot camp just to learn to program.

When you finish the program, what are your goals?

After finishing the program, I want to jump into a company and continue learning and growing my knowledge of web development while I work on my own personal projects.

What do you find most challenging about the program?

It is a fast-paced course! I have learned so much in the short amount of time I have been in the program. The most challenging part for me is making time outside of class to study up on topics we were taught and practicing code our assigned homework and projects.

How has attending the boot camp impacted your life?

I have such a better understanding of how web development works. Four months ago if you were to ask me what a web framework was or what the benefits of APIs were I couldn’t tell you. I find myself at work trying to identify systems that could be moved to the web, or how I could better improve our web applications, and I think this is awesome! I never noticed myself thinking this way before.

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is considering attending the coding boot camp?

Be prepared to have your life consumed by code! Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you feel like you aren’t grasping the topics and just know that you are going to spend a lot of time outside of class writing code as well. It really is a fast-paced program and if you can do the homework and the projects and then do them over again once you finished them the first time around, you shouldn’t have any issues becoming a full stack web developer.