Coding Dojo Chicago - Chicago, Illinois

Vadim F.

Disclaimer: I am a bit biased towards Coding Dojo, because it worked out very well for me personally. I had a blast while attending, graduated in February 2019, and got a job in the field about a month after that.
Pros:
• Three full stacks are in fact valuable. A more diverse range of skills allows you to cast a wider net when looking for work, and once you picked up three languages, five frameworks, and two database technologies, learning more while in the field is far less daunting.
• The tech the Dojo teaches is in demand and there is no shortage of job positions open right now looking for the skill set you can pick up here
• The school culture is great. The Dojo encourages cooperation and group learning and contacts you make while in school will be very valuable after you leave.
Cons:
• While the local staff is pretty great, knowledgeable and helpful, the upper management seems quite detached from the school's day-to-day and while I was graduating has made bad decisions recently, with regards to several aspects of the program, especially the career services. They seem to be back on track now, but that was disconcerting.
• Career services part of the program is lacking, although, as mentioned, they are trying to improve. You are given about a week worth of lectures on job hunting, interviewing, salary negotiations, etc, have a few role-play interviews, and then start getting an occasional e-mail about positions in the area. The Dojo is fairly upfront about this, but to reiterate: this school will not place you in a company. It will help you as you look for work, but you have to find and get the job yourself.

Jonathan S.

I had an amazing experience at the Dojo! It was an extremely well-rounded program providing three full-stacks, daily algorithm practice, and collaborative projects with other students. The professors ranged from former students to veterans with decades of experience -- all of whom were very knowledgable and willing to help. They also stay very involved after the program, whether you are on the job hunt, or even if you have secured a programming job. I would definitely recommend this program to family or friends.

Bonus: I also got really good at ping pong while giving my brain a break.

Mick J.

I loved my time at Coding Dojo Chicago. The instructors are very knowledgeable and care deeply about student success. Their learning platform is great at providing a number of assignments in order to practice a new skill (as opposed to just being slide after slide of information). Students practice algorithms every morning, which allows exposure to computer science fundamentals like big O notation and data structures. After learning each stack (At the time of my attendance - Python/Django, Ruby on Rails, and MEAN), students can participate in a project week, which was my favorite part of the experience. It was great working on a longer-term project, putting our skills to use, and working on a team (practicing a loose agile methodology and collaborating over Github).

Wajih B.

This Coding Bootcamps insists, guarantees that they will not kick you out, drop you if you "struggle". The truth you will know it when they tell you sorry you failed and you will have another only one chance. Yes they want as many as people to put their money in them, then They will kick you out. This place is not for beginners. Assignments are not for few hours and the instructions is just for chilling. They claim 30% fail this program. I guarantee you more than 50%. I was ripped off. They will drop you with frustration. Better do the free bootcamps.

Dan G.

PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND JUST SAY NO! I work full time and tried to do the part-time accelerated program and there are just not enough hours in the day to complete it. The recruiter at Coding Dojo, gave a hard sell that this could be done easily. NO WAY! Besides the time crunch, the TA's and instructors were not available for help on weekends, and/or if they were available, the TA's could not answer my questions. The teacher I had for MERN was inexperienced as an educator and many students had to look at other instructor's videos for clarification. THIS WAS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.

Sabah A.

I had a great time at the Coding Dojo, very comprehensive program and by learning 3 stacks I feel very confident that now I can learn new web technologies without an instructor. Great staff and instructors who were very helpful as well.

Alfredo O.

Their instructors are students from previous cohorts who couldn't get a job so they hired them back to pad their misleading "employment" stats. Fullstack Academy is by far the best coding bootcamp in Chicago, and it's not even close!

Ra'mar ?. L.

Honestly, one of the most intense experiences I've ever been through. I was worth it in the end as I learned how to build websites completely from scratch. A valuable skill to have.