To start - the actual space for Epicodus is great. The computers are beautiful and fast giant Macs with adjustable desks. Lots of space and light! The security team in the lobby was always helpful and polite, and there is bike parking in the basement. For the actual course I took: I decided to attend the Intro to Programming Course (evening/part time) at Epicodus once I knew I was moving to Portland from NYC. It was a great chance to meet new people, learn some new skills, and see if I might be interested in changing careers. The Intro to Programming Course was perfect for me because it allowed me to get a taste of programming without having to commit to a full-time program and was flexible around a work schedule. The price point was also perfect for me. Our instructor Kyle was great - he was happy to be as hands-on or as laid back as each programming pair needed. I loved pair-programming - there are so many online resources that you could technically teach yourself most of the programming stuff you'd need to know... but if you're an interactive learner like me that benefits from mutual accountability.... SIGN UP FOR EPICODUS. You'll learn so much from your partners, both about programming and how to think about problem solving. This course was totally worth it! read more

I enjoyed having the option to come in to class in person and having teachers who were accessible. The demos and structured lessons were very helpful when they happened. I would have liked to have those more frequently. The constant support from career services was helpful. And I am glad that support continues post graduation. read more

I've taken time to think about this review as I've been out of school now for a few years so take the datedness of this with a grain of salt. I've looked into current offerings and have been in touch with many recent grads as well. I also align strongly with Yelp intended ratings and 3 stars is literally an OK rating so I don't hand out 4's and 5's to just anyone. If I could give Epicodus a 3.5 I probably would because it is OK but not something I would say is really GOOD or for everyone. Here's the Cliff's notes version: Yes code school will get to into tech, no it will not make you a developer or super hireable. Epicodus offers an ok middle-range priced education with some support but you have to be a self-motivated person and understand that tech is not hiring Bootcamp grads like they did in 2015 so be prepared to do a lot of work on your studies and portfolio in order to get a job. The points below cover: 1. my background and scenario 2. curriculum 3. internship 4. jobs 5. $$ I had an education and career before tech but needed a shift. I did a lot of self-study for years and in the end, needed a space and people to hold me accountable and Epicodus did that for me. I couldn't afford to jump all in right away so I did the intro night course and while that was financially a good route I still recommend doing all the courses as the full-time day package if you can swing it. I saved for years to do it and you should know it is VERY difficult to work while in this program as it takes most hours of your life for 6 months. In school, the courses have since been rewritten and that is GOOD as they were still fairly rough 5 years into the company's history. Now if you're really self-driven you COULD do all of the coursework yourself as it's online but having pairing buddies and a class you go with daily IS a huge help to staying accountable AND more similar to most jobs you will be going into. Teachers are underpaid and often former students, that is fine but I think for what you are paying it's difficult not to have a better education from the top. The internship was the real seller for me but the reality is it's often a hit or miss if you get something worth your education and if you've already worked in offices or on teams this section is not as important to you. What tech really needs is folks who are both technical AND good with other humans so if you need to learn that and this is early in your journey the school setting and internship may be helpful to you. They try to bring speakers in to show you that there are many more directions in the industry than just to become a developer and in all honesty, I think this education makes you a perfect fit for Support roles in highly technical companies which gives you a foot in the door. We all have different skillsets and they focus very heavily on becoming a developer so coming out of school I had little knowledge of ALL the amazing roles you could go into from engineering to product management, support or people managers! You have to do a lot of that research and learning on your own, be proactive in your journey. Epicodus is a tough one financially, it's cheaper than a lot of the top tier schools but you don't get the small class numbers and more hands-on education as those higher-cost options yet it's more than the cheap ones where you do it all yourself. So if you just need some accountability and a team to learn with this could be a good option for you. If you're super self-motivated the cheaper options will get you the same education for less and no difference in your attractiveness to companies looking to hire you. Some side notes... the facilities are great, clean, large and lots of computers. I appreciate the space they have created for you to learn especially if you don't have the tech yourself. I'm very happy to see they have jumped on board with the pay assistance models as an option for under or unemployed students looking to make the shift. So in the end, yes Epicodus gave me a few tools to get a job in tech and I was lucky to get a great gig right off the bat but quickly learned I was unprepared for the role. This has led to a few shifts and some better fits but I am not your average bootcamper, I am high human skills and low tech skills. People management is likely where I fit best into the industry and that is the goal. I encourage you to do your research and assess what is best for you financially and educationally and pick whatever school fits your end goals. read more

I attended only the intro course, so I don't know about the majority of their material. I do know that what I experienced was somewhere between marginally adequate and a total mess. The content was meandering and confusing. Michael, the director, made the majority of the video courses, where he spent most his time trailing off on tangents, getting tripped up on words, throwing out advances concepts, and writing sloppy code. When I say sloppy code, I mean sloppy. Most of it was all mashed together without any comments or extra spacing. Paragraphs on top of columns on top of classes on top of divs without any forethought into comprehension of code. I spent most of my time just trying to figure out what his code even meant, let alone write my own. On top of that, Michael's videos often contained printed revisions where he made mistakes during his lectures. It was a mess. The content needs major updating. It's quite obvious they are still using the curriculum from when they opened. They're still teaching bootstraps and JQuery, two refrences that are seldom used in today's programming field. The tech world is always changing, and schools NEED to keep up. They spent most of their time teaching how to cheat on a website by using these two methods instead if actually building a website with clean tags and an understanding of CSS beyond cookie cutter styles from a 10 year old playbook. It was at this point that the free trial ended and they wanted me to cough up 12k for a full education. Now I will say I do have a great understanding of css and html now, but it was mostly because i didn't follow their curriculum and instead bought a great book on the subject, and instead just used class time to teach myself something useful. I want to note that their instructors are all recent graduates that, if I had to guess, were only hired because actual programmers don't want to work there (and it beefs up their placement numbers). I will say I really liked my teacher. He was able to answer most my questions (the content was on entry level things) but I could tell he was frustrated at how the content was arranged. Just don't go here. Don't. The influx of code school grads without knowledge of programming is causing companies to blacklist these schools' graduates. Instead do what I did. There is no "fast and easy" way to b a programmer. This is one step ahead of a con. Careers take work and time and effort, programming isn't a get rich quick scheme. Get an associates at PCC in Computer Information Systems. It's a two year course, it's cheaper than any bootcamp, and you will actually learn how to program and most likely get a job. I love my courses at PCC. I learn more each lesson than I did in the 3 months at epicodus. Hope this helps! read more

Epicodus taught me the most updated and relevant information on each language and framework. I still find myself going back for information from the curriculum now because there is a lot of really useful information in there! This bootcamp provided me with the structure I needed to sit down and spend time everyday to learn how to code. Pair programming was useful because that it allowed me to work with many different types of people and to learn and grow together. The content is challenging so be sure you are ready to commit. You get out what you put in! Ultimately I highly recommend this bootcamp to anyone who is considering one. It's very thorough and the instructors are awesome! read more

Pretty good value for the money. I would say that my overall experience there was pretty great. Pair programming can be a struggle, and sometimes it felt like I was banging my head against a wall, but overall I learned a lot from the instruction given. I think the key to success was making sure you take the homework seriously. I found a huge difference between simply reading it, and really digging in and trying to understand things on an almost intuitive level if I could achieve it. It seems like this would be a no-brainer, but I felt like I saw several classmates do the bare minimum and it really reflected on their performance in class, and sometimes making pair programming frustrating because having not done the work, it would be teaching them all of the concepts again. Though that was really good too because then it further solidified the concepts in my head. The curriculum was dated, and sometimes help wasn't available very quickly from instructors, but the lack of help was rare, all things considered. I did feel like the staff was stretched thin, but that was my perceptions, perhaps on the other side of the table it's a different story. The dated curriculum was a bit frustration, but I can imagine with little staff to update the curriculum, it wasn't easy to stay on the cutting edge. The other thing though... having gone through it, I realized that the cutting edge isn't necessarily the best place to be because it's often not vetted properly, so I became less frustrated with the dated curricular as I realized that, yes it's dated... but also it just works without unanticipated bugs. Most of the bugs we'd run into from our stacks would have solutions if we dug for them. Had it been the newest stuff, we'd be debugging javascript based issues without pre-existing solutions, which could drastically slow things down potentially. Overall I'd say it was a great experience, and nothing beats the value of the internship that they placed me in. Having even 5 weeks of real world work experiences was worth the value of the program without a doubt. read more

The curriculum, career services and instructors are fantastic! I was nervous going into it but they set me at ease. The pair programming is a great approach and above everything else they offer an internship at the end. Would do it all over if I had to choose again! read more

Went to Epicodus is 2019 to shift into a career in tech. The people in my cohort were amazing and the teachers were great to have around too. Everybody really got along and I made friends for a lifetime. What you're really paying for are the connections, structure/accountability to show up every day, and the internship. The curriculum itself was a bit outdated and jumbled (though they really do try and upkeep it as best they can). Overall was an awesome experience. I'd encourage people to attend the first month and see if it works out for them. They are very open to give back your investment if dropped early enough. read more

Pair programming and building a network in the tech community was extremely helpful. Our cohort will have lasting and supportive connections together. The curriculum at Epicodus is thorough, and put me in a solid position to look for work in tech. I'm very grateful for the experience. read more

Thanks Epicodus! I enrolled in their full time C#/.NET program. Even though I wound up not liking C#/.NET it was still incredibly useful and I learned a lot (JS and design are more of my things). I loved my teacher, my classmates, and the learning style Epicodus uses to teach students (paired programming). They also do a good job of connecting you to the tech community by posting about related tech events and building partnerships. Coding was something I never knew I was capable of, but turns out I can do it! Re: Negative reviewers- The school is not for everyone. You have to make the most out of it by working with your teacher and pairing with the right people. It's also not a guarantee that you're going to get a job straight out of school, there are a lot of other factors. read more

I have a CS degree and had been out of work for 3 years due to an illness in my family. I enrolled at Epicodus In Portland thinking this would be a good segue for me getting back in the industry after such a long absence. I even prepaid expecting a great learning experience based on the reviews i'd read. I decided this was not the environment for me and was actually a waste of my money. There are no formal lectures rather proctors who assist you when you get stuck and review your projects. You are basically paying the school $8000 to teach yourself and another classmate how to code by reading their online literature and/or watching videos. Companies are not required to compensate students during their internship. Again, YOU are paying $8000 to teach yourself and buy an internship. I can see how its a plus if Epicodus helps you find an internship as that gets you 5 weeks of actual experience and connections but these companies should compensate the students for their time. There are so many free resources online that you can use to learn how to code and meetup groups that you can attend if you want to get a job in this industry. If you can build a decent portfolio of projects and communicate in a professional manner on how you went about designing, creating and speak to your troubleshooting abilities you can get a job in this industry. I only wish I had thought of this idea as i'm sure the owner is making a nice profit. read more

Why did I go I decided to attend Epicodus in order to switch from game development to web development. I had done some entry level learning myself prior to attending, and wanted a structured, fast-paced experience to capstone my transition. I attended prior to the new structure (there was no intro class), so I had to demonstrate basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript understanding in order to be accepted. The application and interview process was a breeze, and they put a lot of emphasis on making sure I was the right kind of person for their program, not just capable of graduating. Format & logistics The biggest attribute that set Epicodus apart for me was the pair programming aspect. As an extrovert and social learner, this was perfect for my learning style. I was also seeking an all-consuming experience so I could really inundate myself with the subject matter, and Epicodus provided just that. As long as I was willing to show up to class ready to build every day, they were there to ensure that I had the resources and guidance to grow. The program was also much more affordable than other offerings, and there was a huge emphasis on economic and social accessibility at the school. This led to a very diverse group of peers, which I greatly enjoyed working with every day. Coursework The coursework was constantly growing and adapting to industry trends. They realized that their job was to produce work-ready junior developers, and they stayed as current as possible with tools and technology in order to do so. Feedback channels were front and center, and any parts of the coursework that were confusing or broken were addressed overnight, if not the same day. The day-to-day emphasis was on building things constantly. If you're looking to get your hands dirty and build, build, build, then this is where you want to be. Everything from multiple small projects a day, to multi-day efforts, to large group collaborations, to solo portfolio items, there was always a task at hand. Staff & instructors I couldn't have known beforehand, but the staff and instructors at Epicodus were by far the school's greatest strength (Shout out to Mike and Courtney!). Every single person working there had a passion for the success of the students, and not just in a "this keeps me employed" kind of way. They could charge a LOT more for the quality of education there, and they could certainly make more money working for one of those $10,000+ programs. These are people who care deeply about helping people change their lives. Whenever they'd hear about a former student getting hired, they would light up in a way that was telling of people who genuinely care about the welfare of others. Internship I had a somewhat unique opportunity to intern with Epicodus right after finishing the coursework. I don't believe this is possible anymore, but it's still something I want to bring up because of what I learned about the school through the experience. My passion and professional interest lies in the realm of tech education, so the opportunity was exactly what I was looking for. I got familiar with the technological, logistical, and financial realities of operating a bootcamp, and I emerged with even more respect for the people that worked there. Even behind closed doors, discussions were about student success and how proud they were of everyone. I was constantly delighted by how much the staff cared about the students' growth and success. I emerged from the internship with a number of open source portfolio entries and an invaluable experience in the field I wanted to make my career out of. You should go if: - You enjoy working with others and meeting new people. - You're ready to be consumed by the experience. They mean it when they say full-time. - You're ready to meet them halfway and bring determination and discipline to the table. - You understand that their main goal is to teach you how to learn. - You've got the stamina and desire to build all day every day for months on end. You should not go if: - You're introverted or shy to the point that working with others sounds awful and scary. - You're distracted by other aspects of your life that might make you miss class often. - You're unsure of your interest in web development, and this is true of ANY bootcamp. - You're more interested in theory and computer science subjects than work-related skills. read more

Overall, the program worked, and I'm happy with where I ended up. Along the way there were a few bumps. I loved getting to work with a wide variety of people, but at times it felt like groups were composed of people that were poorly suited to one another, when the gap in programming affinity was too wide. Despite any friction, this was an excellent use of 6 months, and if I had to relive this time, I'd still choose to spend it learning here. read more

I will always consider my time at Epicodus to have been a key turning-point in my life. I drove alone in Winter across the country, from Baltimore, Maryland to Portland, Oregon, because Epicodus was one of the few schools who had a payment deferment program for students who couldn't afford to pay upfront, which I really needed in order to even be able to attend. I actually couldn't even afford the gas money to get there; I'm blessed to have generous friends who sponsored my trip on GoFundMe. Web development and art are two subjects I'd always been interested in, but also considered myself not good enough, or smart enough, or privileged enough to pursue 'seriously', and limited myself to just doing work with them as a hobby. I worried constantly that I still would never be good enough, even after I was accepted and started the program at Epicodus. Thankfully, I was quickly overwhelmed by how welcoming and engaging Michael, the director, and the rest of the staff and teachers were. They took a very positive, progressive approach, and strongly discouraged any negative talk - including negative self-talk. I have PTSD, severe anxiety, and morbid depression, and I'm endlessly grateful for the positive, empathetic, and inclusive support that the educators at Epicodus provided to me. Sometimes the stress and anxiety would get overwhelming and trigger migraines, but the classes are set up in such a way that you can access everything online, and Michael and my teachers were very understanding and flexible in allowing me to work from home when I had especially challenging days. The classwork and program itself was excellent. Michael takes great pains to listen to and respond to student feedback, and refine parts of the program to make them more effective. Everything for class is conducted online and organized into units that build on one another, and the materials include video lectures, video and text tutorials, and links to outside resources, which is especially great if you want to revisit certain things or get ill. Videos are also transcribed, which I especially appreciated. I'm hard of hearing and having a textual reference to refer to when I missed something was fantastic. In the end, I of course didn't need to worry about whether I'd ever be good enough. Before I even finished the program, I had secured a job back home in Maryland, working as a web designer. I didn't even do the internship portion of the program at Epicodus - I just went straight to full-time, with-benefits work. I'm so grateful that Epicodus was able to give me the training, preparation, and above all, the self-confidence I needed to finally begin a career that I'm happy to go to everyday. read more

I thought Epicodus was a great experience... web development is a tough field to learn, and this school really took me through the ins and outs of it. I started as a complete novice, I knew maybe a little html and css, and I don't think I could have made the same level of advancement on my own. It's hard work for sure, it requires a lot of dedication, but it changed my life and gave me a new career, so I'm happy to give it 5 stars. read more

I'm going to say that my experience here has been limited, as I only stayed in their PT evening program for 3 weeks, but here's my thoughts: The bad: -Epicodus is only designed for folks whom can afford both in time and money to attend 8-5PM M-F for months & put in extra work on the weekends too. There is a PT Intro class, but there is no other content available on an evening, weekend, or part time schedule. So if you're the "breadwinner" for your home, have children, or any other obligations in your life that prevent you from doing this, then it becomes exceedingly difficult to attend Epicodus. -You're paired (you work with another student for the duration of the day/night) from the first class onward, and they mention in the orientation materials that sometimes you're "paired up" (meaning the person you're with knows more than you), "paired down", or you're equals. The problem there is that if you're in a "paired up" situation, the person whom knows more than you might not be interested in or good at teaching you...or might simply think they know what they're doing vs. actually knowing what they're doing. You're also placed in a potentially similar position if you're "paired down" as you're now the teacher and that may or may not be your cup of tea. I was never in a pairing that I enjoyed. I felt like the lesson for the day got completely muddled in the dynamic of the person you were to be working with. To give a specific example, one pair partner told me he finished all the classwork for that week at home, so he was going to zip to the next week's lesson. You share a computer, and so then it became a strange power struggle between what he wanted and what I wanted the whole night. -For me the learning style just didn't work. You're expected to move at a pretty fast speed, and there really isn't room to help someone left behind like I was. Going into IT was a huge shift for me from being a therapist, and I had a lot of questions that were going unanswered...and then I got more and more confused as time went on & felt like there was no time for review, no one there to help and guide me, or the ability to go more in depth with an instructor on a topic I was struggling with to help clear up questions. The luke warm: -I was surprised by the complete lack of instruction by the instructors, whom are more like proctors than anything else. You learn by watching online video content, which is free and accessible online at the time I'm posting this: https://www.learnhowtoprogram.com/ There isn't enough time or instructors to provide you with in-depth time to answer your questions. There's a question queue system, and the questions are answered as quickly as possible and frequently the proctors didn't seem to know much about the content. -If you're in the PT night Intro class, none of the staff outside the proctors are there, so you miss out on the lunch lectures and other experiences that the FT folks get. I asked if the lunch lectures could be taped, and although I was told this was a good idea, it didn't happen during my time there. -If you're in the PT night class, you're expected to make the transition to the day time full time schedule after the intro class. So that'll involve a lot of planning for most folks to be able to pull off. The good: -The PT night class is a more affordable option if you're unsure whether to commit to the full program during the day or not after Intro is over. At the time I attended it was $400 for the PT night class. -I feel their customer service w/ admissions was fantastic. So do I feel like Epicodus gives you much more than say, a $25 a month Team Treehouse account? No I don't. You're basically only paying for a place to learn to program vs. getting hands on experiences that you couldn't get from a learn to code site & info from an instructor with experience under their belt. I felt like writing this would help to balance out the super positive reviews with perhaps a more...realistic outcome? Epicodus wasn't for me. read more

I found the part time program very rewarding. Due to onset of Covid our class went from on-site to online midway stage (I preferred the on-site version) but in terms of material and what not the whole experience was very rewarding. Plus the course fee is very affordable compared to what others charge (I don't think the people who run this program are money minded - they seem to run it like it's a non profit). I haven't landed a job yet but the whole course was a transformational experience for me read more

I started with a bit of extra web development experience compared with the majority of my classmates. Within 2 weeks I felt like I was swimming in the deep end, Epicodus is FAST at ramping up and challenging you to your fullest. I loved every moment of it. (I should mention that Epicodus does not require you to have any development experience as their courses will bring you up to speed. They do a great job at it!) The classroom environment is set for rapid learning, the instructors were great and very knowledgeable and you are surrounded by other students who learning along with you. Sometimes asking another student for help is just as helpful as getting guidance from an instructor. Although troubleshooting issues on your own is part of the process, this prevents you from getting stuck for too long on any one problem. In addition to learning how to code the latest technologies, the guidance that they provided for your Linkedin, resumes, and cover letters were amazing. They helped me look like an aspiring professional with the skills and experience to back it up. Highly recommend and have already done so to a friend! read more

This school helped me to get a job in tech and advance my career. It also taught me to think like a programmer and learn new methods of problem-solving. Also a super good value. read more

I went to Epicodus for the CSS/Design track in 2017. The course was very rigorous in the best way possible with at the very least 8 hours of each day (often times closer to 12-15 hours) spent either writing code, designing, or testing code/prototypes that I had created. I feel like the experience prepared me to step directly into the tech community and get to work. Since graduation I have been working as a UX designer applying all that I learned as well as expanding upon that knowledge in intelligent and meaningful ways. Not only did I learn how to program at Epicodus but more importantly I learned how to learn technologies as well as getting in touch with the vibrant local tech community. read more

I am very glad to have attended Epicodus. It was affordable for me and I liked what I had read and heard through my research. I moved sight unseen to the city and was happy with the location and school. We had daily stand ups, pair programming, projects and internships. The school curriculum changes through each iteration/cohort but its changing for the better as they work out kinks from student feedback. They are also growing and adding more courses. For example, part time classes versus full time or courses broken into 5 weeks so you can mix and match rather than follow one specific track. After my time at Epicodus, I worked with a wonderful company as an intern and short term employee. Many different things spawned from my experience. I started learning pentesting and got certifications in that, so that I could code more securely and become more cyber aware -- especially since there is news of breeches all the time. I moved abroad and randomly had an idea for a start up. I was accepted to a startup pre-accelerator and just completed that one. I also just finished a small crowdfunding round. Linkedin's Cofounder and Women who code CEO contributed! It was a small amount but hey, at least they know who I am. My path was to work in a tech company, not start one. But I am much more creative now so I have a bunch of ideas for applications these days. Even if nothing works out, I have offers to work as a developer. Code - Job - Startup: You have options. Epicodus can prepare you for the basics and the rest is up to you so be prepared to focus, work hard and put your energy 100% to make things happen. Also be prepared to move. Don't just look to only work in the location of the school. read more

I am very thankful for my time at Epicodus, and for the opportunities it has opened up for me. When I started, I had very little programming experience aside from a few online tutorials. I learned an amazing amount in 6 months. As a developer, you'll need to learn new skills and technologies quickly, and Epicodus gives you great practice! I think pair programming is a very effective way to learn, and it gives you a taste of what it's like working on a development team. You get to know your classmates very well, and walk away with new friends, and a strong professional network. Learning is self-driven, with a teacher providing support, but mostly letting you work through problems with your partner. It was definitely stressful and difficult at times, but also fun and interesting. The weekly code reviews give you a chance to assess what you understand and what you need to study. Most of the time you're creating projects from scratch, which gives you a clear understanding of what all the pieces are doing, but not a lot of experience diving into an existing codebase. I thought the curriculum taught relevant skills, with Git, JavaScript, JavaScript frameworks, and SQL being particularly valuable. Epicodus provides help with LinkedIn, resumes, cover letters, interview practice, and also with the demo days several times a year. You start using Git on day one, and will have a solid GitHub profile by the end of the program. I had a great internship experience, but they do seem to vary. You may not get a job through your internship, or immediately after graduation. I had to apply to a lot of jobs, and it took a few months before I got a paid development internship, but I did get there! Overall, Epicodus is a great value for your money. I highly recommend it! read more

Before starting at Epicodus, I knew next to nothing about programming. As I look back two years after graduating the program, I can say with full confidence that it was my decision to enroll at Epicodus that launched my fulfilling and exciting career in web development. Epicodus teachers and staff strive to create and maintain a unique environment where students can safely learn new technologies and hone their programming skills. By pair programming with my colleagues, I learned how to verbalize concepts, collaborate with others, solve complex problems, and learn from my mistakes. After I completed all my courses, I enrolled in their internship program. During those five weeks, I gained valuable, hands-on, real-life programming experience and had the opportunity to learn from seasoned developers. Landing a job as a programmer certainly requires training beforehand and plenty of hard work along the way. But I can honestly say that if I had not attended Epicodus, I certainly would not be doing the work I love so much today. I am grateful to the team at Epicodus for providing me with the environment, tools, and training I needed to jump-start my career and pursue my dreams. read more

I'm pretty certain the other reviews were written at the request of the staff at Epicodus. I know this because I've heard from other classmates who were contacted to give a review. The reviewers were handpicked for their enthusiasm for the program. You can imagine that they would have had a positive experience if they had gotten a job. Well, there are many people who went through Epicodus who are not developers today. Epicodus no longer even shares employment data on their website. They counted an offer of employment as employment. So if you were offered a one week freelance job, you were counted as employed. If you were offered a job and it never materialized, it also counted. When I was in class, Michael stood up in front of all of us and told us that 1/3 of us would be hired by the end of our internships, 1/3 would be hired one month after internships were over, and the remaining 1/3 would have jobs within 3 months of the program ending. That did not happen. Not even close. Michael also told us he'd provide us with employment statistics 100 days after the program ended. That didn't happen. Also, check out the credentials of the instructors. During my time there, all of the instructors were former students who had little to no industry experience. Talk about the blind leading the blind! To get a dev job when you've completed a program at Epicodus, you will need to be some combination of young, attractive, have a prior experience with coding, and extremely intelligent. Why? Because those things would land you a coding job without Epicodus. Don't believe you will be "transformed" by the program into a developer. You have to fit the bill before you enter the program. Don't believe the "anyone can do it" hype. ITT Tech recently shut its doors. For Profit schools need to be careful. Until then, they'll continue to funnel millions of dollars out of students' pockets. read more

The Epicodus Intro to Programming course was a fantastic way to dive into the programming world for a beginner. As someone who has never taken a programming course, it was easy for me to follow along with the course work at my own pace each week while still pushing myself to advance through the required assignments. Another interesting part of the class was the "pairing" aspect. Each class you are required to pair up with another student to work through that day's coursework. In the beginning the idea of pairing seemed daunting, but once this became comfortable it was a great way to work through issues with your peers who may have had experience with a similar issue. The program does require external research and a commitment to additional studying outside of class if you want to be successful. I would highly recommend this course for anyone who wants to learn more about basic programming and syntax. read more

I attended the night-time Intro to Programming course this last fall, and I was definitely not disappointed. I had tried doing some online free courses and, although I had learned a lot through those free courses, I knew I needed something more structured and with face time in order to really grasp some of the concepts. This class was perfect for that. Not only was Kyle a great instructor and there for any questions we had, but the whole setup of the class itself made for a great learning environment. I was a little nervous about pair programming, as I've always thought that I learned better by myself when I can just sit with something and go at my own pace, but I was pleasantly surprised. Working with someone allowed me to ask questions, explore, and learn with them in ways I know I wouldn't have done on my own. The course material was pretty great as well, just because we covered a wide variety of topics and there was enough there to do in class to understand the basics, but also because there was plenty to do at home if we wanted to. I haven't had the chance to join a full-time class, but I fully intend to once I have the budget and time to do so. Taking the part-time class was totally worth it. I actually took the skills I learned in that class and made a brand new website for my company. Like I said before, there are plenty of incredible online resources, but if you find yourself needing more structure and a great learning environment -- choose Epicodus. read more

I started Epicodus early 2018 and finished near the end of 2018 at the Portland campus. Overall, I had a great experience while taking the course, I felt like I was challenged and that there were definitely great opportunities for growth. Both of the teachers I had there were fantastic. I spent most of my time with Franz, who was an amazing teacher. He is friendly and understanding and made sure to get to know his students. He always gave helpful feedback but also let you struggle for a bit on your own and give you the opportunity to work through the issues in your code first (I see this as a huge positive, you don't learn without failure). The same can be said for Lena, while my time with her was much shorter (only one section of the course) she had a bright and friendly attitude and was there quickly to support you if needed. While Epicodus and it's staff are a great resource to have both in and out of the classroom, you definitely get back as much as you put in. I'm sure that this is true for most code schools. If you go, put in the effort both in and out of class, and try your hardest to succeed and understand the concepts given to you then you'll be rewarded. The pair programming was interesting at first, but I felt like it made the cohort closer and help me both understand my code as I explained it to others and not be afraid to reach out to my classmates for help when I needed it. Every day is new opportunity to learn, especially in any field that requires programming, things are always shifting and changing and if you're not down to be continually learning, then I don't think Epicodus would be right for you. But, if you enjoy learning new things and challenging yourself, then I would say Epicodus is a great choice to develop yourself and new skills. One of the largest draws for me was the onsite 'internship' at the end of the program. You get to interview with companies around the area and then join them for 5+ weeks to work on real projects in a real environment. While my internship wasn't the most stellar and there wasn't much for me to do at the company I was at, I still made the most of it and decided to learn new frameworks and languages. I definitely don't fault Epicodus for my internship experience, but I will say there's a small chance you won't get the company you want or that you'll be doing work that isn't best. I definitely recommend Epicodus to others out there who are passionate about learning a new skill and diving into a completely different career. The coursework was challenging and fun, the internship was a unique experience, and the career support was great as well. I was able to find a job as a Front End Web Developer 2 and half months after finishing and while this wasn't a lead given to me through job assistance, they were still extremely helpful with tips for interviews and career resources. I had a fantastic experience. Happy Coding! read more

Attending Epicodus has been a pivotal experience in my life. I had the time of my life: learning to program, getting to know my wonderful classmates, and having great support from the people who work there, but it wasn't a walk in the park. There were times I found it difficult struggling with new material every day, over the course of four months. However, by following the instructions in class, doing the homework, and ask my classmates for help, I have come out the other side with more than I ever thought I could learn. In class, we learned some of the industry's tools and techniques. The prominent of these was pair programming, programming with a partner. At times, it was the most challenging and rewarding way to program. Learning from each other and helping each other every day has made everyone a better programmer. By programming with others, I have built relationships that will last the rest of my career, too. After my class ended, Epicodus offer lots of help for finding jobs and practice for nailing interviews. I have never felt so prepared for an interview as I do now. It has been over a month out from our internships and most everyone from my class has a great job. I, myself, have had several promising leads and am currently expecting to receive an awesome opportunity with a great company by the end of this week. I truly feel lucky to have been a part of Epicodus and I would recommend it to my friends, family and anyone else looking for a positive, supportive place to make a big change in their life. read more

Kyle who is our evening teacher has gone above and beyond to make the classroom a safe and fun environment. As we near the end of the nighttime program I'm very excited to start on c#!! read more

It was a great, worthwhile experience. Tough, but very educational and worth every penny. The staff are great and invested in your success. I wish I could have slowed the pace down a little bit to go into more depth on certain things and refine my portfolio pieces a bit more, but I did okay and other people seemed to do fine, so YMMV. read more

I took the evening intro program because I was enrolled full time in college and I wanted a course that would fit my schedule. I also wanted to learn a lot in that short amount of time. After the course my interest in programming increased and I am planning on taking the full-time course once everything settles down. Thank you to Epicodus for all your programs read more

I had a great experience with Epicodus. I moved from out of town to attend the program and it provided a great environment for making new friends. The teachers were very helpful and always pushed students to ask meaningful questions. This formulation developed thought patterns that allowed us to grow as students from helpless to empowered. Cooperation and communication are core values of Epicodus, and the pair programming reinforces these fundamental programming skills. I can't imagine diving into programming any other way than with a partner. Having a partner allows you to learn how to talk about programming and it also keeps you focused because you are accountable to your partner and less likely to goof off. Pairing with a different student each day diversifies your communication skills even more. These by products of pair programming were vital to the success of the program, and I wholeheartedly back Epicodus as a proponent of the method. The space itself was very nice. Bright, high ceilings, everyone in one big room chattering about programming. It gave me energy to work everyday. The program is also very focused on helping students get placed in internships with companies on the Portland area. They bring in a bunch of companies and you get to interview with a couple of them that you found interesting. After the internship phase ends, they continue support by helping you reach out to companies looking for jr devs. Anyone looking to get into web development. This is the code school for you. read more

The Epicodus web development program has changed my life. Epicodus emphasizes not only technical skill, but other desirable behaviors like pair programming, git and test driven development. I particularly enjoy bringing together all of the parts of a web application: testing tools, database, ruby and the front-end development tools to produce a well-running, efficient, and beautiful web application. read more

I love my Epicodus family (shout out to the Winter 2015 Ruby cohort). I am extremely happy with what Epicodus provided me. If you are considering attending a code school, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a better value anywhere else in the US. Epicodus gave me a leg up on a career change into web development, taught me how to tackle difficult coding problems, and showed me that I am capable of teaching myself new languages and frameworks. In the Portland area (and perhaps beyond) Epicodus has a reputation of graduating successful developers that follow best practices and pick things up quickly. This is not by accident. The staff is caring and from the top down everyone wants to give you what you need to succeed as a developer, including staff dedicated to facilitating your initial job hunt once you've graduated. Emphasis is on pair programming, which translates into the ability to work with people from different backgrounds, to contribute as part of a team, and to explain what your code is doing. It also results in the class partially teaching itself (as novel techniques disseminate through the classroom with each new pairing). I came into the program with a small amount of experience programming in other languages, but not a lot of confidence in my abilities. As with any code school, your personal motivation to become a developer is the most important ingredient. Having a computer background helps, but I also saw fellow students who came in with little or no background excel through hard work. The pace at Epicodus was reasonable, the night homework was generally 15 - 90 min. I have zero regrets about my decision to attend and I am optimistic and excited about the opportunities now available to me as an Epicodus graduate. read more

I appreciate my time at Epicodus. It had its ups and downs, but I would do it again in a second. I have been employed as a developer since before the bootcamp ended. I had better luck than some because I was willing to look outside of the Portland OR area. read more

Epicodus is not a sink or swim program. They don't expect you to have a background in coding. They do expect you to wake your brain up and put it to work! And along the way, they can help you actually understand how to be a coder, a student, a mentor, and a member of the tech community.  I started in January 2015 with one (traditional style) intro class and one unix class under my belt, and no computer to do extra research or projects(I had to borrow one to do my preliminary work). I quit my job as a property manager and dove right in. (Due to the nature of my job at the time, this means I also lost my housing. That's right, I did Epicodus as a homeless person. A very resourceful, couch-surfing, house-sitting homeless person)  Epicodus has a seriously humble, pragmatic, well-spoken and politically conscious leader. It is truly queer and trans friendly and Michael is on the front lines of bringing and keeping Women in Tech. I am not a person of color, so I can't speak to the experience of folks that are, but basically, the code of conduct pretty much says that rude jerks will not be tolerated, (I am paraphrasing there...) and Michael means it. If you are feeling excluded or picked on, tell Michael and he will end it. Beautifully. Pair programming daily is a part of the deal - and that can get kindof tedious. Not everybody matches up personality wise, BUT it also means you have an opportunity to see so many different points of view and work with all kinds of different ideas. (HINT: Always partner with someone new! It's very comforting to pair with folks you work well with, but you will learn more from the diversity of switching it up as often as possible.) Luckily, they also give you a break on Fridays to just focus on processing what you've learned all week. They throw dozens of different technologies at you throughout the course... Scary right? Why don't they just teach you one language, like Javascript, in depth, so you can feel confident about knowing it well when you are done? The Answer - Because you would be completely useless in most tech companies. The software company I work for now, has no less than 20 different (and often changing) technologies that I touch every single day. If I was unable to adapt to the pace at which things change - I never would have gotten the job in the first place. I impressed my current boss during my internship by taking on a project they expected to be done in 2 weeks. I did it in 2 days. They extended my internship to give me a taste of a department I didn't have any experience in, and they gave me 4 projects to complete in 4 weeks. I did 3 of the 4 inside of 2 weeks, plus, 7 other side projects that happened to come up. My job offer was in by the end of the 3rd week. All because this program kept us hopping from project to project and tech to tech. I got used to being adaptable, thorough, focused, and communicative. Those skills, and a serious passion for programming, is all an employer needs from a junior developer.  Finally, I appreciate that Epicodus really really wants you to get a job when you are done - and they do everything in their power to make it happen. They reach out to the community and they let folks know that the pipeline problem would end - if they hired folks out of bootcamps. (HINT: We actually have more relevant coding experience than folks coming out of PSU with CS degrees. Subjective, I know, but it was a senior dev I know that said it. That comment did not include folks who have already gone all the way through the PSU internship program. We are not that far behind those folks either though.) They make the internship thing happen for 60 people at a time. They host meetups. They bring in speakers from the community. They even brought me back as a speaker to talk about the internship process! They keep us engaged even after the program ends. I recommend this program to all of my friends, and I will happily, personally speak to anyone interested the program. I am a fan, obviously, but if you have concerns, I will be perfectly honest about the struggle side of things. Nothing this good comes without a price, and mine was a few moments of mental and emotional exhaustion (which had a LOT to do with outside factors -which of course everyone has at some point and you should reasonably prepare for)  You can find me on linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karvari- if you would like to chat about it. read more

I worked for 7 years as a meeting planner. I had a good job with good pay, but knew it wasn't the right fit for me in the long run. I knew I wanted to go back to school for awhile, but the thought of going to class for a few years and spending loads of money for some sort of new degree was in no way appealing. Fortunately I found the Epicodus program. No one talking at you from the front of the room (yay!) - instead you are living the life of a programmer from day one, which in itself is the biggest lesson one needs to learn when starting this line of work. The growth mindset that Epicodus helps preach has helped influence multiple aspects of my life and I am grateful to have been (and still am) surrounded by the support and positive/healthy attitude from everyone affiliated with the program. The class goes by fast and moves quickly through content, and it can be mentally and physically taxing. Knowing I was doing this for myself and my future definitely helped me through, and it helped develop a frame of mind that one needs on the job. You can only learn so much in 5 months, so being able to prove your ability and mentality to learn on the job is a huge aspect that I was able to take away from this experience. read more