Epicodus Review

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.

Epicodus helped me transition to a new career and offered me month of hands on experience in web development. They are always upgrading their curriculum and are passionate about providing the best education possible. Studying at Epicodus was one of the best decisions I've ever made and I would recommend it to anyone.

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.

I graduated from Epicodus earlier this year, and it was a wonderful, positive experience.

I went into the course with minimal knowledge of programming, and came out with the confidence to teach myself anything. The curriculum lays a good groundwork to start from, and the environment is very collaborative and supportive.

My favorite thing about Epicodus is the staff. Michael really cares about the students and the mission of Epicodus, and the teachers were absolutely wonderful. I would definitely do the whole experience over again if I could.

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! If the instructor couldn't hack it, they were moved to curriculum creation or admissions or some other sort of admin role.

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.

Edit: As you can see by the response of the "owner" below, they can make whatever claims they'd like, and they can say what I say isn't true. It may not be true as of "today" but it was definitely true when I attended and finished the program. Also, they have rigid requirements for determining if someone is "actively" seeking a job. If you don't meet those requirements, then you're considered to not be job searching.

If you're someone who wants to get into web development but don't know how, Epicodus is the place to be. The transition from learning the materials, to internship, and transitioning into the web development world has been smooth! But do note, you get what you put into it too! If you're only here for a job and not putting effort with what you're learning, then you're going to have a tough time looking for jobs and learning the materials! Employers will see that in your work/portfolio. Networking has also played an important part of my succcess. I met people who were in development during the course, volunteered to work on projects and etc..this helped strengthen my skills as an applicant for jobs. I had a nice fancy portfolio to show with my proven skills - my current employer told me my application was on top of the stack! So don't forget to be driven and keep up with your skills no matter where you are. Even with my current job, I still code and keep up with other skills I don't practice at work. I'm just that driven! :) I am happy with where I am now compared to 6 months ago before Epicodus. I work close to home, great hours, have a nice and professional team! I am forever grateful to Michael and the Epicodus team! :) Thank you and I'd recommend this to anyone!

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!

(Please read amendment at the end of this review.)

I had a mixed experience at Epicodus. I enjoyed pair programming and my internship was awesome.

But I do have some issues. Epicodus has not been that helpful with job placement. Yes, we worked on a resume, did a mock interview, and the like, but there was no solid guidance in the job search or worthwhile connections to companies like New Relic, which is practically across the street. When my career counselor saw my Epicodus approved resume, she was shocked and immediately made me rework it. Demo Day was very disappointing. A few "employers" (New Relic was NOT one of them) meandered around the room looking at projects. I had to aggressively flag them down to present my project to them. I don't know anyone who landed a job from Demo Day.

I also don't feel that the instruction prepared me for a full-time coding job--there's lot of hands on coding, but nothing about optimizing code or anything about coding methodology, e.g. functional programming versus object oriented programming. The code reviews are kind of a joke. I didn't really get very useful feedback--it's mostly positive, but nothing specifically related to the quality of my code. To get a good score all I had to do was read through the week's lesson and follow the directions.

My main problem with Epicodus is that they sell you on the dream of changing your life with a coding job--anyone can do it--just complete our program and you'll be a programmer. Companies need Epicodus graduates to fill open positions! That has not been my experience and I know other Epicodus graduates who would agree with me.

****Amendment****
I reached out Epicodus about job assistance and was offered some excellent tips and tricks. They also let me show work at Demo Days.
While I still stick by my initial review, I want also to emphasize that my overall experience at Epicodus was positive. Epicodus is not perfect: the instructional format is not optimal and they do oversell their services, but they also do strive for excellence and care about student success.

If you're someone who wants to get into web development but don't know how, Epicodus is the place to be. The transition from learning the materials, to internship, and transitioning into the web development world has been smooth! But do note, you get what you put into it too! If you're only here for a job and not putting effort with what you're learning, then you're going to have a tough time looking for jobs and learning the materials! Employers will see that in your work/portfolio. Networking has also played an important part of my succcess. I met people who were in development during the course, volunteered to work on projects and etc..this helped strengthen my skills as an applicant for jobs. I had a nice fancy portfolio to show with my proven skills - my current employer told me my application was on top of the stack! So don't forget to be driven and keep up with your skills no matter where you are. Even with my current job, I still code and keep up with other skills I don't practice at work. I'm just that driven! :) I am happy with where I am now compared to 6 months ago before Epicodus. I work close to home, great hours, have a nice and professional team! I am forever grateful to Michael and the Epicodus team! :) Thank you and I'd recommend this to anyone!

If you're looking for a cheaper, quicker way to get into development or other tech career path, this program is for you. It's intense and a lot of work even outside of the 40-hour weeks in class. Your brain will hurt. You will be tired. You may be one of the students who sleeps on the couches. But it is all worth it!

I mainly chose Epicodus over other programs because it offered a React track and included an internship experience. For me, this was a mid-career change and paying for another traditional degree or graduate program wasn't going to work. And while it's not easy to pair program all day long, my classmates were some of the most supportive and enjoyable parts of this experience. Lunch talks are a great way to network, learn from those actually working in tech and hear about different paths you can take.

Epicodus is a growing family in the Pacific Northwest ... graduates are everywhere! During and after school, I have run into Epicodus students at conferences, at my current employer and on the MAX train.

If this is something you're considering, I would recommend checking out the Saturday open house or scheduling a visit.

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.

Hi, 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.

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.

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.

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.

I attended Epicodus last summer. I had very little coding experience. The first day of class I felt completely overwhelmed with the amount of information. It is now a year after I began attending Epicodus and I have had a full time salary tech job for three months. Epicodus was a quick way to get the skills necessary to get a job as a developer. One difficult thing about it is the student to teacher ratio. When I attended I think there were 60 students and 2 instructors. This meant that you didn't get a lot of one on one time with instructors. However every day you pair with another student. Some days my partner was more advanced, some days less, some days we were about even. If you want to learn the skills you can learn a lot from other students in the program.

Working as a developer is a culture and I think it just takes some time to get used to the culture and decide if you want to be a part of it or not. As a developer you spend a ridiculous amount of time in front of a computer. My first exposure to this was with Epicodus where you are in front of the computer at least 7 hours a day 5 days a week. There are meetups every week, different languages and frameworks that people use and are involved with etc. I didn't start doing well in interviews until I became interested in coding and the whole culture. I have found that it is not really just a job. I think I would have had an easier time in Epicodus and my internship if I was already excited about and committed to being a part of the culture. So what I'm saying is that Epicodus is a great program. I learned a lot, but I would recommend studying how to make websites, write code etc. on your own for a while before attending.

Also, they will put in a lot of work to help you find a job. They worked with me for months after the course was over, making introductions, helping me set up interviews. I really appreciated that, and overall I thought it was a great program.

I recently finished the intro to programming course and plan on taking the full-time course at a later time. Epicodus provides you with all the resource that you will need to enter the career field of programming and software development. Of course, you need to put in the hours but epicodus will be there to teach you the proper way of doing things. I think epicodus is very welcoming of anyone who wants to learn programming, there are people that are just starting and people with a bit more experience but everybody gets the attention they need. I will continue to master and have fun with what I learned at the intro course.

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.

I moved across the country to attend Epicodus. Not because I was 100% sure it would be the stepping stone to a fruitful and fulfilling career, but because I had a feeling it would be a great place to grow and work on my programming chops. And it was. Epicodus isn't in the business of teaching you how to be the next "Rock Star" or "ninja," it's invested in creating a coding community of equality and kindness. There were a number of things that I especially appreciated about Epicodus and its team, including:
1. the emphasis on growth-mindset. You will never, and are not even able to know everything about programming. What's important is that you feed your curiosity and know that you're always capable of learning. To start learning with that mindset, and be surrounded by people who share it is incredibly encouraging.
2. the emphasis on kindness. In their code of conduct they point out that you will be working with people all day long, and should be able to handle that well. I'm an introvert, with a touch of social anxiety, but when I read about pair programming, I believed everything people said about learning more and learning quickly. Their call for people to at least try to be kind helped relinquish anxiety about being out of my comfort zone 40 hours a week.
3. the diversity. As a minority (an Asian woman), not being in a room full of homogeneous people and minds was important to me. Epicodus makes it a point to have a variety of students (in terms of coding backgrounds, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic backgrounds, race, and age) which makes for a welcoming and inclusive environment.
4. the team's responsiveness to feedback. In college, we would fill out end of the semester reviews about a class and its professor. At Epicodus, there was a survey every week about that week's curriculum and our teachers. Plus weekly one on one check-ins with the teachers. Epicodus is experiencing a lot of growth right now, and probably some growing pains, but I'm sure changes they make will be led by the relevant feedback provided by their students to better the program and grow right alongside them.

Epicodus is one of the single best decisions I have ever made. My new career is more day-to-day enjoyable, more rewarding, the environment more relaxed, and yes, the pay is better, too. Meanwhile, I still regularly get together with my classmates, a remarkable network of friends. To understand just how wildly successful Epicodus is at what it does, there are a number of things you need to know, things that I personally found helped me.

Without their deferred payment option (pay $200 up front, the rest after the class is done), I simply could not have attended Epicodus. While the intellectual diversity of the class is something Epicodus intentionally aims for, it's the follow-through of things like deferred payment that actually make it possible for the school to cast a wider net and allow more people to attend. The pre-class work online gave me specific, actionable goals so that I would know I'd be ready for Epicodus. Before that, I'd been going it alone, having more trouble figuring out what to learn than actually learning it.

Epicodus takes advantage of a "flipped classroom," where your homework is to watch a class lecture/introduction to new material, and your classwork is the actual coding, right there where you can check in with instructors and other classmates. Pair programming helps accelerate everyone's learning. On my very first day I paired with someone who understood the command line and took the time to teach me; I was soon passing that information along to others. Ideas and discoveries ripple through the class as the environment allows for an easy dialogue. And this is where the diversity of the class really adds something special, a magic that I can't very well describe here. Where else can a writer and an MBA pop over to ask the meeting planner and mechanic how they solved that code challenge? Growth mindset is something you'll hear about a LOT at Epicodus. Taking a cue from the growing body of research that talent is more of an illusion than we realize, Epicodus has the attitude right to help you fight through the frustration of tough days (which everyone will have when learning something new). The best part for me personally was that the instructors have taken this to heart; when they come to help you with a problem, they're not really concerned about getting you an answer for That Problem. Instead, they use the problem as an example to help you figure out HOW to figure things out. They are constantly adapting/evolving. You'll have weekly one-on-one check-ins with instructors, and they're actually listening. The Epicodus team is constantly revising the curriculum to improve the experience, so each new class benefits from the one before. Some of those changes can be immediate; our class began to have more two-day projects during our Rails unit due to my and others' feedback that we wanted to dig deeper into some of our projects.

The internships offer direct, immediate experience as the final quarter of the class. (Mine led directly to my job!) Epicodus is constantly growing its web of connections within the Portland coding community, and this means they constantly have a number of partners who take interns, come to job fairs, speak at events, and co-host other events. There's a team dedicated to helping place students into both internships and, afterwards, help them on the job hunt. In an industry where job openings for senior developers are sitting unfilled because there simply aren't enough experienced people, Epicodus is helping companies figure out that they're going to have to grow their own...and providing a number of us a leg up as we step in and say, "We're new, but we're ready to learn." Quite simply, Epicodus was a remarkable, positive experience, and it set me up for my current success, and more.

You will find a new passionate at Epicodus like hundred students have done. This fantastic course just takes 4 months but give you all necessary background and sharp tools to jump into the coding market. After the course, they will help you going through processes of preparing for interviews, joining an internship and then finding a job. Epicodus is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

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 cirriculum 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 cirriculum was a bit frustration, but I can imagine with little staff to update the cirriculum, 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 cirriculum 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.

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.

Epicodus has a seriously humble, pragmatic, well-spoken and politically conscious leader. Epicodus 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. Luckily, they also give you a break on Fridays to just focus on processing what you've learned all week.






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.

The staff at Epicodus are friendly and help as much as they can. The facilities are clean and the atmosphere is one of cooperation. However, the Portland job market for juniors has changed dramatically over the past three or four years. Epicodus staff are in denial about this point in particular - the business model is based on pumping out tons of entry level developers into a city where there are very few jobs to train them beyond that point. Their teachers are not experts -- one of the students from our cohort, who had no prior experience, was hired immediately upon graduation. If I had better understood the field when coming into this program, I would have taken the initiative to start attending code meetups in town, find a study buddy + mentor, and use low-cost sites like Treehouse or Udemy, with tutorials that far exceed the quality of what is offered by epicodus. Be smart, teach yourself and don't quit your day job.

Edit: In response to the owner's comment that Epicodus teachers are somehow preferable because they are fresh out of school, this is just flat out incorrect. The instructors are well-intentioned but not always qualified for a leadership position at a code school. I experienced and witnessed countless situations where the Learnhowtoprogram documentation was vague or deprecated, and the teachers did not have enough expertise to quickly solve our problem. Consequently, students end up wasting a lot of time that would have been saved if the curriculum and skill level of the teachers were higher quality. One of the biggest advantages to finding a local study group and learning on your own is that you can work with inexpensive, high quality tutorials.

The "Demo Day" at Epicodus was a joke. We were promised 45-60 companies when in reality, there were probably between 5-7 companies there, only one or two of which were hiring. From what I understand, nobody from our cohort was hired from demo day. The staff never acknowledged this, and on the contrary, sent out a mass email afterwards celebrating the event as a success.

This post is here to balance out the disproportionate enthusiasm of all the other "success stories" on this page. Epicodus encourages newly hired students to post positive reviews, whereas people who don't have that same success generally don't say or write anything. If every unemployed graduate from my cohort posted a review, the rating would likely be closer to 2-3 stars.

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.

Two of my family have graduated and doing excellent. Well worth the money.

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!

I took the Intro to Programming night class in the spring/summer of 2019 and it was a fantastic growing experience. The pair programming approach is challenging in the best possible way and really prepares you for working/problem solving with others. I totally recommend it.

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.

I personally had a really good experience at Epicodus. After trying my hand at using free online resources to teach myself coding, I found that I really needed the structure of a classroom with schedules and deadlines to keep me motivated and on task as well as teachers and peers to help answer questions and improve my understanding. To this end, Epicodus was totally worth it. The course work was mostly very good. There were occasional issues since curriculum is often being updated, but the staff were responsive to feedback. I also found the response to questions was usually prompt and helpful, but even more important was my amazing cohort. Pair programming with other students every day was sometimes intimidating, but really helped me learn. From answering questions to helping interpret lessons to giving feedback on code, working in pairs (and groups for projects) was one of the most valuable features of the program.

The internship was a big selling point for Epicodus as well, and I was very fortunate to get a great internship. I know that the internship experience of my cohort varied, with a few students having major issues, but hopefully Epicodus will continue to increase their consistency with respect to quality internships. Regardless of internship, I feel that the career support for graduates is pretty strong and another benefit that makes the program well worth it.

Epicodus was exactly what I needed to determine whether I wanted to continuing expanding my web programming knowledge into a career. I chose the Part-time course as a wayfinder, which was affordable and fit with my full time work schedule. The instructor was attentive, helpful, and knowledgeable about industry trends. The pace was challenging but not overwhelming. The classroom space was great with state of the art computers and equipment. The in-person class setting was particularly valuable to me as I really enjoyed partnering with different classmates and learning from each other. Overall it was a good experience for me and a way to push myself to explore new career options. Thank you Epicodus!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

Like a Job that Leads to a Career

The Epicodus 6 month bootcamp program is for the courageous and dedicated person who desires to transition into a high tech career.

It is NOT like a college or university program with several classes and a schedule you can design for yourself.

It is like a demanding entry level job. One must be there 8 to 5, Monday to Friday week after week for 6 months. One cannot afford to take days off. And yes, one needs to stay dedicated and regularly study during nights and weekends.

The reward for completing this program, is knowing that you can in fact work in a fast paced software development environment. You can in fact work well both alone and also all day with colleagues. And you can work with a variety of modern computer languages, frameworks and tools, in a short amount of time. You know this, because this is what you have been doing for 6 months.

Proof is both in your Github portfolio and in a rigorous report of accomplishment and attendance from Epicodus.

Epicodus is a credible organization that reliably produces qualified software development and high tech workers in their 6 month program.

I had a bad feeling from the first time I asked my 'instructor' a question and his response was 'figure it out yourself'. There's no service offered here. I ended up spending the majority of my time assisting my confused classmates. Eventually I missed one of the 14 or so requirements they had on a homework assignment. That was sufficient to kick me out of the program saying, 'that wouldn't be acceptable in a workplace.' Well it ain't a workplace, in theory you're supposed to be learning.

They spend a lot of time talking about how positive their internships are. I spoke with one of my friends who's job took on a Epicodus intern a few times, he visibly flinched at the name. The majority of people he's seen from there are completely incompetent.

Waste of time and money, just study online.

To start - the actual space for Epicodus is great. The computers are beautiful 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!

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

Through Epicodus, I was able to land a job at a creative agency and I am finally doing fulfilling work. They provided an environment for me to learn something new, work with others, and help me achieve my goals. If you are dedicated and are willing to spend many hours outside of this program studying, you will succeed. The work you put in will reflect how soon you obtain a job after the program. Epicodus will NOT hold your hand during the program. They give you the opportunity to learn and better yourself, and it's up to you to seize every second of it.

Still fairly new here at Epicodus, but my experience so far has been awesome. I was recommended by several friends to go to this bootcamp and a few weeks in I understand why so many friends had a great experience. The coursework is very challenging, encourages working in groups, collaborative coding and hands-on-the-keyboard instructions. I cannot say enough good things about my experience. I think you can find a cheaper option out there, but based on how many friends have gotten jobs so quickly after the bootcamp I am glad I made the choice I did!

Epicodus was a warm and unforgettable experience. The classes were structured in an efficient format and were fast and challenging, and accomodating to students with no prior experience or a lot of experience. Our teacher Tyler was incredibly knowledgable and helpful. My classmates were ambitious and driven, and I ve developed lasting relationships with them that will continue to be fruitful in the industry. The staff at Epicodus is motivated to help you succeed and will be there with you up until you find a job you that suits your needs.

The internship oppurtunity alone is worth the price of admission. I was placed with a professional and respectful company that ended up hiring me out of the internship.

I would recommend Epicodus to anyone who wants a career change, and I have recommended it to close friends and family.

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!

Attending Epicodus was the best choice I have ever made for myself. About 6 months before my first day of class I decided I wanted to learn programming, but I wasn t comfortable or disciplined enough to learn it on my own. Epicodus was so much more than I expected it would be - not only did I receive skills that advanced me far more quickly than I thought was possible when it came to learning to program, I made friends and gained a network of great people who will be with me in the industry for my entire career. I cannot recommend it highly enough. As a woman in tech, I found the environment supportive but not patronizing - in fact I felt more included there than I have felt anywhere else. I strongly encourage anyone who is ready for a life change to sign up for Epicodus.

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.

Completed a tour and introductory project. Nina and Travis were both informative, interesting and honest. They played to their strengths and complimented each other well. The school seems concise and offers reasonable tuition.