Hack Oregon Reviews

TL;DR Hack Oregon / Hack University provides a good combination of practical education (helped me get a job), opportunities for collaborative skill building, and a chance to work on projects that make a difference.

I took the ReactJS Web Development course through Hack University, and while the amount of material we covered was a bit overwhelming, I learned the skills I needed to immediately contribute to a Hack Oregon project team. I then listed that experience on my resume and was able to show off my Hack Oregon work in an interview and get a job.

(Fast forward, a year and a half.) I've been volunteering with Hack Oregon for 3 project seasons. Projects I've worked on have been included in discussions in the state legislature, Portland City Club, and the Portland Budget Office. It's very rewarding to see Hack Oregon's work help inspire action.

A non-profit that builds world-class visualizations of public data, in the public interest, using hundreds of talented volunteer programmers, designers, and data scientists.

I took JavaScript Foundations from Hack Oregon. It was a great class for me because it picked up right where my Treehouse Front End Web Development Techdegree left off. The class covered closures, the module pattern, and other things I hadn't learned yet. It is not, however, an intro to JavaScript class. It assumes basic familiarity with the language.

A second class I took, Modern CSS, suffered from a lack of focus at times, compounded by what I took to be irreconcilable differences in the needs of different members of the student group.

I like being involved with Hack Oregon because of the civic mission (as manifested in their Civic platform) and the nonprofit nature of the organization. If that's not important or interesting to you, you might find your needs better served by a for-profit code school, but from what I see online you'll probably pay somewhat more for that. So, as with anything, it depends on your goals and situation.

Hack Oregon offers great opportunities to work with very knowledgeable professionals on the projects, but that is not strictly part of the curriculum of the classes. Hack Oregon puts that opportunity in front of you, but you have to show up and put in the time outside of class to take advantage of it. I did that to some extent, but ultimately felt I didn't quite have the skills to contribute much in a technical sense, yet. I signed up to take a class on React this summer to continue the journey. I guess the best expression of my feelings about Hack Oregon is that I keep signing up for classes.

I had come to Hack Oregon to learn about UX/UI design which is a field I so badly wanted to move into. I found my experience both helpful and life changing. I took two classes UX/UI and an Infographics course. I had never done either sort of design prior to taking these classes. I found both extremely helpful and really felt there was a light switch turned on in my head and creativity level. I can honestly say the instructors are top notch. The school itself really helps foster learning and hands on projects which help your portfolio. Catherine Nikolovski has been nothing but a lovely kind inspiration and am so grateful for her community powered non profit which fosters new ways to learn new facets.

I ve taken three courses from Hack Oregon: JavaScript Foundations, ReactJS, and Data Viz. These have increased my understanding of front-end development, and bolstered my confidence as a developer. All of my instructors were very knowledgeable about the subject matter. Given the amount of material covered in a short 8 weeks, the pace can seem daunting. My advice is to prep with online videos to get some basics down before class. The instructors will direct you toward additional online resources (videos, documentation, etc.) for homework.

The culmination of all this coursework was my participation as a volunteer during Hack Oregon s build season. I got to work on some open source projects, building React components for my team.

I've taken three classes at Hack Oregon (2 design and 1 development), and I learned a lot! The instructors were patient and knowledgeable, and Hack Oregon collected anonymous feedback from students, both in the middle of the course and at the end, so that they can learn from student feedback -- I felt listened to. As a volunteer, the projects were exciting, and I felt I had the opportunity to contribute meaningfully. I see other reviews here saying that the project teams were poorly organized, and there's some truth to that. But they're very clear up front that these projects rely on volunteers to step up and take initiative, and if you're volunteering and you see an organizational need, you're encouraged to step up and fill it! Its a great professional experience, and I learned skills that made me more attractive to employers. Plus, they're more than happy to vouch for you to get a job.

I did some work for Catherine Nikolovski, one of the lead people. After weeks of work, then successful completion, she ghosted out. Not a thank you, not a return email. Mind you, Catherine Nikolovski and her organization were fast in taking the help.

STEER CLEAR FROM THESE ABUSERS!

I would highly recommend taking a course from these top-notch teachers of tech. The Hack Oregon team is remarkably competent and they've created a very welcoming environment for learning.

Classes are only 8 weeks, so you'll hit the ground running. If you're a total n00b, you might feel that's too fast. And if you're a programming wizard, it might feel like taking a ride on the Portland streetcar agonizingly slow. I'm somewhere in between n00b and wizard, so it felt just right for me.

Your results may vary by course or instructor, but ultimately you'll get out what you put in. Also free pizza (sometimes).

I had high hopes when I started a class with this organization after paying a very high class fee. Unfortunately it was a disappointment, we used %50 of the class time to fix the wireless internet issues, the other %25 to listen the extremely theoretical lecture which had so little to do with the scope of the class (with almost no actual coding), and maybe the other %25 teaming up with the classmates and looking at some resources that were already publicly available with a quick google search. Save yourself some $ and headache and go take an actual class at a good organization or a university or online. Actually maybe take 3, because you can, with the same amount of money you would pay to this organization.

On another note, the lead, Catherine has probably good intentions and aims for great outcomes, but it needs a lot more work to get there. As another reviewer mentioned, generally they would talk to you if there is a need, and act like a total stranger if you are not an immediate benefit for them. I did not get satisfactory professional communication and education from this organization.

A great concept, poor execution. A significant amount of work needs to be done on their courses to justify the cost. There is no course curriculum, no pre-requirements, no readings, and no handouts. Instead students work on poorly scoped civic projects with little to no guidance. Furthermore, they suffer from ongoing technology issues, up too and including not being able to provide consistent internet for the students to upload their work or a standardized environment for students to work in. This results in hours of wasted time and unnecessary troubleshooting. This project work is greatly over valued as your average student will not have the skills or the time to contribute in a significant way. Extremely frustrating, save your time and money!

Went through three courses at Hack. Classes are very casual with instructors cancelling classes for personal schedules. Leadership is a mess. Objectives, goals, promises not met. A lot of money, very little education gained.

Hack Oregon was my first learners community for coding and I really bonded with classmates and instructors doing 9-months of JavaScript courses and volunteering for a build session. It s a bit scrappy, but having worked with arts organisations and other non-profits, the non-glossy experience felt comfortable to me. I learned loads and felt challenged in ways I was looking to be challenged. I ve since gone on to land my first dev job, which took we away from Oregon. Being in a new city, I sorely miss the learning/building/community dynamic I had access to at Hack Oregon and hope to find something similar in my new home city.