I was just hoping to get someone’s thoughts on this. I have been trying the self-paced only route for 8 months now. I have combined this with Udemy and FCC but dont feel like I am where I want to be in my learning. I work full time so have been committing a few hours in the evening to work on web development. The issue is, I may start off really well with the evening learning but then the next week might get crazy at work or more homework comes along for my two kids and then those few hours a week might just be reduced down to a few hours over the weekend.
I really want to learn and reach my goals but thinking maybe a more structured online course might help expedite my learning. I am worried with the way I am going it might take me a couple more years to make a career change and want to think about a career change early next year. I am not too keen on the full time bootcamps and cannot commit to the full time ones but have seen a few part time courses through Brainstation . I am considering this path which looks like it may help with my learning journey. I have completed more structured online learning courses in the past and even though they are a bit more intense, I have found them helpful. But i have never registered for a coding online class and just not sure if they are worth it. Does anyone have any experience with Brainstation or a similar school? Did you find them valuable as part of your learning?
I can’t see the prices on their website but it looks to be a coding bootcamp, with a 24 month payment plan option… so I’ll assume it costs in the region of 5,000-10,000, and since there is no job guarantee mentioned I will assume they don’t have one.
Honestly, the experience you’re having with freeCodeCamp… slow, often frustrating, hitting walls, having to figure things out for yourself… all of that is programming. There’s no escaping. Frankly that’s why FCC is the best resource out there… it is the real thing.
I did in-person classes for three months six months ago, they were part time and I spent just under a grand in total. Honestly… waste of time and money. Proficiency in programming comes solely through practice and investing hours. It’s tempting to think that if you pay enough money there’s a magic pill that will make everything easier but there isn’t.
If they can GUARANTEE a job or your money back it might be worth considering. Otherwise spend that money on yourself and your kids.
Also just to say that you are more than capable of achieving your goals… you sound like you just need more time.
Thank you Mike for sharing your honest feedback and experience! I dont really think spending that kind of money on a course would even be an option for me anyway. I guess I am just going through a bit of a low with it all but still committing to continue this journey to reach my goals.
If you think back in time when you tried to learn something really well, what was the hardest part of it? What was the thing that lead to quitting?
Probably it wasn’t some technical stuff (e.g. what to type, which key to press on the piano or how to throw a ball), it probably was more of a psychological thing, e.g. showing up regularly for many weeks and months.
Currently it seems you have a lot of stuff on your schedule, that is both important and urgent (e.g. hungry kids, going to work). There is probably not that much time left to commit to a nice-to-have-thing with no skin in the game (no penalties for not finishing FCC and $10 for an Udemy course are not that much).
So I think approaches that cost money (you’d feel ashamed if you’d quit a $x.000 bootcamp) are really powerful. I experience this in my work as a Mentor. I do this with people for a lot of money and some people for free. The people who don’t pay money regularly don’t show up. They don’t even send me a message that they are unable to attend today and I have to wait for 30min. Sure, there is no penalty except losing a free mentorship. The people who pay a lot of money never skip our appointments (actually 1 time a mentee missed out due jetlag and timezones). So if you know that you are a person who has a lot of stuff to do and you know that you often “skip” appointments with yourself, I highly recommend to invest money in a bootcamp. I think there are various payment models.
Stay here and learn it this way. I was looking into coding bootcamps, but i was not feeling that 10-20k loan i would have to pay back in some sketchy way. Loans were also only for ‘full time’ students . Otherwise you’re going to have to come off that money while youre in clas. I learned later ( i was told about these guys by my counselor) - you have to accept the job they find for you. Some jobs might have been good - some …ya no!
You might take longer, but the forum responds pretty quick if you have a question. Good luck.
