Hi, I’m Patrick, I write about the job search. After graduating from Cornell, I became a content lead at UBS where I helped professionals at Fortune 500 companies understand their stock options, salary, and benefits. When I’m not writing about the hiring process, I write novels for teens. Check out my review of UConn Bootcamp.
- What does UConn Bootcamp do?
- Who is UConn Bootcamp for?
- What does UConn Bootcamp cost? How much work is involved?
- Ratings and reviews
- Alternatives to UConn Bootcamp
- How does UConn Bootcamp compare to Pathrise?
What does UConn Bootcamp do?
UConn Bootcamp teaches people the coding skills they need to launch a new career as a full stack web developer. The program is part-time and completely remote, with a low instructor-to-student ratio for lots of support. Before starting the bootcamp, students must complete self-paced pre-work that covers basic HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the developer environment.
The flagship 24-week coding bootcamp meets 2 weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm EST and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm EST. Students participate in lectures, group exercises, lab work, discussions, assignments, and more. Toward the end of the 6-month program, students focus on a final capstone project as they build a polished portfolio.
The coding curriculum teaches students the skills they need to build full stack web apps from scratch. First, students learn to code responsive web pages with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and APIs. Next, the curriculum focuses on back-end development with Node.js, MySQL databases, complex services, and databases. The last phase of the course covers more advanced skills as students build portfolio projects. Students work with React and NoSQL databases like MongoDB while they learn data structures, algorithms, and more.
Towards the end of the program, the curriculum transitions to focus on the job search. Career coaches work 1-on-1 with students to review resumes, LinkedIn accounts, GitHub profiles, and portfolios. Students also participate in both mock behavioral and technical interviews.
In addition to graduating with a formal certificate and a polished portfolio, grads get access to an optional continuation course. This remote follow up curriculum covers more advanced tech skills like Python, Java, C#, and Amazon Web Services. Grads can use the follow up course to sharpen their skills as they build their portfolios to impress employers.
Who is UConn Bootcamp for?
People with little to no experience in web development who are looking to land a job as a developer could benefit from UConn’s bootcamps. Students seeking a hands-on program with a fair amount of personalized support could be a good fit. The career services, certificate, practical learning experience, and continuation course could also be a good match for students seeking a practical program that focuses on teaching core skills needed for entry level jobs.
What does UConn Bootcamp cost? How much work is involved?
Tuition for the flagship bootcamp is $11,495. A $500 discount is available for University of Connecticut alumni and students who enroll early. Students can also pay with Climb Credit loans, though rates depend on the applicant’s credit.
The admissions process begins with a brief online form or call to the admissions office. Applicants move on to a behavioral interview over the phone. Successful candidates take a final critical thinking and problem-solving assessment. Although no prior experience is required, students must complete coding pre-work before starting the coding bootcamp.
Ratings and reviews
UConn Bootcamp has received mixed to positive reviews. They hold a 4.86 star rating on Course Report, where grads were impressed with the hands-on curriculum that covered the fundamental coding skills needed to become a software developer. A recent grad raved that the instructors were “incredible at teaching us and helping us learn complicated topics.” While he also warned that the bootcamp “is EXTREMELY fast paced”, he never felt lost because the staff “were always willing to meet early/stay late with us to help us with any homework or projects we were struggling with.” Another grad was impressed by the supportive staff and the practical curriculum. However, she was disappointed that there “wasn’t enough time to get a good understanding of topics before we moved on to new ones.” The pace was so fast that at one point she “was ready to give up.” One student agreed that the pace could be fast, but the “great support” and talented staff made the program manageable and worthwhile.
Some grads on Reddit were critical of the parent company, Trilogy, and their university branding. One Redditor was disappointed that “the university isn’t providing any instructors or quality guarantees, so it’s not really UConn education.” Another student on Reddit was also not impressed by Trilogy, commenting “no one has had anything positive to say about Career Services.” Overall, grads were satisfied by the hands-on projects and focus on core skills, but some would have liked greater job support with a more relaxed pace that gave students more time to master the difficult tech topics.
Alternatives to UConn Bootcamp
If you decide not to enroll in UConn Bootcamp, there are a number of alternative bootcamps and courses for aspiring web developers.
- The university bootcamps Northwestern Bootcamps, UC Berkeley Bootcamps, KU Bootcamps, Rice University Bootcamps, and University of Denver Bootcamps are also run by Trilogy, UConn Bootcamp’s parent company. These bootcamps cover the same web dev curriculum so they have a similar learning experience and job support.
- Students seeking university style courses can look into edX. Their online platform hosts thousands of self-paced courses from top schools like Harvard and MIT, as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Students can choose to learn the fundamentals or take a deep dive into specific topics, like web development or Python. Read more about edX in our review.
- Similarly, Coursera hosts thousands of video based courses in a wide range of tech topics, including web dev. Like UConn Bootcamp, many of their courses come with university branded certificates.
- People who want to build web apps from scratch without learning to code or taking a highly technical bootcamp can check out Bubble no-code bootcamps. Rather than learning web dev skills, students in their program master a drag and drop program to create web apps without any code. Learn more about Bubble in our review.
- The popular tech bootcamp General Assembly has full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on web development as well as many other tech topics. They offer a hands-on curriculum, 19,000+ hiring partners, and a 91.4% job placement. Find out if General Assembly is right for your career goals in our review.
- Another popular tech bootcamp is BrainStation. They teach courses in web development with project-based learning and lots of 1-on-1 support. Their hiring partners include Facebook, Google, and more.
- Aspiring web developers seeking an online program can check out Bloc. Students in their courses meet with mentors every week as they build projects they can add to their portfolios.
- The self-paced coding bootcamp CodeX Academy also has tracks in web development. Students in their program get mentorship and portfolio building opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
- People on a tight budget can check out Udemy. Their online platform hosts thousands of self-paced video based courses on web dev and dozens of other tech topics. Classes only cost about $10 each and come with lifetime access to the material.
- Codecademy is one of the most popular coding platforms online. They offer free courses on web development, dozens of programming languages, and even data science. Optional $20 to $40 monthly memberships are available for greater course options and support. Read more about Codecademy in our review.
Students seeking a self-paced remote program with mentoring can check out Udacity. They offer both free and paid courses on topics like web development. Students in their nanodegree programs work 1-on-1 with both a technical mentor and a career coach as they build portfolio projects. Find out if Udacity can help you reach your career goals in our review.
How does UConn Bootcamp compare to Pathrise?
UConn Bootcamp helps people launch new careers as web developers. The program is designed for complete beginners, with pre-work to teach students the fundamentals. Pathrise job-seekers should already have at least some background in their chosen field so they can fully benefit from our technical curriculum.
Pathrise optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentoring and personalized training. Our experienced mentors help with every phase of the job search including resume and portfolio optimization, cold emailing and reverse recruiting, salary negotiation, and technical and behavioral interviewing. On average, fellows in the program land a job in just 3-5 months.
Although UConn’s bootcamp is part-time, the curriculum can be fast paced and often demands work outside of class. Our program is flexible, with just 2-4 hours of group sessions per week and 1-on-1s that can be scheduled as needed. All our sessions are live and recorded so fellows can review them at their own pace. We offer an income share agreement (ISA) so fellows pay only once they land a tech job.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that has already helped 1,000+ students and professionals land great tech jobs. While working with our expert mentors, fellows have seen their interview scores double and their application responses triple. If you are interested in working with one of our mentors to land your dream job, join Pathrise.
Apply today.
