The Best Alternatives to Expensive Bootcamps (Part 1)
Want to learn how to code? Don’t want to opt for those $10k boot-camps? Here’s a list of the comprehensive Free & Pay-Once-You-Get-A-Job options out there!
The recent Lambda School article in The New York Times sparked off a huge debate on Twitter with folks equivocal on both ends (kinda surprising since I’ve followed Austen for quite some time now).
Leaving that aside, two things that most of us would agree on that is there are tons of opportunity in tech and Lambda School is taking fair risk off the table, thus making quality education a lot more accessible. On exploring further, I found that ISAs aren’t entirely new. LS has probably done a great job in bringing it mainstream.
That aside, one common question most aspirants ask me as I blog about ISAs, online education and learning Product Management and available courses is — “Will I get a job once we’re through with this?”
And another (especially after quoting Austen Allred off his Twitter feed) is— “Do you know if any of these have the Pay-Once-You-Get-A-Job model?”
Well, for folks who want to transition into a tech role, here’s an extensive guide to all the awesome alternatives that would work better for ya’ll (Yes, Lambda School isn’t the only one!)
PS: This is NOT discounting the effort of any of the traditional ones or the results they achieve (though I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as well)
Tech Bootcamps
In Part 1 of this series, I cover a couple of them that are a liittle different.
Hacker School, now Recurse Center
This is NOT your traditional Bootcamp (and they’ve said this a million times across their page) but I’d still put this on top of the list.
The Recurse Center runs educational programming retreats in New York City. The retreats are free, self-directed, project-based, and for anyone who wants to get dramatically better at programming. The admission is selective and rigorous — but no pain, no gain.
Medium of Training: NA
Fee Structure: Free
Courses: Programming Retreat
Program Length: One, Six, Twelve-week retreats
FreeCodeCamp
Again not the traditional Bootcamp per se, but probably THE most famous self-serve learning code platform out there. Just sign up and get started — it’s that simple. Today, you have NO excuse to say “I want to code but can’t afford the education costs”
300 hours of rigour for the certificate — earn it!
Medium of Training: Online
Fee Structure: Free
Courses: Responsive Web Design, Algorithms And Data Structures, Data Visualization, Information Security And Quality Assurance
Program Length: Self-paced
PS: Read Todd Cullum’s piece on why freeCodeCamp is awesome!
The Odin Project
The Odin Project is one of those that I’d say — “I wish I had this when I was learning” resource. Open-source, free, and backed by Thinkful — The Odin Project has come a long way since the launch in 2013. If self-paced, high-quality resources is what you’re looking for, The Odin Project has got it for you!
Medium of Training: Online
Fee Structure: Free
Courses: Web Dev, JS, Ruby, Interview Prep
Program Length: Self-paced
CodePath
If Mobile app dev is your thing — check CodePath.
CodePath is an organization that provides free, accelerated mobile engineering classes for professional developers. Students must pass a rigorous selection process to be admitted to any of our programs. During the program, engineers submit weekly projects for review and work with other top engineers. The program concludes with a demo day where the top group projects are judged by a panel of notable mobile and engineering leaders.
Medium of Training: Offline ( Menlo Park, Oakland, San Francisco )
Fee Structure: Free
Courses: iOS, Android
Program Length: 2 evening sessions per week for 8 weeks
Cyber.Wizard.Institute (Currently inactive)
While no more active, the cyber.wizard.institute was a completely free and open coding camp in Oakland that was similar in content to traditional coding boot-camps. Just as they sign-off, they’ve made all their content available online (notes & videos). In case you want to conduct one in your city, this is free to use (Folks in BLR, HMU!)
Medium of Training: Resources available online — for offline sessions
Fee Structure: Free
Courses: Programming concepts
Program Length: Self-paced
Inclusion
Inclusion is a non-profit dedicated to closing the digital divide. Two highlight requirements:
- Have an income of under $40,000
- Be a resident of New York State
However, in case you’re looking at the
Medium of Training: Online (Remote), Offline (New York)
Fee Structure: Free
Courses: Web Dev, JS, Ruby, Interview Prep
Program Length: Self-paced, 6-week modular courses
Do let me know in case you’re aware of any others.
Would love to hear your feedback/connect/collaborate:
