Opinion: are coding bootcamps worth it?

As a student, who had attended one of the coding bootcamps in SF, my opinion is NO. Here are some questions that I would like you to think about before you decide to attend one of the bootcamps.


  1. Are you sure you want to pursue your career in Engineering? Given that you are interested in attending coding bootcamp probably means YES. But what are the underlying reasons for becoming an engineer? Are you motivated by potential salary that you would earn as an engineer? Or are you simply discovering your interests and finally the stars are lining up to let you know that this IS your passion. Im not writing this post to discourage those who would want to pursue a career in Engineering, but I’m asking to make sure that you ask yourself twice before putting your current life on hold for this intense bootcamp program.
  2. Are you motivated and will continue to be motivated to learn new material? Being an engineer means that you must continuously keep up with new technology, framework, or libraries. Especially as a bootcamp graduate, I always find myself having to work extra harder to compete on the same level ground as other CS graduates. That means, working harder on algorithms to ace the interviews, and proving to your potential employers that you are worth the investments despite having only 3 months of programming experience.
  3. Are you able to pay the high tuition of bootcamp? The tuition of the bootcamp can range between 10k — 28k. Some bootcamps accept the deferred payment plan, but watch out for those since their tuition tends to be higher. In addition, if you want to pick a deferred payment plan, make sure you have factored in (your salary as engineer - tax - tuition fee) into your living expenses. NOTE: your take home salary after paying tax and bootcamp tuition is probably lower than what you are currently making right now.
  4. What is bootcamp providing that you currently can’t learn on your own? Is it structured instructions? Good technology stack? A community to accompany you on this career transition journey?
  5. Do you have the luxury to put your whole life on pause for at least 3–4 months? Coding bootcamp is time consuming, but even after you have finished the bootcamp, you will be spending lots of time applying and looking for the job. Even when you have found the job, you will be spending time to beat the imposter syndrome and spending the time to study and follow up on the current technology.

Why I don’t think coding bootcamps are not worth it?

There are too many free or cheap resources available online right now that you can easily look for and learn on your own. If you need a study buddy or other people who are also in the same boat as you, create a community Meetup or join one. I’m sure that are other people, who are also looking for one too.

Most people including myself reasoned that I need the structure of coding bootcamp in order to learn the materials. But in fact, most coding bootcamp tech stacks are similar and they also have similar curriculums and project. Therefore, many people out of coding bootcamp have similar portfolios and it is hard to distinguish amongst many bootcamp graduates that are currently in the market. Why not use the free resources and create yourself a curriculum that you will enjoy and build projects that will help you differentiate yourself from others.

Coding bootcamp doesn’t help you with job search after, even if there are job search curriculums. In order to find a job, you have to put efforts into job search. I know the process of getting the first job is very difficult, but I promise you, it’ll be worth it. Stick to practicing algorithms well, submitting applications, polishing your portfolios, attending meetups and making new connections in the tech industry. If you already have some connections in tech industry, feel free to reach out to them.


trdr; my 2cent advice:

If you have the right motivation and determinations to be an engineer, I congratulate you for realizing your career aspiration. I also would like to encourage you to explore free resources that are available online to start learning about basics of programming. Some of the free resources that I recommend are: codecademy, freecodecamp, and coursera. They have great tutorials for you to follow through and learn about the basics of becoming a full stack programmer. Once you complete those tutorials, you can start working on a personal project that you’ve always wanted to do. If you don’t have any idea, then simply try to clone one of the existing web sites that you enjoy visiting. This is a challenge that engineers face everyday. Given the functionality of the features they have to implement, what would be the best way to do so. There are many ways to approach the problem, and coming up with a solution that would best fit the problem is very rewarding part of being an engineer.


Please feel free to give me feedbacks and let me know whether you agree with my opinion or if this piece has helped you in making a decision of whether to attend a bootcamp.

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