Okay...let's do this...
I'll tell you where and what I would take back (if I could) - aka what I would rewrite (but won't because honesty and all that) - and what I wish I knew/what I wish I wrote instead to be more real with you all
Let's start
First Look into CodingDojo
I said "The same thing as the interview process, which is basically the same as the Q&A phone call....". Reality is, they basically don't take 'no' for an answer if possible.
Just hang up the phone in the most polite way possible.
CodingDojo
Let's start translating
"Coding Dojo is a comprehensive program designed to help individuals learn and master software engineering skills" => The program is self-taught and won't help you "master" anything.
"This program provides an intensive, hands-on learning experience that can help individuals jumpstart their careers in technology" => There are a lot of projects that help you get first-hand experience programming using the technology they "teach", which you can also do by yourself by searching up "beginner projects using javascript (or react, mongodb, flask, etc)".
"The program is designed to help individuals build a strong foundation in software development, with a focus on full-stack web development" => You'll go through most of the weeks being very confused and lost if you don't have any prior programming experience and hopefully you have more experienced programmers or people putting in 60+ hours a week into studying to understand or people who simply pick up things really fast in your class willing to help you.
"During this time, individuals attend classes for up to 6 hours a day, 5 days a week" => You'll wish every single day that your instructor or TAs will stay for at least 7 hours with you, then you'll stay in calls with your classmates (which will become your close friends because you become friends through struggle and pain) trying to figure out the code together - of course depending on your timezones.
"Coding Dojo is effective for several reasons" => No, it's not. If you can't study by yourself, this won't help. This will simply be a reminder to study and something that lets you attend a class to pretend as if you have to. You can of course leave your camera off and sleep through class.
CodingDojo: First Impressions
"For beginner programmers who have not touched an IDE or had any programming experience, the first month and a half would be a good starter" => Every single beginner went through these weeks completely confused. My specific instructor knew less than I did.
Another Chapter Finished
"Though going through the bootcamp might not have been the best choice for "someone like me" if you were looking from the outside in, I would choose to enroll into another bootcamp for a different discipline, if given the chance" => No, absolutely not. I would NOT choose to enroll into another bootcamp of anykind. And no, it was not the "best choice" for me - it was simply not a good choice in general for me and many of my classmates.
"Bootcamps just like CodingDojo are a success and deliver top tier software engineers through the different approach in teaching methods." => No. Many students don't end up in the tech industry at all. Lucky few get a job in the industry in an ideal timeframe. And others, if they're lucky, get a job years later. Definitely not the couple of months they promise.
"And, because of that, I know there won't be a day that goes by where I'm not grateful for the experiences and the lessons I learned during my time at CodinDojo" => Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the experience and the fact that it forced me to learn skills that I had been avoiding. Did I self teach myself them even though I had an instructor who was supposed to do the teaching but was unreliable? Totally. But I learned, I made friends, and I became a better programmer at the end of the day. Was it a waste of time and money? Completely. Would I do it again? HELL NO.
Anyway, happy coding!
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