A review of Coding Dojo as a bootcamp for software engineering and data science

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 Coding Dojo.

What does Coding Dojo do?
Who is Coding Dojo for?
What does Coding Dojo cost?
Ratings and reviews of Coding Dojo
Alternatives to Coding Dojo
How does Coding Dojo compare to Pathrise?

What does Coding Dojo do?

Coding Dojo is a bootcamp that helps people learn the technical skills necessary to land a job as a software engineer or a data scientist. For software engineering, they offer a full-time onsite bootcamp, an online part-time bootcamp, and an intro to programming course. For data science, they offer a data science immersive program and an intro to Python and machine learning course. Coding Dojo has campuses in Arlington, Boise, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County, Seattle, San Jose, and Tulsa.

The onsite software engineering bootcamp teaches 3 stacks in 14 weeks. Students start by learning the fundamentals of front-end web development. Then, they move onto back-end with Python. Finally, they choose between MEAN, Ruby, Java, or C#.NET as their next 2 stacks. They are given some job search guidance as well. The intro to programming course is also on-campus and lasts 2-3 hours.

The online part-time software engineering bootcamp lets students pick their pace, but recommends 20-25 hours per week for 16 weeks. They teach the same front-end fundamentals, back-end with Python, and then project-building and algorithms. They are also given some career services after graduation.

The immersive data science program is only offered in Seattle. It also lasts 14 weeks. The course teaches the fundamentals of data science and machine learning. The goal is to help students find a job in the field after finishing. The data science plus course is a part-time program available online that lasts 4 weeks. The course covers Python, data analysis, modeling, machine learning, and visualization.

Who is Coding Dojo for?

People who have no experience in software engineering or data science but are looking to move into this career path could benefit from Coding Dojo. With their on-campus and online options as well as introductory courses, they can help people who need extra guidance on certain topics.

What does Coding Dojo cost? How much work is involved?

The Coding Dojo on-campus software engineering bootcamp costs $13,495. Students can choose to pay upfront, in 3 installments, or in monthly payments. If they choose to pay upfront, they may receive a discount of up to $2500. Candidates must fill out an online application. Then, they interview with an admissions team member and pay their deposit.

The online part-time software engineering bootcamp costs $9,995. The same payment options are offered. The application process is slightly different for the online program. Students must still fill out the application. Then, they do an online skills assessment. Their deposit is required once they are accepted. The intro to programming course is free.

Coding Dojo’s data science immersive bootcamp costs $14,495. The process is a combination, requiring students to apply, interview, do an online skills assessment, and then pay a deposit. The intro to data science course costs $2,795 and they do not explain their application process.

Ratings and reviews

The reviews online of Coding Dojo are mixed, but skewed towards negative. They are on SwitchUp’s list of best bootcamps. On CourseReport, students felt like they learned a lot, but some did not think there were enough instructors to the number of students. Another issue came with the job assistance, which they did not feel was adequate. Similarly, administrative and curriculum problems arose for students who reviewed the program on Career Karma.

Many grads report that they had trouble finding a job as a software engineer despite doing well in the program. Some people said that they learned a lot about the 3 stacks, but it wasn’t enough to get them interviews. They also reported that when interviewing, it wasn’t enough to solve the problems. TrustPilot reviews echo this. They explain that the curriculum does not go far enough into depth, leaving people with only surface level understanding of important topics.

Alternatives to Coding Dojo

If you choose not to enroll in Coding Dojo, there are a number of alternative programs you can consider to learn software engineering or data science.

You can check out Udacity and Springboard. These are online educational platforms that students can use to brush up on the basics or advance their current tech skills. Read more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.
edX is one of the largest online learning platforms. They have courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
One of the most well known bootcamps is General Assembly. They offer full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
Lambda School, Altcademy, Fullstack Academy, Nucamp, Byte Academy, Launch Academy, and Pluralsight offer online bootcamps in software engineering and other subjects as well.
Another option is Grand Circus, which teaches courses on Java, front-end, and C# .NET. Their campuses are in Michigan, but they also offer online options.
Likewise, Tech Elevator and Epicodus are software engineering bootcamps with online and on-campus options.
Or, consider Kal Academy, which works with women and underrepresented groups on software engineering, web dev, and data.
Aspiring software engineers and web developers can also consider CodeX Academy, a self-paced coding bootcamp with mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
Students can also consider Kenzie Academy. A full-time tech bootcamp, Kenzie offers in-person and online courses in 2 tracks: software engineering & UX design and front-end engineering. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.

More alternatives

For people with an interest in data science, Metis has part-time introduction courses as well as onsite and online bootcamp options. Learn more about Metis in our review.
Current and aspiring data scientists can also consider DataCamp, Dataquest, Promotable, Divergence Academy, Zip Code Wilmington, and Data Science Dojo. They offer individual courses, as well as in-depth tracks.
If you are starting from scratch, you can consider the self-paced course at Data Science Dream Job. Or, check out K2 Data Science, which is a part-time, online program.
In the same vein, FourthBrain has part-time, online machine learning courses.
If you prefer in-person classes, check out Magnimind or Principal Analytics Prep, which have full-time and part-time data science courses.
Coding Temple and RMOTR have bootcamps covering the fundamentals of Python data science and web development. Similarly, QuickStart has courses in web dev and data.
Offering courses ranging from free to $25,000, Coursera probably has a low-cost college course that meets your needs. Many accredited universities partner with Coursera.
With over 100,000 online video courses, Udemy offers individual classes at a cost of around $10 per class through its online learning platform.
Free online resources, SoloLearn and the Mode tutorials have tracks in SQL, as well as other programming languages.
There is also freeCodeCamp. This is a free alternative for people looking to learn the basics. But, intermediate software engineers can also brush up on their skills or learn new languages on the platform.
Codecademy is one of the most popular coding programs online. They provide free courses on many different programming languages. They also offer membership options ranging from $20 to $40. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
Similarly, 365 Data Science is a low-cost and low commitment option to learn data fundamentals.

How does Coding Dojo compare to Pathrise?

Coding Dojo is a bootcamp, with courses for people who are interested in learning the skills needed to become a software engineer or data scientist from scratch. At Pathrise, job-seekers in our program should already have a background in the field they are interested in so that they can participate in and fully benefit from our technical workshops, where we provide a more specific curriculum based on what they will see in their interviews.

All of our workshops and sessions at Pathrise are live, as well as recorded, so that job-seekers in our program can review them afterwards and continue learning. Our program is flexible, with only 4 hours of group sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled whenever job-seekers need them and our curriculum is personalized to work on the specific skills that people struggle with the most.

Specifically, Pathrise focuses on technical and behavioral interviewing as well as resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building and strengthening, cold email and reverse recruiting lessons, and negotiation templates and guidance. Fellows in Pathrise find a job, on average, within 3-5 months of joining the program. The Pathrise income share agreement means that fellows don’t pay anything until they start working at a new job they love and we never require upfront payments or deposits.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that works with students and professionals 1-on-1 so they can land their dream job in tech. If you want to work with any of our mentors to get help with your technical and behavioral interviews or with any other aspect of the job search, join Pathrise.