A review of School16 as a tech bootcamp

Hi, I’m Alex! I’ve been working in sales for innovative startups like SoftBank Robotics and large corporations like NBC Universal for years. Now, I work as an industry mentor at Pathrise. I help people land great sales jobs through workshops and 1-on-1 mentorship. Check out my review of School16.

What does School16 do?
Who is School16 for?
What does School16 cost?
Ratings and reviews of School16
Alternatives to School16
How does School16 compare to Pathrise?

What does School16 do?

School16 helps people launch a new career in tech without learning to code. Their comprehensive online bootcamp teaches students the skills they need to become product managers, digital marketers, operations professionals, and tech salespeople. Their program is open to anyone of any experience level.

Bootcamp classes meet live for 2 hours twice per week for 8 weeks. All students participate in live weekly classes, office hours, goal setting sessions, and mentoring meetings that extend beyond the 8 week period. Program managers are available to help almost anytime throughout the program as well. In addition to lectures, students participate in specialized role awareness classes. In these, students learn the ropes of a specific tech job like digital marketing or product management. Students also take part in experiential classes where they get to work hands-on with in-demand marketing, sales, product management, and operations tools.

Week 1-2 of the comprehensive bootcamp curriculum teaches students to become a digital marketer who knows the standard marketing mix used by real software companies. Students also master common marketing tools as they complete hands-on assignments. Weeks 3-4 of the course cover tech sales, teaching students about the sales environment as well as showing students sales strategies they can immediately put into place. Next, students learn operations as they work with systems, tools, and processes commonly used in B2B companies like Intel and B2C companies like Apple to improve operational efficiency. Weeks 7-8 teach students to become a product manager through a curriculum that covers both practical skills as well as key PM professional skills such as product management interview structure and on-the-job work.

Who is School16 for?

People with little to no experience in product management, digital marketing, operations, tech sales who are looking to move into these fields could benefit from School16. The program is especially helpful for people seeking a comprehensive curriculum that covers many different non-coding tech roles. People with full-time commitments could also be a good fit for their flexible remote classes that only meet live for about 4 hours per week.

What does School16 cost? How much work is involved?

Tuition for the flagship bootcamp is $2,500. Students are automatically considered for needs based scholarships with monthly payment plans available as well. Unemployed students who do not receive a scholarship get the option to defer payment until they land a job. Free weekly live Zoom classes and workshops are also available.

The admissions process begins with a brief application. Unlike many other bootcamps, candidates do not have to ace an interview or technical challenge. The program is open to anyone and no prior tech experience is required.

Ratings and reviews

As a relatively new program, School16 does not have too many online reviews. However, they have recently been listed among Course Report’s top digital marketing bootcamps, top technical sales bootcamps, top product management bootcamps, and top summer coding bootcamps. A recent Forbes article described them as offering some of the best “free online classes that you can take while in quarantine.” Career Sidekick has also listed the program as one of the “18 best online coding schools and bootcamps.” School16 also hosts many video testimonials on their own YouTube channel.

Alternatives to School16

If you decide not to enroll in a School16, there are a number of alternative courses and resources that can help you launch a career as a product manager, tech salesperson, operations professional, or digital marketer.

The popular bootcamp General Assembly teaches full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics such as digital marketing and product management. The program features 19,000+ hiring partners, mentoring, and a job placement rate above 91.4%. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
Students seeking a remote program with lots of support can check out Thinkful. Students in their courses build polished projects as they work 1-on-1 with mentors. They also offer an income share agreement (ISA) so students can pay with a percentage of their income after they land a tech job.
Similarly, BrainStation is a tech bootcamp that offers courses in coding, digital marketing, and product management. Students build projects, develop their professional skills, and get access to thousands of hiring partners including Google, Facebook, and more.
You can also check out Bubble no-code bootcamps to learn how to make products without coding. Learn more about Bubble in our review.
Aspiring salespeople seeking deferred payment options can look into Flockjay. Their 10-week program teaches people the skills they need to launch a career in B2B software sales. They offer a hands-on curriculum, lots of personalized support, and an income share agreement (ISA) so students don’t pay until they land a sales job. Learn more about Flockjay in our review.
People looking for a flexible sales program on a budget can check out Aspireship. Their free bootcamp helps people become account executives at SaaS companies. Like School16, the program is remote and flexible.
Similarly, Software Sales Gurus offers online courses for aspiring salespeople.

More alternatives

The intensive tech bootcamp is Tradecraft offers courses in sales, product design, growth marketing, and more. Their 12-week program helps people looking to land a job at a high-growth startup. Similarly, GreenFig teaches marketing and sales courses.
The remote bootcamp Uvaro is remote and includes real client work. This 12-week bootcamp helps students launch a career in tech sales. Starting at week 4, students can join their internship program to put their new sales skills to use as they learn.
Another sales learning program where students get work experience is Vendition. They offer an “apprenticeship” program that finds students a tech sales job first then trains them for it, offsetting the cost of admission.
Similarly, the sales bootcamps Always Hired and SV Academy both pair students with companies so they don’t have to pay tuition. However, students can choose to pay tuition upfront if they prefer not to work for a partner company.
In the same vein, students at Fuel Sales Academy work while learning and actually get paid during the program.
Merit America is a nonprofit that teaches tech sales and software engineering to people without college degrees.
The remote and self-paced program Prehired helps people launch a career in software sales through live training, 1-on-1 mentoring, and an active community. If grads don’t land a job after 12 months, they get a full refund.
Aspiring product managers can check out the product management community Mind the Product. Their 150,000+ members participate in workshops, training, podcasts, Slack channel Q&As, and networking events.
Another product management association is Product Gym. They offer training, extensive job support, and networking opportunities for aspiring product managers. Classes are flexible with remote options.

Even more alternatives

People seeking a more advanced PM curriculum can check out Product Faculty, a part-time online product management bootcamp. Their program is designed as a career accelerator for product managers with 1-3 years of experience. Students get access to their Slack community, 1-on-1 career mentorship, and advanced product management (APM)(R) certificates upon graduation. Beginners can check out Dorm to learn the basics.
Aspiring digital marketers can check out GrowthX Academy, a tech bootcamp with courses in growth marketing, UX design, and sales and business development. Likewise, Highway Education teaches courses on digital marketing.
You can also consider UC Davis Bootcamps, which has marketing, web dev, and data courses. Similarly, Loyola University Digital Skills Bootcamp and Jelly Academy have marketing courses.
Students seeking university courses can check out edX. This online learning platform hosts self-paced courses from top schools like Harvard and MIT, and even big tech companies like Microsoft. Students can choose to learn the fundamentals or dive deeper into specific topics, like digital marketing. Read more about edX in our review.
Similarly, the online educational resources Udacity and Springboard offer low-cost, self-paced courses in digital marketing, web dev, and many other tech topics. Learn more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.

How does School16 compare to Pathrise?

School16 offers courses to help people start a career as a tech salesperson, operations professional, digital marketer, or product manager. Most students start with no experience and the comprehensive yet brief curriculum is designed for complete beginners. Pathrise job-seekers should already have a background in their chosen field to get the most out of the technical curriculum.

Similar to School16, Pathrise has a flexible schedule with only 2-4 hours of sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled as needed. Our curriculum is tailored to the needs of each individual fellow.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that has helped 1,000+ people land their dream job in tech by helping with all phases of the job search. Our mentors work 1-on-1 with fellows on their resumes & portfolios, reverse recruiting and cold emails, behavioral and technical interview preparation, salary negotiation, and more. We offer an income share agreement so fellows in our program don’t pay until they get a great tech job. We never require deposits or upfront payment.

Pathrise optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentorship and personalized training. Fellows in our program see their interview scores double and their application responses triple. If you are interested in working with any of our mentors to land your dream tech job faster, join Pathrise.