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A review of UC Irvine Bootcamps as a tech bootcamp

Hi, I’m Polina! Formerly, I worked as a senior digital marketing manager and now I am the marketing mentor at Pathrise. I help job-seekers prepare for their future in digital marketing. Check out my review of UC Irvine Bootcamps.

What does UC Irvine Bootcamps do?

UC Irvine Bootcamps offers full-time and part-time courses to aspiring digital marketers, web developers, data analysts, and UX/UI designers. No prior experience is required, but all students must finish self-paced pre-work before starting a bootcamp. All courses are now available remotely in response to Covid-19.

Digital marketing

The 18-week part-time digital marketing course helps students launch a career as a digital marketer. The bootcamp meets two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Students participate in live lectures, marketing projects, networking events, office hours, and hands-on workshops. The curriculum teaches key digital marketing strategies, campaign development, social media advertising, SEO, and more. Students work in groups to launch real marketing campaigns using in-demand marketing tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, MailChimp, HTML, CSS, and popular CRM systems. Graduates leave the program with a polished resume and digital marketing portfolio to help them become a digital marketer.

Web dev

The web dev program teaches people the skills they need to start a career as a full stack web developer. Students in the 12-week full-time course meet Monday-Friday from 10am to 2:30pm. The 24-week part-time program meets two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm, plus homework and other assignments outside of class. Students learn to build full stack web apps using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Node.js, C#, React.Js, and more. The curriculum also includes responsive design, Heroku, Git, user authentication, ASP, MySQL, and MongoDB. Students participate in live lectures, hands-on workshops, and coding projects, building polished portfolios along the way.

Data analytics

The part-time data analytics course lasts 24 weeks and meets two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, plus Saturday classes from 10am to 2pm. Students learn to analyze and visualize data using Excel, Python, JavaScript, SQL databases, Tableau, and more. The course features live lectures, 1-on-1 coaching, hands-on workshops, and more. For their final project, students work in small groups to build a data visualization app. Students can add this project and others to their portfolios to help them land entry level data science jobs when they graduate.

UX/UI design

Students in the 24-week part-time UX/UI design learn the skills needed to become a UX designer. The course meets two weekdays a week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Students learn key design principles, basic HTML/CSS, and Javascript. The curriculum also covers Adobe, SketchApp, Invision, Bootstrap, Git/GitHub, and other key design tools. Students design and produce polished user interfaces, interactions, and user experience projects for their portfolios to help graduates impress employers. 

All UC Irvine bootcamps include career services. Students participate in portfolio reviews, resume workshops, mock interviews, and networking events. Career coaches also work 1-on-1 with students to prepare them for the job search. 

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Who is UC Irvine Bootcamps for?

People with little to no experience in digital marketing, web development, UX/UI design, or data analytics who are looking to move into these careers could benefit from UC Irvine Bootcamps. The program is especially helpful for people interested in an intense, hands-on curriculum and for those looking to build a polished portfolio.

What does UC Irvine Bootcamps cost? How much work is involved?

Tuition for any UC Irvine course is $12,495. Interest-free monthly payment plans are available. Students who pay upfront or register early receive a discount. UC Irvine alumni are also eligible for a $500 discount.

The admissions process begins with a short written application or a call to the admissions office. Next, candidates participate in a behavioral interview over the phone. Select candidates move on to a critical thinking and problem-solving assessment. No technical experience is required.

Ratings and reviews

UC Irvine Bootcamps has received fairly positive reviews. The program holds a 4.4/5 star rating on Course Report and 3.82/5 stars on Switchup. Graduates praise the program for its supportive instructor team and hands-on curriculum, but some grads had mixed feelings about the career services and fast pace.

The top review on Course Report described the curriculum as “very well rounded” with instructors, TAs, and counselors who are “always there to listen to any of your concerns.” Another top review agreed. They felt “the support staff was great” but had mixed feelings about the career services, disappointed that “most of my cohort has not found a job.” Another grad was impressed by the curriculum and staff, but felt the pacing was very intense, warning that “20 hours of outside class study time each week is absolutely necessary.”

A student on Reddit described the program as “very intense” and “one of the most difficult things I have ever undertaken.” Some students were also critical of UC Irvine Bootcamps’ parent company, Trilogy. A student on Reddit commented, “no one has had anything positive to say about [Trilogy’s] Career Services.”

A grad on Switchup appreciated that the course was “project-based” and felt the only con was “how fast the program goes.” Another grad “found the instructors to be outstanding” but felt that the career services team was “stretched very thin.” For the most part, students seem satisfied with the course’s supportive staff and project-based learning, though some would have liked a slower pace with more career support.

Alternatives to UC Irvine Bootcamps

If you decide not to enroll in a UC Irvine bootcamp, there are a number of alternative courses and resources that can help you launch a career as a web developer, digital marketer, UX designer, or data analyst.

More alternatives
Even more alternatives
  • Another affordable program with self-paced learning, Coursera offers low-cost digital marketing courses taught by professors at accredited universities.
  • Similarly, 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 per month for more course options and greater support. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
  • edX is a popular online learning platform that hosts self-paced course from top schools like Harvard and MIT, and even tech companies like Microsoft. Students can choose to learn the fundamentals or focus on specific topics, like digital marketing. Learn more about edX in our review.
  • Students can also check out Udacity. They offer self-paced courses on marketing, data science, web dev, and more. Like with UC Irvine’s bootcamp, students get to work closely with both technical and career mentors. Learn more about Udacity in our review.

How does UC Irvine Bootcamps compare to Pathrise?

UC Irvine offers bootcamps to help people start a career as a digital marketer, web developer, UX/UI developer, or data analyst. While an interest in tech is suggested, most UC Irvine Bootcamps students start with no experience. Pathrise job-seekers should already have a background in their chosen field to get the most out of our technical curriculum. 

UC Irvine does offer part-time courses, but they can be fast paced and require many hours of work outside of class. Pathrise is a flexible program. There are only 4 hours of group sessions per week and fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions as needed. The curriculum is tailored to the needs of each fellow.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that helps people with each stage of their job search. Our experienced mentors have helped 700+ people land great jobs in tech. Fellows get 1-on-1 support on their resumes & portfolios, reverse recruiting and cold emails, behavioral and technical interview preparation, salary negotiation, and more. We offer an income share agreement (ISA) so fellows only pay when they land a tech job. On average, fellows find a tech job within just 3-5 months of joining our program.

Pathrise optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentorship and personalized training. If you are interested in working with one of our experienced mentors to land your dream tech job faster, join Pathrise. 

Apply today.

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Alex MacPherson

Hi I'm Alex! Since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019, I have worked on the growth team for Pathrise helping job seekers hone their skills to land their dream role through curated content on interview prep, resume building and more.

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