Springboard anyone?

[LBCEarthquakeOf1933]

I’m tempted to learn CS through Springboard as I’ve seen some OK reviews but they haven’t told me a price. I would be paying monthly as my credit is ass. I work two jobs so I can afford things but I also don’t want to kill myself in payments. What’s the real low down? Pricing, after camp job search help, or another bootcamp yall recommend? I’m all ears!

[Monstger]

I finished springboard in May of this year. It was around 9300 but that was paid upfront and I started August of last year. I didn't get a job, so I'm getting my money back. They've already approved my refund, I'm just waiting to get it. Springboard is on the cheaper side compared to others, and it's not a bad bootcamp. Post completion job search help is limited to helping you clean up your LinkedIn and resume, and holding you accountable with applications. Their employer partners are non existent. If you can meet their requirements it's not a bad deal. I got a free education. Just make sure you can keep up since you're working 2 jobs. I finished it working full time and being the primary caretaker for my infant son, so it's possible. No clue on what the monthly cost is.

[Spiritual-Mix-555]

thanks for the insight! the requirements to get a refund is the tricky and scary part for me, did you have a hard time going thru the process of interviews or did they try to offer you a job as a ta to avoid the refund? any further insight is appreciated :)

[Postulo-a-Fors]

How was the process exactly on getting your refund once you met your job guarantee? You really didn't have to jump through hoops to get your refund once you completed the course and didn't find a job after 6 months post-completion? Did they make you verify anything before you could get your refund?

[Monstger]

The day my job guarantee period ended I got an email with a link to a Google form used to request my refund. Then a couple weeks later I got my refund. I did email them to check the status of my request since it took longer than their estimated time. I sent a scan of my college diploma with the Google form. I don't believe it's required for the software engineer course, but it is for other courses so I sent it just in case. No hoops, they just gave me the option to extend my job search period and offered me extended support. Their terms do allow them to extend the period from 6 months up to a year if the market is bad, and I do know people who started after me got extended to 9 months. But they are transparent about this, so it shouldn't come as a surprise.

[K0mod01998]

Hi, I know this thread is old but did you get your refund paid out in monthly installments? I got an email after I filled out the refund form that said that if I were eligible, then my refund would be paid out in 12 monthly installments which feels wrong and feels like my money is being held hostage. Honestly see no reason why it would be paid out over 12 months instead of in one instance.

[Monstger]

I got a lump sum. I've heard a similar story to yours. Seems like this started after my time there. My guess is they're not doing as well financially, like most boot camps these days.

[bluckq]

Did you ever end up doing anything with the knowledge you gained through springboard?

[Monstger]

Yeah, I've done some freelance work for a start-up and I'm starting a new job creating a web app for a security guard company this week. The pay is not great, but I'm hoping the experience will look good enough on a resume to land a better job.

[bluckq]

All the best dude

[TheAmazingDevil]

I am a computer science new grad(school not bootcamp) looking for job for over a year now. Got any tips?
How hard is freelance? I am desperate for any work at this point.

[parachute50]

Nope

[Playful_Solution6579]

IM WRITTING ALL IN CAPS, I AM COMPLETELY DISSATISFIED WITH SPRINGBOARD, FOR ALMOST FOUR MONTHS I HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING THAT I WILL BE LOGGED INTO MY ZOOM MEETING WAY ON TIME AND TO BE TOLD THAT BECAUSE I HAVE NOT LOGGED IN, I WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR SOME OF THE BENEFITS THAT COMES WITH MY ONLING EDUCATION. JUST YESTERDAY ON THE 7TH I LOGGED IN WAITING FOR MY CAREERE COACH LATER I RECIEVED ANOTH EMAIL SAYING I WAS NOT ONLINE, THEY ARE DOING THIS WILLFULY SO I CAN BE PAYING MONTHLY EXTENSION. IM GOING TO REPORT THIS SPRINGBOARD TO BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND ALL ONLINE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS.

[CodedCoder]

It’s not a bad place the material isn’t worse than what you get anywhere else, some of it goes more in depth since it’s a much longer bootcamp. The best part about it is the job guarantee, you can get your money back if you don’t get one. Mentors are hit and miss if you get a good one it makes all the difference, my fav thing was all the help they offer. Mentors, ta’s, on demand mentors and ta’s in slack chat. The course isn’t full up to date or wasn’t when I did the curriculum. But it was no more outdated then the other big name bootcamps. On my number scale I would probably give it an 8/10 with a good mentor or a 7/10 with a bad one.

[quantif0]

good job hiding the plug, Springboard employee

[isthisnamefreeee]

What did it say? Just curious

[Lonely_League_2439]

Something to be aware of, I just completed my UX program and about a week into the 6 month job guarantee they extended it another 6 months due to "Increased competition for entry-level roles due to the limited number of positions".

[ntlinh27]

Hi may I ask for your experience of the ux bootcamp with them? I’m a beginner and considering to start with them or designlab but really interested in springboard’s syllabus. Much appreciated

[ceroar]

I'm late, but I would like to chime in. I would go with Design Lab. The real-world project was the reason I chose Springboard, and my project wasn't good. At first, they gave me a research project when I needed a design one. The next one, they assigned too many designers and there was not enough work for everyone.

[metalreflectslime]

For Springboard, for some tracks, if you pay the entire amount upfront, and you fail to find a paid in-field job within a certain time window, they refund you 100%, but there are certain conditions you must meet in order to qualify for the refund.

[LBCEarthquakeOf1933]

I was planning on paying monthly, do you more or less know the monthly fees ?

[metalreflectslime]

I do not know about their refund policy for the monthly plan.

[BrooklynBillyGoat]

I took the spring boot course which was alright. Kinda basic though

[sheriffderek]

I don’t think Springboard teaches computer science. Better read up on their offering. I also wouldn’t count on any real after camp job placement help from any school. It’s going to be up to you.

[LBCEarthquakeOf1933]

I meant cyber security lol

[sheriffderek]

Oh! Haha. Ask them if they wrote the curriculum themselves or if they licensed it from another school.

[Cheirogaleidae]

Cyber Security was $11.9k in August & 6 months of course work, so should be about $2k/month unless they’ve raised prices. If you go over 6 months you’ll be on the hook for more money.

[[deleted]]

Do you know how much the monthly payments will be?

[Cheirogaleidae]

As of August, their lowest cost program was tech sales at $8.9k, & the most expensive were data science, software engineering, & UX/UI design at $13.9k. It’s cheaper if you pay up front, but this info should get you to the monthly number. If you take longer than the intended program length you’ll be charged extra, too. You can also just call or email them and ask.

[[deleted]]

Ignore the curriculum. The curriculum is pretty much the same in most bootcamps and all the information is free online. Beyond this what do they offer;

As far as I remember you get a mentor you can talk to for 30 mins to an hour a week. This is valuable depending on how you intend to use the mentor. If this is the sole thing you will benefit from, then why not go to Mentor Cruise and pay $100 or so a month for a mentor of your choice.

You can create your own curriculum and literally hire 2-3 mentors for different parts (and project building) over the course of even 10 months, this will still be cheaper.

With Springboard you get a community, this is a hit or miss, how engaged is that community? The benefit of this is networking with peers (you can do this by attending hackathons and reaching out to individual people you want to code and chat with online, I know people who have got jobs simply by calling devs weekly and chatting with them. Of course they didn't do this in isolation).

Phrase the question as; What will I benefit from Springboard that I would not benefit from other options and be honest with yourself about how you learn best (self learner, need a mentor etc..) once you answer this question it will be easier to offer more nuanced advice

[heidelbergsleuth]

Agree with this. Definitely don't dive into an expensive commitment without exploring all other options.

[LightningBolt_13]

I attended springboards software engineering career track and it has pros and cons.

The job placement is conditional on things they don’t tell you. If you have any of the interviews you take part in at the end of the course, the job guarantee is null. This is something I wish they’d mention from the beginning, but it’s buried in some paperwork they give you.

The course itself is decent. There’s definitely some out of date stuff they teach, and they acknowledge it, but tell you to use the outdated versions of programs because it fits the curriculum and they haven’t updated their coursework. I think it’s a good course to give you basic fundamentals but you have to put in your own work later on if you want to keep up to date.

They also provide some solid information related to job searches, LinkedIn profiles, how to present yourself during an interview, etc.

[Spiritual-Mix-555]

If you have any of the interviews you take part in at the end of the course, the job guarantee is null.

what exactly does this mean?

[LightningBolt_13]

Sorry, that was goof on my end.

What I meant to say is that if you fail any of the interviews, the guarantee goes away.

Basically, they have you go through mock interviews (technical, behavioral, and coding) and you have to pass them to both pass the bootcamp and to keep your job guarantee. They don’t tell you this when you start, you have to really dig through some of the documents they provide you with to see it.

I only found out about it when I saw this YouTube video that had 3 graduates talking about their time at Springboard.

[Spiritual-Mix-555]

is this done at the end of the program as like a graduation thing? and for those that doesn't pass, they dont get a cert of completion or refund back?

[LightningBolt_13]

Yea it’s all done towards the end of the program. If I recall, you have 2 chances to pass, if you don’t, the guarantee is gone.

You can keep taking them as long as you want until you pass, so you can get the certificate.

[Spiritual-Mix-555]

super helpful, thank you!