An In-Depth Review of Thinkful’s Software Engineering Bootcamp

Software engineers play a bigger role in our society than you might think. Once upon a time, it was the norm to write long letters and send them across the sea through the post office, only for them to be delivered days later. But today, you can enjoy instant messaging, emails, and even live video conferencing—all products of long hours of writing code, thanks to software engineers.

But software engineers do more than write lines of code. In this field, you will often work with a team of developers and programmers to:

1. Research, design, and build the architecture and software.
2. Identify issues and common patterns and develop standard operating procedures.
3. Test software and fix bugs to improve their quality.
4. Implement technical design

Altogether, software engineers apply the principles of their field to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The work of these professionals is in every sphere of life. As a result, the demand for their services has increased. This is where Thinkful steps in.

Overview of Thinkful’s Software Engineering Program

Thinkful’s Software Engineering program trains students to be job-ready front-end or back-end software engineers within a few months. Students will learn several in-demand skills by covering HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, advanced data structure, and the Agile methodology for web development management. They will also learn—during critical-thinking-driven sessions—to apply these skills to solve real-world problems.

Beyond coding, Thinkful equips the students with critical skills for their post-bootcamp job search. The school teaches learners how to handle technical interview questions, a common trend for modern-day interviewers. At the end of the program, graduates will also have a professional portfolio displaying the skills and projects they have undertaken. 

Thinkful’s Software Engineering program is available in two variants: full-time, which takes five months to complete at $9,500, and part-time, which takes six months at $16,000. 

Thinkful’s Software Engineering Curriculum: What Will You Learn?

Thinkful provides a robust curriculum that helps prepare students for several job positions in the tech industry. It focuses on teaching students how to:

• Build accessible, functional, and creative web pages and applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript;
• Design several interfaces for applications using the REST software architectural style + Master Node.us, PostgreSQL, and Knex to create relational database and Express server;
• Simplify and resolve common problems with data structure and algorithms;
• And use Hit and GitHub to manage web development projects.

In addition, the school has dedicated modules to help students prepare for their careers. During career-help sessions, learners will practice mock interview questions with the career team, work with coaches to develop employer lists, resumes, and cover letters.

Thinkful does not only focus on what subjects to teach but also how to teach technology topics. Using a hands-on approach, students learn to build websites from scratch. The school’s curriculum also gives room for pair programming where students team up to complete capstone projects and solve problems—just like you would in the real world.

Thinkful provides the same syllabus for its full-time and part-time software engineering cohorts. This feature allows working students to tailor their learning schedules. In other words, whether you can dedicate your time to study or need to balance learning with other commitments, you won’t have to worry about quality.

Let’s explore these options below.

Choose Between Two Study Options: Part-time or Full-time

Although the part-time and full-time study options have a similar syllabus, each differs in several other features. For example, only full-time immersive students have access to the school’s dedicated learning assistants. 

Full-time Online Program

The full-time online program is for learners who can commit more hours per week to study. The program is instructor-led and highly intensive, involving daily online classes and workshops with many project works and tests. It runs from Monday to Friday, from 10 am to 5 pm. That rounds up to 50 hours of learning per week throughout the program’s five-month duration.

Before beginning the full-time online Software Engineering program, students must first complete a self-paced intro course that runs for four weeks. It includes preparatory classes that help provide a foundation for the full-time program. Likewise, the intro course brings every student—regardless of whether they have a coding background or not—to a common ground.

The full-time option allows students to learn with a cohort and partake in pair programming projects by diving into its offerings. Dedicated assistants are also available to help learners with problems they encounter through their learning period. These added features make the programs attract a higher price tag than the part-time alternative. 

Part-time Online 

Compared to the full-time variant, the part-time online program is less intensive. Yet, it offers flexibility, requiring about 20 to 30 hours of learning per week and making it the ideal program for working students and others who cannot completely dedicate their time to study.

The program allows learners to learn independently from any cohort and at their pace, provided they complete weekly tasks to meet deadlines, meaning they are responsible for putting in their hours and completing their projects. For better results, they should work with an Academic Success Manager to help manage time and establish healthy study habits.

Unlike the full-time option, part-time students do not need to take an intro course. They will also not have access to dedicated instructors. In its place, the bootcamp provides the opportunity for learners to contact Thinkful during office hours to get first-hand assistance from an expert.

How to Pay for a Thinkful Program: Financing and Payment Options

To make tech education accessible to everyone, Thinkful offers several payment options that learners can use to finance their tuition, including Upfront, Month-to-month, ISA, and deferred payments.

Upfront

The upfront payment option requires learners to pay the entire tuition fee before commencing a program. For instance, a prospect opting for full-time Software Engineering must pay the $16,000 tuition before the cohort begins. On the other hand, part-time students must pay $9,500 before accessing their video lessons.

This payment method is the most cost-effective as it does not incur extra fees. However, there are other options for those who cannot pay the entire cost at once.

Month-to-month Payment

The month-to-month payment option is for those who cannot afford the upfront payment plan. It requires learners to pay the tuition in fixed installments each month while they study.

For the full-time students, the plan requires them to pay $3,520 monthly, adding up to $17,600 after five months. Similarly, the part-time option incurs a monthly pay-back cost of $2,000, summing up to $12,000 after six months.

Deferred Payment Plan

The deferred payment option postpones the obligation to pay the program’s tuition. However, the repayment will be deducted from the learner’s pre-taxed income once students get a qualifying position. 

For Thinkful, students will only begin repayment if they get a job paying at least $40,000 within six months of graduation. Like the month-to-month plan, deferred payment attracts additional charges.

There is also an option for students to apply for a $1,500 monthly loan to cover living expenses. Opting for this will, in turn, increase the repayment quota once the repayment clause is triggered.

Tuition Discounts for Veterans and Women

In addition to the other financing options, Thinkful provides discounts for veterans and women. That is in line with its mission to make tech education accessible to everyone.

Thinkful provides $200–500 discounts for women, non-binary individuals, and military veterans through this offer. 

Who Can Apply for Thinkful’s Software Engineering Program?

Thinkful’s Software Engineering program is open to those who wish to upgrade their tech skills, provided that they meet the requirements below. Students must:

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Have at least a school diploma or equivalent (GED) from an institution recognized by the US Department of Education. Attestations are required.
• Be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Be computer literate.
• Demonstrate personal skills like time management, effective communication, and teamwork.

Note that international students may study with other cohorts, but they may not be allowed to work unless they have a permit as per United States regulations.

Further, every student must have the following items before their program begins:

• Computer with a webcam, 4GB RAM, 1.8G processor, 100GB hard drive
• High-speed Internet
• Microphone, speakers, and headphones

Thinkful’s Software Engineering Program Outcomes

According to Thinkful’s Engineering outcomes report, 87 percent of students who completed the job search sessions accepted an in-field job within 180 days of graduation. It further revealed that 69 percent of them got hired within 90 days of graduation.

Going by Jason Dabrowner’s Thinkful experience, the school’s career services were instrumental in getting his desired tech job. He says, “Having the safety net of career services helped me get into my current job, where I am very empowered to succeed.” He also highlights the school’s mentorship program as crucial to the success he enjoys today.

Sean Jun, another Thinkful alumnus, agrees with Jason about the effectiveness of the school’s career support team and mentors. In his words, “Thinkful provided an abundance of information with the support of one-on-one mentorship –which [I] loved–and career services support.”

Become a Software Engineer with Thinkful

It is difficult to imagine a world without coding. Microsoft would have never been born; advanced technology, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, cloud computing, email services, and many more would be missing. Simply put, the world would be stuck in the pre-modern era, and where’s the fun in that?

With the increasing demand for software engineers, getting training in software engineering may be the next move to shift your career to the next level. And with its extensive curriculum, hands-on approach, and flexible payment options, Thinkful helps to provide quality training and accessible training to prospective software engineers.

There you have it, a whole outlook into Thinkful’s Software Engineering program. If you want to learn more about this offering, book a call with Thinkful’s Admissions team today.