Code Bootcamps are a Costly Scam

Many of my clients here on Codementor have ALREADY paid $10,000 - $25,000 (the greed! but later about that) to a bootcamp, are now shelling out $60/hour and more on a private tutor to help them!

I say that not to bash my “competition” (you will later understand why they are not) but to save you the same disappointment that I experienced going through a coding course.

What do bootcamps promise: to make you a programmer.
What do bootcamps do: they teach you code.

Only 10-20% will find success on the path they imagined before starting, and the bootcamp’s promise fulfilled. And they are the people that most likely could have done it on their own to begin with.

Why such a miserable outcome?
Here are the 4 main reasons:

1. They teach HOW but not WHY.

The WHY seems so trivial to the teachers they never give a second thought to explain it. WHY use a variable? An array? A map function?
It is so neat when the teacher demonstrates HOW, but once the teacher leaves, the student has no idea what to do. This is the difference between knowing code (simple memorizing) and a programmer that knows WHY certain tools are the right ones for a job.

2. Poor mental models

Big words, let me explain quickly!
Code, in big contrast to popular belief, is more of a manual craft, rather than academic knowledge. As a blacksmith needs to know the feel of the iron, how it responds to his tools, the same way the programmer needs to feel code. We learn to expect the behavior of the material.

One does not become a blacksmith from a YouTube tutorial or a lecture. Yet this is exactly what bootcamps do: they show a few examples, and expect students to memorize them for all eternity, knowing when exactly is the right time to use them.

3. Group teaching

I’ll say just this: the concept was invented in favor of the institutions alone. Individual students gain nothing from having to adjust to a homogenized speed and process.

4. Price

Most of the students are still trying to get into the industry or switching careers. If you are in constant financial stress your learning suffers dearly and no promises of future glory and riches can help that. Even the cheapest bootcamps are far from being “accessible”. Someone needs to pay rent.

Conclusion

No wonder the poor students are willing to pay for extra mentorship: not only they are not being taught properly, but they are also being made feel stupid! In addition to being pressured, and comparing yourself to your peers.
Kinda reminds me of high school, only you pay ridiculous money for it…

I don’t see bootcamps as competition because the web is full of amazing free resources for the HOW. I care most about the WHY. The HOW is also gained during the learning process, as the student tries and makes mistakes.

My offer is simple:

I provide a 1-on-1 mentorship process to build a web-app you are passionate about.
With me, you will avoid all the pitfalls listed above (including the price, I don’t charge nearly as much as a bootcamp).
My promise is to teach you to think like a programmer, and hopefully, to take those thought skills and apply them in any other craft.