Coding Dojo Reviews

Founded in 2012, Coding Dojo is a leading coding bootcamp with multiple locations in the US. Offering specialized courses in software development, data science, and cyber security, Coding Dojo provides comprehensive programs to suit individuals from diverse backgrounds and skill levels. In this Coding Dojo review, you will learn more about Coding Dojo bootcamp programs, how much they cost, and if Coding Dojo is worth it.

Coding Dojo stands out for its robust curriculum and exceptional job placement rate. With extensive career services, collaborative learning environments, and access to teaching assistants, Coding Dojo bootcamps equips students with the tools and support they need to access high-paying tech careers.

Bootcamp Rankings Awards

What Is Coding Dojo?

Coding Dojo is a tech school that focuses on software development, cyber security, and data science. It used to offer a UX/UI design bootcamp but it has been discontinued. You can enroll in both full-time and part-time Coding Dojo bootcamps.

This school has a strong reputation in the coding community and can help you kickstart your career. It is a legit provider that gives you hands-on experience and helps you develop in-demand skillsets to become a data scientist, software developer, or cyber security specialist.

Coding Dojo Reviews

If you want to know whether or not Coding Dojo is worth it, the best thing to do is read Coding Dojo reviews from past students. On Bootcamp Rankings, the school scores an eight out of ten. One Coding Dojo bootcamp review says, “Joining Coding Dojo was one of the toughest, yet most rewarding experiences I’ve been through. I’ve learned so much since Day 1 and the learning doesn’t stop.”

Further, many of the Coding Dojo reviews online praise the supportive faculty and instructors at the bootcamp. One reviewer wrote, “the instructors and staff here genuinely cared for their students. Throughout the program, they made learning programming fun and challenged you.”

Reviews of Coding Dojo on Reddit

As with most topics on Reddit, the reviews of Coding Dojo on the site appear to be mixed. While some Redditors mention that “you get what you put in” to the program, others post memes indicating that they feel lost during their bootcamp.

In another thread about Coding Dojo, Reddit users mentioned that the program has greatly improved since 2019, a time in which many students had negative experiences. More recent learners said that the learning platform offers robust career services that help students find a job in tech.

Reviews of Coding Dojo on Yelp

The reviews of Coding Dojo on Yelp are all from 2017 and before, which you should take into account accordingly when considering what they say. However, these Coding Dojo reviews can still provide valuable insights into the program.

For example, one reviewer who had an overall positive experience mentioned that the instructors vary and some may be better than others, depending on a student’s learning style. Further, students that left one-star reviews felt that they didn’t get the support they needed during their program and were expected to learn too much too quickly.

Coding Dojo Job Placement Statistics

According to the 2021 Outcomes & Global Impact Report, Coding Dojo’s job placement rate was 91 percent within one year of graduating. The starting Coding Dojo graduate salary in 2021 was $69,478.

Further, over 21 percent of graduates earned a promotion in less than one year of entering the workforce. Students went on to work as business analysts, quality assurance engineers, web developers, game producers, technical project managers, and more after graduation.

Coding Dojo Alumni Outcomes

Coding Dojo’s outcomes are quite impressive. Coding Dojo alumni have gone on to work for companies such as Airbnb, American Airlines, Disney, Visa, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, and Sony, plus many more prominent tech companies.

For example, one successful alumnus from Coding Dojo highlighted in the 2021 Outcomes & Global Impact Report went from working as a chef to being hired as a backend engineer at Starbucks. Another landed a job as a Junior .NET Developer with a starting salary of $80,000 after graduation.

How Much Does Coding Dojo Cost?

The cost of Coding Dojo varies depending on the subject you study and the format of the program you enroll in. Coding Dojo tuition ranges from $9,995 to $16,995, making it one of the most affordable coding bootcamps. For example, the price of Coding Dojo’s Data Science Bootcamp is $11,995 for the 16-week program and $13,995 for the 20-week bootcamp.

The Software Development Bootcamp has three different course formats, each with its own tuition rate. The full-time program costs $16,995, while the part-time flex option costs $9,995. Lastly, the part-time accelerated program costs either $9,995, $13,495, or $16,995, depending on whether you want to learn one, two, or three stacks.

The Cybersecurity Bootcamp is a 24-week program that costs $16,995. Clearly, Coding Dojo is not free. However, Coding Dojo’s costs can be spread out through installment plans or by taking out an educational loan.

How to Pay for Coding Dojo: Scholarships, ISAs, Installments

You can pay for your tuition in a few different ways. Whether you prefer upfront payment, loans, or an ISA, there are plenty of different Coding Dojo payment options available to best suit your needs.

Upfront Payment

Though it can be difficult, this is the most painless of the Coding Dojo payment options. This means you pay for the tuition in full when you are accepted into the course. This is a great choice if you can afford it because once you pay, you don’t have to worry about it again.

ISA

At Coding Dojo, you can sign up for an income share agreement (ISA) if you take the full-time software development course. It allows you to enroll in the program at no cost, and only pay back the tuition once you have a job that pays $32,000 per year or more. Then you will set up a payment plan. With the Coding Dojo ISA, there are no interest fees or negative credit impacts if you are unable to find employment right away, which is why we consider it one of the best ISAs bootcamps on the market.

Loan Financing

Coding Dojo partners with Climb and Ascent to give students the option to pay for courses with monthly payments. The payments can be spread out over 36 or 60 months with Ascent and 42 months with Climb. You can also apply for a cost-of-living loan.

Monthly Installments

If you opt for payment installments, you will need to put down a deposit prior to the start of your chosen course. After this, you will work with the school to set up a plan for monthly payments to pay off the tuition cost.

This option is a bit shorter than loan financing as it can only last up to 24 months. The monthly cost of Coding Dojo under this plan will depend on which program you select.

GI Bill

For military members, veterans, and dependents, the Chapter 33 GI Bill benefits can cover your tuition. The process to set up these benefits is similar to the process for colleges, but Coding Dojo offers help to make the process easier. However, while the school only offers online programs, the use of the GI Bill at Coding Dojo is paused due to regulations.

Does Coding Dojo Offer Scholarships?

Coding bootcamp scholarships can be a great way to cover the cost of tuition. Coding Dojo offers five scholarships, each awarding between $1,000 and $1,500 to be used toward a student’s tuition. We review each Coding Dojo scholarship in detail below.

Career Reinvention Scholarship | $1,000

This $1,000 scholarship from Coding Dojo targets professionals transitioning to tech from a different field. A great tip if you are a career changer is to inquire about this opportunity during the application process.

Diversity Scholarship | $1,000

This scholarship opportunity shows Coding Dojo’s commitment to promoting diversity in the industry. Anyone belonging to a group traditionally underrepresented in tech can apply. That includes, but it is not limited to, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ people.

Women in Tech Scholarship | $1,000

Anyone who identifies as female and who needs assistance to finance their program can apply for this scholarship opportunity, which awards $1,000. This award is one of the reasons why we consider Coding Dojo one of the best coding bootcamps for women.

Kickstart Scholarship | Up to $1,500

This scholarship awards either $1,000 or $1,500, depending on the program, to a student from a financially disadvantaged background who can prove that their current income is less than $40,000 per year.

Military Heroes Scholarship | $1,000

Veterans and active service people can apply for this scholarship. They will need to submit a copy of DD-214, DD-256, or NGB-22. This scholarship, coupled with the school’s effective career services and historical acceptance of the GI Bill, is the reason why we consider Coding Dojo a great coding bootcamp for veterans.

What Can You Learn at Coding Dojo?

What you can learn at Coding Dojo will depend on which Coding Dojo course you choose to follow. However, each Coding Dojo curriculum provides students with hands-on learning opportunities and the skills necessary to tackle real-world problems within the tech industry. Learn more about these options and what you can learn in each Coding Dojo program below.

Software Development – Full-Time | Accelerated | Flex

The Coding Dojo software development course has been offered exclusively online since the start of the pandemic. However, students have the option of following either a full-time, part-time accelerated, or part-time flex option.

This course starts with web fundamentals and teaches you how to become a full stack developer. Students of Coding Dojo will learn JavaScript, HTML, and CSS in the first couple of weeks of class. They also learn about technologies such as MongoDB, React, Node.js, AJAX, jQuery, and more. Students enrolled in the accelerated and flex options will need to learn most of the material through self study.

Data Science – Online Part-Time

The Coding Dojo data science program is only offered as a part-time, online program. It’s designed for beginners, so you can take more in-depth courses elsewhere. You will learn the entire data science process, how to use Python and SQL, and the basics of machine learning.

Further, students in the data science bootcamp will gain experience with technologies such as Pandas, Matplotlib, TensorFlow, and more. Students will also learn how to work with relational databases and various data visualization techniques.

Cyber Security – Online Part-Time

Coding Dojo’s cyber security program is also only offered as an online, part-time bootcamp. After students complete the two-week pre-course, they will jump right into learning about network settings, password cracking, Kali Linux, digital forensics, and much more. Students will also work with technologies like Wireshark, Nmap, BurpSuite, and SQL.

UI/UX Design – Online Part-Time

The Coding Dojo UI/UX design program also starts off with two weeks of pre-course work. Once the bootcamp officially begins, students will start learning about research prototyping, and developing a user interface. During these lessons, they will work with Otter.ai, Figma, and Google Workspace.

Next, students will move on to project planning, user interviews, wireframing, and more. Students will learn how to build a visual design system and lay out the roadmap of projects for clients. Please note that this course is no longer offered.

Coding Dojo Prep Courses

For anyone who is new to bootcamps, it may be a wise idea to first enroll in one of Coding Dojo’s prep courses, Intro to Web Development or Intro to Python. These prep courses will help better prepare you to take the full courses later on.

Coding Dojo’s web development prep course takes only two to three hours, and it is offered for free. You’ll learn the basics of programming, including HTML and JavaScript, the difference between front end versus backend developers, and more. This is a live workshop, so be prepared to participate.

Coding Dojo’s free Intro to Python course follows a similar format. In this prep course, you will learn about Python libraries, data types, and conditional logic. Students will learn about the wide variety of applications Python has in the tech industry and will also have the opportunity to build their own programs using the coding language.

Coding Dojo Algorithm App

Coding Dojo offers a free Algorithm Training Platform to help aspiring programmers learn the basics of programming before committing to a more rigorous learning path. This platform is a great way to get acquainted with for loops, if/else statements, and array manipulation.

The Algorithm Training Platform takes students through a series of coding exercises, each more challenging than the previous one. Each problem is followed by a video walkthrough that explains the problem and the best way to arrive at a solution.

Does Coding Dojo Offer Free Courses?

No, Coding Dojo does not offer any free coding courses. All Coding Dojo bootcamps require the payment of tuition, which ranges from $9,995 to $16,995. However, Coding Dojo does offer a few free resources and materials, such as the Coding Dojo Algorithm App.

In addition, if you are considering a tech career, Coding Dojo invites you to attend one of its free workshops, also known as “prep courses.” Some of the workshops the school offers include an introduction to web development and an introduction to Python development.

Coding Dojo Schedules

Coding Dojo offers multiple schedule types so students coming from all backgrounds and lifestyles are able to enroll in courses. Whether you are looking for a full-time or part-time bootcamp, there is a Coding Dojo bootcamp that will suit your needs. Check the various options below to find the Coding Dojo schedule that is right for you.

How to Get Admitted Into Coding Dojo

Getting accepted into one of these bootcamps is relatively easy. The Coding Dojo admissions process is straightforward, and if you’re qualified for the program, you will be accepted. Read below to learn all about the application process.

What Is Coding Dojo’s Acceptance Rate?

Coding Dojo’s acceptance rate is not public information. However, since the school does not require students to have any technical knowledge, we can assume that they accept most applicants. Most students who apply to Coding Dojo don’t have prior coding experience.

The key factor to getting accepted into a Coding Dojo bootcamp is to show passion for pursuing a career in tech. Students also need a high school diploma or GED to apply.

Coding Dojo Application Process

The Coding Dojo application process is the same for all of its programs. It simply involves an application and an interview. There is no coding challenge involved. Though the application process is simple, the admissions team is still looking for students who will be able to dedicate themselves to the program they choose. Below are the steps you need to take to apply.

1. Decide which program you are most interested in. Take some time to examine your lifestyle to determine if you should enroll full time, part time, onsite, and/or online.
2. Fill out the online application. You can find it on the information page about the course.
3. Wait to be contacted to schedule an interview with the admissions team. If you pass the interview, you will be accepted into the bootcamp. If not, you will be notified and can try again after a period of time.

Coding Dojo Interview

Once you make it to the interview stage of the application process, you should prepare for the potential questions. The Coding Dojo interview is very straightforward and focuses more on your personal goals than your coding experience. Practice with a friend beforehand to become more confident. You can expect interview questions about the following subjects.

• Your motivation to learn the topic
• Any prior bootcamp courses you have enrolled in
• Your drive to succeed in the course
• Your career goals

Coding Dojo Locations

One of the great aspects of this school has always been its many locations. Typically, you should take courses at Coding Dojo Chicago, Coding Dojo Arlington, Coding Dojo Dallas, and more. However, these locations, as well as those in Boise and Tusla, are no longer available since the start of the pandemic.

Though all classes are held virtually right now, there are still several Coding Dojo locations that students can access. Each location, including online, boasts similar success and employment rates for graduates.

Online

Coding Dojo’s online courses are available to students across the country. Students who enroll in one of Codo Dojo’s online bootcamps still have the benefit of accessing virtual office hours. In addition, the user-friendly learning platform from Coding Dojo allows students to attend live lectures and get support every day of the week.

Online students have lifetime access to the career services team. From day one, these professionals help students navigate their career paths and sail through every interview process.

Bellevue

The Coding Dojo Bellevue campus offers the full-time 14-week Software Development Bootcamp to Seattle-area students. However, since the beginning of COVID-19, all classes have been held online. Nonetheless, the presence of Coding Dojo in Seattle allows the school to connect students to prominent businesses in the area, such as Starbucks and Amazon.

Los Angeles

Coding Dojo’s Los Angeles campus also offers a full-time software development program exclusively online since the start of the pandemic. However, since Los Angeles is home to a variety of big tech giants, as well as promising tech startups, there are still many advantages of taking a course through this location. The classrooms for the Los Angeles Coding Dojo are in Burbank, a city within LA county.

Silicon Valley

Coding Dojo’s San Jose location puts students in the heart of Silicon Valley. This location also currently offers the Software Development Bootcamp online. The Coding Dojo in Silicon Valley offers the same amazing bootcamp that other sites do but also offers extensive opportunities for networking that are key for your future growth.

Is Coding Dojo Worth It?

Coding Dojo is worth it if you’re seeking higher education but want a specialized track. However, if your job search includes data analysis or product management experience, this bootcamp may not be the best choice. This is because Coding Dojo, when compared to BrainStation or General Assembly, offers very few courses.

As you may have seen in this Coding Dojo review, the bootcamp has put its focus primarily on software development. This makes it a great choice if you know you want to become a software engineer or full stack developer. Plus, it has a high job acceptance rate, and the tuition fees are more reasonable than many bootcamps.

Coding Dojo FAQ

Is Coding Dojo accredited?

Similarly to other bootcamp programs, Coding Dojo is not accredited. However, that does not mean that it is a scam or that a Coding Dojo certificate is not valuable. In fact, quite the opposite is true, as the school has been able to train thousands of students that went on to be self-sufficient developers.

What is the Coding Dojo MEAN belt exam?

The Coding Dojo belt exam system is used to test students’ proficiency in web development fundamentals and programming languages. Students who successfully pass one level, progress to the next. Similar to the karate system, the last level is the Black Belt exam. Around 10 percent of Coding Dojo’s students are able to attain a Black Belt.

Does Coding Dojo offer a job guarantee?

Coding Dojo does not offer a job guarantee, but it does have impeccable career services. It includes job assistance with your tuition. Further, Coding Dojo’s career services can help you build a professional profile and portfolio, practice for interviews, and even apply for jobs.

What is Coding Dojo’s refund policy?

According to Coding Dojo’s refund policy, students can get nearly a full refund before the first day of class. All that will be taken out is a $100 admin fee. After classes start, refunds will be given in prorated amounts. However, this is only possible up until a certain point in the course, which is determined by individual state laws.