Turing School

TL;DR: Turing is a fantastic choice that is extremely challenging but ultimately very rewarding. Be prepared, don’t underestimate anything about the process and you’ll be happy with the end result.

I consider attending Turing one of the best decision I’ve made in my life. I spent 10 months in the program and it was extremely challenging. I was by no means a “top” student and repeated modules multiple times. Early on in my time there, I felt like I didn’t have the chops to personally succeed in the program. But I had great teachers and a mentor who really supported me when I’m not sure I deserved it. As time progressed through the program, I made some personal life changes that helped me get to the very end. If you’re considering this program, I’d highly recommend that you do it but with a caveat. Do your best to get your personal life in order. Turing really requires a 100% commitment to be successful. I personally didn’t realize just how much of a commitment it was until weeks into the program. Don’t be like me. Go in there with clear expectations of what it’ll take and you’ll be in a good place mentally. And after spending 7 months or more in the program, you’ll have great fundamentals to jump into a rewarding career in the software engineering industry. You’ll make life long friends and have a great alumni network.
Turing also does a great job at preparing students for the first job interview process. You never really know what that’s going to look like until you actually do one, but I was happy with their commitment to that part of the process.

December 13, 2019

Making the choice to go through Turing’s program was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s hard. That’s no joke. But it’s also a very good program. I did a lot of research into options when I was making this decision, and there were a number of reasons Turing came out ahead for me. Their status as a nonprofit was a big one. Another was the campus. It’s humble. It just has what you need to do the thing, and for me, that was a selling point. It said to me that they are confident enough in the core of what they are doing to let that speak for itself. That assumption was right. The staff is excellent, they genuinely care about every student there. And do their best to help you be successful. I have a new life now because of this program. And it’s a far better life than I came in with. I’m a year out now, and on my second job. For the first time in my life, I love what I do, and I look forward to work. I could not have done any of this without Turing.

February 22, 2020

I very much enjoyed my time at Turing and got an amazing new job a little more than a month out from graduating. I considered several different bootcamps and the thing that sold me on Turing was the staff and the commitment to excellence. Turing isn’t the 20th branch of a corporately owned bootcamp churning students and catering to investors. Turing is a single-location non-profit and the founders are down in the basement day in and day out critically analyzing everything they do and continuously improving the curriculum. I’m actually jealous of the current students because I feel like the curriculum has gotten markedly better even since I was there a few months ago.

Turing also has a very good reputation with employers because their graduates are actually job ready. Turing is very hard especially if you’ve never done any previous programming (most students haven’t so its normal). Prep work before starting is crucial to your success in the program in my opinion. They are currently working on Module 0 to help students prepare. As hard as it is, Turing is a lot of fun! The projects are awesome and you will make some really good friends. The camaraderie in the basement is infectious. The teachers are also excellent and very committed to the students.

You will get a job after Turing and a lot of graduates are making really good money right out of school. However, you have to work hard for it and make sure all your ducks are in a row (networking, projects, personal site, interview skills, LinkedIn). The alumni network is strong and the career services people are great. They will help you with all this stuff if you put in the work.

I would highly recommend Turing to anyone who is interested in programming as a career. If you’re not sure, go check out a ‘Try Turing’. If you like it, sign up for the program and start preparing right away! 10/10 would enroll again.

April 24, 2020

Making the choice to go through Turing’s program was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s hard. That’s no joke. But it’s also a very good program. I did a lot of research into options when I was making this decision, and there were a number of reasons Turing came out ahead for me. Their status as a nonprofit was a big one. Another was the campus. It’s humble. It just has what you need to do the thing, and for me, that was a selling point. It said to me that they are confident enough in the core of what they are doing to let that speak for itself. That assumption was right. The staff is excellent, they genuinely care about every student there. And do their best to help you be successful. I have a new life now because of this program. And it’s a far better life than I came in with. I’m a year out now, and on my second job. For the first time in my life, I love what I do, and I look forward to work. I could not have done any of this without Turing.

May 28, 2020

I graduated from college in 2011 with a major in Political Science and a minor in “International Studies”, whatever that is.

I have never, ever used the “skills” I gained in college. No one has ever asked to look at my resume, or asked me about my college education.

The skills I gained in Turing, on the other hand, are extremely relevant. I’m now a software developer, and I’m about 1.5 years into my first job.

I suspect my entire working career will fall into two categories:

Pre-Turing
Post-Turing

I’m feeling really good about my post-Turing career. I enjoy the work I do every day, and I’m well paid. I have significant growth opportunity in my career, and I have a healthy work-life balance. I can spend time with my wife and family, friends, etc.

I appreciate what Turing does every day, and contribute time (and money!) to their efforts. I mentor students, I donate to the school, I refer many friends to Turing. To date, FOUR of my friends have gone through the program, and all are equally thrilled with it.

After I finished Turing, I paid off the $15k I owed for Turing, and the $15k I had left in student loans, in less than a year. Now all the extra income just goes straight to savings.

I wrote up a bit about my experience here: https://josh.works/turing-retrospective

I think Turing is a great use of time and money. I strongly suggest you do the work of setting yourself up for success at Turing, across financial and emotional domains. Take out a loan if necessary, but don’t try to work a job while in Turing.

Plan on putting your regular life on hold while at Turing. Work hard to get through the prework, and then some. Work hard, and sleep at least eight hours a day. When you’re done, do what they say to get a job, and you’ll get a job. Your life will be changed.

June 3, 2020

I had the luxury of going through Turing as a white guy with a master’s degree and a history of being affirmed in the STEM field. I highlight this to say that my perspective on the challenge of Turing is pretty pure to the work and curriculum itself and not to larger systemic or identity pressures and stressors from things like race, class, gender, education, etc.

That being said, Turing is *really* hard. It really is non stop work for seven months for at least 60 hours a day (and a mellow day at that). The Turing difference is that you develop insane endurance for problem solving and spending all day thinking like a programmer.

I went through the back-end program covering Ruby and Ruby on Rails, but the curriculum and instructors pave a road for students that leads them to a place of very generalizable knowledge that applies to many contexts in software development (almost two years out from graduation, I work on a completely different stack).

Turing helped me completely alter my life trajectory in terms of opportunity and fulfillment. If you want to see what coding is like or if you even like it, don’t apply yet. It’s not a kiddie pool! If you are serious about wanting to become a professional software developer, it is the only slam-dunk option in my mind.

August 13, 2020

To preface, I was installing commercial washers and dryers right before starting Turing, I left that job to start the program. I was very unprepared and had done very little before coding before my first day of class. However, I quickly found that by committing enough time and energy I could learn anything. The staff was incredibly helpful in directing the learning and the classmates really made the difference. There is a bond that is formed with your cohort that is hard to describe, they are your grounding throughout the process and essential to any individuals success. I got a job after an extended job search (solely my fault) and it has been truly life changing. I now make more than double what I previously did and I couldn’t be happier with the direction my life is now heading. I have only Turing to thank for the new skills and tools I now have at my fingertips.

September 20, 2020