A review of Turing as a software engineering bootcamp

Hi, I’m Brian, a former senior software engineer and now industry mentor at Pathrise. I have worked with hundreds of software engineers to help them land their dream jobs in tech. Check out my review of Turing.

What does Turing do?
Who is Turing for?
What does Turing cost?
Ratings and review of Turing
Alternatives to Turing
How does Turing compare to Pathrise?

What does Turing do?

Turing is a bootcamp for people looking to develop the necessary skills to land a job as a software engineer. They offer two courses: front-end engineering and back-end engineering. In addition, they have a campus in Denver, Colorado, but due to Covid-19 all courses are now remote. Now, students can attend live classes with 1-on-1 support from anywhere.

Before starting the bootcamp, students must complete 30-40 hours of self-paced, online pre-work. Front-end students study HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other critical engineering concepts. Back-end students study the basics of Ruby, databases, and more. However, pre-work also includes instructions and tips for using the terminal, git, and GitHub.

The 7-month program meets from 9:00am to 4:00pm, Monday through Friday and students work 60-80 hours a week, including classes, projects, and homework. All students participate in lectures, workshops, programming challenges, and other hands-on projects. Lectures are recorded. That means that students can review them later.

The front-end curriculum teaches students how to build database-backed desktop, mobile apps, and web applications. In addition, the course includes lessons on UX/UI design, Javascript, HTML5, CSS, Node.js, APIs, and React.

The back-end curriculum teaches students how to build database-backed applications, focusing on the server-side. Students learn about OOP, Ruby, Rails, databases, and more.

Besides their full-time engineering programs, Turing offers free “Try Coding” workshops. These two-day bootcamps introduce students to the basics of front-end and back-end programming. The goal is to help them decide between the two flagship courses. Not only are these events free, but attendees also receive a $500 discount toward their paid bootcamp.

Who is Turing for?

People who have no experience in coding and are looking to develop the necessary skills to land a job as a software engineer or web developer could benefit from the bootcamp. The program is especially helpful for people who are based in Denver. In addition, since the program is full-time, it is a good option for people who can commit 40+ hours.

What does Turing cost? How much work is involved?

Tuition is $20,000 for the Turing bootcamp courses. As of August 2020, students who need to repeat a part of the curriculum do not have to pay any extra fees.

Students can finance their tuition through Skills Fund, Climb, or Sallie Mae Career Training Loans. These lending services offer a variety of loan options and repayment plans. Interest rates and loan terms depend on an applicant’s previous credit history. A $4,000 diversity scholarship is available to students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in tech, including people who identify as LGBTQ, women, people of color, people with disabilities, and veterans. Turing also accepts the G.I. Bill.

Unlike many other software engineering bootcamps, Turing doesn’t require students to review computer science principles for admission. Candidates fill out an online application, including a resume and logic quiz. The logic quiz is not based on computer science. It is described as “similar to the LSAT Logic Games section.” Next, applicants participate in a two-part interview. Candidates do a collaborative logic evaluation and behavioral interviews. Applicants can reapply after 45 days.

Because of their intensive schedule, Turing is known as a “full-time-plus” program. Their program runs for 7 full months, 40+ hours a week and includes homework and take-home projects.

Ratings and reviews

Reviews for Turing are generally positive. Turing holds a perfect 5-star rating on Career Karma. It has also been included in CourseReport’s top 5 courses for 3 years. Graduates praised the program for its intense curriculum and in-depth instruction but had mixed feelings about the time commitment and job placement.

On CourseReport, one student said that he learned valuable skills from the front-end development program and was proud to be part of it. They said the passionate students and staff “made the grind of bootcamp worthwhile and fun”. However, another graduate on Course Report mentioned, “the professional development I found to be mostly busy work.”

A graduate on Quora praised the community and intensive curriculum. He felt the long hours and program duration gave him the time he needed to understand software development on a practical and conceptual level. However, he would have liked to learn “other kinds of programming other than web development”. Others echoed this critique of the divided “front-end” versus “back-end” curriculum style.

On Career Karma, reviewers praised the caring instructors and non-profit community. However, they had difficulty with the time commitment, describing it as a “strenuous curriculum” that “will test you and you will need to dig deep to succeed”. Another student was also concerned by the “very heavy workload (60-65 hours a week was the norm for me)”. Similarly, a graduate was proud of finishing the program, but warned “Turing is one of the most intensive bootcamps you could ever choose to attend.”

Alternatives to Turing

If you decide not to enroll in Turing, there are a number of alternative bootcamps and online resources that can help aspiring software engineers.

The popular Fullstack Academy bootcamp offers part-time and full-time software programs for aspiring software engineers.
Another well-known bootcamps, General Assembly, offers full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
The bootcamps Lambda School, Thinkful, Launch Academy, Zip Code Wilmington, and Pluralsight are all full-time and intensive like Turing, offering programs in software engineering and other topics.
Actualize, devCodeCamp, Eleven Fifty Academy, and Coder Foundry are full-time bootcamps that can be taken in-person or online.
Another full-time tech bootcamp, Kenzie Academy offers in-person and online courses in software engineering & UX design and front-end engineering. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
Similarly, Prime Digital Academy has full-time and part-time courses in UX design and software engineering.
edX is one of the most popular online learning platforms. They have courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
Those looking for more in-person or remote software engineering bootcamp can also check out App Academy, Hack Reactor, and Flatiron School.
Another option is Grand Circus, which teaches courses on Java, front-end, and C# .NET. Their campuses are in Michigan, but they also offer online options.
Likewise, Tech Elevator, Epicodus, and Redwood Code Academy are software engineering bootcamps with online and on-campus options.

More alternatives

Covalence, Code Fellows, and Galvanize offer both full-time and part-time courses for aspiring software engineers.
Aspiring software engineers and web developers can also consider CodeX Academy, a self-paced coding bootcamp with mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
For those interested in learning software engineering online can check out Springboard, an online learning platform that offers thousands of courses on many tech subjects. Learn more about Springboard in our review.
Students on a tight budget, W3Schools and freeCodeCamp are free online learning tools with courses in Ruby on Rails, as well as other languages.
You can also check out Bubble no-code bootcamps to learn how to make products without coding. Learn more about Bubble in our review.
Codecademy is one of the most popular coding programs online. They provide free courses on many different programming languages. They also offer membership options ranging from $20 to $40 per month for more course options and greater support. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
Online learning platforms Udemy, egghead, GoRails, and Coursera also offer thousands of online videos in a wide range of tech subjects.
Udacity is another online learning resource with courses in software development, design, and data science, as well as other topics like product management. Learn more about Udacity in our review.

How does Turing compare to Pathrise?

Turing is a bootcamp for people who are interested in learning how to become a software engineer from scratch. At Pathrise, job-seekers in our program should already have a background in their field of interest so that they can get the most out of their pair programming sessions and technical interview preparation. Turing classes take more than 40 hours a week, often requiring students to relocate. Pathrise offers a flexible program, tailoring our curriculum to match each fellow’s schedule and needs.

As a full-service organization, Pathrise helps software engineers land the best job possible. Our mentors have experience on both sides of the hiring table and work with fellows on each step of their job search, including resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, behavioral interview preparation, salary negotiation, and much more.

Our program is flexible. There are only 4 hours of group sessions per week and fellows can schedule 1-on-1s as needed. All of our sessions are live, as well as recorded, so fellows can review previous material and keep learning. The Pathrise income share agreement (ISA) means that fellows don’t pay anything until they start working at a new job they love and we never require upfront payments.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that helps people land their dream job in tech through 1-on-1 mentorship. If you are interested in working with any of our mentors to get help with your technical and behavioral interviews or any other aspect of the job search, join Pathrise.