Hi, I’m Polina! Formerly, I worked as a senior digital marketing manager and now I am the marketing mentor at Pathrise. I help job-seekers prepare for their future in digital marketing. Check out my review of UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp.
- What does UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp do?
- Who is UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp for?
- What does UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp cost?
- Ratings and reviews of UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp
- Alternatives to UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp
- How does UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp compare to Pathrise?
What does UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp do?
UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp offers part-time courses to aspiring web developers, data analysts, and digital marketers. No prior coding experience is necessary. But, all students complete self-paced pre-work before starting their chosen bootcamp. Courses are now online because of COVID-19.
Web dev
The 24-week part-time web dev course teaches students the skills they need to start a career as a full stack web developer. It meets two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm, plus homework and assignments outside of class. The curriculum includes live lectures, hands-on workshops, and projects. Students learn to build full stack web apps using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Node.js, C#, and React.Js. In addition, the curriculum also includes responsive design, Heroku, Git, user authentication, ASP, MySQL, MongoDB, and more.
Data science
The part-time data science course lasts 24 weeks and meets two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, with additional Saturday classes from 10am to 2pm. It requires about 15-20 hours of work per week outside of class. Students learn to analyze and visualize data using Excel, Python, JavaScript, SQL databases, Tableau, and more. Plus, they participate in live lectures, 1-on-1 coaching sessions, hands-on workshops, and much more. Students work in groups to build a data visualization application for their final project. This can be added to their portfolios and help them land an entry level data science job.
Digital marketing
Students in the 18-week part-time digital marketing course learn skills they need to become a digital marketer. The bootcamp meets two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. The course features live lectures, office hours, hands-on projects, networking events, and workshops. The curriculum teaches students the ins and outs of digital marketing strategy, campaign development, social media advertising, SEO, and more. Moreover, students use in-demand marketing technologies to put together real campaigns, working with Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, MailChimp, HTML, CSS, and a variety of CRMs. They graduate with a polished digital marketing portfolio to show employers.
Finally, all UNC-Chapel Hill programs provide career services as well. Students participate in portfolio reviews, resume workshops, mock interviews, demo day showcases, networking events, and 1-on-1 career coaching.
Who is UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp for?
People with little to no experience in web development, digital marketing, or data analytics who are looking to move into these careers could benefit from the UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp. The program is especially helpful for those based in North Carolina. Likewise, people interested in a fast-paced, hands-on curriculum would enjoy the program.
What does UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp cost? How much work is involved?
Tuition for any UNC-Chapel Hill course is $11,495. Interest-free monthly payment plans are available. In addition, students who pay upfront or register early receive a discount. Plus, UNC-Chapel Hill alumni are also eligible for a $500 discount.
The admissions process begins with a brief written application or a call to admissions. Then, candidates have a behavioral interview over the phone. Select candidates are then given a critical thinking and problem-solving assessment. There is no formal technical interview. No prior experience is required.
The courses are part-time with only about 10 hours of class a week, but students are expected to work 20+ hours outside of class every week. The fast pace of the curriculum may also require self-studying.
Ratings and reviews
UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp has received fairly positive reviews. The program is rated 4.84/5 stars on Course Report. They also have fairly positive reviews on Reddit. Graduates praised the program for its hands-on learning and supportive staff, but some students had mixed feelings about the fast pace and job placement.
The top review on Course Report described the course as a “great learning experience” that was a “lot of fun.” The reviewer was also impressed by the program’s supportive staff, raving that they were “approachable, always ready to help.” But, another top review felt the course could be “challenging” with “so much taught in a short time.” While the reviewer was “happy with the academic portion of the class,” he was frustrated by the job support. He remarked that “the career services [department] is completely awful” and the career coaches “promise a lot of things throughout the course and very little of them happened.”
Another grad said she was impressed with the curriculum, but warns “the class was HARD, no joke, when they tell you the pace is fast, believe them…it’s FAST!” She raves about the supportive staff and project-based learning, but only rated job support 3/5 stars, commenting “the only not great experience for me was career services.”
A student on Reddit said the project-based curriculum and mentorship were effective but warned, “you have to actually put in work outside of class” and that only “20% of my class is employable as a junior developer.”
UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp’s parent company, Trilogy, hosts positive testimonials on Medium. However, some graduates were also critical of Trilogy’s job placement. A student on Reddit commented “no one has had anything positive to say about Career Services.”
Alternatives to UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp
If you decide not to enroll in a UNC-Chapel Hill bootcamp course, there are a number of alternative courses and resources that can help you launch a career as a web developer, digital marketer, or data analyst.
- The full-time tech bootcamp Kenzie Academy has in-person and online courses in 2 tracks: software engineering & UX design with front-end engineering. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
- One of the most well known bootcamps is General Assembly. They offer full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like data science, digital marketing, web dev, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
- Aspiring web developers can also consider CodeX Academy, a self-paced coding bootcamp with 1-on-1 mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
- Flatiron School teaches part-time and full-time courses on data analysis, data science, cybersecurity, and software engineering.
- Similarly, Nashville Software School, DevPoint Labs, Georgia Tech Bootcamp, UC San Diego Bootcamps, Clarusway, and Codeup have courses in web dev and data science.
- Aspiring digital marketers can look into GrowthX Academy, a tech bootcamp with courses in growth marketing, UX design, and sales.
- Similarly, Bootcamp Digital, Digital Creative Institute, DeltaV Code School, SDSU Bootcamp, Somerville Academy, Kellogg Executive Education, NJIT Digital Skills Bootcamp, and InternStreet offer tracks in digital marketing.
- You can also check out Palm Beach Code School, allWomen Academy, GW Bootcamps, UC Davis Bootcamps, and One Month, which have courses in web dev, marketing, and more topics.
- In addition, Bloc is an online program that teaches web development and design.
- Or, you can consider Divergence Academy, Principal Analytics Prep, 365 Data Science, FourthBrain, Data Science Dream Job, and K2 Data Science, which have part-time and full-time data science courses.
More alternatives
- Similarly, Metis is a bootcamp with introductory data analytics courses. They feature a project-based curriculum with both on-campus and remote options. Learn more about Metis in our review.
- UC Berkeley Bootcamp, University of Denver Bootcamps, Rice University Bootcamps, Pepperdine Graziadio Bootcamps, and UC Irvine Bootcamps have web dev, data, and digital marketing courses with both online and in-person options. Trilogy also manages these bootcamps. That means that they have similar curricula and job support.
- Beginners can also look into Coding Dojo and Ironhack. Their programs teach students the fundamental skills needed to land an entry level data analyst role.
- The popular bootcamps Lambda School and Thinkful offer courses in data science and web development. Students can pay for the program using an income share agreement (ISA).
- For students seeking lower-cost web development courses, Simplilearn and Pluralsight could be good options. While they may not have as much support as more intensive bootcamps like UNC-Chapel Hill, these self-paced programs offer thousands of courses.
- Similarly, 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.
- 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.
- Students on a budget may also consider Udemy, which has thousands of self-paced video courses on web dev, cybersecurity, data analysis, and much more.
- The online educational resources Udacity and Springboard offer courses in web dev, data analytics, digital marketing, and many other tech topics. Learn more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.
How does UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp compare to Pathrise?
UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp offers courses for people interested in starting a career as a web developer, digital marketer, or data analyst. While an interest in tech is recommended, most UNC-Chapel Hill Bootcamp students start with zero experience. Pathrise job-seekers should already have a background in their field to get the most out of the technical interview training.
UNC-Chapel Hill is part-time, but, it can be fast paced. It require lots of work outside of the curriculum. Pathrise is a flexible program. There are only 2-4 hours of sessions per week and fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions as needed. All of our sessions are live and recorded, so fellows can review previous material anytime.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that helps people land their dream job in tech. Our mentors have experience on both sides of the hiring table and have helped 1,000+ people land great jobs in tech. Fellows get 1-on-1 support on their resumes & portfolios, reverse recruiting and cold emails, behavioral interview preparation, salary negotiation, and more. The curriculum is tailored to each individual fellow.
We use an income share agreement (ISA) so the program is free until you are hired and start working at a job you love. Fellows in our program see their interview scores double and their application responses triple, land jobs within only 3-5 months of joining the program on average.
Pathrise optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentorship and personalized training. If you are interested in working with any of our mentors to land your dream tech job faster, join Pathrise.
Apply today.
