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 article about coding bootcamps in San Francisco.
An epicenter of the tech industry, San Francisco is home to a large number of coding bootcamps, software engineering meetups, and other tech events. With so many options, navigating through the different choices of coding bootcamps in San Francisco can be overwhelming.
To help you find the right program to launch your career in software engineering, we have compiled a list of coding bootcamps in San Francisco. Use this list to help you find the one that best matches your learning goals and career objectives.
- General Assembly
- First Step Coding
- Flatiron School
- App Academy
- Holberton School
- Hack Reactor
- Galvanize
- Rithm School
1. General Assembly
A tech bootcamp with courses in multiple subjects, General Assembly offers a 12-week immersive bootcamp for aspiring software engineers in San Francisco, as well as other cities. Students learn how to build interactive full-stack apps and study key computer science concepts, such as algorithms, data structures, design patterns, APIs, and more.
Their well rounded curriculum prepares students to work in multiple frameworks and stacks. Participants also learn to use tools such as Python, Django, and more. Towards the end of the program, students receive 1-on-1 support from career coaches on many aspects of the job search, including building portfolios and preparing for technical interviews. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
2. First Step Coding
A part-time program that prepares students for full-time bootcamps, First Step Coding offers an 8-week bootcamp that covers the fundamentals of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Participants learn through hands-on projects and build an interactive front-end for an API-driven web application.
The first 4 weeks can be conducted in-person. After that, the final 4 weeks, which provide technical and behavioral interview guide and practice, occur online with live instruction. Grads from this program go on to attend rigorous full-time bootcamps such as Flatiron School and App Academy.
3. Flatiron School
A well known bootcamp, Flatiron School offers a 15-week, full-time software engineering bootcamp with flexible payment options and career coaches. Students meet Monday-Friday from 9am-6pm. They participate in student-led discussions, lectures, pair-programming exercises, labs & mini projects, in addition to completing homework after class.
Ranked the #1 bootcamp by CourseReport, Flatiron School teaches object-oriented programming, SQL, Ruby, Sinatra, JavaScript, front-end with React & Redux, and more. Students in the program participate in hands-on projects that can be added to their resumes and portfolios so that they are prepared to begin their job search. Besides technical training, students receive resume reviews, interview prep, and access to the Flatiron School alumni network.
4. App Academy
App Academy is a software engineering bootcamp with courses in San Francisco. Their immersive program meets Monday-Friday from 9am-6pm. It covers the fundamentals of coding by teaching frameworks like Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and SQL over the course of 16 weeks.
Students participate in lectures, pair programming sessions, and hands-on projects. They learn important skills in back-end engineering, iOS development, big data, good software design, algorithms and data structures, and more. In addition, students work with career coaches on resume and portfolio building, technical and behavioral interview prep, salary negotiation, and more. Graduates become part of the App Academy alumni network, which has a strong presence on LinkedIn.
App Academy also offers a popular paid bootcamp prep course, which covers the fundamentals of web development and JavaScript. The course prepares students for bootcamp applications and interviews. Graduates go on to attend immersive bootcamps at App Academy, as well as Lambda School, Hack Reactor, and others.
5. Holberton School
With courses in San Francisco and a number of other cities, Holberton School requires a longer commitment than most other bootcamps. Their full-time program takes 2 years to complete. There are no typical days at Holberton School. Students participate in peer learning, practicing interviews, guest lectures, meetups, and hackathons.
Their curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning through coding projects. The first 9 months cover the fundamentals of data structures, algorithms, databases, Linux, and more. For the remaining 15 months, students choose from 5 specializations: the career track, C low level and algorithms, AR/VR, machine learning, and full-stack web development.
6. Hack Reactor
Hack Reactor is a software engineering bootcamp with full-time courses in San Francisco. Their immersive bootcamp, which runs for 12 weeks, meets on Monday-Friday from 9am-8pm. Before starting, students must complete 80 hours of self-paced pre-work or take Hack Reactor’s online paid prep course, which is part-time and lasts 6 weeks.
Those enrolled in the full-time bootcamp study cutting edge technology, such as React and Blockchain, full stack Javascript (including API and CSS frameworks), and other computer science fundamentals. In the second half of the program, students work in teams to build an application from scratch. The curriculum prepares students to pick up new languages, libraries, and frameworks. Participants spend the final weeks of the program working with career coaches on resume building, interview prep, personal branding, salary negotiation, and more.
7. Galvanize
Galvanize offers bootcamps in software engineering, as well as data science. Before starting the software engineering bootcamp, students must complete 80 hours of self-paced pre-work or take the Galvanize 6-week prep course, which follows the same curriculum as the Hack Reactor prep course. The software engineering immersive program teaches full stack JavaScript and application design. Classes meet Monday-Friday from 9am-8pm and on Saturdays from 9am-5:30pm for 12 weeks.
Students participate in 2 sessions of lecture and lab each day, as well as a daily Q&A session. They spend the first half of the bootcamp studying concepts such as inheritance patterns and algorithms. They also learn the MVC pattern, databases, frameworks (API, JavaScript, CSS), server side technologies, and more. In the second half of the program, students work on teams to develop a frontend application. At the end of the program, students focus on career preparation, including interview prep, salary negotiation, resume optimization, and more.
8. Rithm School
Another software engineering bootcamp, Rithm School offers a paid full-time bootcamp onsite in San Francisco, as well as free courses online. Before enrolling, students complete 80-120 hours of free pre-work to learn about topics such as terminal & UNIX, Git & GitHub, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The 16-week bootcamp meets from 9AM-6PM Monday-Friday and is divided into 3 parts: instruction, company projects, and interview prep.
During the first 10 weeks, students attend lectures and complete assignments. Following the classroom component, students work in groups to build projects for real companies. The final 3 weeks of the program are devoted to technical and behavioral interview prep, resume and portfolio building, and more.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that works with students and professionals 1-on-1 so they can land their dream job in tech. Our mentors have years of experience on both sides of the hiring table and fellows receive support on every component of the job search process, including resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, technical and behavioral interview prep, as well as cold emailing, reverse recruiting strategies, and templates for negotiating salary.
If you are looking to work with a mentor 1-on-1 to optimize your job search and help you land a job in software engineering, join Pathrise.
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