What is Thinkful Bootcamp?

Thinkful is an online learning platform that offers a variety of courses from various industry experts. The company was established in 2012. Since then, it has delivered over 1,000 online courses to thousands of students across the globe.

The idea behind Thinkful Bootcamp is simple: create an online course for professionals looking to learn new skills and advance their careers. The courses are designed by some of the world’s leading digital media professionals and experts on their respective topics.

Thinkful offers courses in various fields, including web development, data visualization, e-commerce, marketing, and more.

Is Thinkful Worth It? Should You Choose This Bootcamp?

Thinkful is a typical representative of career-oriented programming and coding bootcamps. In this Thinkful review, we will discuss both its positive and negative features and try to decide if taking part in one of its courses is a good idea.

Thinkful bootcamp is aimed at adult learners willing to deepen their IT knowledge or to rapidly prepare themselves for a career change. It offers a variety of fast-paced courses, including both full- and part-time variants. However, even part-time programs are a significant commitment for students, taking about 20 to 25 hours per week, with full-time courses ramping it up to 60 hours. All courses are characterized by curriculum custom-built for individual students and one-on-one mentorship including full-fledged Q&A sessions with industry professionals. It is one of the main features Thinkful reviews tend to mention, and the service promotions themselves never tire of repeating that it has over 500 mentors providing a one-on-one learning experience.

Another feature one has to mention when talking about Thinkful coding bootcamp is the career support it provides. According to the bootcamp graduates, it starts providing career support from day one and continues with it for six months after graduation or until the student is hired. In practice, it means that in addition to providing professional coding and programming skills, the bootcamp assists its graduates’ job hunt in a variety of ways. Not only do they learn practical skills that they will use as a part of their future job; they finish the bootcamp with a viable portfolio of projects demonstrating their abilities and are taught how to behave during interviews to create the best possible impression. In addition, they receive guidance on how to navigate the job market in general to land the most promising job one can get considering his/her current skills. Thinkful also claims to be more than just a bootcamp but an entire learning ecosystem with stably growing number of mentors and learners; joining it means making a significant step forwards towards building an individual professional network that can be helpful in the future career development.

How Much Does Thinkful Cost?

Of course, one of the primary concerns of anybody who is thinking of taking a coding course is how much he/she will have to pay for it. So how much does Thinkful cost? First, the company does not offer its services on a subscription basis – you buy individual courses. The price is not all that different from most other programming bootcamps: depending on the course, it ranges from $4,600 to $16,000. It may seem like a lot of money; however, Thinkful claims that the average salary increase one experiences as a result of graduating from their courses is about $17,000, and if you study reviews by graduates, you will not see many refutations of this claim. This means that you can expect to recoup your expenses within a year. Moreover, if you are familiar with other coding bootcamps, you already know that Thinkful’s fees are far from being the highest in the industry.

Thinkful offers a variety of payment options to make its services more flexible and the financial strain less onerous for its students. In addition to simply paying the entire sum upfront, you can:

• Make monthly payments;
• Sign up an income share agreement (you pay nothing upon enrollment, and only start monthly payments after you successfully launch your new career);
• Or even get a loan to pay for current living expenses for the period of the course so that you can focus on studying without having to worry about the bills.

Another interesting feature is that Thinkful promises to refund your tuition costs if you fail to find a qualifying position within 6 months of graduating. All in all, the company offers a variety of payment models that will most likely suit any kind of student.

What Kind of Education Does Thinkful Offer?

Unlike some other bootcamps and MOOC providers, Thinkful firmly chooses quality over quantity – it offers only 10 courses at the time of writing, but these courses are comprehensive and cover all aspects of their chosen areas of knowledge. Some graduates claim that the materials used by Thinkful instructors are not exactly exclusive to the company and are mostly available elsewhere, but most of them agree that Thinkful experts did an excellent job of gathering the information, compiling and arranging it in a way that is best for the teaching and learning purposes.

Thinkful makes a point of not just teaching its students technical skills, but making sure they successfully land a job they want. That is why, in addition to IT instructors, students are paired with career coaches and learn how to ace an interview and present one’s abilities and accomplishments that maximize the likelihood of employment in a highly paid position.

According to some reports, the courses offered by Thinkful tend to be rather difficult, and you may have to dedicate more time to them than you initially expect. Whether it is a positive or a negative characteristic is up to you. Those who managed to successfully complete them, however, tend to believe the experience to be invaluable for their mastery of the new material.
Many graduates speak very positively about the community of Thinkful’s alumni. Many of them maintain connections with each other after graduation, which makes for a good boost to one’s professional network in a new career.

What Is not So Great About Thinkful

Nothing in this world is ideal and, unfortunately, Thinkful is not an exception. Any honest Thinkful bootcamp review will have to mention a few things that can be improved about it.
Although the majority of graduates praises the company and the services it provides, a few points come up in people’s feedback more than a couple of times.

Most importantly, many graduates (even those who are otherwise satisfied with the education they received, the overall learning experience, and the results) agree that customer support at Thinkful leaves much to be desired. It is a recurring point in many reviews: both current and former students claim that customer support is hard to reach, slow and unhelpful. It is difficult to sort a problem out if one arises, and the administration is not in a hurry to help you out when you ask for assistance. In other words, most people do not seem to run into trouble when dealing with the company, but those who do can have a hard time dealing even with minor issues.

Some students are not completely satisfied with the curriculum, claiming that it is sometimes weirdly structured and paced; however, even those who say something along these lines do not believe it affected their learning experience all that much.

Whether the course will be a failure or success specifically for you seems to depend on whether you manage to hit it off with your mentor. As we’ve already mentioned, there are more than 500 individual instructors working for Thinkful, and you can easily run into somebody whose temperament or teaching approach just does not work for you.Overall, the majority of Thinkful graduates do not find much to complain about. Most of those who see certain drawbacks about the company and the way it does business agree that at its core it provides an outstanding education.

What will Thinkful Bootcamp teach me? 

Thinkful’s curriculum will teach you how to write code so that you can build apps from scratch, as well as how to create web applications and understand the fundamentals of web development.

Does Thinkful offer any certification? 

The company offers three main certifications: Front-End Web Developer, Full Stack Web Developer, and Full-Time Web Developer. Each program lasts three months and requires four to six hours per week of work on your projects throughout the coursework.

What are the program options at Thinkful?

Thinkful Bootcamp offers two different program options: the Full-time immersive program (50 to 60 hours per week Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM) and the Part-time immersive program (25 to 30 hours per week – Self-study).

The Thinkful online course option is entirely self-paced, and you can access Thinkful’s team of mentors 24 hours a day.

But how do you know if a bootcamp is suitable for your skill set or career path? That’s a question every student should ask themselves when they’re deciding whether to enroll in one of these programs. Here’s what you need to know about coding bootcamps.

The programs offered are:

• Software Engineering – Online (5-6 months)

If you are unsure whether to do a software engineering course, Thinkful allows you to take a few practical lessons. The student does not need a credit card when signing up. They get to experience the student program. 

Job titles associated with software engineering

• Application Developer
• Web Developer
• DevOps Engineer
• Security Engineer
• Game Developer

Data Science – Online (6 months) In this course, you will learn the basics of machine learning. This is a self-study course with an open study program. At the end of the course, they will be able to solve intricate business teething problems and can foresee upcoming results.

Job titles associated with data science

• Data Scientist
• Data & Analytics Manager
• Machine Learning Engineer
• Data Architect
• Database Engineer

• Data Analytics – Online (4-6 months)

The students will learn how to do formulas on spreadsheets. They deliver information after scrutinizing extensive data. This information should be in a language that the whole organization can comprehend.

Job titles associated with data analytics

• Research Analyst
• Data Journalist
• Business Intelligence Analyst
• Financial Analyst
• Marketing Analyst

• UX/UI Design – Online (5-6 months)

You can try UX/UI design without paying to get an overview of the program. You can either study full-time or part-time. These designers are responsible for developing apps and websites with high-impact user experience.

Job titles associated with UX/UI Design 

• UX / UI Designer
• Product Designer
• Web Designer
• UX Researcher
• UX Designer

• Technical Project Management – Online (5 months)

A technical project manager is responsible for delivering innovation, whether in product or service. They are very particular in managing specs, schedule, and how much it will cost. This makes them crucial associates. 

Job titles associated with technical project management  

• Technical Project Manager
• Business Analyst
• Process Engineer
• Project Analyst
• Director of Technology

• • Digital Marketing – Online (3 months)

A digital marketer is responsible for creating and delivering targeted content through digital channels. It is “the practice of using computers and technology to engage customers, generate leads, enhance sales, build brand awareness and drive revenue”.

Job titles associated with digital marketing

• Digital Marketer
• Content Strategist
• SEO Specialist
• Social Media Manager
• Marketing Manager

How much does Thinkful cost?

The total cost a student pays at Thinkful depends on the selected course. It ranges from $7,800 to $21,000. It offers different payment options such as installments, paying after getting a job, et cetera. 

What are the payment options at Thinkful?

Advance payment: This is the most affordable option and is paid at the start of the course. 

Monthly deposits: Installments are paid every month. 

Deferred Tuition: Payment is made after the student gets a job and is paid not less than 40,000 per year. If someone is still unemployed after six months, they are eligible for the Tuition Refund Guarantee, and no fee is charged.

Deferred Tuition plus living expenses: Full-time students on Deferred Tuition qualify to ask for a loan of $1,500 which should be repaid within six months as soon as they get a job that pays them at least $40,000. 

Does Thinkful offer any scholarships?

Yes, there are many scholarships available. The complete list of scholarships can be found here. Thinkful supports women in tech and offers some scholarships targeting them specifically, such as Women Scholarships, Metis, and Grace Hopper for Women in Technology.

Is There Any Job Guarantee After Thinkful?

One unique aspect about Thinkful is that they offer a job guarantee after completing the bootcamp. In December 2021, they launched their Tuition Refund Program, where they refund your school fees if you don’t get a “qualifying position” six months after graduating from the program.  

Can You Pay School Fees In Installments?

If you cannot pay the full course fee at the beginning of the course, there is an option to pay monthly installments. These installments differ since each course has a different fee structure. 

Does Thinkful Offer Any Discounts? 

Discounts can be given to veterans and eligible people, including women and non-binary people. The discounts offered to differ according to the program. 

What are the pros and cons of Thinkful bootcamp?

Pros:

– The instructors are top-notch. They’re world-class experts in their fields and know how to teach effectively. The instructors are also amiable and willing to answer any questions you have about anything related to the course material.

– You can take as much time as you need. You don’t have to finish the course in one week if you don’t want to — you can take as much time as you need until you feel like you’ve learned everything there is to know about the topic.

– It’s affordable and flexible. Thinkful offers a free trial period where students can access a website with sample code and content, so they can see if this is right for them before committing to full-time enrollment 

Cons

– The downside is that it can be challenging to find time to study, especially if you have a job, kids, or other responsibilities.
– Some mentors lack knowledge on subject topics

Does this fast-track curriculum really deliver on its promise?

If you’re looking to land a technical career or just get your foot in the door, a coding bootcamp might be right for you. But does this new career path offer the best path forward?

It’s true that coding bootcamps have become increasingly popular over the past few years, with an estimated 1.5 million people taking courses at one point or another. The programs offer students a structured approach to learning the skills they need to succeed in the tech industry.

Is a salary increase expectation after a bootcamp?

When looking for a career enhancement or when a new person is considering a career path, one of the crucial questions they ask is if there will be a salary increase after completing a course.

So what changes have been observed before and after a coding bootcamp? A case study by Course Report revealed that after graduation from a coding bootcamp, a graduate makes $69,079 on average initially in their careers.

Where is Thinkful located?

Thinkful is located at 132 West 31st Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10001, United States. However, their courses are entirely online. Click here for more information.

Conclusions

So, when all is said and done, is Thinkful worth it? As usual, it depends on many factors: how much you are ready to spend on your education, what kind of learning model you prefer, how much time you can dedicate to studying for a new career, and so on.

Overall, Thinkful has a good reputation, with the majority of its graduates being satisfied with their experience, the quality of the skills they learned and the outcome of taking a course with this company. More than 70 percent of them report having landed a job related to the course they took within six months of graduating, which is exactly what Thinkful promises in its sales pitch.
However, before you apply you have to consider a few things, namely:

• It is a significant financial commitment, even if you use one of its more flexible payment models;
• Graduates are not of particularly high opinion about some mentors working for the company; whether yours is going to be any good is a matter of luck;
• Customer support may use some improvement;
• Many graduates report that the courses they took are very difficult. In other words, you have to be realistic about your abilities.
• If you are ready to deal with these issues, Thinkful is likely to be the right choice for you.