So you've started to think about joining a bootcamp, now what?
Not to scare you off, but just know that you will be pushed your limits — that being said, let's focus on the now. Right now, you are likely thinking about joining or just about to start your time at a coding bootcamp. Here are a few tips that I think will help any coding bootcamp student succeed, regardless of the bootcamp they choose.
Prepare Yourself
Please take this one seriously — especially if programming is brand new for you. Most bootcamps have some kind of sample/prep work, sometimes even require you complete it. I would definitely set aside some time to go through this work and complete it before committing, attending, or starting a bootcamp.
If your bootcamp does not have prep work, do your own prep work by watching YouTube videos or working through some problems via FreeCodeCamp, Codecademy, The Odin Project, or Treehouse on the languages your bootcamp plans to cover — doing so will help you get the fundamentals down, buying you some extra time and sanity when covering more difficult topics.
Stick to a Schedule
One of the most important things that I think helped me succeed during my time at a coding bootcamp (Flatiron School for me specifically), was sticking to a schedule. Sticking to schedule allowed me to section off parts of my day so that I would be able to not only focus on my studies, but not neglect other parts of my day to day life. A typical day for me went like this:
5am: Wake up, make coffee (surprise), and start working through the curriculum
7am: Workout
9am: Back to working through the curriculum
11am: Lecture
12pm: Lunch
By noon, I would usually be done with a good chunk of what I wanted to accomplish for the day // what was required to “stay on pace” (more on this later). For this reason, I usually left the rest of the day pretty open/flexible so that I could essentially do whatever I wanted to do, whether it was playing videos games, getting out of the house, or just working on more of the curriculum.
While your coding bootcamp may not be as flexible in terms of progressing through the curriculum at your own pace, I still strongly suggest that you figure out a schedule or routine that works best for you. Getting and staying in a rhythm while you are at a bootcamp is one of the most important things you can do to succeed in my opinion.
Be Yourself
Between the time you start and leave your bootcamp, you will likely be expected to create a number of projects. My suggestion here is to try your best to work on projects that not only meet the requirements, but also mean something to you. Working on a project that is important to you, or that is in an area of interest for you, will not only make the project experience from start to finish more enjoyable, but it will also make the experience more valuable to you.
Think about it this way: if you simply force an idea, you will most likely be very uninterested in the project from start to finish and you wont really care for making it “right” in terms of content or features, but if you work on something that you are interested in, you will naturally want to make things work or look a particular way and this will naturally push you into obtaining a better grip on the material just by having that extra bit of curiosity and interest in the project.
Keep Going
There are probably going to be times in the bootcamp where you feel like there is too much going on, you’ll never get it, you aren’t good enough, etc. The best thing to do when this happens is to take a small break – do something you enjoy doing or just go relax for a little. Whether you are simply overwhelmed or stuck in terms of how to solve a problem, walking away can be one of the most helpful things in those moments – it gives your brain some time to slow everything down and see things that extra bit clearer.
Bonus: Specifically for Flatiron School — feel free to skip if this does not apply: During your time at Flatiron you’re expected to “stay on pace” – meaning, your cohort lead will let you know what lessons/labs they expect you to complete by the end of the day / week. My advice here is to try your best to, at the very least, stay ahead of “pace” by a day or two – the last thing you’ll want is to get stuck on a difficult lab and fall behind.
Always Be Learning
After a particularly difficult lesson/topic, go that extra step and do some digging on your own – whether it be looking at documentation, watching YouTube videos, or reading blog posts – doing that extra bit of digging and hearing or reading about the topic through another persons perspective/explanation can really make things “click” for you if you didn’t completely grasp it the first time around.
With that being said, good luck at whatever bootcamp you've chosen and feel free to reach out if you have any questions about Flatiron, the course work, anything else, or just want to say hello.
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