Transformative Learning and a Life Changing Experience! Learning at Claim Academy has been an incredible experience in an uncountable amount of ways for advancing my academic career. If you're considering doing a coding bootcamp, I would recommend choose Claim Academy without any further hesitation! Before joining for the bootcamp, my exposure to coding was almost null. Throughout my life I was into teaching at first, then moved to content development and management later. I was always fascinated by technology and I really wanted to create working applications but without any coding experience it was impossible. While researching online I came across the bootcamp courses offered by Claim Academy. The course I joined was Java Full Stack Software Engineering. They also offered a scholarship which was such a great help that it covered the full cost of the course! Even though it was such a hectic schedule everyday with attending classes, understanding the syntax, developing logic, lab, pair programming, working on projects, researching, etc. when looking back I feel proud of myself that I am able to develop web applications from scratch. I am greatly indebted to the instructors at Claim, especially Sahara, an amazing person of profound knowledge in Computer Science and Coding who was always approachable while I was working on my assignments and projects. Step by step she guided me in understanding the concepts in Java 8, MySQL Database, Spring Boot, etc. and also while doing certain complicated applications and logic. Another wonder instructor is Lamar who conducts such mind-blowing sessions and guidance in Java Servlets, Streams, Exceptions, React and the associated components etc. I am also highly grateful to Tino, for helping me many times in different areas of coding concepts. My heartfelt thanks goes to Praneeth for training us to be adaptive to SDLC, Agile and Scrum. I also remember Jennifer and Amanda for their guidance and valuable service rendered to all of us at Claim Academy. Another benchmark of the education and training one gets from Claim Academy is the personal branding which is done by Ola, the founder of Claim Academy, I could witness myself and many of my colleagues have been transformed completely as confident and impressive software developers at the end of 12-week training. I can doubtlessly say that Claim Academy's bootcamp is unparalleled, you may not probably find such invaluable education and learning experience anywhere else! read more

Claim is there for you Diversity. Inclusion. Accessibility. Mentorship. Empowerment. Support. Adaptability. Comfortability. Instructors that know their stuff really, really well. Instructors that share "real-world" tricks of the trade. They go out of their way. This is what makes Claim unique and increases your chance of greatest success. Shortly after I applied, Travis called me to walk me through the onboarding process, and he gave me his personal phone number in case I had any questions or problems. I met the founder, Ola, who is open to being contacted directly, as well. Sahara makes learning the complexity of Java and frontend simple and easy to understand. She will sit with you to make sure you "get it". You can interrupt her at any given moment and she manages to help everyone. She keeps you on your toes to make sure you allocate time to career development and to apply for jobs. She and Praneeth will give you the practice you need to ace technical interviews. They will also tailor this to specific upcoming interviews. Praneeth is the C# king - his widsom and expertise shines through. He also has great tips on how to learn faster and he has a wealth of programming and industry insight. He shares this in a way that we can apply to the "real world". Lamar is just amazing. He makes sure you don't have any gaps in your understanding. He makes you stretch your mind. He will stay into the wee hours of the morning if need be. You can call him anytime. Amanda will show up at networking events outside of class and on the weekends. Her relationship building yields so many new job opportunities for us. Ola helps you be the "total, employable package". He leads by example. He's a TedX Fellow and Pulitzer Foundation Speaker. Bottomline, everyone's a coach that helps pave the way for new and rewarding opportunities! I don't just get interviews; I get offers. And I have Claim Academy to thank. read more

I attended Claim's Full Stack Java Developer bootcamp. The first couple of days started off slow. However, the rest of the way sped up considerably. A lot of late nights. It took a bit of time to get used to the 12pm-9pm schedule. But I soon adjusted and appreciated not having to deal with traffic. The instructors were great. They had different styles which balanced each other out. It also allowed us to see various ways to tackle the same problem. You will likely feel overwhelmed by the end of the second week. Although, this can be prevented some by preparing before you attend. I applied and was accepted at the deadline. So I didn't get much of a chance to prepare as thoroughly as I would have liked. My advice? Use the resources available online to study Java(or c# if that which path you take) well in advance of your start date. Also, use something to practice coding challenges. Make sure to understand the solution. Youtube has some great walkthroughs. At the very least, make sure you are comfortable with manipulating strings and working with arrays. The staff was helpful in getting me situated once I got to St Louis. I drove over from Kansas City. They provided plenty of job leads and the employers came out to see our final capstone presentations, I needed to take a couple of days off(medical issue). They were very supportive. Also, met with employers on various occasions throughout the training. Overall, I feel that I received quality training. I get messages for interviews on LinkedIn and I have a few set up for this week and next. Quite a few of my classmates have already found jobs so I know it works. I would also suggest checking with former students on LinkedIn. That will give you great info. Just don't blow them up with messages. read more

The staff at Claim Academy are not joking when they say this is a fully immersive program. You will eat, sleep, and breath coding during the entire program. However, during this time, you will learn far more than most people would be able to learn otherwise. The days are long and you will likely eventually feel overwhelmed and frustrated. This happened at different points in the course for different members of my class. As difficult as you may find it, keep going. Show up every day, be on time, and don't leave early. Time missed will really hurt your progress and it will be very difficult to catch back up. If you don't understand something, ask the instructors/mentors for help. Stay late and get help when you need it. Spend time working on projects at home. You will be expected to spend a lot of time working in pairs with other students, as well as working independently on your own projects. Again, ask for help or clarification if you don't understand something. Having another student explain something to you helps both of you understand it better. If you see another student struggling with something, offer your help. You will be expected to learn some fundamental knowledge needed to complete your projects on your own and to troubleshoot problems. Google will become your new best friend. If that fails, ask the instructors/mentors for help. Overall, I feel like Claim Academy delivers a solid course with a LOT of information and practical coding experience crammed into a 12-week course. They have employers and past graduates come in for open houses and employer showcases. Take advantage of these opportunities and network. Go in with a positive attitude and confidence that you can do this and your investment will pay off in the end. read more

Perfect for those who are not afraid of change! Change is not easy for anyone. But for those who have the courage to push themselves for three months, Claim Academy will channel your persistent efforts toward a positive career change. As a Full Stack Java Boot Camp graduate, I experienced this guided change firsthand. Denish Otieno skillfully and patiently taught us core Java for the first three weeks, with clever examples and labs to push us to experience the important concepts and nuances of the Java language. After this, the instructors built on this foundation with frameworks and tool sets which allowed us to tie our Java data models to persistent databases, control the flow of information here with responsive and data-driven web front ends. This was done with nightly classes and several practical projects which pushed us just a bit beyond what what we knew when the project was assigned, giving us goals on which to focus. While it remained fast-paced, Alex Duncan and the instructors were on hand to guide us to finding and fixing our errors, teaching us how to solve problems while pushing us to embrace new methods necessary for a full stack developer to succeed in the industry. Alex in particular, tenaciously tackled every bug we brought him and with utmost patience showed us how to move forward. With our unexpectedly large group, it was difficult to get detailed feedback on our project code, since most of the mentoring time was used for guided troubleshooting. If you stick with the curriculum, you will be made ready to tackle technical challenges, present a polished resume, interview well, and make that career change/bump Claim Academy claims. The more you put into it, the more drastic and marketable your change will be. read more

Going through Claim Academy's Full-Stack Java Developer was a great decision for me. I had started out self-teaching myself front end technologies for web development on top of my day job. I knew I wanted to be a developer for at least 2.5 years running but just wasn't sure the best pathway, especially for someone who wanted to stay in St. Louis. I strongly feel that Claim Academy will show you that pathway. If you have some Java or C# knowledge all the better but not 100% necessary. The staff is quite helpful guiding you before, during and even after the course. If you don't have any Java experience before coming in like me, I would suggest planning on spending time outside of class to keep yourself caught up. The mentors are strong and knowledgeable. Many will even help you if you get stuck on the weekend. By the time of graduation, I have had 5 interviews. Should you want to apply for jobs during your time here, just make sure you balance the time you need to spend on your capstone. Also, you will get to see previous students come in once or twice a month and talk about their new jobs! Add to that, hiring companies will come in at least once a month as well. All in all, the experience was a great one. More than I expected! Made some great friends along the way too. I certainly wouldn't be where I would be today technically or with the added confidence in soft skills I gained from the experience at Claim Academy. I'm glad I did it! I want to thank the great staff at Claim for all the guidance and help along the way! read more

Claim Academy gave a new direction to a disabled veteran that needed a bit of guidance considering my circumstances. It was tough and requires a bit of tenacity, I was here 10 hours a day five days a week. In addition to that I also supplemented my learning through other course work because the instructor is available for three hours of the day. Furthermore the staff is here to help, but it depends on you to reach out and ask per the issue that you have. We are adults and claim expects you to act as such, that being said if you don't speak up they won't know there is an issue. It can be done, a life changing opportunity that puts you in a position to support yourself and your family for a little under three months of hard work. It's worth it, but you get what you give... Job placement services are working in my favor and there are a lot of chances and opportunities available and it's an ever growing market, with demo day I was able to network and receive a variety of offers. read more

I am a Navy veteran who was looking for face-to-face training classes in coding, after getting frustrated trying to learn it through 100% online tutorials. I was referred to Claim Academy by a fellow veteran and received a scholarship to attend. Claim Academy LOVES veterans and will be flexible with your schedule to accomodate your training and your life. They taught us full-stack Java development, performed resume and LinkedIn reviews and taught us soft skills needed for interviewing. They also taught us interview techniques specifically related to the tech industry and helped us to know what to expect on the job after. On the second to last day of class, students present the web applications they built in front of a room full of employers. I was interviewed by four companies right there on the spot. Claim Academy's staff will help you find positions to apply to and do whatever they can to help you find full-time employment, a better-than-average starting salary and benefits. read more

I Highly Recommend Claim Academy I've been trying to learn to code for awhile and found it difficult. Attending Claim Academy was the best choice I've ever made in accomplishing this goal. I loved how past students will come in to talk about their experience at Claim Academy and their current roles at their jobs. Employers also came in to talk about their companies and what they are looking for. The program gets you motivated and keeps you focused. I didn't have any issues with the pace or difficulty. The teachers were top notch, friendly and helpful. The staff go above and beyond to make sure you have what you need to succeed. I am now even more confident in moving forward with my personal endeavors. Tip: I recommend coming in 1 to 2 hours early, coming in on the weekends and doing every assignment 2 or 3 times. Get rid of distractions and commit yourself. read more

I was part of the June 2017 Java class at Claim. I came to Claim with a little programming knowledge under my belt and they really helped me focus my prior knowledge as well as teach a lot of new material. The biggest strength of the program is they can tailor your learning to a set of skills that are currently in demand, the main focus of the program being to secure a position. The teachers and mentors were great. If you are considering coming to Claim, or any other bootcamp, I would guess, just know that it is more than a full time job itself. I spent on average somewhere around 10 hours every day of the three months working and learning. You should also be ready for a lot of self learning... while they do present the material and the syllabus that will lead to success, you have to lock in your understanding with your own research. Thanks Claim! read more

My experience at Claim Academy has been one of the best in my life. While at claim I gained a world class experience in computer programming. We worked on many small assignments that lead to a capstone project. I had access to great teachers and resources. We had time with our instructors but we also had downtime to do research on our own and learn on our own time. We were challenged daily. It was not easy to do all the projects and finish them on time. I had to do a lot of work at home after class. In addition to learning the front end and back end of programming we also learned soft skills and how to present ourselves to companies. We had a well rounded education. I would recommend Claim to anyone who is ready to be challenged and succeed in computer programming. Also we had access to many companies ready to hire throughout our time there. read more

Claim Academy was a great experience and I learned so much over the course of the 12 weeks, it was amazing. The course has greatly helped me grow my skills in tech and allowed me to become a Java developer. The instructors were great and always willing to stay late and help with anything I needed assistance with in understanding, as well as with the completion of any assignments/projects I was having difficulties with. I could even text them at all kinds of odd hours for help! The relationships formed with the teachers and my classmates are wonderful and life-long and something I truly value. Coming into the program, I didn't know if I would have the ability to learn and have a solid grasp of the concepts that were being taught, but with the help and encouragement of the instructors and my classmates, I had enough support to do so. read more

This was an amazing 3 months. Every day I came into class to meet a new and foreign concept while reviewing all we did the previous day. The teaching staff is extremely well-qualified, happy and helpful. They worked with all of us every day and ensured we were understanding and following along by asking us with automated messages. This program guided us toward creating a project which involved using all that we'd learned over the course, which we presented to prospective employers with varying degrees of success. Claim gave us practice interviews and tips on presentation skills as we perfected our final projects, directly connecting us with prospective employers face to face on presentation day along with sending our resumes out to companies interested in our work and newly learned skills. 11/10, you will LOVE this place. read more

I had the opportunity to attend Claim Academy for Full Stack C# .NET 3/2019 - 5/2019. It is full time M-F 45 hours a week for 12 weeks. You will learn a lot if you put in the effort. I was initially hesitant to attend, but I am glad I did. I quit my stable social work career to do this. Praneeth was a great instructor and Eric helped a lot the last few weeks. I was fortunate enough to receive a job offer in my 10th week to start my new career. The Claim staff are really invested in helping you land a job. Beyond learning technical skills, they will help with soft skills. There was ample opportunity for mock interviews and mock presentations. Can you learn this stuff on your own? Sure, but it would probably be tougher and take longer. Claim provides an environment of structure and support that you can't get elsewhere. read more

Attending Claim for 12 weeks during the summer in between semesters at college. I was looking for hands on experience in computer programming so I signed up for the Java Full Stack Development cohort. Overall the course was a good experience for me and I'm glad I invested the time and effort into completing the course. You can expect to spend 40-60 hrs per week either coding or doing independent research (if you plan on keeping up with everything). The instructors were very knowledgeable when I was there and were great at teaching. You definitely get out of it what you put into it. This course prepares you for a Junior/Entry level full stack developer position (depending on your previous experience of course). Only con: I would have preferred more time/coursework with React.js and the Spring frameworks. read more

I'm happy that I made the decision to join Claim Academy as a student. The journey was full of excitement, hands-on coding, professional discipline, impactful, and rewarding. Learning from great instructors is just an amazing thing that I think it's hard to find anywhere else. Prior to my coming to Claim Academy, I know more of the theory part of coding than the hands-on experience. I got most of my professional hands to experience here. The learning culture is one that supports even the novice in coding. The mentors and students in different cohort work together as a family. Overall, I encourage anyone who wants to make a great decision towards learning to code and to become a professional software developer, to make the decision to join Claim Academy. It's the best decision you could ever make! read more

This is a very intense bootcamp and you need to be persistent in your studies even outside the program to succeed. At times, it was overwhelming but by staying the course, you begin to realize that you are getting it and put your new skills to work on a capstone project that you are passionate about. That was very rewarding! The instructors are very knowledgeable and the staff is passionate about what they do. Our particular class was the largest due to awarding Facebook scholarships and I believe that more staff was probably necessary to provide the support the students were needing.... but we made it!! Thank you Ola for your dedication and enthusiasm in making this program available to all of us. It was your encouragement and good heart that kept us motivated and excited on the home stretch. read more

My Time At Claim Academy Landed me the job of my dreams at MasterCard! It's because of my experience learning full-stack Java at Claim Academy St. Louis that I was able to get a job at MasterCard as a Test Engineer in Quality Engineering as an Automation Tester. To top it all off, the people at Claim Academy are top-notch. Including all the instructors, faculty, and your classmates. During my time at Claim Academy I've grown so much, and I learned so much from my classmates and instructors. Sahara, Lamar, Praneeth, Amanda, and Ola are all amazing mentors. I cannot recommend attending Claim Academy enough if you are looking to change up your career or if you want to get your foot in the door at a great company working in IT as a software engineer. read more

The instructors at Claim Academy were the best part about the course. They were extremely helpful and kind to me and all of the other students. I knew next to nothing before the class, but they did not seem frustrated or angry with me at any point. My only complaint would be the overall organization. They had moved to a new location, and this definitely showed during my class, especially for the first few weeks. As we progressed we all got more comfortable and organized. A few classes also were cancelled, one when the instructor was sick and another when he had to leave to repair something on his house. Can't really hold this against either of them though, sometimes stuff happens. Definitely a good experience, and I am very happy with my new job. read more