I'm sharing this with a heavy heart. My son attended an iD Tech summer camp in summer 2025 and experienced an assault from 2 other campers. He reported what happened to a counselor, but no action was taken to protect him, and the counselor failed to do his job. He didn't inform the camp director, though the director was aware there were other concerns with those 2 campers as they kept going into my son's room which I shared with her. As parents, we were never notified until my son finally felt safe enough to tell us last month. When I contacted iD Tech, I was put in touch with Kimberly Frinell. Initially, she seemed sympathetic, but communication quickly became sparse and then stopped altogether. It now feels like the company is hoping we'll just go away. This experience exposed serious gaps in training, accountability, and most importantly child safety. There appears to be no reliable system for incident reporting, escalation, or even contacting counselors from previous years. For a program this expensive, the lack of care and follow-through is unacceptable. id tech isn't a safe environment for children, and the way this was handled after the fact was deeply disappointing. I would strongly caution parents against sending their children here, and caution anyone considering working for them to think twice. read more

Our son did the Battlebots camp at UCSD. He did the day program, not the overnight program. Pros: He said the lunch was AMAZING, the actual Battlebots portion of the camp was fun and engaging for him but that this was only about 3 hours of his 8 hour day there. His instructor gave out heartfelt certificates at the end that showed he cared about and knew the students. Cons: While we signed him up for Battlebots camp, he spent ~3 hours a day playing Roblox and other computer games as part of his day (all the kids in his camp did). Additionally, his camp shared a room with a Roblox programing camp which he said made it hard to listen to his instructor because the other instructor was also teaching in the same space. (We went in the rooms, they are not large - they were smaller than his elementary school classroom). read more

My 14- and 12-year-old recently attended the iDTech camp for BattleBots. I'll try to keep this review focused on the facts and our experience. The camp is scheduled from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Unfortunately, from day one, it became clear that the environment was not engaging or inspiring. The instructor assigned to the group appeared disinterested, awkward, and lacked any communication skills. There was minimal to no enthusiasm or energy--what I would describe as negative engagement. From 9:00 to 9:30, most of the students, including the instructor, were on their phones. Around 9:30, students received an instruction packet to begin building their robots. There was no live instruction, collaborative learning, or effort to make the experience interactive or exciting--it was like following a LEGO instruction booklet with little to no guidance or context. Breaks began as early as 11:15 AM, followed by lunch, and then more break time until about 1:30 or 2:00 PM. After that, there was another 30 minutes to an hour of robot building, followed by more downtime. During these breaks, there was little structure or supervision to encourage social interaction or creativity. The overall atmosphere felt unstructured and uninspired. We had high expectations for a program focused on BattleBots, especially given the positive reputation around robotics and STEM. However, the lack of engagement, instruction, and mentorship made it one of the most disappointing camp experiences we've had. After the first day, we decided to pick our children up around noon for the rest of the week, which still allowed them to complete their robots If this camp had been structured from 9 AM to 12 PM with a more engaged instructor, it might have been worthwhile. Unfortunately, as it stands, we cannot recommend it. If you're looking for a place to spark excitement in robotics, this likely isn't it. Pros: Id tech customer service and the camp director was pretty awesome and helpful. They agreed to provide a credit if needed. They were very flexible and understanding of the situation. read more

This "program" is a rip off. They will charge you over $1400 for 1 week of classes when other programs offer 6 week sessions for the same price. DO NOT book this program for your child, it is not worth it. read more

Very late review but this was awful. One of the instructors (ghost or something was their name) was unengaged and barely supervised. Groaned as they got up to help the kids, and was on his phone when they weren't being asked to do things. The other instructor was more helpful but still not great, it was clear they didn't have much experience in building these "battlebot" things. Back to the first instructor, who was also for some reason, extremely petty, if the group of CHILDREN, weren't quiet enough (aka: if they were talking at all) they'd be threatened with not being allowed to compete at the end of the week. But the final most enraging thing, was that on the final day, when they were supposed to show their parent's their creations, my kids class wasn't allowed to while the other class did... Now you may be asking why? Remember that thing I said about not being quiet enough? Yeah, this petty a*sh*le of a teacher, revoked their privileges to actually show what their bots could do to their parents because they were, get this, cheering too loud at the final battlebot fight. IT WAS THE FINAL FIGHT, THEY. ARE. KIDS. OF COURSE THEY'RE GOING TO BE CHEERING, OF COURSE THEY'RE GOING TO BE LOUD. Not only that but this bad teacher that I've been talking about this whole time insulted the kids and made my child feel incredibly uncomfortable being there. Adding to that, the program itself is garbage, he said he learned basically nothing that he didn't already know and played video games for an hour and a half or so during the day!! He could've done that at home?????? He reported this instructor to the company on the phone and when he went back the next week for the unreal engine course (which was better but still not good) she glared at him, when he was passing by them he said "hey ghost, how's it going" in a very friendly manner and she just stared at him with clear disdain on her face. When he called he asked to remain anonymous but I think she must've figured out it was him just because she had kind of focused on him during the camp. Anways, do not go here, no learning, garbage instructors, and junk food. read more

We had a bad experience at two different weeks at Id Tech at UNC in Chapel Hill. Basically, this camp is extremely expensive and the kids are thrown in front of (not always functioning) computers, where they watch a series of videos about coding and then do it on their own. Minimal help from instructors, who don't seem to have control of the campers. Tons of time on their phone, no other activities planned, and just overall a waste of money. I wrote an email with feedback and got no reply. read more

We sent our 14 yr old son and 13 yr old daughter to a Python course held at UVA. The counselors/instructors were all computer science majors from VA-Tech, William & Mary, or UVA. Our kids liked the course and the counselors. The downside was that our daughter was lonely as mostly boys attend the camp and no girls did the sleepover session, other than her. However, ID Tech had a rising sophomore young woman who stayed in a room across the hall. Our kids liked the content and experience. read more

Heads up- they combine age groups. We signed up for a class ages 13-17. Once camp started there were kids age 11. It was confirmed they combined the classes. There is a huge maturity difference between a 5/6 grade student and a high school student. A bit of a bummer and likely would not have enrolled had we known. It feels VERY much like a day camp and not a camp at a college for teens as I thought it was. read more

Absolutely awful rip off For a week long camp Adobe Aftereffects for nearly $1,500 my daughter learned absolutely nothing . They had some strange immature child who looked and acted less mature than the 13 year old students as their instructor - he had no experience teaching, had zero experience with subject he was supposed to be giving instructions in - basically a week long babysitter to several kids of duped parents . My daughter could have learned more watching youtube videos. Their project was a joke - something she knew how to do years ago. First day everyone was late to Bentley University in Waltham Massachusetts as the signs for drop off were all messed up. The cameras were not working entire first day of "instruction" Then I find out They spent nearly third of each day playing video games I think positive reviews you read on other web sites are absolutely bogus and they are coming from idtech. I know another child who took a different ID tech class in MIT and her experience was not any better she left after a day. Her parents were beyond angry. As far as food - I purchased lunch "buffet" which was a euphemism for greasy constipation causing garbage like fries and pizza and grilled cheese ! The choices were non existent and salads were visibly unwashed and no one took them as they may there withering ! How can you live on this absolute junk? I would be livid if I paid to have my child stay over night ! Btw those one star reviews they claim are "not recommended" are all spot on and mimic our experience . read more

I wanted to share my experience with ID Tech based on our recent adventure. I discovered an ID Tech ad in my newsfeed late in 2023 and thought it would be a fantastic opportunity for our two 12-year-old sons. We chose the Princeton campus because one of my sons expressed interest in Princeton. After discussing the price and location as a family, both boys were excited about the idea, so we signed them up in December 2023 for the battlebots overnight camp during the last week of July 2024. After enrolling, I researched ID Tech and came across quite a few negative reviews, and I was initially disheartened by the feedback. There were a few occasions over the next six months when I seriously considered canceling. However, I recognized that people often voice complaints more than compliments, and I decided to stick with our plans. In the months leading up to camp, we received emails requesting some information, which were straightforward. We also got email confirmations and check-in instructions, all of which were clear. My wife called to clarify a few details and found the staff helpful. The boys received a packing list, so there were no surprises on that front. On check-in day, which was a Sunday, we arrived at the designated location and found clear signage directing us where to go. The instructors arrived ten minutes early and made an announcement to the group of about 25 overnight campers. Check-in was surprisingly quick and organized. Each child received an envelope containing their dorm room assignment, room key, and ID. Once we settled them into their rooms, which were simple but adequate, we were pleased to find that each boy had his own room--much to our surprise, as we expected them to share. One son did get the smallest room, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. After setting up, they were to return for dinner, where they had pizza. We spoke with the camp directors before leaving, and they reassured us that everything was in order. We asked the boys to text us periodically to update us on their experience, and we stayed in Princeton overnight just in case they forgot anything. Throughout the week, we received a few texts, but the infrequency was a good sign that they were enjoying themselves. We returned on Friday for pickup, where the camp held a graduation event for each class. Our sons had the chance to battle their robots against each other in three-minute rounds. They packed their belongings, and once the event wrapped up, we quickly loaded the car. It was evident that all the kids, both overnight and day campers, were having a great time. We waited until they were in the car to hear all the details. In summary, they loved the overall experience. They had positive feedback about the instructors, their peers, the food, and the classrooms--no complaints whatsoever. They appreciated the diversity among the 75 campers, which was a refreshing change for us since we live in central Pennsylvania, where diversity is limited. They even exchanged contact information with a few new friends and expressed interest in returning, likely to explore a different subject, such as animation. In conclusion, while I typically don't write reviews, I hope this helps other parents considering this camp amidst negative feedback. Ultimately, the proof is in the pudding: my kids had a blast and want to go back, making it money well spent. While not everyone will have a perfect experience for various reasons, it's important to remember that some people tend to complain more than they share positive experiences. Take reviews with a grain of salt and keep the bigger picture in mind. Also, I plan to post this review on multiple sites in the event you see it more than once. Enjoy! read more

AMAZING PROGRAMS! Both my kids have been enrolled with id tech for 10 month they have tried both online and in-person. They both have learned so much. The online is really good experience some instructors are better that others but they do operate in small classes to make sure they can give the best experience. Recently we tried their winter camp in-person and my kids absolutely love it. We joined the camp in Santa Clara, CA and both my kids LOVE IT! My daughter said that her teaches is one of the best and most fun teacher she had. That is HUGE deal! I met some of the team and they are amazing. Even though it was a whole day my kids ended up not wanting the camp to end. But they also were very challenged with the projects. So that is really good. I highly recommend both online and in-person, but if you have an in-person opportunity- that is the BEST choice. The whole experience is just great! And the best part is after their camp - they have a graduation and the students gets to show the parents all the hard work they did the entire week. And honestly I don't see that elsewhere. So I give the stars for thinking of all the things that will make a camp really a great experience. It is just not fun my son did coding and it was a challenge and I see that as a positive. It means they are really teaching you some real stuff. Camp is a whole day camp ours was 9-5pm Lunch is provided (different restaurants everyday) We love it! read more

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HORRIBLE CAMP My son was waiting for 30 min for an online class in front of the computer and the Instructor never came. My son was waiting for this class all week. Too bad they do not take children and their expectation seriously. read more

A living nightmare. He was signed up to learn Java with Minecraft and came home stating he played Minecraft all day and walked around their campus. On day 3 he left and came home crying reporting that "Citrus " who is an instructor who is intelligent no much higher than his was nasty to him and inappropriate with him. I called to report this and they stated it was best I not come to the showcase. That was their solution. I would think twice before putting a child in their care. read more

My 10-year old just finished a week long iD Tech Camp - Coding and Engineering 101 with JavaScript - Day Camp at GEMS Chicago location. He copy-pasted code for first 2 days in name of learning to code, so he still has no idea of what a loop or a conditional statement is or how they work. Then he played Minecraft straight for 8 hours straight each of the last 2 days and came back exhausted with headaches and itchy eyes. On the bright side he now knows what a variable is but still writes "var i=1" as "var = 1" and now he can download sample codes from Scratch into his microbit. The $35 microbit he got back home cost us $1100 plus 4 chicago summer days I could have spent with my child on the beach. I am just happy we saved the 5th day as we signed up for a shorter week (!). Colossal waste of time & money. Don't listen to other parents at your school who've been praising iD Tech - they just want you to go through the same mental and financial pain they did to even out things with you! read more

Terrible customer service!!! My son's online summer class was cancelled but NO ONE contacted me at all. I even received email about downloading the required software a few days before the class was supposed to start. 3 hours before class was supposed, I contacted them online to ask for the program link and was then told about the cancellation. A day later, they emailed me to offer private lessons in lieu of the cancelled class. After a few email exchanges about setting the dates for private lessons, they didn't reply to my latest email with the dates and times suggestions. 2 days passed without any acknowledgment from them and I resent the email. They finally replied to say that they need 3 days notice to schedule any private lessons. By now, the original dates that I proposed are not possible anymore. This is just terrible customer service and reflects such unprofessional service from an established company. read more

This is a review of the "Intro to Coding for Machine Learning" camp offered at Falls Church, VA in July, 2019, which turned to be more of a day care than an academically rigorous summer school. I base my conclusion on my 17 year old daughter's report from the first day of the 5 day camp and my own first-hand observation of the afternoon of the second day. I chose this camp in consultation with an ID tech associate, where I explained that my 17 year old daughter wanted to learn more about coding to see if she wanted to study it in college. The age range for this course was 13 - 17 years old. Our first disappointment came when we realized that all of the iD Tech camps shared the same classroom at the Falls Church campus, so my college prep daughter was seated literally next to 10 year olds enrolled in "Video Production: Start Your Own YouTube Channel." The camp counselor (I purposefully do not use the title "instructor") made no initial attempt to survey the entering knowledge level of students. When I visited the camp on the afternoon of day 2, I explained that it didn't feel like a good fit for a college prep student. The site director (Vickie) was super polite but made no offer nor effort to modify their program to better suit my daughter's goals. They seem to very purposefully be providing a particular service, which is not college prep. That service, best I could tell, is "themed daycare." If the "Intro to coding..." camp had a syllabus or learning objectives, the site director didn't offer to share them. Unlike a summer term academic term, where the content is compressed to fit into a shorter period of time, here the sparse content seemed to be spread thinly throughout the day to expand enough to fill an entire work day. Contact hours discussing coding with the camp counselor were no greater than 50% of each day and multiple, extended blocks of unsupervised time were quickly filled by the younger campers with Fortnite gaming. I personally observed 8 of the 10 campers engaged in extended gaming sessions. I withdrew my daughter from the camp before the end of the 2nd day and forfeited our tuition. I wish I had read these other reviews before signing up. read more

This review is based on my 11 year old son's experience at the YouTube Gamecasting overnight camp at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Before the camp, they recommended that we obtain software and scheduled an online pre-session to go over basics. We purchased the software they said was needed, loaded it to his laptop, and sent him to camp with it. They would not let him use his laptop even though it was identical to the ones they were using in the lab. They used software that was not mentioned in the pre-call, and no instructions were provided on how to download the software to his laptop after the camp. In the pre-call, we were never told that he needed a non-child YouTube account in order to be able to publish videos made during the camp. We received a call on day 2 (of 5) that he needs an adult account, but they were not able to help him create one during the camp. Since we did not have the OBS software loaded, we could not even view his videos when he got home. We loaded OBS (through trial and error), we saw that his videos were of him playing Fortnight - no narration, no special editing. My son stated that he "basically played Fortnight for 3 days" during camp. He learned how to edit out portions of a video, and not much more. No printed materials or instructions were sent home with him to continue to build on what he learned. He was told by his camp counselor if he wanted to learn how to use Adobe or any of the software, he could search for tutorials on YouTube (isn't that what I sent him to camp for?). His assessment of the camp was that it was "okay". He came home unshowered, overly tired (bedtime was not well-enforced), eyes bleary from too much screen time, and complaining of stomach ache from too much junk food. For $1700, I would have expected much more. read more

I don't typically write reviews, but this needs to be heard as to what my daughters experience was like. One star is too much in my daughters opinion. This was more of a day camp then an educational camp. The camp she did , "Digital Video Production and Effects". Beginner to Advanced ages 13-17. My daughter is 16 and apparently new more than her instructor. He was not proficient in Premier Pro, which is a video editing software they were to learn about, so he couldn't answer any questions she had on that. My daughter was given not one but two defective USB drives, so she was unable to edit or show any of her work on family showcase day on the last day. There were only 4 kids in her group and she was basically on her own, every time she asked a question he was unable to help her so she watched YouTube videos to figure things out on her own. Whenever her instructor (young adult, late teens early twenties she's guessing), came over to see if she needed anything, she ignored him because he spoke to her like she was five and had yet been able to answer any questions prior for her. They were also supposed to learn how to upload videos onto YouTube, which they did not. They were even told in a prior email to set up a YouTube account before camp started. The website is very misleading as to what they say and what you get. When I called to complain , they said they would look into what was going on in her class. The first response I got was the other leaders sat in his class to observe and said he knew his content, and that my daughter was a little advanced for the class, which is ridiculous because the class was for beginner to advanced. I said they should be able to help her then and accommodate if she's what you consider advanced. When I called again and said they didn't learn anything about uploading to YouTube (which I was told in a previous phone call it was happening the following day), and I commented how your website is misleading, I was told my daughter had an attitude and was difficult to talk to and ignored the instructor. I said yes, I would be too, this is day 5 of a 5 day camp and she's frustrated because she learned nothing and the biggest thing making and creating her own short video was not able to be viewed due to your faulty USB drive! When I asked for a full refund they said no because they said my daughter was partly at fault. So they faulted my daughter for knowing more than the instructor and being a little advanced than the other 3 students, so instead of teaching the 4 students based on their knowledge (from beginner to advanced per their website) it appears they base the class on the beginners. They did agree to give me some money back, but not enough in our opinion. Don't be fooled like I was and just look at their reviews, when I looked further into reviews on other sites, I saw another similar to mine. I feel bad for my daughter who is eager to learn more on this subject and basically just say in a classroom all week by herself figuring things out! If you're looking for a camp to send your younger child , have at it, they take a few breaks during the day to play games (because it's "camp")! And camp is to end at 5, but they ended every day at least a half hour early to do a "shout out"! Which is you name someone who helped you during the day , then you clap and snap your fingers and point to the person named, and they are given a ticket. The more tickets you have the more chances you have of winning "ID Tech merch". Another day, mid week, the counselors gave the campers a form to fill out on how well the counselors knew their material, and they were told "if you say something good, you'll get a reward" which was a ticket. These reviews should be confidential that are given to these campers. read more

Kid was kicked out of camp with little explanation (and no refund), and was devastated. We had to quickly rearrange schedules to work from home. The camp director was unapologetic, punitive, and uncommunicative - for twice the price of similar camps in the area I expected at least minimal professionalism. Never going back. read more

If you have $1k sitting on your desk sure go ahead and get your child a 1 week camp at IDT. But if you are trying to squeeze as much as possible from one week in any summer for your kid while keeping cost as low as possible, run away. IDT is actually a big organization. No wonder camp is pricey if you are in need to support a large structure. My 11 year old did a youtube chanel course where we live, in Miami, FL and after 1 week he could not shoot a basic video, transfer it digitally to adobe premier or edit it accordingly. Basic, very basic, was the key word for the lessons offered. I am thinking I could have tutored him myself on these basics in 1 hour of my time. All of this waste is being hid behind some bells and whistles... say, fairly good organization, a free t-shirt and a certificate. Oh, and a very lively ceremony for honoring the kids the last day. Mixed with the courses there were a few outdoor activities to have your kid sweat a bit. And other *fun* activities such as playing cards or board games... all for the incredible modest sum of... $1,000!! This particular camp was overrated and pricey. For half as much, my son learned last week how to DJ a party... and by the end of that week he could scratch and master the technique and it was a pleasure to listen to his DJ/music creation. And no, the DJ scratch course was not offered by IDTech. read more

hugely disappointed... I feel like it is a serious bait and switch. HUGELY expensive. You think when you sign up for the 2 week program at Harvard, that they actually stay at Harvard...no they are at some other college quite a distance away and then bussed in for the day. Guess it is buried somewhere in the fine print, but such BS, as you think your kid is getting the full campus experience. and then they go ON and ON about how they take the kids to industry leading gaming and/or tech companies. Guess what my son, in a 2 week program, got ZERO tours of any cool companies, just a video chat w/ someone from Universal Studio's. I mean basically it is a complete LIE. I feel very cheated of $1000's of dollars. next year I will look for an actual program that is run by the actual university, not idTech camp. Truly do you research! read more

Since we are currently quarantined due to Covid-19, we thought we'd give online programming classes a try. My son turned 15 during the 5-day instruction course using Unity. He has taken introductory courses in Java, HTML, and Python. But, this was his first class with idTech. We never had an experience this bad. Prior to the start of instruction week, he was told to download Unity and Zoom. We did this and tested the systems before classes started. Each day, he was to have 2 hrs of online class instruction and about 2 hrs of independent work outside of class. For $400. For the first few days, he attended classes and seemed to be interacting and learning from his instructor and 3-4 classmates. Each day he had, at the most, 30 mins of work to complete on his own. On Wednesday he was told to download an app called Magicavoxel. He attempted to but it wasn't opening properly. At the start of class on Thursday, he informed his instructor. His instructor then sent him to tech support. He spent TWO HOURS, his entire instruction time, with tech support trying to get the app to open. Tech support apologized for not finding a solution and said goodbye. Class was done also, so my son was left with an entire day wasted. I asked WHY did he need Magicavoxel. My son said it didn't seem necessary, but his instructor wanted them to use it. My son attempted to email his instructor that day to find out what he was supposed to do now that he missed class and didn't get help from tech. No one returned his email until the next day. Overnight, I (a non-technical, stay-at-home mom) was able to clean out the various things tech had my son download, redownload Magicavoxel, and get it up and running by Friday morning. (WHY had they not told us to download this from the START?) Friday morning, my son got an email saying to sign into Zoom 15 mins early. This was to make up for the previous day. Of course it didn't. The instructor rushed through the material, and my son lost valuable work and instruction time. In the end, it was a horrible experience AND ABSOLUTELY NOT WORTH THE MONEY. Completely wasted our money. I really don't understand how the instructor could just leave one of his students, from such a small class, with tech support for an entire class. My son, in essence, spent $80 to endure 2 hrs online with someone who couldn't even help him! That's a scam. read more

I REALLY wished I would of done a bit of researched and checked out some online reviews. I was trying to do a special thing for my child and enrolled them in a summer, in person week long summer camp. (By the way, these camps are VERY expensive.) They cancelled the camp, and enrolled them in an online class they has absolutely no interest in. Now they refuse to give us back the $290 registration fee. The emails I am getting from this place are unbelievable ... actually saying they "are not cold hearted" and will not return my deposit. I've been going back and forth with my credit card company for months now. If you actually look at their return policy it states if they can't find a comparable class you will get a full refund. Their replacement of an online camp in a subject/area my child has no interest in is not a replacement. I wish I would of known all the customer service problems they have. Reading some of the other reviews about the online camps, a lot of people are really disappointed with those too. Also look at their social media - Twitter and Facebook posts. They quickly remove any negative comments or feedback that anybody posts on their company, or their policies. I posted a couple comments and they are quickly removed! Please! Save your money on this one - research some of the other companies that other customers have suggested. read more

The ID Tech camp canceled the July 20-24 classroom summer camp my son was scheduled to attend. They automatically enrolled him in an online program that he does not want to attend. They will not give us a refund. They want us to accept a credit voucher for a 2021 camp. They added new clauses about communicable diseases to their terms and conditions after purchases have been made. I find this completely immoral and reprehensible. read more

Inappropriate Teacher and Waste of Money: I signed up for my 9 year old daughter. Class was cancelled and they just rescheduled without confirming. The last day of my daughter's class, I got out of work early to take her to the dentist, and I heard the last part of the class. Another boy was telling the instructor that he knows how to make titties in the background. Mind you this was an introductory class, meaning you can join this class as young as 6 or 7. The instructor kept repeating tiiii...taysss. It was very inappropriate. I know he cannot prevent children from using profane words, but he was repeating it and laughing as if he was 9 years old himself. Thought since it was promoted by a reputable university like UCLA, classes couldn't be that bad, but it was. Introductory classes should be for 4-5 year olds, this specific teacher I wouldn't want teaching any children, any given subject, and they cancel classes and reschedule without confirmation. I'm on the west coast, so after I get off of work, they close as they are teaching remotely from the east coast. Coding is the future, but with teachers like this, they are just going to groom little perverts who are stuck on their computers with week old take out food wrappers and boxes. NO THANK YOU. Complete waste of money. I would rather donate that money to the homeless people rampant in DTLA. UCLA apparently cannot scout teachers and they had a lot of free play during class time, meaning playing Minecraft that had nothing to do with coding. read more

The first instructor was terrific for 29 lessons, then the second instructor did not show. They tried to say they we cancelled. After talking to them on the phone they acknowledged that the instructor did not show. We tried to reschedule the lesson but they "did not show again". Poor administration and bad customer service. Shame as the first instructor was amazing. He unfortunately went on to better things. read more

If you have a child that shows interest in technology or you want to get exposed this is a great place. My son has done several years starting with basic classes and working his way towards understanding how to make a laptop and do some basic programming. He also has a ton of fun as summer vacation shouldn't be stressful and they provide a lot of fun activities. read more

Our son, 11, did a coding class. He enjoyed it and proudly showed off his project. He is asking to sign up for another class.

Hands on, differentiated and personal instruction with good pacing in the instruction, I simply can't say enough about the great experiences we had with both online and in person sessions. It's the cutting edge programs like unity and Roblox combined with a really good understanding of how kids learn that make the programs a must for students who love tech or gaming or programming. Additionally, the instructor are really enthusiastic but they know class management too and they provide individual student feedback. read more

I signed my 11 year up for this camp based on a friend's review but I wish I would have researched it on my own before. It advertises as a camp with top notch instruction who will help in the development of your chosen technical skill. My child attended the Robotics camp and was very excited to learn more from what he has done in the past. Everyday, he seemed to come home frustrated and not really saying it was a good time. When we came to the parent showcase at the end of the week, my concerns were validated as my child could barely put together any kind of robot for battle. It appears that the other members of his group did everything and the instructor while possibly explaining the construction or coding of the robot, did not actually ensure that each kid (there were 10 total) understood the mechanical and coding process. Hence my kid, and I'm sure others, was basically a bystander or at best a helper during the entire camp. They advertise that the instructors can work with students that range from beginners to advance but they did not seem to be the case. The time frame of the camp was 8 hours a day and cost of the camp was significantly more that any of the other STEM camps we have attended. Hence the learning to time and cost was very poor. While I'm sure some have had a good experience, I would skip in the future and not recommend this camp as the results seem to be too varied. read more

Last year did a game coding track at the University of Miami location. While HTML/CSS/javascript is IMHO a poor choice for a one week coding task, we got lucky with some fairly good results, even though yellow flags were there in the feedback reported by my twins who reported being left largely to their own devices. Luckily their instructor was very knowledgeable and energetic. This year we did "Roblox Entrepreneur" at the UVA location. My daughter refused to go back after the first day, which may have been an overreaction, but reported that the counselor ignored them, did not instruct them at all, and just turned them loose with the Roblox editor to fend for themselves. My son, who is good at programming and made a great game last year despite the tangle of html and javascript, this year failed to produce anything but a walkthrough of a Minecraft looking terrain, there were approximately 20 lines of Lua code copy and pasted from somewhere, that simply created a binding between a button click and a "you win" message. The counselor, it was revealed when I grilled him gently on the last day, doesn't know anything about the subject matter, and he was unable to speak to me intelligently about it. There were 2 TWO children in their group after my daughter dropped out, and yet my son and the other child got basically no help at all, all week in coding Lua, which was supposed to be the task at hand. Never again! This is a scam. read more

This is a review of the machine learning class at idtech. I feel I wasted my money. At $1000, this is not a small sum. The first day they spent in an entire morning of orientation. The afternoon was lost to some sort of placement exam. No teaching occurred. With only five days, wasting 20% of the time up front is a poor use of time. Worth $200, surely not! Since my son didn't have any previous exposure to python, they spent Tues - Wed. doing some python review and Thursday gathering images for machine learning. No actual machine learning happened, if any at all, until possibly Friday morning. They let out early on Friday and my son emerged without a final project. I don't believe he learned much. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. read more

Very disappointed... I enrolled my child in IDTech's 'Intro to Coding for Machine Learning' camp @ UCSD in June, and according to my child's feedback, it's real bad... My expectation was that as what's done in a normal training camp, an instructor teaches basics using ppt or white-board, and then students check them out through labs. However, what's happening is the instructor just let students following the interactive learning tool (?) and that's it... It's very like a sort of self-study... It's better find a college-tutor for $100 per hr for 5 days, which is still even cheaper by half than the IDTech Camp! If you need a day-care for 5-days, you may consider... otherwise... BE AWARE! read more

Rip Off!! I sent my 2 kids to iDTech last year. Not worth it at all. Short of staff and my kids told me they had to wait a long time to get help. They didn't even teach them how to do certain tasks, but instead the instructors just did it for them. My point. is. AVOID. THIS. PLACE!! read more

Worst camp experience ever. Teachers do not meet kids where they are -- are not skilled enough to reach the range of beginners to advanced students as they promise. Beginners are left completely behind and teachers don't notice and won't solve problems, directors don't even call back to problem solve once I (a parent) told them there was a problem. No communication or check in with kids. My son's experience after one day was so bad he wouldn't even go back (and staff said, too bad you'r out of luck -- no alternates, no money back). Courses are not acurately described -- youtube channel class sounds like you might build a channel but class is almost entirely about using adobe to edit. Totally software focused. read more

My son did this camp one year at Stanford and one year at Berkeley. Please be aware that these camps are money traps for parents. It was a waste of time and money. Now we are being more careful choosing summer programs, learned it the hard way i guess! The instructors are college kids who have the best intentions but i felt my son didnt learn anything. All the do is playing video games. Which they can do at home for free! Look for a different camp, do your home-work. There are other options for your children only one week is not enough learning experience in any subject period. Not recommended ! read more

The "counselors" at the camp are stressed and temperamental and if your child isn't a favorite they wont engage or help. The campers were not let out of the lab to play at all during the 2 weeks of camp. 15 minute breaks in the lab to "talk" and 45 minutes in the food court for lunch. Otherwise it was 8 straight hours in front of a computer. Even my computer-obsessed 14 year old was begging for some outdoor time and told us that by 3PM he couldn't look at a screen anymore. The camp director told us the area they reserved at MIT for the kids to play was "closed" so they couldn't use it. Customer Service was useless and the Camp Director was rude and defensive. It's obscenely expensive for the amount of activity and attention the children get. A complete -- and pricey -- joke. read more

My grandchildren have been attending the iDTech camps for the last three years and absolutely love it. They look forward to it every summer. They not only learn the curriculum, they learn real life skills that they can apply after the course ends. The instructors are top notch and they care about the kids. My grandson has been inspired so much that it has encouraged him to do better in school especially in math and science. The instructors teach the students that they can do and be anything they want to be when they grow up. I have and will continue to recommend iDTech to all my family, friends and cowokers. Of those that have sent their kids and grandkids agree that what iDTech does mentors, guides and shapes the future generation of Professors, Scientists and Doctors of their generation! read more

Kids simply copied the code from the while board. Then they pretended as if they wrote it. Some kids were proud when they showed it to the parents. Instructors also participated the 'presentation'. My kids honestly told me that they know nothing about the code they typed. The code didn't even run due to the typos from coping. Instructors didn't even run the code once in Jupyter. Instructor didn't even know the meaning of the code. Most parents didn't noticed what happened. Copying (i.e. typing from the white board) one page of the code shouldn't take 10 min. But it took one week and $1000+. They knew the risk of this business so they didn't let me go in to the classroom nor let kids took the code to outside until the final day. It was the camp at Tampa, FL. read more

Long time Yelp user ... but this experience made me sign up to write my first review. Last month, I signed up my 12 year old son (a typical boy - loves sports, video games, quick thinking but short attention span). When we saw the promotion for a half day golf + half day web design camp at Stanford University, it sounded perfect. $899 for a day camp is steep, but golfing w/the professional coaches who worked with the likes of Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie plus learning how to design web sites in today's digital age on the campus of one of the preeminent universities of the world...ok, sign us up! Sounds perfect! What a huge mistake. The half days of golf was hitting range balls all morning. For the first 2 days, the golf instructor (who apparently was a local high school golf coach, and not a Stanford coach) said a total of TWO (2) words to my son over 2 days - "Nice Swing." My son has attended golf camps before, and I would say is an intermediate golfer (he can get around a 9 hole course and shoot about 60) He is certainly not an advanced player. Apparently, the coach spent all his time with beginners. Hello? We paid for this camp too. After I called customer service Tue night, I got put in touch with the camp director, who is a nice young lady, but had no clue about the specifics of the golf program. Rest of the week, the coach did spend a few more minutes giving some tips to my son after my intervention, but the entire golf portion of the camp was hitting range balls, putting on the practice green and hitting a few balls out of the practice bunker. No camper got to play a single hole on the Stanford Golf Course. Not what one would expect from the advertised sports camp that had Stanford logos left and right. Oh by the way, the coach brought 2 high school kids to help out. Much better golf camps at the local pitch and putt course here in SF (Golden Gate Golf Course) where you also get to play some golf (wow, what a concept!) for a fraction of the cost. The web design course seems fairly rudimentary. The kids used Dreamweaver to put together some web pages. My son built a fairly simple sports information web site. Other kids at the parents "showcase" did not seem to show off any better websites. To be honest, the websites looked like something a kid can put together in one afternoon, let alone 4+ half days. As other reviewers noted, I wouldn't be surprised if the boys were playing computer games for a bunch of the camp time. And the camp was held in the basement of a dorm or a fraternity house with computers on top of banquet tables. Hardly the Stanford University experience we thought we were getting. The company is very good about replying to customer emails and phone calls - but the reality is that they didn't do anything meaningful to improve the experience. Why do they bother to ask you to contact them "early in the camp" so they can improve the experience during the week? It sure seemed like just marketing to me. They didn't take any responsibility for the totally misleading camp description. My mistake for not insisting on more details of both the Golf program as well as the Web design curriculum. I falsely assumed that the slick website promotions and multiple "testimonials" of happy clients featured on the website = high quality camp. I've given them feedback that they should provide more detail to the program (ie the kids will hit range balls all day and NOT play on the golf course) so that parents know what they are getting. We'll see if they follow that advice. If Stanford University cares about maintaining their brand and reputation, they should monitor these companies using the good name of Stanford to make a fast buck. read more