If anyone believes that there are "2 hours of project development", there is no project development. No project to work on, just something to read and maybe one code to write, which takes less than 15 minutes. read more

Horrible. Money-eating camp. All they want is your money. It is a poorly designed camp. My kid attended the Robotics camp. It was very disappointing. My kid went to the camp expecting to be given time for innovative work. The camp asked them to assemble a robotics kit they probably use year after year. This is how they invest the least of amount money for earning the most amount of profit year after year. My kid said he hardly learnt anything and it was not fun. He was not given much time for innovative work. This is what this kind of high-tech camp is supposed to be. Horrible Horrible place. If I can give a negative rating, I will. read more

I was stunned at the lack of inclusive learning. There is no tolerance at all for children with processing delays, stimming or sensory concerns. If your child is not 100% neurotypical then I would not consider ID tech. A neurotypical child complained that my son made him "uncomfortable." The director told me that my son was removed from the program, but at least she was "sorry" about it. Special needs parents beware!! read more

My 15-year old son spent a week at the University of Denver for an iD Tech Camp in June. We dropped him off at the freshman dorm where he would be living for the week and checked out his room. Very nice! The staff was so welcoming and easy for my son to relate to. We called him the first night to see how it was going and he was having a blast. He really liked the class, loved the unlimited food options and the kids and counselors were terrific. When we picked him up on Friday we got to see what he created. We were totally impressed! read more

I don't know about these people. Feels shady. Two of the three people I talked to were admittedly new and gave me wrong information. Third finally was a supervisor. Was unclear if he knew what was going on either. Just couldn't get to answer very quickly and then what he proposed felt it it was going to waste more time without success. So after wasting 25 minutes with them and trying to figure out how to get into their Info 365 online site after I'd already paid for it, and finding out that they were going to make it really hard to cancel (if at all), I just decided to walk away from the $200. Sometimes best to just sell short and move on and they felt like that. Also, be careful, when you sign up for their service, without any notice, they put you down for auto-renewal. I only accidently found that they had auto opted me in to auto renewal a year later. That alone makes them look like a scum bag in my opinion. Why not make me opt in to that rather than do for me. read more

The was hands down the best tech camp that Addison has attended. She came home everyday excited with many stories to share about her experience. The counselors were not only knowledgeable, but also personable and very engaging! read more

Always great to drop Cole off where we know he will have a great week and make nice friends. Cole learned a lot this year and picked up where he left off last year. Thanks again for another great year! read more

This will be my son's third year (he's currenlty 14) at iD Tech camp at UC Berkeley. He absolutely loves it! And I love that he has such a great experience on a university campus. He usually takes Digital Film Editing but this year he is adding a week of web animation to his stay. I am impressed with their effective logistics in housing, feeding, teaching, and entertaining a bunch of adolescents. It is clear that management knows what they're doing. The low counselor/student ratio is key to their success. My son is a quirky kid with social challenges that usually result in at least one parent/teacher conference in school or summer camp. But he's right at home among the campers and counselors at iD Tech. :-) I have never been consulted about his behavior and he always returns home happy, full of great stories about his experience, and plans for next year. read more

These camps are all about making--taking--money. Simple as that. My son had medication issues and difficulty sleeping the first night there. It wasn't going to work, for medical reasons. The person answering the "help" line stonewalled any discussion of a partial refund and actually tried selling me an additional session!! This person on the "help" line was not at all interested in helping my son, but she was intensely interested in making money for this "camp." Stay away! It's all about money and not at all about the kids. So sad... read more

I think that this is a great camp for anyone interested in computers, software development or anything dealing with technology. At first, i was concerned because I did not know how much my son could learn in a week and then I was concerned that the teachers would not be a good teacher but techs who know the material but cannot teach to save their life. These guys hit the ball out of the park. They were able to teach an enormous amount of information in a very short time. The teachers were great. My son got a lot of information and he is well versed in the topics covered. I think this is the best investment we have made in summer camps, even though it is not cheap. read more

At 10, my daughter learned how to make her own website. She attended Stanford Camp and stayed overnight. The staff was very friendly and helpful. I highly recommend iD Tech read more

Our 13 year old daughter attended ID Tech Camp at the SMU campus in Dallas last year (also signed up to attend this year). We arrived at the dorms where the ID folks were waiting outside. We were concerned as she knew no one at this camp, but our friends had had such a great experience with their daughter the year prior that we gave it a shot. Check-in was a breeze and they were so welcoming and warm that our daughter felt at ease instantly. There was a mix of older and younger students, co-ed, with the counselors appearing to be in their mid to late 20's (I'm guessing here). We walked her to her dorm room, which was quite nice. There were two bedrooms, with each room having two beds and an adjoining office-like space in the middle, as well as a bathroom and shower in each room.. Very clean and well kept, so far so good. The other campers who had arrived before us were in a lounge area on the same floor. Again, we were concerned as she knew no one. We helped her make her bed, put away her toiletries and then went to walk her to the lounge area. One of the other campers greeted us in the hallway to introduce himself and asked our daughter if she'd like to walk with him to the lounge. Again, so welcoming and warm that she felt right at home. We stuck around for a bit just to see how things were going and she seemed fine without us. Giving us the "please go signal" more than once :o) Throughout the week we monitored her on their website via pictures and emails we would send to her. She was always smiling, always involved and appeared to be having a great time. By Thursday we got the call from the counselor letting us know that our daughter wanted to talk with us. Instead of her telling us to come and get her as we had feared, she wanted to ask if she could spend another week! So told us she was learning so much and was having the best time. That call alone was worth every penny we had paid for the week! Unfortunately, and much to our dismay, there were no more spots left the following week, or for the remainder of the summer. We were bummed, as was she. We did not make the same mistake this year. She is going for quite a bit longer this year, and trying new courses that we feel she wouldn't have tried had she not experienced ID Tech Camp last year! It saddens me to see so many reviews that are less than favorable. We have nothing but wonderful things to say about ID Tech Camp. It has changed my daughter's outlook not only about camp, but about her future career plans. I highly suggest you give them a try! read more

--This is for Parents who plan to sign up and for others you might plan on working at iD Tech-- I started working at ID Tech near the beginning of April of 2021. Since I've started I've only taught 1 class from April all the way towards July. Everything at iD Tech is so confusing and classes are made so weirdly. They expect us to teach the material in 1 hour and when you look at what they want us to teach, it's so much stuff that I keep wondering how in the world will the student learn anything. Now about the classes, When I started I thought that when a student signs up for your class, then you have them for 5 or so days. No that's not the case. They just sign up for one class. So the kid could have had 3 others already teach him, but to make it more of a pain because sometimes those past classes already taught them everything. This leads to you trying to figure out what to teach them and having a whole class asking what you do and don't know. When you start you have a head you always communicate with and have meetings every 2 weeks. When I told them my problem of me only having one class, they responded back with "Maybe have more weekend classes." I was working from Monday - Friday and I only had one class. Now my boss just tells me to work on the weekend for more classes. Ok fine, I do that also and still nothing for almost 6 weeks. When I ask them that I still have no classes they just repeat what they said last time "More weekend classes." I'm not the only one who is facing this problem. I know some people that work here for weeks, even months and still haven't taught a class. We discussed this and all believed that we're the bottom of the barrel picks. Meaning that we are the last people that others pick when the ones that have taught 100s of classes can't teach something. It truly is a waste of time and money. I could have had another job and made money from that rather than sitting here praying I get another class. For parents : Don't sign your kids up for online classes. I suggest you wait for covid to end and send them to the iD Tech Camps. The online classes are a mess and your kids won't learn anything as I don't know how they can learn so much in 1 hour. For someone trying to get a job at iD Tech : Don't even bother if it's for Online classes. You might have some luck for the Camp For everyone : Beware as some counselors are very ignorant and think they know it all, but copy and paste 90% of the stuff they teach from Google. read more

I'm surprised at the one-star experiences others have described here. Our experiences with iDTech Camp at Stanford have been terrific for two years running. The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is because it is breathtakingly expensive. But our 14-year-old son has enjoyed every moment of his iDTech adventures. If he chooses to attend again next summer -- which he seems to be determined to do -- we certainly will find a way to make it possible. His first summer (last year) he spent a week on the Stanford campus learning about robotics. The program was well supervised, with a low student/teacher ratio and well-organized programs both during the regular camp day and in the evenings. While he enjoyed robotics, he was much more interested this year in learning more about programming. He already was familiar with a couple of languages, but his two-week stay at iDTech's Programming Academy brought him up to speed enough with C++ that he can continue to learn on his own at home. He did report that one of the kids in his class chose to waste much of his time simply playing computer games rather than programming, but it seemed to me that the rest of the kids were motivated to learn and fully supported in that effort. The class was a mix of day campers and overnight students, and we could have saved some significant money by shuttling him to campus each day. But the overnight experience in a residence hall rooming with two other boys his age has helped him to mature and learn about coping with new social situations. That's just as valuable -- if not even more valuable -- than the coursework itself, in my view. read more

I feel so CHEATED by this program. When I sign up for my child, they made it clear of the $35.00 cancellation fee, which I was aware of. A few weeks later, I need to cancel the class and I was told that I can only receive 75% back with $35. In total, I loss nearly $300. It's not fair to anyone, especially when my child didn't even attend the class and I have canceled months in advance. And they wouldn't even let me use it as a credit for future use. This is so wrong and leave us with very bad taste. BE AWARE!!! read more

This is an unfortunate review because both of my children did an online camp with IDTech this summer and really enjoyed their class. However, I have tried emailing them 3 times asking them questions during the program as well as re: next steps after the program and have not received one response. This lack of response (to an email address my daughter's instructor gave us) colors the experience of doing business with them. It is really unacceptable, in this day and age, to not respond to the folks who are paying you money for your product. read more

Not worth time or money. Teachers just follow a script without giving background context. Kids are told to just follow the script too. No room for asking questions or being creative. A lot of time waiting for instructor to debug each project one by one. The actual learning in a 2-hour session would probably have taken 15 minutes, when taught by the right instructor and in the right context. The only thing that made it less of a waste of time with the camp being online is that my daughter could do something else while waiting. But she didn't get anywhere close to learning what she needed to create the project she had in mind. Stay away from these camps. read more

I can't say enough awesome things about this camp! Last summer, my kids learned so much, acquired some amazing skills that will last a lifetime, and made some great friends that they stayed in touch with year-round. The camp counselors were PHENOMENAL as they encouraged the kids and set them up for success at every opportunity. This year during COVID, they made arrangements to move the course online. But because of that, it wasn't going to be the all-day courses that we had originally planned. As a result, they stopped the automatic billing for the full amount and only charged me half the amount for the online course. I was unaware of that until I called them asked them. For iDTech to do something so conscientious was above and beyond customer service! It was top notch! It was a decision the company made that was solely focused on the customer. I'm blown away, mostly because in these crazy times I'm used to companies taking advantage of the situation and gauging the customer. I love iD Tech. This is truly a fantastic program and a fantastic company. read more

Super frustrating camp experience - we spent half the week trying to help our son log onto the server and the technical support team had no motivation to offer support. Horrible operation. read more

If you had asked me a year ago about ID Tech I would have given them a 5 star review but their most recent response to cancelling camps is unacceptable. My son was signed up for 2 camps, one in June and one in July ($1900) but they have already cancelled the camp. Only options offered were an online class or a voucher for 2021 or loss of a ~$600 deposit. This isn't right that they are holding a significant amount of campers money for over a year! read more

My son attended an overnight camp at UT Austin last summer. Loved the content, loved the facilities. 3rd night into the camp one of his 4 roommates locks him out of the room at night. The other two roommates finally get the door open and let him in. Once one of the camp leaders get there the kid that locked my kid out of the room claimed my kid hit him when he got back into the room. My kid denied it, the other two roommates denied it, and I get a call and have to take my kid home that night. Poor mgmt of children. Yet, I still get their spam mail all the time... read more

An absolute waste of money and time. We put our 8 year old in their Robotics program at MIT, and I was thoroughly disappointed. There was a lot of flash, with T-shirts and banners and good branding, but the education level was substandard. They basically spent a morning assembling a very basic lego robot, and spent the rest of the week doing an afternoon's worth of computer programming in Scratch. Very little effort was put into social engagement and having a fun community experience, and my daughter came home talking more about the computer games she played during down-times than anything she actually did in classtime. read more

Poorly run. The YouTube video class wasn't able to post any of the videos to YouTube, they ran out of time. My daughter could have produced the video that she did there, before she went to this one week camp. We were at UCLA and the dorms were hot as there wasn't any air conditioning. The evening activities included a walk to downtown Brentwood to visit the Target. I really feel that this camp was a bit of a rip off. Great concept just poorly executed. Live and learn. read more

We enrolled our son in one of the Minecraft courses earlier this year hoping for an on campus experience at CSU. Due to COVID the format was changed to virtual. The entire camp consisted of 2 hour sessions via Zoom. So total of 10 hours for only a $250 reduction in price. For one it was not worth it, but we felt bad for them after they sent out an e-mail pleading with people not to cancel because they would not be able to stay afloat, etc. So our son took the course. Only about 40% of the content that was supposed to be taught as per their syllabus was actually taught - 2 hrs a day is not a lot of time. During the last session the parents were invited for the last 20 minutes to see a few of the things the kids had learned. At the conclusion of the session the instructor Anisha invited the kids to reach out to her via e-mail over the summer in case they had a question regarding the content. She said that her e-mail address is listed under the course info in the dashboard. It was not as we found our later. Our son had a question about a code file that was malfunctioning so we advised him to e-mail the teacher. He was not able to find her e-mail, neither were we so we reached out to ID TECH for help to connect with Anisha. They replied that this was not allowed for safety reasons and that we can always buy a $100 private lesson for the question to be answered. What jerks. We will never spend another dollar with them and regret feeling sorry for them and even doing the virtual camp in the first place, it was a HUGE let down. read more

I just got a reminder from iD Tech that it is time to register, which reminded me I had a YELP review for this camp that is WAAAY overdue. This camp is the best camp ever. Our family has tried out several of the iD Tech locations including Stanford and Santa Clara. The consistency and total devotion of the staff is truly unlike any other camp we've been to. Everyone has to spread the word about this awesome program!!! Even before you go to camp, the people in their main office are so helpful. They pick up the phone and respond to emails right away. You can just tell the whole organization is in sync and totally cares about what they do. It's a relief for a busy parent who doesn't have a lot of time to waste. Refreshing! How about the instruction? My daughter made a really touching movie using Final Cut Pro--it had great visual effects and the editing was impressive. My son has made video games over the past several years. I have seen the progression since we first started coming to iD Tech in 2007. Every year his confidence goes up, his skills get sharper, and he is a now a tech leader at his high school. He is applying to some of the top colleges in the country and is very interested in computer science and game design. I simply have to give a ton of credit here to iD Tech for fostering his love of gaming and everything tech. As for my daughter, she is trying out different courses, from film to web design. Consistently good instruction. Unlike anything we've seen. The camp staff are techies and great teachers and role models. The camp clearly goes out of its way to find individuals who know their stuff. I highly recommend the Santa Clara and Stanford locations (We haven't been to the other iD locations). The Stanford location has an Overnight option. Santa Clara is a day camp only. Both are phenomenal. Some parents say the camp isn't cheap, and that is true. But you get what you pay for. I think my kids are on a whole different trajectory--and iD Tech has played a big, big part in that. My kids and I can't wait for summer!! read more

This was the first time for our boys going off into a computer camp. I signed up four of my sons for a one-week session at Northwestern University. I appreciated the follow-up and the professionalism of the counselors during sign-in and sign-out every day of the camp. Overall the experience was positive and exposed our kids to the nuances and basis of game-design: planning, sequencing, art design, organization, instructions, gaming experiences. From our 8 year-old to our 15 year old, all of the kids had a ball at camp. The NWU campus is beautiful so they also got exposed to a potential future university choice. As a former Bell Labs engineer I did not expect the next Angry Birds to come out of a week of introductory material. The value of ID Tech for us was more for the exposure to NWU and game design parameters. In terms of value, the class is price-right. I believe the kids could have used access to better menu choices for lunch for the price of the camp and the locality. The food was OK for day camp - but there is an opportunity for improvement for the directors. Bottom line, all of our kids want to come back. They felt supported and encouraged to explore and create. I specially got a taste of it during the closing ceremonies where each counselor spoke about each student's specific strengths and accomplishments. That is class! Amazing process to give each kid a good send off and ensure they continue work at home. Thank you ID Tech Camp counselors - you did a heck of a job! read more

Our sons have taken a total of 12 classes, attending both overnight and day camps, at Princeton and Stanford. They've been to other "tech" camps which proved to be "low tech" . The iD approach is a paradigm shift in camps of this genre. These are not a high pressure drudge courses. The point is to inspire and make learning joyful, and at this they succeed. Hip, enthusiastic counselors teach very cutting edge skills in an environment of such fun, kids don't realize they are gleaning skills that will give them an advantage over many adult programmers. Besides technology, they participate in outdoor games and nurture friendships with children from all over the world. As for an overnight camp, and we were very impressed with the level of safety and security at iD Tech. What iD is teaching is ions beyond what schools are teaching- public or private. Our 9-yr-old's had so much FUN learning website development there four years ago, they wanted to earn enough money to pay for an extra week of camp the following year. So... they started their own website development company, and were hired by a local business. Did I mention, they were nine years old? Their iD Tech camp experience may very well prove to be a defining moment in our children's lives. How often do you find an EDUCATIONAL camp that kids love so much they are willing to pay for it themselves? Thank you, iD Tech. You are a gift that will stay with us all for a lifetime. read more

Worst customer support and be aware once you purchase a lesson, they will not refund your money even if it's their fault. In my case I wanted my son to finish his program with same instructor as I enrolled him into 8 lessons package one-one tutoring. After first lesson, instructor emailed me he resigned IdTech and randomly assigned other lessons to some other instructor without consulting me. I had back and forth with their customer support to resolve this issue. Also, technically they did not meet my requirement of getting all 8 lessons with the same instructor and when I called them, response I got was not good. They did not refund the first lesson back and asked me to pick new instructor for remaining 7 lessons. When I asked them on refund policy as it is not meeting my base requirement of having all 8 lessons with the same instructor and basically, it's not our fault that their instructor left. They told me they will not issue refund and I have lost the first session as it is conducted. They just don't understand the customer need or their feedback. I will never enroll my son or recommend anyone to use their platform. read more

My 12 yr old is having a very good experience in an online one on one 3D printer class. My son is very motivated but he needs a little guidance which isn't available from YouTube videos. For the one on one class, I am provided with written feedback after each lesson so I am aware of what he has learned and If there are any concerns. Scheduling has been easy. This week I contacted support and received a prompt, courteous response. I felt like a valued customer. My son took an in person camp last year and liked it very much. I admit I had sticker shock but I believe that the camps are a good value. I would enroll him in more ID Tech classes and would recommend ID Tech for motivated kids. read more

My experience with IDtech has been horrible. I signed my 13 year old up for online 3rd person unity game development. First off, the description had little to nothing to do with the class. My son, instead of making the action packed game the description talked about, he made a player walk forward and throw grenades. He has made much better games with YouTube tutorials. Secondly, the teacher was unmotivated and would move at an incredibly slow pace. DO NOT do anything from ID tech. read more

Exceeded all expectations. Multi levels of programming experience are offered. Instructors enthusiastic and impressively comfortable dealing with kids. My son did not have any programing experience. In 1 week, all fears and concerns of programing were eliminated. He happily programmed a variety of games. We were so impressed that we registered him for another wk of camp and enrolled his brother also. We were pleased that it was not all computer screen time and a variety of outdoor activities were offered for the kids to chose from. Excellent for multi ages - groups are separated so cool HS and MS can be separated from K-5 Excellent for different levels of programming experience Variety of locations, across US, with day and overnight camps. My son is saving his money now to do the overnight camp. read more

My son LOVED the Colorado State Univ iD Tech camp! I loved how well it was run! He did it this year as an overnight camper, staying in the dorms. The camp is extremely organized; sending reminders about forms, location, what to bring/expect, and what the kids would be doing. Along with all the great computer experience, they also get the kids outside for activities, and games. It will be a great way to check out other colleges in the future too, as they offer this all over the country! In some locations your child could create Apps in the morning and learn to surf in the afternoon. CSU has been plenty of fun for our son so far though. read more

ID Tech summer camp has been nothing but a wonderful experience for our family. My 11 year old son attends both the Stanford and UC Berkeley locations and has found the instructors to be both knowledgeable and entertaining. We find the cost commensurate with the quality of instruction and individualized attention. We do not hesitate to sign him up for different courses. Today, however, we had a misstep in communication. To be completely honest, I was absolutely livid when I called the Campbell Headquarters to complain. I spoke with a supervisor, Jamad (Sp? apologies), who handled my tirade with professionalism and courtesy (well beyond his years). Not only did he remain calm and composed, but he asked appropriate questions. He balanced excellent customer service all while protecting corporate interests. We knew that ID Tech hired skilled instructors, however, I was pleasantly surprised to learn they also put much effort into training their customer support staff as well. Without hesitation, I can say that ID Tech Summer Camps are the absolute best in customer service. We have loved this camp for content and quality, but we also learned that when something goes wrong they handle it. read more

I would say do NOT sign up without doing the cancellation policy. I signed my daughter up for two classes only to find out that she has a direct conflict with another overnight camp offered by her school. They had more than 3 months notice that she would not be able to attend the camp but because I didn't buy the cancellation policy they will not refund my money - even though they have ample time to place another child in her spot. BE CAREFUL AND BUY THE PLAN OR DON'T SIGN UP UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SCHOOL SPORTS ARE DOING FOR THE SUMMER! read more

To their credit, the GM from IDTech called me back, listened to out I'll experience and agreed to refund the fees for the course In question. Hence they do deserve a better rating for being customer oriented. Whether or not their course content and instruction is now up to par, remains to be seen. read more

Ripoff alert!!! I registered two camps for my son three months before camp knowing that they allowed full refund for cancellation at least 21 days ahead. This was what they disclosed on their online registration and billing pages. When I tried to cancel within TWO days of registration, the company now says they will charge a cancellation fee of $570 ($285x2) which was not disclosed anywhere at checkout. Checkout Lavner and other tech/science camps unless you want to deal with ripoff pricing and unethical billing practices. read more

I personally attended an iD Tech Camp this summer. Location: Massachusetts MIT Course: C++ Game Programming & Development Instructor: "Jabber" Instructor- I cannot speak for every instructor, but most of them were college students with minimal experience. Whenever I had a problem with my code I would ask "Jabber" he approach me and stare at my code & wander off with another student. I felt lost and helpless. It happened a numerous times. He had no answers to my problems, and wasn't able to guide me in the right direction. The entire class was lost almost everyday due to "Jabber". When our "Final game" had to be made he was no assistance to my classmates. Break time- Most of the time we would spend half of our days playing Steam. For paying more than a thousand dollars for this camp I didn't imagine all I would do is play video games. Instead of learning how to code I learned how to play Team Fortress better than C++. It was such a disappointment. Dorms & Food- For food we had minimal choices. Everyday it would be 4 options. The food at MIT was sickening LITERALLY (i got sick). Many poor choices for dietary most of it was greasy. The dorms at MIT were something else... The A/C was dysfunctional, and the beds were like sleeping on rocks. The restrooms were cleaned everyday which was great. Transportation- Everyday we would have to walk to the dining hall for breakfast. It was a mile walk, but a sweaty walk. For adventures outside such as visiting Harvard or the mall we would have to walk 3 MILES!! You would've thought with the amount that the parents payed they would've had transportation for your children.. NOPE think again. There was one day we did take the subway but we walked back. Overall- I feel like the camp was a ripoff to my parents. read more

Only 1 day in, but not remotely impressed. It looks to be run more like a daycare than a school. My daughter was so bored she doesn't want to go back tomorrow. So far this has been a complete waste of money. read more

My son recently completed the Cybersecurity camp at Stanford University. Please save your money do not register for this camp. The program barely covered cyber security and in one week he just learned about encoding a message. The instructors are great and that's why I'm giving an extra star but the lesson plans are very rudimentary that you can find online. He was frustrated that he didn't learn a single thing all week. The other main issue is if you are staying in the overnight camp they barely have any freedom and remember these are teenagers from 13 to 17 years old. They were not allowed to go up to their room after camp, and they had to go to all meals in a single file line like kindergartners. They were told where to sit etc. My son attended other camps at Stanford and they were allowed to explore the campus on their own after classes. Overall I think the quality of ID tech camps went way down and the price is just not worth it. read more

We've taken our children to ID Tech camps for 3 consecutive summers, beginning the summer of 2014. They attended at 3 different universities, as well: Stanford (2014), Sac State (2015), and University of Washington (2016). There are countless variables that could account for this, many having to do with our kids, but our children enjoyed Stanford, University of Washington and Sac State, in that order. read more