Orange County Code School

My name is Alex Sewell and I am a proud graduate of Orange County Code School. I have waited a few months after graduating to write this review because I wanted to provide the best feedback possible.
In short, graduating from OCCS and taking a coding bootcamp has changed my life. It has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. If you believe you are the right person to be a developer and have the ability to do this, do it! If you don’t, find anyway you can to make it happen. You won’t regret it.
Six months ago I decided to make a change in my life. I was currently finishing up my fourth year at community college. I was pursuing a degree in business with a focus in entrepreneurship, and I greatly disliked school. Every time I was there I felt like I didn’t fit it. To be honest, it felt like a giant waste of time. This is not to discount school, but traditional college and I just didn’t work well together.
While in high school I was always interested in web development; but it always felt out of reach. Programming felt like something you had to start doing when you were five to understand what was going on. I started with basic «plug and play» website, but always become frustrated with the lack of freedom. I decided to take an HTML and CSS class my second year of college and it was great. From there I continued to read books and try free online courses, but it was always the same. I would work really hard for a week, and as soon as I got stuck I stopped not knowing how to continue. Inevitably, I gave up each time.
I had been thinking about going to a coding school for a couple years, but while being a founder in a bootstrap startup and going to school it never seemed attainable or feasible. However, I couldn’t take it anymore. I knew I wanted to learn to code, I knew it would be a skill that would benefit me the rest of my life, and it would allow me to work on my own ideas in my free time.
I looked around for the best school. There seem to be a lot of options and new schools popping up each week. I finally came across OCCS. They were a newer program (I was part of their 2^nd cohort). I worried about going to such a new program, so I talked to a few people in the community. The main thing I kept hearing was that the person who started the school was the real deal. Be aware of programming bootcamps, some are run/​taught by people who have very little programming experience, or higher students to help teach the class right after graduation. Ron on the other hand had a very impressive resume and a true passion for programming and sharing his vast knowledge. I decided that this would be the school for me. I was lucky enough to apply and join their September — November 2015 cohort.
The class was really well done, and kept improving each month. The other students in the cohort were great! Everyone by the end of the class were friends.
Now for the important questions. Can you really learn programming in three months? Absolutely! In three months we learned HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, Node, Express, Gulp, Git, npm among others. It seems crazy, but with the fully immersive style, it would take more effort not to learn.
Why focus on JavaScript? Now that I am working, I am being introduced to a lot of new technologies. However, I get so happy each time I get to work in JavaScript. It is an amazing language which can be used to do almost anything. The syntax is difficult and is tough to grasp at first, but once you get a hang of it, you won’t want to do anything else.
Is it worth the money? Again, absolutely! I have a lot my friends graduating from college who have school debt above $ 10K. Plus, they went to school for 5+ years, ultimately to get a degree in something they couldn’t get a job in and now have to settle for a job they aren’t happy with and doesn’t make much. This course is three months, you create a portfolio, and the job opportunities are amazing after you graduate. More importantly, I landed a job as a developer before the class even ended. Even better, it more than tripled the amount of money I make each year. Now at 23, I make more money than most of my friends, do what I love every day, work for a great company, and it only took me three months to get started. It’s definitely worth the money.
To conclude, I love that I made the decision to learn programming. I love that I chose to go to Orange County Code School. I love the language I focus in and I love the job I have. I also love the amount of money I am making now and the freedom and accomplishment it provides me. My decision to learn programming has changed my life and I couldn’t be happier.

Normally, I don’t review places, but when something comes along that alters your life, you write about it. I am going to assume if you’re reading these reviews you are on the fence, so let me give you my experience from start to finish.
Pre Code School
First off, I want to stress that if you think you may not be able to learn to code because you don’t have the educational background for it — stop. I have degrees in English Literature. So if I can go from writing a psychoanalytic exploration of Hemingway’s characters to building full stack JavaScript applications, you can, too.
Besides education, my job experience was limited to digital marketing. Part of my job was interacting with developers and I thought it was cool that they could turn ideas into a reality. I started practicing on my own but hit a ton of roadblocks. I decided that being around likeminded people and having someone guide me would be a great idea. Thus, my search for a code school began.
Code School Search
I did research from LA to OC and to be honest this code school was the last one I found. However, I believe that was for the best. I attended an info session and met Ron, the owner/​teacher.
He gave some background about himself, talked about the school, showed what passed students had done while attending his course, etc., etc., I was blown away by his background. While he’s held executive level titles and ran companies, what stuck out to me the most was that at heart he’s been writing software for over 15 years.
Moreover, he wasn’t there to inflate the opportunities you’d get after completing the course. He gave realistic expectations of where one would be and what kind of jobs to expect after finishing. He was also upfront about the commitment and the challenges.
I came away with the feeling that if anyone could teach me to code, it would be him. I went home and spoke with my wife about it (I would highly recommend this if it applies, see commitment area below), and a few days later signed up.
Commitment
This is an intensive course. There is no way around it. You will put in a MINIMUM of 40 hours each week for 12 weeks. Your life will be code. You will see the world in code. You will dream about MDN and Node documentation. You will come home tired and mentally drained. I suggest that if you are married or in a relationship you talk to your partner and make them aware of what you’ll be committing to. This isn’t just a program, this is a life altering career changing mission you’ll be embarking on, and as such, it requires your 100% dedication and attention. Honestly, if you can’t give 100%, then you are only doing a disservice to yourself.
Post Code School
I got a job in a niche area I was after. As a matter of fact everyone in my cohort got a job, and the cohort before us as well. 100% hired is the going rate currently for graduates from this program. It did take me a little more time (2 months, which isn’t that long actually) to find something as I was trying to specialize, but I had a lot of opportunities along the way that I passed on. Developers are definitely in demand. All of my fellow classmates were employed within a few weeks of graduation (40% before we even graduated!).
Some Advice
Think of this experience like a gym. While you could buy some weights and work out at home, the benefit of going somewhere to focus, be around likeminded people, and feed off each other’s energy is extremely beneficial to being successful. Not to mention you’ll have two experienced trainers to guide you along the way.
Also like a gym, you cannot just show up and expect to achieve greatness. You have to put in the work while you’re there. You have to be diligent. You have to push yourself and take advantage of the 12 weeks.
Ask questions. People say there is no such thing as a stupid question, well there is — it’s the one you don’t ask. You are there to learn, if after you’ve read the documentation and exhausted other areas and things are still not making sense — ask. That’s what Ron and Zane are there for.
Lastly, if at any time during the course you decide on a direction you’d like to focus on, career wise, let Ron know. He can help make sure your projects line up so you’ll have a good chance of entering that specialty field when you graduate. This was a huge benefit for me.
Job Assistance
First off, I feel like Ron either knows everyone or knows a guy who knows a guy. He’s been involved in the programming community in OC for some time, so his connections are endless. Most importantly, since he’s an experienced developer himself, fellow devs respect him and his opinions about his students.
Please read rest here:

I am a graduate of the 2^nd cohort which took place between Aug 2015 and Oct 2015
My review:
First and foremost, Ron is an excellent instructor and his experience in the field massively increases his effectiveness as a software development instructor. He emphasized learning how to learn and reading documentation. There was a combination of visual learning (Showed code blocks with helpful diagrams and explanations) and reading to help build a foundation for more advanced topics. I benefited most from the code challenges that were posted on GitHub as well as asking a question or two whenever I was stuck on a challenge. The time spent in class is precious so make sure to take advantage of every hour spent in that room (s).
Relevant info below if you are curious:
My background:
About 3 months before I started Orange County Code School I graduated college with a BA in Liberal Arts. The university I went to required 2 emphases with the Liberal Arts degree and since I was intending to go off to medical school/​graduate school for some type of medical degree, I chose biomedical science and behavioral science as my 2 emphases. My only experience with programming at this point was an introduction to Java programming course I took which ultimately converted me to drop out of medicine and pursue programming and software development as a career.
My preparation:
Between the months of May and August I decided to complete the JavaScript and HTML/​CSS sections on Codecademy to prep for the course. I highly recommend doing this since it helped propel me to the front of class early on. I also did my own research by watching tutorial videos on YouTube and started reading more tech blogs/​books on the topic of JavaScript. A quick search on Google yields great resources to help yourself prep. If you choose this field for a career then get ready to become a lifelong learner. Technology changes everyday so doing at least an hour of reading on a current topic of interest in the field of software development will pay off later down the road. Another thing I did was complete a couple sections on the FreeCodeCamp website.
10 tips for prospective OCCS students:
1) DO the Codecademy JavaScript and HTML/​CSS sections (If you can fly through these sections, you will do well)
2) DO NOT work after class (You WILL burn out! Weekends are okay if you really need to work, though not recommended)
3) You are NOT stupid. You WILL screw up and make mistakes (Accept your mistake, learn from it, move on)
4) Make a LinkedIn and GitHub account and connect with all your peers and Ron
5) Coding is an individual sport but having a support system is also key in this experience
6) DO NOT submit code you do not understand (You WILL be asked to explain it)
7) Demo nights (Presenting your project in front of potential employers) are your friend (Make connections and get a job offer)
8) DO NOT work ahead if given the chance (You do NOT want to develop bad habits)
9) DO try to prepare for job interviews early on (I recommend the Manager Tools podcast to help you get started:
)
10) Please for the love of (insert divine being here), read the documentation before asking a question (It is okay once or twice but repeated offenses will not fly in class. Ron will go over how to ask him a question so don’t worry!)
2 months later, where am I now?
I currently reside in Irvine, CA teaching myself React, more Angular, and ES6 to prepare for an internship at Sony Computer Entertainment America in January 2016. I still talk to other students I graduated with as well as Ron to get/​give updates. I was given a job opportunity but declined since I wanted to get more experience interviewing for jobs and see what other opportunities were out there. At the last demo night, I connected with a recruiter from Gaikai/​Sony and she helped me get the internship. She also guided me through the process and called to make sure I was on top of things. One other thing to note is Ron will definitely help you figure out your offers. He will let you know if the offer is valid for you to accept, guide you with salary negotiations, and even connect you with potential employers. You MUST put in the effort to get a job since the only thing Ron can do is make introductions. The rest is on you to use what you learned to nail the interview and get an offer.
Overall opinion:
OCCS is definitely a great technical school that offers probably one of the best courses in Orange County. I would definitely recommend it to a friend. What you get with the price tag of OCCS is a network of potential employers, a software engineer to ask any and all questions, an environment to learn/​focus on what you love, 2 – 3 projects to put on a resume depending on how you choose to go about your 2^nd project (You can choose to stay with your 1^st project, refine it and add more functionality or make something completely new), and surrounding yourself with like-​minded people.

I am a graduate from the 2^nd cohort. Aug 2015 — Oct 2015.
My long story:
I studied Finance (mostly on my own time) though out high school. Although, I am a creative. Finance didn’t allow me to be visionary and solve ingenious problems. After reading many many articles about becoming a software developer, I denied my job offer that I received after my internship from Wells Fargo and decided to end my journey in Finance.
So my new journey began as proceeding to college for a Computer Science degree. I was still finishing up my last couple months of high school at that time. I finished all my college apps, was aware of all the classes to take, and was ready! Only to find out that there was something much better.
«A freaking Coding Boot Camp.»
Yes, I did all my research. I looked at boot camps all around Orange County, San Francisco, and the Eastside. I was very convinced on a Boot Camp in Boston, but luckily I stumbled across OCCS right before I made my decision about Boston. OCCS was the only Boot Camp that looked promising. Although, at the time, it had no reviews, the first cohort didn’t even start, but I still had a good gut feeling about the school. I joined one of their info session night and met with Ron, Courtney, and Ryan.
Here I was again, starting a new journey. Dropped my college apps and signed up for OCCS. This was in April 2015, I signed up for the Aug-​Oct 2015 cohort.
Before the course started, my experience in coding was just few small courses online; HTML, CSS, jQuery, and barely any JavaScript.
My overall experience at OCCS was of course, still unbelievable. In the course, I learned Full-​Stack development (client and server side). Everyday was organized with exercises and lectures by Ron. Ron is an expert in what he does. He always has an answer and a reason, very straight to the point, and cares for quality. He only taught us the best practices with the best technologies. He didn’t just teach us how to code, but how to prepare ourselves for interviews and going into the industry. We worked on 3 projects, which becomes great examples for your portfolio. So, make sure you put all your effort in all the projects and implement everything you’ve learned. Of course the course is hard and it takes a lot of hard work. You will get stuck and you will start doubting yourself if you can make it or not, but you just have to muscle through it. Especially for me, someone with only a high school diploma and no actual professional experience in any industry. But, on my 10^th week, I interviewed with a small start up that I did not accept. On my 11^th week, I was in contact with a small digital production company and KBB. I interviewed with them after I graduated. I didn’t get an offer from the digital production company and I decided not to proceed my second interview with KBB. I had an interview with a Real Estate company that again, did not get an offer from. By that time, it has been 2 weeks since graduation and I still haven’t applied for a company yet. All those opportunities were reached out to me first. Luckily, one of Ron’s connection was interested in hiring me, so I decided to interview with them before I started applying to companies. I accepted the offer after thinking about it over the weekend.
Now I have a job as a Software Developer at a small agency with a great salary and flexibility. I luckily do Full-​Stack Development, not just Front or Back End.
Advice:
If you’re debating on going to/​continuing college or going here, just go here. You have nothing to lose. This will save tons and tons of time and money. If it doesn’t work out (which is not really a realistic situation) college will always be there.
If you have experience in other professional industries, take advantage of that while applying for jobs. There’s always an IT department in each company within each industry. A software developer with good knowledge in the company’s industry is always beneficial. Especially for people like us, who are trying to get our foot in the door.
If you’re like me and have no experience in IT or any professional industry, just go here. You will learn how to code and you will get a job no matter what your background is.
Remember, as long as you have the skills and you are confident, employees will hire you.
P. S. I was never a straight A student in school. I didn’t have good grades at all actually and I hated school. At a early age, I understood that having valuable skills and a sense of people were more beneficial than my grades at school. Not against school, by all means, school is very important and necessary for many people, just really wasn’t for me. No, you don’t have to know high level mathematics (the computer does it for you). No, you don’t have to be a computer geek. No, you don’t have to be ultra smart or be a genius to learn how to code either. My point is, anyone can learn how to code as long as they have the hunger and determination.

I remember the first time I came across code during a client’s online marketing campaign.
Just minor tweaks, and luckily I did not have to be involved in building their web application.
Well, you know that familiar «what if» feeling?
Yeah, that feeling stayed with me for years as I powered through a promising career in marketing. Eventually I started to teach myself the basics of web development, mostly inspired by the lure of the start-​up tech scene. And during one of the many meetup’s I met Ron and I guess you could say the rest is history; except it’s not.
Teaching yourself to code takes tenacity, strong will, and of course passion. And yet, after months on end of taking online courses (you know the ones with artful storylines that have nothing to do with code), I still did not have a firm grasp of– well not much really.
Anyway, after hearing Ron speak during the meetup, I realized then that I personally needed an environment dedicated to learning to code as well as competent mentorship, despite how much my ego insisted I could do it alone. Shortly after, I learned about Orange County Code School, but it was sort of by accident really. It took me inquiring about coding bootcamp at the meetup to learn about it.
So I signed up. That’s it, I’m going to become a software developer and build things and solve problems, because sometimes you have to answer «what if». And I’m grateful I did.
Orange County Code School was an exceptional experience. I admit, it was difficult, but in a different way than my time at the university. In my opinion it was more challenging because it required a different methodology to solving problems. Yes, you need to concentrate. You will learn to love silence. And sometimes you will be «in the zone», enjoy them. They don’t come too often.
Ron is objectively incredibly skilled, not only as a programmer (with a specialization in security), but he is in-​tune with the ‘business’ side of things, as reflected by his prior experiences. I think above all, he pushed us to learn. As well as to challenge preconceptions
about what it means to be a software developer because it’s much more
than simply writing code. It’s about the process. For example, writing effective, clean, and efficient code is one of many caveats.
So what did we learn? Under the supervision of Ron we learned where the software industry is headed and it’s prevalence in our lives. We learned about best practices of software development, and why they are in fact the best practices. You will be able to answer deceivingly simple questions such as «how do computers communicate with each other over the internet?», and «what are common design patterns?». You will learn the Full-​Stack JavaScript development. Including such technologies as JavaScript, Node. js, AngularJS, and more. A lot more. Refer to
for the comprehensive details.
I won’t bore you with the details, just know what you will be learning are skills that are highly sought after, if you apply yourself.
I should point out that while it is my love of coding that inspired me to join Orange County Code School, getting a job was my top priority. So we studied, and laughed, and pulled our hair out for twelve weeks. In the end I received an incredibly enticing offer from a local agency. However, I had not applied there– or anywhere. Ron had actually referred me to them based off my skill level and attitude. I immediately received a great offer which I accepted.
Perhaps the most important lesson instilled is that I could learn to code.
And that you, you can learn to code too.

The Orange County Code School is an absolute gem in our community! I’ve not often seen such an excellent approach taken to teaching coding skills… the students graduate equipped not only to code well, but to manage the important details (documentation, source management, testing, SDLC, etc.) and the personal communications necessary in the business world to be top-​performing team members! I highly recommend OCCS for those with a desire to be in this exciting and lucrative field. You will not be disappointed with the results.

This is the best place in SoCal to learn how to code.
I finished the first cohort a month ago, but during those 3 months I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible.
First, the instructor, Ron, is stellar. He is an experienced industry professional, one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and he is great at getting you to learn. He’s taught us everything from how to truly use our computers (via the terminal) to how to access API’s and make web apps using the data.
In the last 3 months, we went over HTML/​CSS/​Javascript/​jQuery/​Angular/​Node/​Express and Mongo with a heavy emphasis on really understanding Javascript. This has allowed to not only learn how to code, but I can now solve coding problems I have independently, and I have begun learning a new language. Having a strong understanding of Javascript has enabled me to pick up this new language much quicker than I otherwise would have, as I can see that while the syntax is slightly different, the basic logic is the same. In the long term, this is probably the most important skill that was taught to me — the ability to learn more.
During our 12 weeks, we also had the a number of speakers come in from companies around the area to talk about what they do, give us tips on how to get a job, etc. It was great being able to meet senior level people and to hear their advice on how to succeed in this field. One of the most memorable events we had was when we were invited to SpaceX and were given a tour of the factory floor where they made their rockets and capsules.
Another great thing about this school is Ryan, who is in charge of getting speakers and helping us with the job search after the school. By the time I had presented my final project, he had already helped me set up 5 interviews, 3 of which I’ve already been to in the week since the school has ended. He’s also helped tremendously with our resumes and LinkedIn profiles.
Even after I finished the school, I was still getting support from both Ron and Ryan on how to proceed in my job hunt, where to look, etc, and that culminated in me getting hired as a developer.
All in all, this was a life changing experience for me, and if you are looking for a place to learn how to code, I would strongly recommend OCCS.

I fell upon Orange County Code school after running into Ron, the head instructor and founder, at a meetup. I was struggling to know what I should focus on and what the industry standards were for being a software engineer. After doing his bootcamp, it was one of the greatest accomplishments I’ve ever finished and was boosted with confidence in starting my career as a full-​stack javascript programmer. Here are some reasons why this school is so great.
1. You are doing a lot of practical coding
When at orange county code school you are doing a lot of coding, and it’s going to be relevant to what is going to transfer over to your career. You’re going to use github, company style guides, modular programming, etc. You’ll be taught how you should do a workflow of your project (mindmapping, mockups, tests, and pseudocoding). Also, we worked on project relevant to the subjects we were learning. During our projects we were seeing our thoughts and planning come to real life. You can do almost anything if you know what you’re doing and where to find resources for what you need to do.
2. The instructor was in the industry over 2 decades
Ron knows his stuff. He is not some alum teaching a school who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He was a security expert and former CTO of a security company in Sweden so he knows the ins and outs of how to make secure good code. Not only that but he founded the southern California OWASP chapter and won awards out of hundreds of national chapters for being on top. I’ve been to some other code school info sessions before going to OCCS, and most of them were taught by people who did not know hands on about the industry, or have not excelled the amount he has in his career.
3. Job assistance and networking
One thing that wowed me was the amount of awesome people and interviews I got out of this program. One cool thing is that we had an opportunity to tour SpaceX and see how spaceships were made. We also met CTOs from Hoag, Corelogic, Chapman University, and Allergan. These were some nice people we actually had conversations with. It was really inspiring to talk to these humble people who accomplished great things. A lot of them gave us insights on companies and information on different facets we can explore in our career. Not only that but Ryan, who is in charge of our networking and job search got us a couple interviews before we finished school. He’s determined to look until we land a job.
Final Thoughts:
This will be worth the money. I owe a lot to the founders of OCCS. Not only did I learn code, but I learned things about myself that made me wake up and say, I need to do this to be competitive. I couldn’t rely on people all the time, and needed to be resourceful.
By the way a week after the boot camp was done, I got offered an internship at a startup. I could settle for it now, or wait for better offers. At the end of the day, it works.

I visited an open house at the Orange County Code School just following the graduation of the first cohort. The event was wonderful, with three of the recent graduates presenting their projects to a full house of potential future employers. The presentations were great, and I was very impressed with the quality of the work of the graduates. They demonstrated that they’re prepared to come into the workplace ready to hit the ground running. It’s a great concept and appears to be working well in execution.