I will make this really simple. I attended the first-year curriculum with Holberton School which is 9 months long. Our 1st programming language is C for 1st semester then Python for 2nd semester. Surprisingly these two primary languages will be required for my job. Even though the curriculum prepares students for Full-stack software engineering, I am living proof that you can be hired as a System Software Engineer which requires much more hardware-level programming. I am grateful for the first semester which focused on Lower Level engineering, Data Structures, and Algorithms. One thing I did not mention to anyone until is that I had two days to prep for the interview onsite. I truly believe this curriculum is very good but to anyone interested, please have a base knowledge of operating systems and computers. With that said, I am super grateful to this program for changing my life. I specifically waited to write this review after getting the job offer and start working next Monday. Total almost 4 months of job searching.

September 29, 2019

Great work, definitively you learn to learn, all from scratch.
It’s no necessary that you knows about tech, here you will learn independent of your previous core.

February 11, 2020

Intense study, on projects where you can become a programr super advanced in little time,
where you can learn all by itself is the motto

March 13, 2020

I started Holberton School in January 2019. Before that I had little experience in coding, I learned some Java, C++, and JavaScript by following tutorials on the Internet and asking some friends. At Holberton, I learned a lot in a short period of time and now I feel more confident in my coding skills. One good suggestion I can make about it is you should have some experience with coding or spend at least 2 months following some basic tutorials on the web because you will have some foundations to rely on.

May 7, 2020

Holberton has been an amazing, intense, and difficult experience. I’m learning a ton, though often times I feel like I’m not absorbing as much information as possible. The curriculum moves at a break-neck speed. If you’re not prepared to dedicate most of your time and energy then you’ll fall behind. Additional outside study and research is absolutely necessary to this program.

This can be both a good and bad thing. The intensity of the program creates strong bonds within and across the cohorts. Students genuinely want to help and support each other. It’s also great that within less than a year, I will have completely enhanced my skillset. Really pleased with my decision.

May 8, 2020

Holberton School has been the most challenging and rewarding curriculums I’ve taken. The peer to peer learning style and the challenges we face together has helped make learning a fun and flourishing experience. The best learning experience is when we have mandataroy days called peer learning days. If you ever fall behind on a topic or material, you can definitely look forward to peer learning day because, it helps everyone review the material we just learned and it also helps reinforce a better understanding of how things work. Holberton will sometimes have special events, these events have also helped me build more connections and get more insight of what is expected from a software engineer. I have 3 months left until I finish my first year, It is scary but also exciting to see what we have in just one year! Some people tend to apply for jobs right after their fist year, I plan to take the second year and specialize in either machine learning or low level programming, which hopes to build a strong foundation

June 11, 2020

I have learned a lot in such a short time.

July 9, 2020

Holberton School is not the easy way to learn to code but nowadays I think it is actually the best option. The most valuable there is that they are teaching you not just how to code but how to learn whatever you want. The hardest is not the curriculum or the projects you are working in, the hardest is actually yourself because you will have to face the failure every single day and the voice in your head telling you to give up is getting louder while you keep learning.
So, take the risk and the chance to challenge yourself with Holberton by your side!

July 18, 2020

Hi, I am currently a student who is about 7 months into the first year here.

I would highly recommend Holberton to anyone who wants a deeper dive into computer science. If you want to learn how to code, there are many options but where I think Holberton really shines is in the depth of the curriculum. Because you spend the first three months in C, you will be working very closely with the kernel and learning lower-level tasks such as memory management/assembly. You will be working in Linux machines from the very first day and be very proficient in Bash and Git. The final project for the first trimester involves using data structures such as linked lists to build a Unix shell from scratch.

In the second trimester, you learn Python and the Object-Oriented Programming. There is a heavier emphasis on algorithms and interview prep. We deep-dived into Big O/sorting algorithms and binary trees. I personally enjoyed this semester as we got to learn SQL and built an Airbnb clone from scratch.

Now I’m in the third trimester which is heavily focused on Dev Ops. The topics we are focusing on are server management with NGINX and Apache. We spend most of our time in SSH and learning about networking. We are also using Docker containers to debug and deploy applications.

Year two offers 4 specializations at the moment: Web Dev, Machine Learning, AR/VR and Blockchain.

If you are considering schools, I would recommend this program if you are looking for an education more akin to a Computer Science degree. If you are interested in the DevOps field, this is also a great option as it is one of the only schools that teaches this topic. If you are an independent person who is comfortable with asking questions and socializing, this is a good fit because you will be working with peers all day long. There is no instructor to keep you on your toes; that is up to you.

I would NOT recommend this program if you want to just learn web development or if you are on a time restraint. Because of the length of the program and the way it is structured, that topic is covered in Year 2 as the priority is on full-stack development in Foundations (Year 1).

At the end of the day, there is no lack of resources to learn how to code these days. It’s about how resourceful you can be. Yes, you can learn to code on your own, but personally speaking, I think you will learn much faster if you are surrounded by intelligent, motivated people every day. What I am happy to pay for is the community, mentors, and people with industry experience who can guide you on your journey. Holberton has given me that so far.

September 20, 2020