Full-Time or Part-Time Bootcamps: Which Is Right For You?

Finding the right coding bootcamp for you is a big decision, and we're here to help. Here at DigitalCrafts, we offer two intensive classroom formats for our web development bootcamps: the Full-Time Web Development Program, and the Part-time Web Development Program. In this post, we'll discuss the similarities and differences between the two options, and walk you through the questions you need to consider before making your choice.

Questions to Ask Yourself First

When you're considering which program is right for you, there are many things to take under consideration, and it can be overwhelming. The best advice we can give to any prospective student is this: research each program, ask questions, and read student reviews.

Here are some additional questions you can ask yourself as you choose between the two options:

• How much time can I dedicate weekly to a bootcamp?
• Do I enjoy self-directed learning?
• Am I willing to commit to additional time outside of class?
• Do I plan to work during my bootcamp?
• What other commitments do I have? Are those commitments during the day or during the evenings?

With those questions answered, you can begin to dive deeper into your research.

How Our Full-Time & Part-Time Bootcamps Are Similar

A Cutting-Edge Curriculum

In both options, you'll learn front-end web development and back-end web development, making you a well-rounded full-stack programmer with the skills employers are looking for. We keep our curriculum up to date, staying on top of trends while making sure you graduate with a solid foundation of the fundamentals you need.

Expert Instructors & The DigitalCrafts Community

Students spend every day with like-minded peers under the mentorship of an industry expert. Each of our instructors has extensive real-world development experience and is passionate about growing the next generation of tech talent. Our instructors have worked for companies like LinkedIn, NASA and Big Nerd Ranch.

Help With Your Job Search

No matter which DigitalCrafts class you choose, our Student Success team will help you prepare for your job search. During your bootcamp, you’ll go through several days of career prep to help you get equipped to enter the job market. Our dedicated Student Success team provides resume review, portfolio guidance, mock technical interviews and more for each student. And upon graduation, all students gain access to our ever-growing Employer Network—a collection of startups, agencies and companies of all sizes looking for developer talent.

Ongoing Education

Students and alumni gain exclusive access to our elective workshops, which offer bite-sized introductions to complementary topics like testing, networking and more. Elective workshops are a unique benefit of joining the DigitalCrafts family, and offer a great means of continuing community and education.

Discounts & Scholarships

Part of our mission as a school is to make a career in software as accessible as possible to all, so we offer a number of discounts and scholarships for both our class formats:

You Belong In Tech Scholarship: We want to see more diversity in technology. To that end, we award automatic scholarships to Black, Latinx and women students, no essay required. The amount of this scholarship is $1,500 for full-time classes and $1,000 for part-time classes.

We also sponsor The Builder Scholarship, awarded by committee to builders with especially compelling stories, achievements, and goals. The amount of this scholarship is $1,500 for full-time classes and $1,000 for part-time classes. More on tuition and scholarship awards.

Deposits are now $250: We heard that the cost of our tuition deposit was holding people back from enrolling, so we lowered it to $250 to make our courses more accessible to all.

Early enrollment discounts: You'll save $250 off your tuition when you complete your enrollment by the early enrollment deadline. Be sure to check out our schedule pages for those deadlines! We also offer a decision maker discount, offering $250 off tuition to those students who submit their deposit within 5 days of receiving an acceptance letter.

How Our Full-Time & Part-Time Bootcamps Differ

The Time Commitment You'll Make

Our Full-Time Web Development Program is held Monday through Friday for 16 weeks. You'll be in class for 35 hours a week, with additional work in the evenings to complete lab assignments. You should plan to spend a total of about 40-60 hours a week on class time and assignments.

In order to successfully complete the bootcamp, you will need to dedicate these 16 weeks to learning. Since you'll be learning in such a condensed timeframe, you won't be able to work during your bootcapm, and you'll need to limit your vacations and social engagements in order to commit to your bootcamp. Learning a new craft in such a condensed amount of time is difficult, but it is certainly possible and well worth the necessary effort.

Our Part-Time Web Development Program takes place two nights per week from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm and every Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm over a 26-week period. Students should plan on an additional 10-20 hours outside of the 10 hours of in-class instruction to complete lab exercises and additional study. With fewer classroom hours, this format relies more heavily on self-guided discipline and study. While this format is more flexible, you should also plan on limiting vacations, social engagements and other commitments during the bootcamp.

Curriculum & Learning Styles

The full-time program has been developed for high-achieving learners who have the motivation and tenacity necessary to learn complex materials in a condensed format. Students in this program are exposed to two core programming languages, Python and JavaScript, with a greater focus on JavaScript. If you're a true beginner, and getting a job quickly is your primary goal, we typically suggest the full-time program, though both formats are effective avenues for dedicated learners.

Applying the same learning principles as our Full-Time Web Development Program, students in our Part-Time Web Development Program learn the ins and outs of full-stack web development, graduating with live portfolios featuring projects built with the technologies employers seek. The one curriculum difference is that the part-time program does not cover Python, focusing instead on JavaScript.

Whether you're looking to transition within your company, upskill at an existing position, start a new career or pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor, the part-time is designed with working professionals in mind. This option is best for anyone who plans to keep their day job while attending the bootcamp.

Tuition Costs & Payment Options

The full-time program tuition is $14,950, while tuition for the part-time program is $9,950.

You have the option to pay tuition upfront using check, debit or credit cards (fees may apply), or you could finance with one of our tuition partners, Sallie Mae and Ascent Funding (formerly Skills Fund). If you enroll in the part-time program you may also pay with an installment plan, which breaks tuition up into four equal payments billed throughout the 26 week program. The installment plan has an extra $250 processing fee.

Please note that you may finance your tuition in the way that makes sense to you! You are not limited to only these options for financing your tuition. There are many government programs, military benefits and other options you can explore for funding your bootcamp.

Take the Next Step

All of our students will learn from our cutting-edge curriculum, instructors who are actual software engineers with plenty of real world experience and have access to the same career services.

Have more questions? Reach out anytime, our team is here to help. You can schedule a call, send us an email, or just give us a ring: (833) 327-2387. We look forward to chatting!

Ready to take the next step in your career and become a developer? Download our course packet for more information about our programs.

Post written with draft copy from Harmony Trevena.