signed up for a course, paired with a mentor, excited to start on Monday... curious if others have heard about it or taken a course?

+ @choxi I haven't taken one but I've only heard good things. It's a really clever model that sits between a full-time in person bootcamp and self-learning to get the best of both worlds.

anybody willing to provide a ballpark range on cost?

this looks awesome. Definitely going to look into it. Love the concept of being paired with a mentor. I've been trying to pick up several different languages and still feel as if I'm just grasping at straws going from book to book/video to video.

Definitely an exceptional program and highly recommend anyone looking to get into web development, whether you have an app idea or looking for a career change. My mentor made the difference in where I am at today (Rails Engineer).

I started bloc in December of 2012 and graduated 12 weeks later. I was already working as a Front End Designer/WordPress guy, but I wanted more. Shortly after graduating Bloc, I was offered a position as a Rails Developer. Now almost a year and a half later I'm a remote employee with the same company and lovin life. My Bloc mentor was awesome! He was continuously available and always pushing us. I've been so happy with Bloc that I have recommend it to total strangers that were inquiring on Reddit. Pros: - You can attend Bloc from anywhere. Other classes require you to live where they are located. - They are constantly improving their curriculum. And you always have access to it. I've gone back through the courses time and time again. Practice makes perfect, right?!? - The mentors are top notch! - They are one of the most affordable options in this space. Cons: - If you don't have the discipline to do the work on your own, you may struggle. But truth be told, being a developer requires a lot of self-discipline. Very few shops will micro-manage you. So it is on you to do your best. Pro-Tips: - A few people in my class wouldn't reach out to their mentor when they needed help. It almost seemed like he had to chase them. DO NOT be those people. USE THE HELL out of your mentor. Obviously you should Google/Stack Overflow first and give it an honest try. But don't be afraid to ask for help. That is what you are paying for. - Make this a priority and set a schedule. Pick a few days a week when you turn off the world, log in and make progress. If you get stuck, take a small break and come back to it. If you get super stuck, schedule some time with a mentor. Hope this helps. I'd be happy to answer any other questions anyone has.

Bloc is pretty sweet. I've been a mentor since early on, and it's been amazing to see how quickly the product has iterated and how much the team cares about their students. Mentoring is an awesome and rewarding experience; 10/10 would recommend. (Surprised/happy to see it on PH!)

I've worked with these guys. They're great! Glad to see you on here!

I've just finished up the Full-Stack bootcamp and have to echo the same sentiments of a lot of the others posting. It has been a great experience overall and I can definitely say I felt like I've learned a lot. Like anything though - you only get out what you put into it. I know personally that I have suffered at times when a busy week at work came up and I didn't focus or concentrate on the course as much as I should have. On average I spent 20-30 hours a week (on 18 week track) - mostly by personal choice and interest. Once you get through the foundational stuff and on to the projects the fun starts as suddenly you are not being guided or semi-handheld so much and the things you work on become more interesting - my Mentor would throw in additional challenges on top of the base functionality needed for some of the projects to keep me working on stuff that was new to me as well which was awesome. The office hours are often a life saver as well - every day for 4 hours you can live chat with mentors who aren't yours to get you past the thing that has you stuck. Especially at the beginning these guys were able to keep the frustration levels down while the firehose was on full. If you set aside the time, be open to being really mentored and learn that StackOverflow is going to become your new favourite site then you will get a lot out of this course. I'll probably do another course with them at some point and will work on the capstone I created further to see if I can build it into something worthy of being featured here too at some point. :)

Bloc was absolutely instrumental in getting me where I am today (like @brianllamar, I too am now a Rails engineer). Bloc is what gave me the confidence to build my own web apps. The company and mentors care deeply about the success of their students. My mentor was the man and has since become a good friend with whom occasionally I work with on side projects and study new technologies.

I just graduated from Bloc's Full Stack Web Development Apprenticeship this week. It was an amazing journey from beginning to end! I came into it without any background in computer programming and now I can build my own web applications. My mentor was incredible. He really understood where I was in my learning process at each point in the curriculum, and was therefore able to scaffold my learning so I didn't feel frustrated. The office hours mentors are really great as well! I don't know of any other online bootcamp that has such extensive office hours. Being able to get help when you need it makes all the difference. Bloc has also added a 'Job Prep' component to their curriculum. I'm so thankful for this as I know that I will be better prepared to find a job in the field once I finish. Enjoy the ride, Nikhil! You're going to love it!

Hello all, I am enrolled in the Full Stack Web Development apprenticeship and am currently on my third week now. I have a design background and had some basic knowledge of front-end development when I joined Bloc. I think Bloc is perfect for me because it gives you the flexibility to do it at your own pace even if you have a full-time job (I'm under the 36 weeks program). And having a mentor that is always available during your learning curve is just great. The curriculum is awesome and the way they explain the material is so subtle that anyone can pick it up and start coding from the beginning. I can't wait to see the end results.

Hey everyone, I'm Bloc's cofounder and CEO -- happy to answer any questions here!

Really cool, something similar to what I've been working on with some colleagues. :)