Day one of HackReactor is hours away. The next three months will be intense and I look forward to the knowledge dump that is about to start. In an effort to quell my nerves (and appease the hypochondriac in me) after numerous google searches and WEB MD lookups, I’m officially diagnosing myself with imposter syndrome. To fellow classmates/future HackReactor-ers, the upside here is that we imposter syndrome sufferers are far from alone…though the downside is that the most common cause is being human.

I’m assuming that if you’re reading this post you’re likely thinking about coding bootcamps or maybe you got into HackReactor and are trying to get a sense of what lies ahead. My road to HackReactor began back in May. I was finishing up a web development certificate program that focused mainly on front-end dev (HTML, CSS, JQuery, WordPress). We had done some JavaScript and even though it kind of kicked my butt, I loved it. I googled bootcamps that focused on JavaScript and came upon HackReactor. Some things I considered in making my decision were:

• Financing. Do they offer scholarships? Partner with lending companies? What payment options do they offer? What’s the Return on Investment?
  • Coding Bootcamp Cost Comparison
  • Here’s How to Calculate a Bootcamp’s ROI
  • Partnerships with Lenders Pave & Climb Make Financing Hack Reactor More Accessible to Students
• Student Reviews. How intense do you want the program to be? What sort of teaching methods serve you best?
  • Course Report
  • Quora
  • Google HackReactor student blogs
• LinkedIn. Where are alumns working/what type of work are they doing? Is that the type of work you’re hoping to get into? Does it align with your goals?

In terms of preparation, my background with coding included the web dev certificate program, some online learning I did on my own, and PTC (Personal Tech Coaching) offered by HackReactor. Below I’ll add a list of some resources I have found useful in my learning so far.

HTML5/CSS:

• Codrops CSS Guide
• Codecademy HTML/CSS
• Shay Howe’s Learn to Code

Note: You don’t need to know HTML5/CSS for the interview, but you do learn some in precourse.

JavaScript:

• Shay Howe’s Learn to Code - JQuery
• Codecademy - JQuery
• Codecademy - JavaScript
• Eloquent JavaScript
• Udemy - JS Understanding the Weird Parts …There are always coupons available online.
• Functional JavaScript

Note: You don’t need to know JQuery for the interview, but you do learn some in precourse.