u/michaelnovati replied · ★ FEATURED
I can give my 2 cents. I know a lot about both programs. Very different options.
I'm currently not recommending Codesmith (in my personal opinion/capacity - I need to mention this because it's in my company's interest for more people to go there) for three reasons, but you might feel differently:
1. They had large layoffs and promised coworking spaces, more curriculum and more three months ago and haven't done any of that, other than add 5 ML lectures (of which only 2 I think have been done)
2. They have a subreddit that is full of propaganda. I asked Reddit Corporate to look at our subreddit here and theres, and roughly 10 prominent accounts + 1 moderator were suspended from Reddit. I don't know if this was just one person or a coordinated effort but those people were working with Codesmith for "official AMAs" so whatever was going on it, Codesmith has visibility of this behavior just like I did and did nothing but encourage it.
3. Their placement rates and outcomes appear to be dropping. They published a report that in April and May they had 54 placements (some of which were looking for over a year), which is less than 1 a day. Whereas there most recent CIRR report had about 1.5 a day. In June, I estimate they had about 15 placements, 0.5 a day. These rates alone are largely driven by the market, but Codesmith's attitude has not been to acknowledge these challenges and instead is continuing to show off.
NOW COMPARED TO RITHM:
1. Codesmith is 11 hour days + Saturdays, Rithm is 9-6. A little more balanced, Codesmith is a bit more intense and immersive.
2. Codesmith spends like a day or two on topics and all the instructors are former students with no industry SWE experience. A number have said that the instruction was worse than CSPrep or the public sessions, and I haven't heard anyone tell me it was better. Don't go to Codesmith to learn anything specific, you go to learn how to deal with a firehose in 11 hour days and keep swimming. Rithm has tiny classes with very experienced instructors. They provide lecture notes in numerous formats for different learning styles. It's more of a place to learn concepts.
3. Rithm isn't above the market problems either and despite Codesmith's apparent tanking outcomes, it's still the place with the most aggressive placement strategy. They have a machine in place to spit out a certain type of engineer. Make sure you understand what that is, because a number of residents who don't want to "exaggerate" their resume have come to me for advise and help because they feel like the Codesmith machinery produces just one type of engineer. That said, I can't say Rithm's career services are any better. There's only so much you can do in this market.
4. Codesmith OSP and Rithm's "internships" are roughly similar in impact and time spent, which are similar to Launch School Capstone. Don't fall for any BS about the OSP being "senior equivalent" work or "equivalent to 4 months of work experience".