Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

General Discussion

Can a TechDegree be completed in a month?

Is the Techdegree something you could complete within a month? I feel like $199 would be enough of an incentive to finish ASAP. I heard that some people finish within the first month, but have to wait five months for the Techdegree because the projects need to be review by professionals.

15 Answers

I don't think you would be able to finish a Techdegree in 4 months, much less 1 month.

Sorry :disappointed:

Dear Alexander Davison,

Are you commenting from personal experience? I assume some take longer than others.

No, it usually takes a while for students to complete the techdegree.

Jason Anders
MOD
Jason Anders
Treehouse Moderator 145,860 Points

Hey gambit move7

From what I understand about the Tech Degrees are...

Even though you could finish it in a month, I believe there is a time restraint on the actual project submissions. That's what is kind of holding me back from them. I would finish in a month, but still need to be enrolled (and paying) for 3 - 6 months to have all the projects submitted and reviewed.

So, I guess, it a Yes and No. You could, but can't get the "completion" until all projects are submitted and reviewed. I absolutely agree with you, if you finish in a month, you should be able to submit all projects in that same time frame, but, unfortunately, that is not the business model (teaching structure) Treehouse (or any other site I've checked on) has chosen to go with.

If you happen to come across one, however, let me know. :)

:dizzy:

Thanks Jason,

Yeah, other people have been saying the same thing. Anywhere from 6 to 9 months.

You can only submit two projects a month. So if you do math, twelve projects divided by two submissions a month, you end up with 6 months at the very least, assuming none of your projects get rejected...! Definitely a tough sell for someone on the fence. LOL

Dave McFarland
Dave McFarland
Treehouse Teacher

gambit move7 -- you can submit 1 project per week, so 3 months to complete if you can move that fast. The projects are challenging and do take time to build. That's what makes them such valuable portfolio pieces.

Dave McFarland
STAFF
Dave McFarland
Treehouse Teacher

Hi gambit move7

We're finding that it takes students from 6-12 months to complete the Techdegree. The average time is a little over 7 months. The Techdegree aims to train you to be an entry level developer, and that takes time. Completing courses, building projects and learning the concepts and syntax of programming is a process that can be accelerated but not rushed.

seong lee
seong lee
4,503 Points

I feel like its a bit of a scam if were paying 199 dollars per month for 6-12 months were paying 1194$-2388$ I think that amount of money itself should get you a tech degree. I know you guys are going to say, "were giving our students an opportunity to earn the techdegree, there is no point of having a tech degree if your not ready as a programmer". then why don't you guys just make the pro course the part where you are able to do the projects for the techdegree. Sorry, this was just my opinion and rant

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

Hi seong lee,

I get your point, but say that you go to a university and your costs might be well over 20 000$, right? And if you would decide not to finish the university program you would not be rewarded with the degree. To you this kind of system might sound like a scam, and that's ok.

The way I see it, if people could just hand their money over and get the degree per automatic, the degree wouldn't mean anything at all. Now we have a system where employers can google the techdegree they see on your resume and learn that if you have the degree, you probably worked hard for it. At the same time they will see some amazing projects you've created on the way (The projects are probably what an employer will focus on, to be honest). If you could just buy the degree, imagine what happens when the employer search for your degree on google and finds out that you can buy it. Odds are they might start to doubt the degree, no matter if you worked hard for it or not.

The degree is more of a verification that you finished the program, it's not what the employers will focus on. It's not that important.

Jonas

christopher walsh
christopher walsh
7,272 Points

Short answer: YES.

I signed up for the tech degree trail. I looked around for an hour, I didnt see any difference between the normal membership and the tech degree. also, the slack channel didn't work.

Im very grateful for treehouse and we're all thankful for getting our education from here. But this tech-degree is very questionable. They are encouraging you to take as long as possible, to get your $200 a month. if people finished in a month, they wouldn't monetize as much money.

What you can do in a month vs. six months is DEPENDENT ON YOU! People who become entry-level from treehouse within a month or two, are on treehouse for 8 hours a day! is 8 hours a day possible? Yes. you probably work for 6-8 hours a day. you need about another 8-9 for sleep. this leaves about 6 hours, 8-10 on a good day.

Some people who use this site, really do want a new job "NOW". so they study on teamtreehouse day and night. others(most) use treehouse leisurely around the lives they already have.

so basically, what you learn and how fast, is based on YOU! as for specifically the tech degree, finish it as soon as you can, its $200 a month! When I signed up for the JavaScript trial, I wasn't going to keep it beyond a month.I was going to do javascript one month and ios another. But like I said, I didnt see enough differant in memebrships to justify the price.

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

Late to the party here.. but I feel like I want to bring my perspective to the discussion. I completed the techdegree, and would recommend it to everyone! I understand that it might feel expensive, and that not everyone can afford it, and if you can't take the techdegree then just keep going with the normal subscriptions, they are all great!

The thing with the techdegrees though, is that they really prepare you for that job by streamlining the entire process for you. I would even go as far as saying that the techdegree programs are extremely cheap considering what you get!

  • All the courses streamlined for you, no need to look up what you need to learn next, it's all there for you
  • You get access to all workshops and conference videos
  • You get to work on some really challenging projects that you will later be able to showcase for potential employers
  • Slack community is fantastic!
  • You get to practice reviewing other students code, which can help you improve a lot!
  • You will receive feedback from professionals.

In my case the techdegree resulted in me having the option to chose what company I wanted to work for, and I got my first developer job less than a month after finishing the techdegree. I earned more to my savings account during the first month than what the entire techdegree costed me, so that's some nice value!

Considering how much my life changed after the techdegree, I would like to say it might have been the best money spent in my entire life!

christopher walsh
christopher walsh
7,272 Points

explain more how the tech degree getting your job, please. I am perfectly willing to sign up for it, if it leads to a job but I didn't see much going on in its trial.

Abraham Juliot
Abraham Juliot
47,353 Points
  • Tracks + $25 membership also provide streamlined content -- no need to look up what you need to learn next
  • Most of the workshops are included with the $25 membership, and the conference videos here are a few years old now -- some trends therein are now obsolete. New conferences on current trends are accessible on youtube. See Front End Trends, JSConf, or Coding Tech channels.
  • Youtube, github, and codepen have thousands of open source projects that anyone can remake as their own. This often becomes a source of inspiration to challenge oneself to create something bigger and more powerful.
  • There are many platforms that provide a free learning community -- including other slack channels
  • We can practice reviewing code by contributing to others code on codepen and github -- in the case of github, employers look for that
  • Professional feedback is not easy to gain, but anyone can contribute to a professional github project and gain code feedback for their proposed contributions
  • Gaining a job in tech (that quick) is not so easy when one lives out in the middle of nowhere -- far away from a city.
  • Having said that, I think the $$$ required for the tech degree is worth it for the projects coupled with the certificate acheived, but there are less expensive options that have greater reward in my opinion: Google for example offers specialized certifications for $99 and provides the study guide upfront -- which cooresponds to free to attend udacity courses. In terms of certification, I think Google is a greater reward and of higher reputation: See for example their Mobile Web Specialist course list at https://www.udacity.com/mws/faq and Google's certification program at https://developers.google.com/training/certification/mobile-web-specialist. I think an intermediate developer could study and get certified in a week.
stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

I'd love to explain more christopher walsh, and if anyone wants to know more even after this reply just let me know.

So I had been using Treehouse on and off for about a year before the techdegree, and while I learned tons of things I never knew the following: Am I learning the right things? Am I missing something? Do I really know Insert any skill learned? Are my skills good enough for a real job?

Then when I started the techdegree I was given this designated learning path (Much like the tracks). And based on what the techdegree information said, I knew that I would be able to land a job if I followed this path and worked really hard.

The techdegree is then split into "sections", where you learn something and then get to end that section with a project. These projects let you apply the skills you've learned by using them on a real project. These projects also get gradually harder, and some of them are really really hard (In a great way).

And if you get stuck, you get the chance to ask your peers for help on the Slack channel. Working and communicating with others, getting helped or helping others improved my skills far more than you might think. And this is something employers seemed to like.

And towards the end of the techdegree you get to create your own portfolio, which will be used when you apply for jobs.
I've seen so many portfolios from peers, and it's amazing how creative and different they all end up. You really get a chance to shine on that last project!

Then the techdegree ends with an exam, it's really hard but also something that helps you notice if there's something you need to work a little extra on to improve.

There's also the possibility to schedule mentor sessions where you get to talk to a professional - these sessions are great and can be used to help you through a code problem, explain something for you, help you through a job hunting process or just talk about the career!

All of these points helps you become good enough for a job, while also helps you show this to the employers.

There's also one last part I would like to bring up, and that's how the staff really cares. If there's someone in need of advice staffmembers often take part in the Slack-conversations to help and support.

Short version: The techdegree helped me get the right skills, the confidence and projects to show potential employers. I always felt supported and in the end I got great feedback from employers during the job hunt. I only used Treehouse to learn. During the job hunt I was provided with tips and advice both from peers and staffmembers which helped me a lot!

I hope that helps.

Regards, Jonas

Alan Kemsley
Alan Kemsley
5,816 Points

May I ask which techdegree you completed? Also, did you do the $199/month one, or the $299+/month one?

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

I completed the front end web development techdegree, not sure on the pricing system. I had access to slack, professional reviews, mentor sessions and all of that, if that helps.

May I ask how long did it take you to complete the FE Web Dev techdegree program?

Thanks for the information! Where do I go to find program offerings/pricing plans for the techdegree(s)? Oh, and I'm needing to sign up as an individual. The page I found looked as if I was signing up my organization or business which I don't have :) : https://teamtreehouse.com/teams/contact

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

Hi Donovan Mosley,

At https://teamtreehouse.com/techdegree you can find the tech degrees, when you find the one you're interested in you can click on "Learn More", here you will be able to see the monthly price.

Hope that helps.

Jonas

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

I believe it took me 10 months, I took a break of almost 2 months though because of imposter syndrome in the middle of it though. During that time I put in a lot of work, but it was worth it.

I hope that helps you Colleen, I'd be happy to answer any additional questions you might have.

Jonas

How many hours did you worked per day ?

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

Hi Laruniq,

A couple of hours every day Mon - Fri, I always took the weekends off to reward myself. Some days I put in 10 hours, other days only 15 minutes. Probably not the answer you were looking for but that's the truth :)

I hope that helps!

Louis Krause
Louis Krause
6,968 Points

You said you took a break, but it is not possible to pause the degree like you can the normal membership is it?

Thanks stjarnan,

It's the answer i was looking for.

seong lee
seong lee
4,503 Points

this conversation has been going on forever

seong lee
seong lee
4,503 Points

Thanks stjarnan. I really appreciate your help

Thanks Jonas. You have been really helpful and I have read your project path on github, you did a really great thing which inspired me a lot.

When I began learning the Front-end program, I decided to finish the degree as fast as I can because of the billing system, however, now I find it not worth focusing on speed just to save 1 or 2 months money. Rather I should focus on mastering the knowledge no matter as long as it may take time.

Anyway, thanks for your sharing.

1 or 2 months saved is almost 400 dollars. You would gift yourself something after graduating. but I get your point on mastering it.

@ stjarnan - Very much. Thank you!