BrainStation vs RED Academy

BrainStation vs RED Academy: Digital Learning Showdown

BrainStation is at the cutting edge of digital learning, carving territory to prepare students with digital skills to define the future of the digital space. BrainStation provides the platform in training that endows leaders and businesses with the powers to innovate and deliver excellence in the digital age. BrainStation offers full-time and part-time courses in data science, marketing, design, product, and development in New York City, Vancouver, and Toronto, as well as through an online platform.

RED Academy has an original approach to developing minds in the digital world. Through real-life, hands-on client projects, students are integrated into the UX/UI space and become proficient at industry skills. The aim of RED Academy was to bridge the space between post-secondary education, which seemed to be providing an insufficient foundation to get a start in the working world. The tech industry is ever-evolving, and RED Academy is a space to grow creative instincts, enhance connection and skills, and strengthen voice to make a difference in the design of tomorrow.  

The following comparative BrainStation vs RED Academy review will examine key elements of the brand and its services to assist you in making an informed selection. 

Coursework

BrainStation

The digital space is perhaps the most rapidly evolving industry, and as such, training requires an ambitious and flexible mindset. With leading experts in the field developing and teaching the curriculum, Brainstation offers an advanced and competitive approach. To help students develop a working portfolio and to ready them for the demands and ethos of the industry.

BrainStation uses a platform called synapse, which embodies data-driven learning. BrainStation’s worldwide network is 50,000 and growing, giving you a foundation to begin a successful and riveting career. 

With a wide variety of program offerings, BrainStation vouches for a 100% Graduate employment rate within 180 days of graduation within the field of study. A vast array of on-campus, part-time courses are offered in these areas:

• Data Analytics
• Data Science
• Design Thinking
• Digital Marketing
• iOS Development
• Machine Learning
• Product Management 
• Python Programming
• Search Engine Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• User Experience Design
• User Interface Design
• Web Development

Typical Day at BrainStation

• 9:30 AM – 10 AM Daily morning review
• 10 AM – 12 PM Lecture and lab 
• 12 PM -1 PM Lunch 
• 1 PM – 3:30 PM Lecture and lab
• 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM In-class project work and one-on-one coaching sessions

RED Academy 

RED Academy strives to go past the limits and chart new territory. They train students to think not only about what is happening at the moment but to develop a forward-looking gaze toward what will happen in the coming months and years. RED loves technology and the possibility and empowerment associated with the education process. They believe that there is no limit to what we can achieve in technology. 

RED Academy offers three main programs: digital marketing, UX & UI Design, and Web & App Development. 

Red Digital Marketing

Under the digital marketing umbrella, there is a full-time full-stack marketer course and a full-time digital marketing professional course. There is a part-time digital marketing foundation course. 

Red UX & UI Design 

Within UX & UI Design, there are full-time courses in full-stack designer, UX designer professional, and UI designer professional. There are also work-study options in a UX designer professional course, a full-stack designer course and a UI designer professional course. 

Red Web & App Development

Under Web & App Development, there are full-time courses for a full-stack developer, web developer professional, and application developer professional. There are additional work-study options for web developer professional, full-stack developer, and application developer professional. 

Winner: BrainStation

In our BrainStation vs Red Academy review, BrainStation had a superior approach to coursework. While Red Academy had a mission to break the mold in the technological landscape, BrainStation had a thoroughly developed plan about how to do so.

BrainStation’s ability to deliver high-level courses originates with the leading experts from the field who guide students through real-life experiences to simulate the demands of the workplace. The project emphasis at BrainStation is written right into a segment of the daily schedule. It ensures that students are developing into flexible and collaborative colleagues and dynamic, strategic thinkers.

The network at BrainStation is unparalleled, and the Graduate employment rate reinforces the importance of the network, emphasizing the strength of the courses and their broader applicability. 

Study Options

BrainStation

BrainStation has excellent program flexibility with full-time and part-time courses available both on-campus and online. 

RED Academy 

RED Academy offers leading options in work-study, as well as full-time and part-time courses, on-site. A 12-week or 24-week design and technology boot camp. 

Winner: BrainStation

Our BrainStation vs Red Academy review revealed that BrainStation had more flexible study options. Both schools offered full-time and part-time courses, and although RED Academy offered work-study opportunities, BrainStation offered online learning opportunities. As such, our BrainStation vs RED Academy review emphasized that BrainStation offered more options and solutions for people of varying backgrounds, ambitions and scheduling availability. 

Career Training 

BrainStation

BrainStation’s intensive program is focused on project-based learning to prepare students for practical applications and experiences in their future careers. The classes have a low student-teacher ratio, which allows students the opportunity to work closely with their teacher mentors. Educators have backgrounds representative of some of the most engaging and innovative global companies.

The structure of the program encourages collaboration and the development of outcome-based skills. In the courses, students use tools that form the basis of their toolkit in the working world. Each module concludes with a real-world project that encourages the cultivation of on-the-ground skills. The culminating work also contributes an additional piece to each student’s portfolio. 

In the digital marketing course, for instance, students will learn about how digital marketing operates in an organization. They study foundational concepts such as strategy, budgeting, user research, and omnichannel experiences. In the application stage of the knowledge, students will be challenged to create an end-to-end marketing strategy for a corporation to draw new customers, encompassing brand vision, paid and organic campaigns, and content marketing.

This dynamic learning system helps students to gain experience before they apply for their first position and to put theoretical concepts into practise readily. 

RED Academy 

RED Academy wants your education to feel practical and useful. RED Academy designs curriculum with the goal that the skills that you learn from their instructors will be applied to your next role in technology, and all of the roles to come. 

RED Academy believes in equipping their grads for a changing and demanding societal landscape. For this reason, they cultivate creativity, a proclivity for innovation, collaboration and compassion. All of these character traits are linked to an applicable curriculum, which makes you an integral and sought after teammate. RED Academy also molds connections by offering events tailored to enabling the important introductions.

RED operates uniquely—as part school, part agency. You gain real-world experience, engaging with brands that require your creativity and analytical skills. This process ensures that by graduation, you have a market-ready portfolio, not to mention an invaluable skill set that gives you an accurate measure of the working world.  

Community Partnership Program

RED Academy has a passion for social change and community involvement. ‘Giving back’ is central to the principles of the institution because RED Academy believes strongly that design and technology are potent tools for social change. The school actively works with charities, nonprofits and startups through their Community Partnership Program. 

The Community Partner Program offers a host of opportunities to work with small and big charities, businesses, entrepreneurs, and start-ups. Mentorship at RED Academy is a cornerstone of the learning experience and instructors coach students on how to communicate effectively with clients to help them foster the skills necessary for engaging in client-facing products. Presently there are:

• 213 community partners (and growing)
• 268 projects completed
• Four areas to improve business

Winner: BrainStation

We analyzed the career training opportunities in our BrainStation vs RED Academy review. Both institutions had innovative and creative approaches to weaving real-life applications into theoretical foundations of knowledge. The Community Partnership Program at RED was an impressive asset, however, it could be said that students at BrainStation have an equal opportunity to network and engage actively in their communities.

Our Brainstation vs RED Academy review taught us that at BrainStation, the team followed a reliable formula that built well-rounded skills, contributed to the development of the portfolio, and offered students an opportunity to engrain classroom knowledge into their professional approach seamlessly. In many ways, BrainStation’s sequence of professional projects, feedback, development and growth, operated as an active organization, setting student expectations for their professional roles beyond study. 

Additional Features

BrainStation

BrainStation offers a generous Income Sharing Agreement as a flexible payment plan. With this program, you can begin learning and pay for the program once you start a job where your minimum earnings are $50,000 per year. To access a package with pricing and course details, create an account. Through this account, you will also receive offers about new courses. 

BrainStation is a leader in corporate training. Since inception in 2012, BrainStation has supported some of the most prominent organizations including, Lululemon, Facebook, Budweiser, Tesla, Google, and IBM, with corporate training to equip teams with the digital skills for innovation and transformation. 

RED Academy 

RED Academy stands out with its “all-star speakers” As a RED student, you can anticipate the most sought after professionals to make an appearance, the kind that you would gawk after. Exposure to top minds and innovative thinkers allows the opportunity to gain insights, propose ideas and interact with questions and comments. At RED, the conversation is open and ongoing, as you develop into the best version of yourself, professionally and interpersonally.

Scholarships

RED Academy offers scholarships to those who need support. Presently, RED Academy is accepting scholarship applications for April and September 2020 courses. Additionally, RED Academy offers early bird incentives for tuitions paid in full. 

If you meet the January 30, 2020 deadline for Professional Courses or Full-Stack Professional Courses, you will receive $1000. There is an additional early bird incentive for February 15, 2020. If you register on time, you will receive $500 for Professional Courses and $1000 for Full-Stack Professional Courses. For more information, contact the admissions team at [email protected].

Winner: BrainStation

We performed a BrainStation vs RED Academy review to assess the additional features offered by each organization. BrainStation had more substantial and concrete additional features than RED Academy. Although RED Academy had enticing early bird incentives, fun events, and speaker series, BrainStation’s assets contributed to more significant opportunity and transformation. 

Instead of scholarship opportunities, BrainStation offered the Income Sharing Agreement. This program allows students to study without the pressure and fears of a financial burden. Such burdens can contribute to challenges with mental health, burnout, social isolation, sleep deprivation, and undue stress. BrainStation’s corporate training is also unparalleled, offering skills and development to some of the most impressive and influential companies and widening BrainStation’s vital network. 

Student Feedback

BrainStation

BrainStation students commented that their experience at BrainStation was the highlight in their educational career. They improved skills in their area of interest, but additionally, they developed the mindset of a professional and expanded their connections within the industry. Students commented that they were passionate about the workload, but it was intense and all-encompassing. 

Students considered their time at BrainStation to be an intelligent investment in their future. BrainStation arranges classes to teach students of all levels, and the hands-on projects gave a unique opportunity to begin to integrate into a working mindset. Students commented that from the time you walk into BrainStation, you are treated as a professional, and felt supported in their career ambitions and academic endeavours. 

RED Academy 

Some students found the courses well organized and were impressed with the model, which consisted of a primary teacher and rotating TAs all who have experience in the field. Students found topics, “useful, relevant and employable.” Students found the course highly intensive and remarked that you got from it what you put into it. 

Other students had a poor experience in the group project, had classmates who dropped out, and considered dropping out themselves. Instructors were inconsistent, and not all class material was relevant or accessible. Multiple students did not take the program seriously and did not think that the institution had qualified instructors. In one cohort, there was one instructor for 17 students. 

Winner: BrainStation

Our BrainStation vs RED Academy review exposed that the student feedback for BrainStation was substantially more positive and consistent than the feedback for RED Academy. Students were supported in small student to instructor ratios, and they were treated with integrity and respect as valued members of a professional community. They cultivated relevant skills for the workplace, and they felt that BrainStation set the foundation for their future. 

Price & Value

BrainStation

On-Campus Full-Time courses for Data Science, Digital Marketing, User Experience Design, and Web Development cost $15,000 per course.

All on-campus part-time courses at BrainStation are $3150, with the exception of Design Thinking ($1950). Online part-time courses are $2750, with the exception of Design Thinking ($1950).

RED Academy 

Courses at RED Academy cost the following for each area of study:

Full-time
Course	Domestic Cost	International Cost
Full-stack Marketer	$18,000	$21,000
Digital Marketing Professional	$11,000	$12,350
Full-Stack Designer	$18,000	$21,000
UX Designer Professional	$11,000	$12,350
UI Designer Professional	$11,000	$12,350
Full-Stack Developer	$18,000	$21,000
Web Developer Professional	$11,000	$12,350
Application Developer Professional	$11,000	$12,350

Professional Work-Study
Course	Domestic Cost	International Cost
Digital Marketing Professional	$13,000
Full-Stack Marketer	$19,500	$22,000
UX Designer	$13,000
Full-Stack Designer	$19,500	$22,000
UI Designer Professional	$13,000
Web Developer Professional	$13,000
Full-Stack Developer	$19,500	$22,000
Application Developer Professional	$13,000

Winner: BrainStation

Our BrainStation vs RED Academy review emphasized that the cost of studying at BrainStation was more affordable than RED Academy. Full-time courses at BrainStation were less costly than full-time and work-study options at RED Academy. As well, part-time courses, on-site and online, were affordable. 

We Choose: BrainStation

In our BrainStation vs RED Academy review, Brainstation took the win in all six categories! At BrainStation, students are supported and motivated by instructors with valuable experience and insights who are leading professionals. BrainStation has a vast and interconnected network which bolsters their mission to lead in the digital space and empowers students to get their start amongst the most inspired professionals. Our BrainStation vs RED Academy review emphasized that BrainStation provides the foundational tools to shape students who will affect powerful change and transformation in the digital field.

Through a project-based approach and flexible study options, BrainStation allows students the opportunity to translate the theoretical to the practical, to make supported mistakes, and engage in meaningful mentorship. Furthermore, the projects contribute to student’s portfolios, which sets them up with a market-advantage and gives them comfort and confidence as they enter into the marketplace. 

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Take a deeper look at BrainStation and RED Academy in our full reviews.