App Academy

This program will teach you the necessary skills to be able to create your own websites. It's not for everyone. It's extremely challenging (7 days a week, 12+ hours a day). It's extremely rewarding and difficult.

All the instructors were amazing. Job search is ok.

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Be ready to give up everything else that is going on in your life, this course needs 100% of your time. They aren't lying when they say the course can take up to 100 hours a week. 

The teaching is solid and all of the other students are serious about what they are doing and are really smart and capable people. In regards to the curriculum, ruby is a great language to learn the fundamentals of programming.  With that said I don't think that it's very useful to teach us about rails when the last few weeks we barely have enough time to learn MERN stack, which seems to be the more relevant stack in the industry now.

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It's rare that someone is given a genuine opportunity to change everything on a dime. 
App Academy offers that sort of experience to every one of its attendees. 

If you're willing to work really hard, day in and day out, for 3 months (plus the time it takes to find a job, which can be a few more, albeit less intense, months) you can go from 0 coding experience to being a capable, well-paid Software Developer. 

It's not perfect - the ergonomics and ambiance could use an upgrade - but it's totally worth it. 
You'll learn a lot and make some amazing friends along the way. 

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App Academy is definitely worth it if you're interested in web development. Although it is quite difficult, it is very rewarding if you put in the time to study. I came in with little to no experience in coding. But after going through the curriculum and studying for at least 80 hours a week, I have learned the tools and gained the skills to build a webpage. The instructors are great at teaching the material, and they are always more than willing to help. Overall, I am very glad I decided to attend App Academy.

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The experience of App Academy is one of a kind. When you are at a/A, you will be amongst people who are extremely motivated which keeps you motivated. The course starts at an incredibly fast pace and does not slow down. For me personally, I had to dedicate all hours and days of the week to keep pace with the curriculum. However, it was definitely worth it to go through a/A. I came to a/A without knowing much about coding. Now I feel like I have a solid foundation for Ruby and Javascript. I also have several projects for my resume and portfolio. The teachers at a/A are also extremely nice and helpful. I always felt like the teachers were engaged with me whether it was in a lecture or one on one. There always super nice and always willing to help.  Overall, this program was definitely worth it. If you want to learn about coding, a/A is the place to go.

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I struggled learning to code on my own.  App Academy provided a great environment to learn how to code.   This is a very INTENSE program but working with others and having instructors to reference makes the experience all worthwhile.  I'd definitely recommend the program to those who are sure they want to become a web app developer.

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App Academy is life-changing. This was by far the toughest workload I’ve ever had to endure. I constantly wondered day by day if I would survive and understand everything thrown at me. But week after week I was reminded just how much I’ve actually retained and how much I was growing into the software engineer I aimed to be. I went to a different bootcamp a year beforehand and learned a great amount of skills, but going through App Academy showed my glaring weaknesses and helped me build a proper foundation with great guidance from TA's and Instructors. I encourage anyone to apply who is passionate about coding and willing to put in the work. It is nowhere close to easy, but everyone is totally capable.

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It's no understatement to say that you will literally be eating, sleeping, and coding throughout the entire journey. If you plan on attending, make sure to be mentally prepared to do nothing but study and do code with your time. The extremely fast-paced nature of the course leaves no room for laziness. You have to be at your very best every single day, and, although it will be hard, it'll ultimately make you a better programmer and person. Although the program is very rigorious, it's doable for those with the right mindset. Make sure you study hard, stay curious, and sleep well. Programming requires a lot of logical thinking and sacrificing sleep to study is going to lead to more problems than solve them. There will be many moments, where you're going to feel like you're drowning in the work, but you'll be fine because you've got amazing instructors and peers to help you along the way.

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After working in the restaurant business for five years, I was skeptical about trying to make the switch into the tech industry.  However, let me tell you how my App Academy experience went! After being accepted, I was given a plethora of great material to get up to speed. REALLY STUDY THIS MATERIAL. Taking the time to go through all of it and thoroughly comprehending all of the concepts immensely helps once the cohort begins. The last few weeks leading up to the course start date they have "open house" study sessions with 1-2 App Academy instructors/TAs to help answer any questions. I suggest taking note of the things that give you trouble and having questions prepared in advance to ask the staff in person. There's also a Slack channel where everyone can help each other out. After my first official day, I was surprised by how enthusiastic the everyone was! The culture at A/a really is amazing. All of the instructors and TAs are very patient and super nice. The days are very long but since you pair up with someone new everyday time flies. Stay on top of the homework, get enough sleep, ask a lot of questions and you'll have an exceptional experience. PS: The job search curriculum afterward is where App Academy shines. Just when you thought the program couldn't get any better!

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There is no exaggeration about how difficult the program is. This isn't specifically in regards to the material, but the entire program itself. Considering that <5% of applicants get accepted and still there are students that get kicked out, it isn't about how difficult the material is. Students get kicked out because they are not prepared for a bootcamp. The full-time program is rigorous, strict, and fast-paced. There is no time to catch up if you fall behind because everyday there is brand new material to become familiar with before the next day. Preparing for a bootcamp comes down to how much time and energy you are willing to completely dedicate to the program. Those that slept enough, ate well, studied hard, minimized distractions, worked on the prep material thoroughly, and remained consistently focused had a better chance at succeeding. The program is designed to teach students many skills in as short a time as possible. It is structured to expose students to new material through various methods and then solidify that knowledge with practical exercises. On top of that, the instructors are more than happy to help every student with any issue. It is clear how passionate they are about programming as well as teaching. The environment is welcoming and encouraging. I have never been taught by a more dedicated group of instructors and I have never learned alongside such hardworking and persistent classmates. Every student is there to strive for success and every instructor is there to help them do it. In the end, I was almost surprised to realize how much I actually accomplished in such a short time. Read less

I have attended 2 other full stack web development schools and App Academy is by far the best.  Their curriculum is very well structured for the beginner and the advanced students. It really doesn't matter what level you come from, App Academy is challenging but you definitely come out better for it in the end.

 

Other courses I learned how to build applications.  That is OK if I wanted to freelance or work for some small start up company.  But I have bigger dreams. I want to work for a big 4 (or 5) company and one day start my own company involving tech.  In order to do that I needed to have a deeper understanding than putting code together. Ask anyone that works for a big tech company or what makes the difference between a good programmer and a great one.  They will all tell you they understand how things work more.

 

One of the criticisms I hear is that App Academy has a good portion of their curriculum using Ruby.  I understand it is not as popular of a language as JavaScript and Python but the part I like is how they use the language to teach concepts of computer science that are extremely useful going into a big company or building your own.  Think of it this way, they trade you getting deep knowledge of software engineering for the trade off of learning a popular language. Having worked with 3 other languages and familiar with about 10, Ruby is a really really easy language to learn and why struggle with a language when you can struggle and grow with concepts and understanding of software engineering as a whole.

 

Take my advice, if you're looking for a web development bootcamp, take App Academy.  It is the best

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I was a self-taught programmer, sort of flailing in my IT/tech support career. App Academy turned me into a software developer and was absolutely instrumental in getting me my first job in the industry.

The curriculum is tough. It really is like a bootcamp. You'll be stressed to the max for 12 weeks, but if you make it through you will know everything you need to start working as a developer.

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Despite the daunting pace and size of the curriculum, it was actually fun to get through the course. Learning something new every day was exciting and never felt tiring. I was surprised to see how much I had absorbed and remembered when actually implementing all that we had learned in the previous few months. The assessments were probably the most stressful parts of the course, but were ultimately necessary. This is a bootcamp definitely worth attending.

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They are not wrong when they say your days will be long. I recently finished the guided curriculum and it is as intense as it gets! One major concern is that the directions are not written very clearly in my opinion. There will be some out of order,  some where you have to follow sentence by sentence, or some where you have to read the entire directions. That kind of inconsistency frequently got me aggravated as I wanted to learn over be challenged in some instances. There will also be almost no time for yourself so be prepared and know what you're getting into.

That being said, not once did I ever feel unsupported by either my peers or TAs. The community is probably the most powerful tool you have at your disposal. You will never feel alone whether or not you are the most intelligent person in the room. I am enjoying my time here because at some point (and trust me I was a non believer) everything just... clicked.

If  you want to go here I suggest ramping up your work ethic and getting ready to have no life for a few months.

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Starts with coding algorithms to introduce you to coding -- revisits the algorithms multiple times throughout the course to make sure you get them fully ingrained, and Walks you through developing multiple full-stack web-projects. 

App Academy is a success-driven program that is the most difficult career-oriented task I have ever accomplished. 
App Academy is extremely selective and applicants would benefit from brushing up on algebra, calculus, and statistics before applying. If you stay motivated and study seriously, you will succeed -- this is true for most people. 

I recommend you study the application prep material until you have every detail memorized before you apply as well.

When you get accepted, be ready to work with people all day every day while you puzzle over coding projects.

I only slept seven hours a night on weekdays because of studying and commuting. Slept 10 hours a night on the weekend. Be ready to focus on nothing but coding for the next few months. Do all of the above and you will get a job paying 60+K starting salary upon graduation.

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I really thought App Academy was somewhere between okay and good, but not great, curriculum wise, BUT when I was finished with week 9, I somehow knew everything to build an amazing website with multiple features. App Academy just doesnt give you the answer, they wont make it just put the knowledge on the surface. They will DRILL it in to you and make sure the knowledge is there. I loved this course and already started recommending to friends and family. Thanks App Academy!

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Prepare to dedicate most of your life over the 12 weeks soley to App Academy. Even as someone who was pretty experienced with other languages and had work experience, the curriculum was tough. There were weeks when I spent most of my free time studying or finishing up assignment.

Compared to how much I knew before starting the program, I feel much more commpetent as an engineer. I have a far better understanding of the languages and technologies. that I use on a daily basis.

Even in direct comparison to what I learned in CS in college, I learned far more practicality. Most of the theoritical and fundamental concepts were still taught, my cohorts did not miss out on much that CS grads receive.

The staff were always extremely helpful and answered most if not all the questions I had, technical or career focused. They were also very accomodating towards certain needs.

The friends that I made in the cohort are people enjoy talking about technonolgy and new developments, in stark contrast to my experience in college. Everyone seemed highly motivated to learn and succeed.

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I loved my time at App Academy because it provided me with the exact experience I wanted: 3 months of immersion into web development programming. In that time, I learned the necessary tools to build a modern fullstack web application. I also learned the google ninja search skills to continue to learn on my own for the rest of my career as a web developer. 

If you're prepared to work your ass off, love programming, and want to become a web developer in only 3 months, I highly recommend App Academy. 

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Be prepared to make this your #1 priority as this is an intense program that'll need you to do just that. Spending around 80 - 100 hours a week to learn, understand, and apply the material will be needed to be able to do well. You will jump from one thing to the next and you need to be able to keep up as it'll be harder when you fall behind. If you are ready to do just that, you are well on your way to attend an awesome program. 

I've previously learned coding at my university; however, this was different in the fact that everything was fast-paced and they were more practical rather than how it was in school. Well of course, this is a 12 week program, everything jumps out at you just like that. Please do not get discouraged by the fact that I said that I had a bit of coding experience, it really doesn't make a big of a difference. The majority of the people in this program haven't coded before and they've come to enjoy coding and built a passion for it. The material was intense, however, if you keep pushing, you can do it. 

The thing I like about this program is the community. You attend the same program with 30-40 other people, work with them, and build a connection. The networking community builds from that and who knows where that'll take you. You will be glad to have met your cohort-mates as this experience was well worth it.

Putting in a lot of work to learn the material and build projects take up a lot of your time, but when it comes down to it, you made something. You learned something. You were able to do something. If you are not committed to learning code or think that this program is a waste of time, then this program isn't for you. If you'd like to delve into the world of coding and know that you might have a passion for coding, then this is definitely the program for you. I highly recommend it 100%.

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