App Academy

I came into App Academy knowing I wanted to be in coding but not how to get into the profession. I expected to be able to breeze through the coding portion of the curriculum and get the most benefit during the job search curriculum. However, the work was a lot more challenging than expected and definitely extremely comprehensive. We learned so much during the 3 months, I was extremely surprised at what I could accomplish by the end. 

It definitely was a lot of hard work. Students spend upwards of 80 to 100 hours a week to keep up. This is not an exaggeration. People do get expelled from the program if they cannot keep up. However, the exams are extremely fair and as long as you keep up, you will do fine. 

I ended up getting multiple offers within a month after graduating and nearly doubled my salary from my last job. I am not working in the field I love.

Recent AppAcademy graduate (August NYC cohort) and I can honestly say that I am incredibly happy that I made the decision to join. After completing my MS in Applied Physics and working as a Process Engineer (no software engineering background), I felt as though I needed to make a career change. After applying to jobs for about 5 months, I began looking into some alternatives and eventually found the coding bootcamp option. I was very hesitant at first because it is a huge time and $ investment and it almost felt as though I was giving up on my current credentials and qualifications. 

But once I started, those feelings of hesitation quickly disappeared and now that I have completed the program and received multiple offers from great companies within weeks of graduating, I can safely say that I am more excited than ever to start my new career as a software engineer. Not only do I have a passion to continue learning and excelling in this field, but I am confident in what I will bring to my next job. 

All in all, I highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to accelerate their path to becoming a software engineer and is willing to put in the effort (some in my class were able to get away with 60hr/weeks, but I probably came closer to 80hr/weeks). All of the resources to succeed are in place and the deferred tuition model demonstrates the belief that AppAcademy places in it's curriculum, instructors, and most importantly, students. 

I assume you're reading these reviews because you're on the fence about joining App Academy. tl;dr, just do it!! I'll leave more details below about my personal experience:

-Completed the program in late July 2016
-Job hunted for ~1.5 months (I underestimated how difficult this would be, not only from an X's and O's execution perspective, but also from a psychological perspective going from employed to not-employed, etc.)
-Received multiple offers
-I've both spoken with grads from other bootcamps conversationally, as well interviewed them formally. In both cases, it's amazing how much App Academy teaches you compared to other bootcamps. It comes as no surprise their graduates command the highest salaries fresh out of school.
-Quality control is serious business at App Academy. Dismissal of students based on performance and/or attendance is a real thing. That being said, keep in mind that dismissing students for performance is against App Academy's financial interest (they'll refund your $$ and not charge you). As such, know that assessments are not there to "trick you," and leverage the resources they offer accordingly.  Deal with it, and learn to love it. It's the only way they can maintain the brand mentioned in the previous bullet point.

The amount you'll learn at App Academy truly is incredible, and your classmates will be your network in tech as the job offers start rolling in. In most cases, you always have the option of going back to your previous career if you don't like what you see, and you'll receive a free education along the way. In that way, App Academy was one of the lowest-risk, highest-reward investments I've ever made in myself. Just.... do it!

I love to connect and learn about the individuals making similar career changes. Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn (Mark Mullan @ Clover Network) and we can grab a coffee.

App Academy is truly a great bootcamp. First off the bat, they are very selective so you can be sure that you are learning with people equally as motivated as you are.
The curriculum is great, and it gives you plenty of opportunities to build individual projects to beef up your skill and resume. 
I have to say that the job search support was a bit lacking for me because there are so few people on their job search team, but we had a lot of lectures and alums coming to share information that was all very useful during my job search process. 
All the staff there are really nice and genuinely want you to do well - it's not just about getting you a job so you can start paying them back!
I miss the rigorous schedule and the fun-filled coding days already!

Before: 

When I was first considering joining a coding boot camp I was fairly skeptical.  3 months to change careers and make the kind of money a/A advertised seemed too good to be true. Especially since going in I had no college degree and no related professional experience.   I did a lot of research and applied to many of the major boot camps offering 'similar' curriculums.  I was accepted to a few including Dev Bootcamp and Flatiron School.  

All of the boot camps say that their curriculum is geared towards people with "no experience", so anyone can do it.  That's a bit misleading as they all will expect you to demonstrate some logical competency and a basic understanding of how to problem solve programmatically in the interview.  I spent about 6 months practicing on sites like codeschool.com and codewars.com before I began applying.  In the end, I selected a/A for two reasons:  their tuition structure (pay after you get a job), and because I found their application process to be the most difficult.  I applied 3 times before I was accepted to a/A, vs. my first try at the other schools.

During:

My brother is a Marine and had a great time ribbing me about going to a 'boot camp' for obvious reasons.  But I have to say, although there are not pushups, calling it a boot camp isn't far off.  It is very, very hard, and the hours are long.  Again, I never graduated college, so my basis for comparison might be skewed, but even people in my cohort with degrees ranging from BAs to PhDs acknowledged that it was a difficult program.  The style of teaching at a/A is to show you a thing once, then give you instructions and a day to replicate it with a partner, with the TAs on hand to assist.  They will not give you direct answers (for the most part) but rather guide you through the all-important process of debugging and figuring out problems on your own.  It's challenging, and at times very frustrating, but ultimately the system teaches you how to be a self-reliant developer.

After:

In 5 months I went from being a bartender with no college degree to a well-paid full-stack (actual job title, not just a buzz word) web developer at a company that I'm very excited about.  Most graduates (so far, from my class) landed an initial salary between 90 and 100k.  Another concern I had going in was that a/A teaches Ruby on Rails, which some developers will tell you isn't the most relevant language these days.  That's BS.  Developers love to be opinionated about the tech that they work with, and you will be too eventually.  I love Rails, but I can say objectively that it's more about learning how a server is structured than the specific syntax you are using.  The knowledge that I got from a/A felt tech agnostic by the time I reached the job hunt; launguage is a nonissue.  Anyways, there are definitely a lot of Rails specific developer positions out there if that's the route you decide to go.  The job hunt is a bit intense, but there are designated a/A staff members to help you along the way.  If you follow their road map, keep studying after graduation, and utilize your peer support network, you will find a job in under 3 months. 

Tl;dr

It's hard to get in, very hard to keep up, and reasonably difficult to find a job afterward.  But if you are expecting any part of it to be easy it's not for you.  The program works, sorry for the platitude but it's the best decision I've ever made.

As a recent App Academy graduate, I'm very happy with my decision to enroll. The course is definitely intense, however, it is as difficult as it needs to be to ensure that you graduate the program with the skills and knowledge necessary to get a job in the tech industry. All of the instructors are great at what they do, and the curriculum is really well thought out. Each week's material builds on itself to incrementally teach you everything you need to know. I would recommend App Academy to anyone who is looking to transition into the tech industry, and is ready to put in the work to do so.

I just finished the curriculum at App Academy and have learned more in the last two months than the last year of self studying. The program is high-intensity, they really mean it when they say 80 hours / week, but along with the program you get a fantastic support system that really cares about you instead of what paycheck you'd be bringing them. 

I really feel prepared to go out into the workforce and have something concrete to show for my efforts. You really can't go wrong with App Academy if you put in the effort and are serious about your work. Can't recommend it enough if you are considering a transition.

THE GOODS:
I joined a/A because I wanted to make a switch to a dev career, coming from 3 years in Marketing, but with some programming experience. Still, there are some pretty brilliant students in my cohort with varied backgrounds, sometimes with 0 coding experience, and they're doing very well. Which, in summary, means: no matter your background, a/A will give you the tools to be successful, but it will be up to you and how well you adapt to the intense curriculum.

This is not the regular college pace. It's much more intensive than that. If you fail 2 of the weekly assessments, you're out. Some of the people from my cohort who got kicked out weren't putting enough effort into it and were still in the college inertia, which isn't enough. Again: you get what you put into it.

You will get support from TAs on the floor every day. A lot of the times, they will not directly answer your questions but guide you to the answer by showing you the pieces, making you think it through. I really liked this approach as it made me realize that I had the answer most of the times, but was looking at it through the wrong perspective.

When I joined, I expected to learn the basis that would allowed me to learn a lot more of the things I wanted, but it ended up exceeding my expectations. They not only teach you how to develop a full-stack webapp and the technologies behind one, but they go through a lot of CS concepts too, which was beyond what I expected.

The tech curriculum is proprietary, very well written and structured. It explains a lot of things in details, which means you can expect countless hours of lectures and readings.

You will walk out with a lot of small projects that you'll develop throughout the curriculum, plus three bigger ones for your résumé. Most importantly: you'll finish wanting to do more, so you'll most likely develop some projects on your own afterwards.

Their system for tracking progress is really impressive and well designed, which makes you feel more confident in the structure they offer.

THE BADS:
The job search curriculum is less structured than the tech one. The content is there, but it's not centralized, so you often have to remember where to go if you want to check presos, homework material or schedule. 

There are few job search coaches for the full cohort, so it gets a bit hard to get some good feedback from them.

All in all, 11 weeks into the program, I feel confident about getting where I want, so I can't recommend it enough.

I was learning the MEAN stack before and felt like I needed the extra push to become job-ready. App Academy stood out for two reasons.

1) It is the top bootcamp and you get to work with smart people. Pair programming is common across many high quality bootcamp. Some people doubt the value of it. But when you work with programmers who are better than you, you will become a better programmer. At a/A, some students have CS background and some are just bright students who can digest concepts quickly. I was able to discuss different ways of solving problems and learned a lot from my peers. You will miss your days of pair programming when you are in project phase.

2) It focuses on job preparation. While other bootcamps focus on projects exclusively during the second half of the program, a/A makes you learn algorithms and prepare for interviews. IMO, you can always fix your projects on weekends or after the program. But having career support is the key to getting a job. Also, sharing interview tips with other students who are going through the same process gives you a unique advantage.

The number of TA was not enough for my cohort. It didn't cause any problem until the project phase. But they realized the problem and hired more TA for the next cohort. Thumbs up for really responding to our feedback and trying to make the program better.

I've learned more in the last two months than the last two years combined. Excellent well-rounded curriculum with fantastic peers. The program is extremely selective and it shows; almost everyone I've worked with has been exceptionally bright and personable. Highly recommend this program if you're considering a transition. 

I wanted to change careers from being a travel agent to software developer. I made the decision to apply for App Academy after researching about available courses that will get me ready in the work field. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into at first, but I am very glad I was able to attend App Academy.  App Academy not only taught me modern coding languages and conventions that is relevant  in today's job market. More importantly, App Academy taught me how to learn and how to push myself to work hard every single day.  I have confidence in my skills and confidence in that I will be able to adept into any environment. I have never worked so hard as I have during my time in App Academy, and I am very thankful for such an experience.  I would highly recommend anyone looking into getting into the web application development field to take a look at what App Academy has to offer.  The staffs of App Academy are amazing and super friendly.  Robert, Jenn, and Shamayel were particularly helpful during my time at App Academy.  Maybe you will be fortunate to get to know them too.

The program covered Ruby and database back-end extensively and gave me all the tools I needed to build a full-stack application. The React/Redux curriculum was effective and very helpful. Everyone in the program was passionate about succeeding, and there were many cool projects made during the program. The intense pacing means that you're constantly learning and you really understand the material by the end of the program.

The job seeker curriculum has plenty of helpful materials and has been very helpful in refining my application materials.

After going through App Academy, I am so glad that I made the decision to quit my job to enroll.  Yes, it is an intense experience, and there are some stressful moments, but if you're serious about learning how to program and build full-stack websites, I wouldn't recommend anything else.

The program is very structured for the first 9 weeks, and everything is fully laid out for you - you know exactly what you're supposed to do every day of every week, and how long it's expected to take. The structure was really helpful for me so I knew whether or not I was falling behind, and I knew what was expected of me. There are assessments to test your knowledge, which are probably the most stressful part of the program, but you'll be fine if you study the material and do the practice tests. App Academy doesn't want you to fail, they do what they can to let you know what type of material they're going to test on.

In all, it's incredible to look back on my experience and remember how little I knew before I started and how far I've come since then. I had zero quantitative/technical background and was working in Sales beforehand, but I've been able to learn super technical concepts and apply them in my projects. I've learned much more than I have ever learned in my life, and it feels awesome.  Go to App Academy!

Pros:

- everyone is super helpful. The staff love to help and your peers all come in at different levels so there's always plenty of people to ask for help

- the course is project based so everything you learn is practical

Cons:

- it's a marathon so don't fall behind. There's no time to play catch up

- the assessment structure is very stressful if you fail one so study hard

As someone who hasn't yet graduated college, I was afraid a coding bootcamp wouldn't be as good as going to a university. Boy, was I wrong. It was everything, but easy. On day 1, we hit the ground running! You're always motivated to work really hard because the material is fun. All of the instructors and TAs genuinely care, and will sit with you for hours to solve even the tiniest bug. The curriculum is very complete and you are able to create complete web applications by the end of the course. If you are considering coding bootcamps, or want to transition into the industry, I highly recommend App Academy.

If you have any specific questions about the program, feel free to contact me! 

email: humza.baig2009@gmail.com

If you're looking to start a web development career, look no further! App Academy is one of the top software engineering schools in the Bay Area, with a < 3% acceptance rate. It is extremely intense, so be prepared to go into a cave during your time at App Academy, but it is definitely worth it!

App Academy promises a lot: 12 Weeks, Software Developer, $110K Average Salary. 

It sounds unbelievable, and it kind of is. It's unbelievable that after 12 weeks, you can have a mediocre knowledge of programming and actually create functional websites. It's also unbelievable that you'll be immersed in programming for 70-90 hours a week.

You'll be surrounded by intelligent peers that want the same things you do, along with an incredible support staff that matches instructors at the top-level of education.

The scale of everything is unbelievable, but if you're willing to take the plunge, you'll wonder why you didn't commit earlier.

Background: A former teacher/political science graduate who decided to become a programmer last year.

Application: I applied to App Academy in December 2015, and started attending in August of 2016. I was invited to do the Jumpstart program, which is a two week instensive where they try to help you get into the program, while teaching you fundamentals of programming (Jumpstart has its own mini curriculum). 

Thoughts on the program: App Academy doesn't have a lot of flair, the facilities are fairly bair bone, which for me is a plus. Attending a bootcamp with a beer tap, or 7 ply toilet paper, means that someone (you) has to pay for it. 

The instructional staff are all former students who aced the course (there are 6 assessments) and were rated well by their peers. This means they tend to be very helpful, but they aren't perfect. That overall adds positively to the ambiance, since working with someone who may not know exactly how to solve your problems means you can follow their debugging process while they solve your problem.

Overall, the program is really intense. I haven't spoken with most of my friends for over an hour during the course of the program, and I have killed all of my hobbies. I was not a programmer before, and this meant I had to push myself much harder than those who had backgrounds which lends them more to programming. The program is not perfect, but honestly, what is? The program is free, except for the 5,000 debosit you need to pay upfront. There is a strike system, and an assessment system so it is possible to fail out(semi-common) or strike out(extremely uncommon-unless you suck as a human).

If you can push yourself this hard, and you enjoy programming, then this is the program for you. It's no frills, the people and instructors are awesome, and overall it is enjoyable, if a bit intense.

App Academy is an incredible way to jump into technology industry. If you have the ability to get in and want to become a developer, you should apply.

After two months of hard work I can say I am a Web Developer. I’m proud of the work that me and my classmates have done. If you are considering going to App Academy be prepared to work hard. There are time that you will wonder whether you are qualified, or capable enough. If you get through the admission process you are capable enough to get through the course. Work harder than you ever have, but remember to have fun with your peers. 

App Academy is a rigorous course that will push you to your mental limits, especially if you have less than a year of experience in coding. I was able to learn about programming topics that I didn't even know that I didn't know, which was a huge problem I had when I was studying by myself. Due to the selective interviewing process, everyone in the cohort is passionate and motivated to get to the end of the course. As a result, everyone is enthusiastic and eager to help each other out. If you're serious about getting into web development in as little time as possible, I cannot imagine a better method than App Academy and I strongly recommend this course.