Disclaimer: Being compensated with a hoodie on graduation for this review.

App Academy has a 12 week intensive bootcamp program to prepare people for fullstack web development. It is a bootcamp (read: fast-paced and intensive), and will take up your life for the entire time you're there until you get a job. The TAs and lecturers are all students from prior cohorts so they have experienced what you will be going through, but they are software engineers at heart as well. The culture is great, and the pair programming experience is a fantastic way to develop your collaboration skills.

That being said, it is a bootcamp, and not for everyone. I've personally spent about 10-12 hours daily on campus, the majority of the time studying/working on projects. The curriculum is fast paced and rigorous, and you will live assessment by assessment. The Ruby curriculum is much better than the JavaScript curriculum, despite JavaScript being the more popular language by far. The time allocated for the three major projects seemed too restricting, despite the repeated emphasis of the importance of team projects. On top of that, the JavaScript curriculum is taught as ES6, but most of the resources given are for ES4 and ES5. 

TL;DR - It's a bootcamp, be prepared for many hours of work

There are many positive things about App Academy. However, it should be noted that the program is absolutely as rigorous as it is advertised to be. That said, you will certainly get out of it what you put in, and the opportunity to learn a great deal in a very short amount of time is certainly, at least to an extent, dependent upon how much effort and time you are able to put in. For me, App Academy was undoubtedly a life changing experience, and I would do it all over again if I had to. But the reality is that it is not for everyone, and the demanding curriculum and constant threat of being expelled are important considerations for anyone thinking about taking the dive with a/A.

I can confidently say that the first few weeks of the curriculum are very well organized. While the pace is aggressive, the structure is easy to follow, and the TAs are an invaluable resource. A majority of the day is spent pair programming with other members of your cohort, and asking questions is probably the primary way that you will learn the material. You quickly move from Ruby, to SQL, and on to Rails, before you run into something of a slowdown with the Javascript curriculum. Once you enter the land of JS, the instruction on projects becomes muddled, at times lacking, and is often just flat outdated. I understand that a shift away from Rails to more relevant frameworks and libraries will be a process. But it is unfortunate.

I will close by stressing that if you decide to take the leap and attend a/A, be ready to put everything else on the back burner. You will be tested and pushed to your limits often, but if you are able to meet the demands, then it can be a truly rewarding experience.

TA's are very helpful at App Academy, the curriculum is up to date with industry standards, and the deferred tuition model attracts many top talent. That being said, App Academy is a valid path to full stack development, or perhaps aspiring software engineers. Overall, my experience was amazing ! 

Pros:
Great TAs that are super helpful and are enthusiastic about their work
You get to work with other engineers and learn from them
Curriculum (for the most part) is very solid and definitely applicable in the industry

Cons:
If you're not willing to work hard, it won't work out for you
Still uses Ruby on Rails which is quickly falling out of favor in the industry
You have to set aside everything to be successful. I spent 13 hours (9 am- 10pm) every weekday and 6-8 hours every weekend with occasional breaks over 12 weeks. You only get as much as you are willing to give.

Yes, it's a demanding experience - that's a given. But, the App Academy experience is really what you make out of it. There is an abundance of content, and knowledgeable instructors. But, if you don't genuinely engage in the material daily, or deliberately ask the instructors for help, then you will not learn as much as others who proactively ask questions and challenge themselves. The instructors will never hold your hand, or give you an easy way out. Rather, they will train you to learn how to learn, so that you may become an independent programmer and thinker. 

If you have a basket that holds 5 apples, App Academy will throw 10 apples at you every week. Accordingly, you will have to drop 5 apples every week, and choose which 5 you will digest. This can feel overwhelming at first, but that's just how the curriculum is designed. The assessments keep you on track, but they are definitely not the perfect system - and the instructors also agree with this. If you fail 2 exams, you will be kicked out. Accordingly, if you fail one exam, you will constantly be in a stressed and anxious state throughout the program, and I can't imagine that being too great for your health. But as for the moment, assessments get the job done.

Overall, I've learned a ton through the program, and became a disciplined individual and developer. My expectations were not met, but I am definitely a better developer today than I was before the start of the program. 

Also, the building has no windows. When you feel burned-out, do take a walk outside and get some fresh air. 

a challenging but rewarding experience

You will have to put in a lot of effort. Since the first day I've been at App Academy around 10-11 hours a day, 7 days a week. But I know for sure that I would never have learned as much as I have had I studied on my own. The curriculum is really fast paced and the assessments are stressful. You must ask questions early and often. The instructors are pretty good and so far the job search curriculum has been useful. 

The only prerequisit to App Academy is loving to code. If you enjoy the process then you will be able to get through this incredibly intense but exciting program. If you aren't all in though, don't try it. This is one of the most time intensive and taxing things I have ever done, think finals week, but every week for three months. The testing structure at the start of the course can be pretty stressful, but most people do get through it and if you fail out they give you your money back, so its not the end of the world. I would not trade this experience for anything though. In such a short period of time I have made friends that will last a lifetime, a skill that will hopefully get me a job, and most importantly the ability to learn and teach myself going forward. 

Had a great time because everyone wants you to succeed. The enviornment and the amount of knowledge you gain will surprise you. Would recommend.

One of the best decisions I've ever made. In going to app academy, I've surrounded myself with ambitious intelligent people who constantly push me to do better.

The program is rigorous, but the difficulty definitely breeds camaraderie with your cohort-mates. A few areas of improvement: Ruby on Rails is trending downwards, would loved to have learned Node.js or Go as a backend framework. Also be prepared to go farther with Algorithms & Data Structures than the curriculum as of writing.

App academy has positioned me well to succeed. I don't regret it one bit.

 

You will learn more about software development in 12 Weeks than in my opinion you could learn in college. App Academy has given me the tools to be able to hit the ground running. It is an inclusive environment where everyone is encouraging and the teaching assistants give you the tools to succeed. It is a tough bootcamp because you are constantly learning something new and you are pushed to the limit every day. However, it is one of the most rewarding experiences that I have ever had in my life. Being around so many brilliant individuals push you to be better. You will be challenged like never before but it will pay off 10x's over, and you will be incredibly thankful for the experience. In all, it was the best thing I have ever done. Thank you, App Academy.

Attending App Academy has been an overall good experience. It can be ROUGH at times (puts the boot in the world bootcamp) but it really teaches you a LOT and prepares you as best as a person could possibly be to go from 0 to developer in 3 months. I feel like part of the experience is being around other cool aspiring developers as well, it's something that you can't really replicate with just some kind of online class or something like that.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

App Academy was one of the more challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. I came to App Academy looking for a change in careers. Previously i have worked in the service and construction industries, with no background in tech. With the help and guidence of App Academy, I have gone from knowing nothing about coding to feeling confident that I have the skills to thrive in this industry.

I really enjoyed how they structor their curriculum, with it being mostly pair programming with different partners every day. It gives you a chance to not only learn from the instructors but also your peers, while sharpening your teamwork skills. The TA's are great and enthusiastic to be there to help you along your journy.

The cirriculum is very fast pace and at times feels a little overwhelming. But if you ever feel like you are falling behind the TA's have office hours after class is dismissed for the day and even on weekends. So if you are willing to put in extra time they are there and willing to make sure that you fully understand the material.

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

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.