App Academy

My background and context: I come from a very non-technical, liberal arts background and my first time ever coding was about 5 months before my cohort started, while I was preparing for the JumpStart course (if you get invited to take part in JumpStart, I HIGHLY recommend doing it - you get a great taste of what the real program is like, including overall instruction-style, assessments, pair-programming, basic material, etc. and it reportedly greatly improves your chances of getting accepted into the program). 

Review: Overall, I would say that App Academy lives up to its ranking and is a great experience for turning someone like me, with absolute minimal tech / coding background, and in just 3 months turning this person into someone who can create a web app from scratch and can comfortably apply to jobs in that field. That being said, everything everyone says about the workload and intensity is completely accurate and you need to take it seriously. I gave up the vast majority of my life's activiities outside of a/A out of necessity - you really need to put in every weeknight and most of your every weekend into catching up if you're behind, getting ahead if you're not, or studying for the next week's assessment. Being someone who wasn't as naturally gifted or previously trained in the field, I had to work much, much harder and put in way more effort than those people so that I could still contribute and be productive in my daily pairings, projects, assessments, etc. 

Pairing - I found the pair-programming experience to be one of the most educational and enjoyable aspects of the program. Every day you are assigned a new partner to work with for the entirety of that day. You work through (and rarely complete) all of the day's projects together and over that time end up learning a lot, both about the person and about the day's material. Whether you find yourself to be the faster/more knowledgeable of the pair, or the slower/less knowledgeable, you end up learning at least a few things by day's end. Sometimes your partner will know a few cool keyboarding shortcuts in Atom that you hadn't seen before, or they will know some tidbit about Javascript formatting that you end up following yourself every time after, or they will have some alternative strategy to solving a problem that you find much easier to follow than the normal methods. I didn't have a single bad pairing experience in all 7 weeks of my pairings, half the time you end up eating lunch with your partner and talk, and most of the time by the end of the day you end up befriending one more person in your cohort. While everyone is learning the material at different speeds, you find that there are no "dumb" people in your cohort, every one is highly intelligent in different ways; they are the 2% that made it in with you and each is inherently capable of getting through it. 

Assessments - The assessments were definitely one of the more difficult aspects for me. The assessment policy is: out of 6 assessments in the first 8 weeks of the program, if you fail 2 of them (failure usually being defined around 85%), you are asked to leave the program, that day. This is where I find my only cons with the program. Having to leave the program that day, in front of all of your classmates, is downright brutal and borderline humiliating. If anything it motivates you that much more in your studying to avoid such an experience but I still think it is overly harsh - a simple email that night instead would be a less degrading situation, in my opinion. I also don't like that because of this intense "Survivor"-style policy, I was often put into the very difficult situation of having to choose between fully completing the readings/videos, and hw assignments for the weekend, or studying sufficiently for that week's assessment to avoid expulsion. While I tried to balance this as best as I could and ultimately did make it through, I hated having to make that decision each week and having to compromise my getting-ahead for that week. 

To get you through all of it, there is an amazing team of warm, highly-gifted instructors and TA's who come to your aid either in person or online at the push of a button and explain concepts and bugs to you until both of you are confident that you fully understand, all of your highly-motivated, chill-mannered classmates, and of course, Google :).

For context: I came straight out of college with a degree in pure mathematics, a significant history of programmatic thinking, and a few years of basic programming experience and game development in some unconventional languages under my belt, so I ended up being one of the faster ones. However, I'll write the review from the perspective of my classmates since I understand that the majority of applicants don't have technical backgrounds. I'll cover the scary before I cover the positives.

You need a lot of grit, determination, and motivation. The overall pace of the course is extremely fast, and it challenges your studying habits and your ability to overcome nearly incomprehensible material being thrown at you at lightning speed. 9 hours of class time per day along with hours of homework each night means that you end up eating and breathing code for 70-90 hours per week. Weekly assessments are given to ensure that everyone is on track, and two failures means you get removed; about a dozen people from the cohort didn't make it to the end and it kinda sucks seeing them leave. You could feel the stress hormones through the roof, and over half of the cohort experienced failing one assessment and the doomsday mindset that followed. There was an unfortunate tradeoff between fully understanding the material and studying for the assessments, and most people opted for leaving the understanding to after the assessments were over. I did not experience the stress that most people did, but it's common enough to be worth mentioning. 

That being said, the amount that you end up learning is quite impressive. No one could learn all this through self-study at the pace that they teach it here. At the end of nine weeks, I found myself with a fully functional single-page web app built on Rails and React/Redux, which was super cool (too bad they don't teach this kind of stuff in college). The pair programming was also a great experience - you find yourself developing soft skills and becoming more eloquent at communicating, which are of utmost importance to the job search. My classmates were all super chill and bright folks, and it was an absolute pleasure to be working alongside them and pairing with them every day. I can't say I miss pair programming, but I can say I enjoyed it a lot and experienced a lot of growth that I never experienced when I was self-teaching programming.

I feel prepared for the job search, and I know that I will be much more successful in the search than I would have been had I tried to pursue this path through self-study. 

The bootcamp prep course with Alvin (and David as our TA) did exactly what it said on the tin - got me into my top choice coding bootcamp (within 2 months of starting the course)! The curriculum takes you from complete beginner to Bootcamp ready, moving at a pretty quick pace at first, but with plenty of time to solidify and practice what you have learned over the 4 weeks. The material is thorough, however there are a few topics you will have to invest a little more time into if you are interested in schools other than a/A - but nothing you can't handle with each invidividual school's prep material. 

Alvin and David were both awesome. Patient, supportive, serious about the work but also lighthearted in their approach. I think the money is a worthwhile investment if you are serious about getting into a bootcamp and want to jumpstart that process.

General Summary:

I wholeheartedly enjoyed my twelve weeks at App Academy. The program provides an intense, unique experience. Basically, it lasts twelve weeks: the first nine weeks comprise the “Technical Curriculum” and the last three the “Job Search Curriculum”. However, after being admitted and accepting your offer, you have to complete a one-month online course called “Alpha Prep” before starting.

The technical curriculum is intense. In seven weeks, you will learn all the material you need to be able to develop your own React/Rails web app from scratch in the eighth and ninth weeks. On a daily basis, you will have many projects (whose material you covered in readings and videos the night before) to work on with your partner. You’ll learn Ruby, Postgresql, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and React/Redux.

However, pair programming and the “question button” system serve to alleviate some of the stress of the course. Pair programming is basically you coding on a single pc (and keyboard) with a partner. Every fifteen minutes, you switch “drivers”, i.e., the person who is physically typing on the keyboard. For the first couple of days, you might feel uncomfortable having to code all day with a partner, but the benefits of doing so become apparent soon after. Having to verbalize and communicate problems to someone else rather than hacking away at the keyboard forces you to become methodical in your approach, and it helps you ask better questions when you’re stuck.

The “question button” is a button on the internal web app that puts your name on a question queue. The TA’s are pinged every time a person is added, and they come by to field students’ questions on a first-come, first-served basis. The benefit of this system is that it allows all students an equal opportunity to have their questions answered and it deals with the issue of less vocal or visible students receiving less attention.

The job search curriculum begins in the tenth week. By that point, you will have learned all the skills you need to develop fully functioning web apps from scratch. However, simply because you have learned the technical material doesn’t mean the course becomes less intense. In these three weeks, you will work on your résumé, cover letters, online presence, personal pitch, and whiteboarding problems. In this aspect of the course, you will receive a lot of support from the career coaches. They will review your projects portfolio, résumé, etc, in depth and will give you detailed pointers on how to improve each item.    

Pros:

The TA’s are always on call, and they generally are able to pinpoint your problem within seconds and do not leave you until all your doubts are assuaged.

Almost the projects serve some practical use, and the emphasis on repetition ensures that you internalize the material.

Pair programming makes the experience more enjoyable, and it ensures that you rarely get bogged down with trivial bugs.

The career coaches provide a lot of support in the job search. They help with your portfolio, personal pitch, networking skills, online presence, and negotiation.

App Academy’s alumni network is helpful and supportive.

Cons:

The curriculum is constantly being updated so sometimes you will find some inconsistencies in the material. This problem does not appear so much in the 12-week program itself, but it is definitely noticeable and distracting in the Alpha Prep course.

As much as I love pair programming, you will have days where you work with someone you find intolerable. Fortunately, this only happened to me three days out of the roughly 35 in which you pair program, but this experience is variable.

There are six assessments throughout the course, and they are a bit stressful because if you fail any two of them, you are asked to leave the program with your initial deposit refunded. Moreover, because they are graded automatically, they are unforgiving--meaning that a single typo can cause code with otherwise sound logic to fail their automated tests. However, the expectations of the assessments are straightforward and you are given plenty of time and material to prepare for them.

Caveats:

If you are not an independent learner, you will have a hard time at App Academy. Despite the great amount of support you will have, there is a lot of material and little time. If you assume App Academy is like a traditional educative program where the student plays a more passive role, you will likely struggle through it. This is not a criticism of the instructors (I hold them in high esteem), but it is simply the nature the program.

You will not have time for anything else. This is not an exaggeration. I taught myself to code for half a year before attending App Academy so the first three weeks were relatively light for me. That being said, I was only able to have weekend evenings free during this time. When it came time to create our web apps from scratch, I literally had no time for anything else even on the weekend.

Some people assume that the job search curriculum is less intense than the technical curriculum. This is not true so don’t get your hopes up!

This is an excellent bootcamp. The instructors are capable and it takes little time to get help on a difficult or confusing problem. I would say the only con is that it is a tremendous time investment, and it is punishing if you fall behind. I had no time to go to the gym and even on weekends had little time to socialize. You should not enter this program with the expectation that you'll have multiple hours of free time a day over the run of the course. You will not have time for part time work while in this course.

But almost everyone acclimates to the pace and learns an enormous amount. It's a very strong course and the organization works hard to help you find a good job once you've graduated. I recommend it very highly.

App Academy was my first choice,  because:
— it's tuition model
— great reviews and overall rating
— greatest TA's
— it's curriculum
— supportive classmates
Although it's pretty hard to keep the pace for the whole course, it pays back, once you start working on your final project, you'll realize that you know a lot, even if you thought you don't.
Greatest experience.

I was part of the July 2017 NYC Cohort. AA attracts people from diverse backgrounds and top-schools, but one thing they all share in common is that they're sharp and driven. Coming in with programming experience will help, but don't be discouraged if that's not something you have. The TAs do a great job in teaching languages and frameworks you need to succeed in this course. Also, AA really -is- full-time. Although class ends at 6pm, many people either stay in the office to study/work on projects more, or continue at home. The material is challenging, but there's camaraderie that naturally forms in every cohort as you're struggling along others to achieve the same goal. I think the TAs really make a huge part of the experience, I hope the AA continues what they're doing and how they select staff. Stay curious, humble, and be sure to reach out for help when needed.

After accumulating six figures of debt and few hard skills at college, I had developed a cynical attitude about education as a whole. I discovered an interest in programming at work and when I realized that I'd reached a limit in my capacity for technical growth, I considered my options. Another 2-4 years in college was a big no-no (fool me twice, shame on me) and, for similar reasons, spending 15-20k upfront on a bootcamp with no guarantee of success seemed like a bad bet.

App Academy was groundbreaking. For the first time, I found a school whose tuition model aligned with my own personal goals. The better I did, the better AA did.

The rumors are all true. No amount of words can describe the rigor and the challenge of the program. An 80-90 hour weekly commitment is typical. You'll lose sleep. You'll be challenged consistently and think "I'm not sure I can finish this". You'll be surrounded (and outcompeted) by some of the most gifted people you'll ever meet. You'll fail to understand a topic on a Saturday and pass an exam on it on Monday. Once the learning curriculum concludes, you're thrust into the job search, which is filled with entirely different challenges -- personal projects, phone calls, take-home assessments, technical screenings, whiteboarding sessions, in-person interviews, salary negotiations.

And then, almost miraculously, things start working out. You get complimented on your GitHub code at interviews, you do well at whiteboarding sessions, you get offers that are almost double what you earned at your previous job. You have the confidence to choose which offers to accept and which to reject.

A single review can't do AA justice. It truly provides a life-changing experience. The TAs are phenomenal --- amazingly brilliant people who not only understand the material but have a genuine desire to help others. The in-class pair programming assignments are perfectly structured; there is enough material to ensure a good 5-6 hours a day could be spent coding. The caliber of the students is phenomenal -- lots of different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. The job placements team is stellar as well; all were confident career coaches that were eager to lift you up and fill you with optimism.

All in all, I have zero regrets about the program. All promises were kept. It was the most challenging educational endeavor I've ever attempted but, thanks to App Academy, I feel confident about my future as a software engineer. If you're passionate about the field and are willing to put in the hard work, there's no better place to learn web development.

The resources available are amazing. The curriculum is always changing to keep up with the latest technologies. As a result, it's not always the most polished, but it's probably the best way to learn the latest tech. This is facilitated by the amazing TA's who are always available, even outside of class hours via slack or email. My classmates were all awesome people and it was nice having a space to come in and study. (I hear they're upgrading locations again, too).

As for cons, the pacing of the curriculum was pretty bad, but they try to do their best to time assessments and projects to be as manageable as possible. Even then, because of the sheer quantity of materials to learn, it behooves you to keep up and understand where you're at as best as possible. I didn't find the curriculum to be too stressful coming from a specialized high school/ medical school background. I also had a basic understanding of a lot of programming concepts, so I was definitely at a bit of an advantage over my classmates who had to teach themselves the basics of coding a month or two before starting the course. Generally speaking, if you made it past the interview process, you've got what it takes to pass the course. The job support portion is nice, but there are a lot of students so it might be difficult to pin down subtle issues you're having with the job search. If you reach out, though, you'll get the support you need.

Some advice: SLEEP. Especially if you have an assessment the next morning. Your priority during boot camp MUST be in this order from most important to least important: Sleep, food, studying, everything else. If you do not sleep properly, you will not retain the information you're cramming, especially if it's all completely new. You will learn the most by doing what you read about the night before, and you won't be able to code the next day on no sleep and an empty stomach. Also, when you apply to jobs, apply to everything at once. You will have the best chances while all your projects are fresh. You have nothing to lose by getting in touch with hiring managers and CEO's of companies. Do what it takes and be sure to keep coding. Good luck.

If you're just starting off your research into boot camps, a/A is one of the best, especially in NYC. You will need to save up a lot of money in order to support yourself and pay a deposit. I would recommend saving around $15k to be safe, $12k bare minimum.

I believe enrolling at App Academy was the best decision I could have made when I decided to transition into software development.  If you enter this program hungry to learn and open to possibilities, you'll gain a ton of valuable technical skills as well as computer science basics that will help direct your own continued learning.  

I entered this program with no technical knowledge at all (Microsoft Excel was my limit) and came out of it having built full-stack apps and with a job offer from a startup working in a completely different stack from the one we learned at a/A.  I also have the confidence to take that job, knowing I'll be able to learn what I need quickly and well.

This was a super difficult process--don't enroll unless you're able to essentially turn off the rest of your life for the duration of the program--but I made it out and couldn't be happier with the experience.

I had a great experience at app academy.  It’s a tough program and you can expect to dedicate all of your time to it during your three months as a student.  Despite all the hard work, it’s still fun(if you enjoy coding). Pair programming, a fundamental part of app academy’s education, keeps you alert and engaged while learning.  I highly recommend the program if you’re a self starter and looking to get into the tech field.

The program is very fast paced! Prepare to work hard every day for long hours. But that being said, the course structure and curriculum are very well designed, and definitely provide a rock solid foundation for a career in software engineering.

We learned all the layers of full stack web development, with special emphasis on core computer science concepts (algorithmic complexity, data structures, OOP, security principles etc) which I think sets App Academy apart from other coding programs.

I sincerly doubt I could have become the coder that I am today without App Academy. Landed my first job as a frontend developer at a growing company in Financial District and I owe a lot to App Academy.

App Academy is definitely rigorous, curriculum wise. Be ready to live and breathe programming. The program is definitely not suited for every person, but no prior experience in programming is neccesary. 

Come with the mindset to job search for a long time. A lot of people find jobs within 1, 2 months of graduating, but that is not always the case and I came the closest to rock bottom as I've been my whole life.

This was the best career decision of my life. It was an incredible journey from start to finish. From learning basic Ruby to making full web applications to getting my first offer three months into the job search. You get out as much as you put in. 

So, coming from a background in art, everything was challenging for me since jumpstart time.  I used be academically successful but now I feel like stupid everyday here at app academy. But you know what, I made it through(barely)! and so can anyone else! I am currently in the eleventh week. I still feel challenged everyday but each time after I get through with these challenges, my feeling of achievement triples.  I guess everyone will repeat this same pattern over and over throughout the course, and each time after you do, you will realize how much more you have learned. I certainly had a very wonderful experience here working with people, including teachers,  who are motivate in a similar way.  I get a lot of help and was able to learn so many things everyday. It was fun!  

I've experienced App Academy as a prospective JumpStart student, an enrolled student, graduate, JumpStart TA, Bootcamp Prep TA, and finally as an alumnus. Needless to say, I've gotten a pretty wide breadth of App Academy exposure, and all of it has been overwhelmingly positive. 

The JumpStart or Bootcamp Prep admissions processes, while rigorous, provide a great foundation for the skills necessary to be successful at a/A. I've been both enrolled in and a TA for JumpStart, and I found the program as rewarding to teach as it was to learn under. 

The actual course is no joke. You'll get out what you put in, and be prepared to sacrifice 3 months of your life outside of learning & working. But rest assured: it is worth it. a/A imparts you with not only the technical chops to make it in the industry, but the job-searching, networking, and interviewing skills to get the job you want. After graduation, while working as both a JumpStart and BCP TA, I ended up with a total of 5 job offers, and currently have a job at a great company.

Final verdict: Amazing experience, would do it again in a heartbeat. But be prepared to work--you won't regret it.

What App Academy offers - a near-six figure salary on average within a year - sounds too good to be true. Three months after graduating, most of my classmates have accepted offers. I received my first offer two weeks after graduating. My job search lasted 2 months, during which time I received five offers in total. I am now happily working as a full stack engineer at a company I am excited about.

App Academy lives up to its promises because it has the brightest instructors and is built on top of a top-notch, stellar curriculum and an incredibly selective application process. My classmates are the most intelligent and talented group of people I have ever been a part of. Graduating from the bootcamp is only possible by setting your entire life on hold and studying and coding 11+ hours every day. Assessments are given weekly, and failing two of them leads to your dismissal from the program. You are expected to digest material very quickly and break your brain on difficult problems every day. The program is incredibly stressful and draining, but really does teach you what you need to know to get hired and grow as a developer.

A little bit about the curriculum:

The program is broken up into various sections, starting with computer science fundamentals, which focuses on problem-solving skills. Every day focuses on a project that usually involves pair programming. Pair programing helped us learn more quickly and communicate code clearly. The job search curriculum is very useful in guiding graduates in how they should use their time while job hunting

Prior to attending App Academy, I had a pretty solid foundation in CS fundamentals from a couple minors during my undergrad. After moving to SF and researching the skillset and breadth of new technologies in order to compete in the tech industry, I needed and wanted to learn more about the recent technologies. I chose App Academy because their top-notch curriculum is always adapting to what the industry dictates.

The three month boot camp really challenged me in my skills as a software engineer. The learning curve is steep, and App Academy is transparent as to the pace of learning needed to be successful in this program. You will be spending every day including weekends working on solo projects, group projects, and mastering new skills. The program goes fast and it is very easy to fall behind if you are not committed or do not do the work. You will not have a social life and will be expected to set aside “life” as all your time and energy will be dedicated to mastering skills and completing projects on time. Do not commit to the program if you are not ready to put all of your time and focus into the program.

A highlight of the program is their focus on your career goals. A focus on industry specific lectures will be given in how to master the application process to how to land the ideal salary.  The mentors will help you in setting yourself apart from the other applicants by refining resumes, creating the perfect cover letter, and making sure your portfolio is perfect. Tuition is based off your final offer from a company aligning a/A with your goal of landing a dream job.

Overall, App Academy invests in each of their students for optimal career success. There are many avenues of support if needed. I truly enjoyed my experience in App Academy and I recommend this program to anyone who is truly ready to become a software developer

I just got through the entire coding bootcamp. A little bit about me before a/A first. I consider myself a fundementally strong coder with some experience in developing Full-Stack projects C# and ASP.NET. I consider myself mostly self-taught, with a few upper-division college classes under my belt, and have been coding since High School. That being said, I wanted to learn more recent technologies and chose this program for its rigorous curriculum in React and Ruby on Rails.

App Academy differentiates itself from other bootcamps because of the support that they provide during your learning process and, most importantly, the job search. The curriculum is very thorough, and can pave over holes in your CS knowledge even if you're like me and came from a CS background.

Kiss your social life goodbye for the next 3 months, because something to note is that you only get what you put in! If you want to do well, you have to be willing to make sacrifices that others aren't willing to make (i.e: work till you drop and repeat). Everyday there's never a shortage of things to do and projects to work on. Since these projects are a reflection of your own skill, you have to spend a lot of time making sure that they shine.

I am profoundly tired, but deeply satisfied with the rigor of App Academy's curriculum. After spending 90+ hours a week building software next to some of the most ambitious and dedicated people I've ever met, I feel very well equipped to break into the industry. 

Don't do this if you're not completely committed to setting life aside for the length of the program.

App Academy has really been a mental rollercoaster for me. There were days where I truly enjoyed my experience and there were also days where I frantically wanted to get off the ride due to overwhelming stress. However, as with all rollercoasters, the experience is different for everybody. In the end, some people might find that they enjoyed the ride, while others might be happier to get off.  With that being said, App Academy really isn't for everyone, but one thing is certain: you will leave knowing a lot more than when you started.

Before App Academy, I did not have much programming experience besides basic knowledge of SQL from my previous job.  However, within three months, I learned Ruby on Rails, postgreSQL, JavaScript, jQuery, React and Redux and can now make my own full stack applications!  

App Academy isn't a perfect program. The course load is challenging and the pacing is very fast. It's very easy to fall behind if you're not committed--and even if you are committed, it's possible to fall behind if you don't understand the topic before they move forward in the curriculum. However, they have a very dedicated and knowledgeable staff to facilitate the students' learning experiences.

My biggest gripe about the App Academy is how assessment-focused the program is. Their assessments determine your status in the program and due to fear of dismissal, many students solely focus on passing them instead of learning/understanding the material. (If this sounds confusing, it will make a lot more sense if you go through the program). 

With everything being said, I really enjoyed my experience in App Academy, minus the stress and sleep deprivation. I have met some of the most amazing, supportive, and hardworking people in the amazing App Academy community. I would not recommend this program to everyone, but if you're willing to put in the time, energy, sweat, tears, and hard work, App Academy will help you become a software developer!