App Academy

I wasn't sure what to expect when I enrolled in App Academy, but it ended up being one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences in my life. The instructional staff for the most part was top-notch, though near the end of the course a few instructors gave the impression they would rather be anywhere but there. By and large, though, the staff were always friendly and helpful and would usually go out of their way to find resources to further explain some of the harder concepts. The curriculum itself is intense and does not stop.  There were little if any opportunities to not give it 100% throughout the 24-week online course. The use of spaced repetition throughout the course would often give glimmers of hope as I would somehow be able to recall and apply a concept that absolutely baffled me a few weeks earlier. Coming out of the course I am quite confident in my abilities as a software developer.  If you're looking to kickstart your career and are driven to succeed I would consider this program.  The pros far outweigh the cons and if you're willing to put in the work, you walk away with the potential of earning 6 figures right out the gate. 

I can't say enough about this program. I went in confident in myself, but not confident in what I could offer a future employer. I was always nervous about what to say during an interview and what would impress the interviewers. Now I have viable skills that are in demand and that pays well. I would first say, that anyone thinking about attending this boot camp should enjoy solving problems, and shouldn't get so frustrated that you stop trying to solve them. This program takes perseverance and a strong will and the ability to work well with others, because I promise you, getting through the program with cohort mates is what makes it all possible in my opinion. Being able to talk about the topics we learned and hear them repeated back to us through study groups helped me feel really confident in the material right away. If you've thought about a coding boot camp or have a knack for solving problems and are dedicated to honing that skill, trust that App Academy will give teach you how to become a full stack engineer and break into the competitive job market.

I was here 7 months ago, in a very similar situation and you probably are. I looked up the best Online Bootcamps and the name App Academy kept coming up. I decided to look for into it, into reviews people had left, and did general research on it for weeks. After speaking with a few alumni, I decided to take the plunge! I absolutely loved it! It was a very fun and intense course! I know so much more than I did 6 months ago, I cant even describe it. If you are on the edge, I 100% recommend App Academy! If you have any burning questions feel free to look me up on LinkedIn and I will do my best to answer any questions, pay it forward and what not!

I recently graduated from App Academy’s 24 week online program, and it was fantastic! The curriculum was informative, the instructors and TAs were knowledgeable and friendly, and the culture of my cohort was great!! I now understand so much more about web applications and how the internet works, and I have gained experience working on full-stack projects. I’m currently in the process of working with the career services / post-graduation side of App Academy, and I appreciate that their instruction and provided materials continue on past the technical learning portion of the program - they don’t just throw you out after graduation! My experience with App Academy has been amazing, and I highly recommend them!

The experience was great, I'm already getting bites for multiple interviews a week after graduation.

It would be unfit for me to say that this wasn't in part due to my previous engineering experience in the Mechanical Engineer field.
The average span from graduation to a job offer is 6 months and many of my fellow graduates with no prior work experience are still struggling to get interviews.

Nevertheless, App Academy does a great job of guiding their graduates with the best job search practices, and even finds internal referrals with partnering companies a couple of times per week.

With the ISA Plan, they dony get their money until you do, that is what ultimately convinced me to choose them as my coding camp and it haws not failed me to this day.

I know there are a lot of reviews here that speak to the curriculum, work, hours needed, and tools used by App Academy to teach their curriculum. In a nutshell... The program is amazing. The work is hard. There is never enough time. You’ll meet amazing people and build an awesome network.  The TAs are what you are really paying for and are great. The intent behind their propriety tools (that are a WIP) can be clearly seen and it’s got a bright future. The online course is best for individuals that have other responsibilities and being in person has the added value of others being in the room to help motivate you to get the work done.

The only thing I will harp on is that their current communication tools used for peer and TA chats are in rough shape. The folks who started the program didn’t know how big it would get and initially invested in Slack… which if you ask any current employee at a/A is the bane of their App Academy existence. Because a/A leaves their Slack channel open to Alumni (great intent!), the amount of users has grown to a point where it wouldn’t make financial sense to pay monthly per user (didn’t think about scale from the get go). From a business perspective, I agree that it would be a poor decision to pay monthly and it’s a band aid solution for now… but from a student perspective this was one of the biggest resource failures in the course as I have no history of chats from TAs or colleagues from as little as just 3 days ago. I understand the current situation and I also implore App Academy to find a more permanent solution ASAP. Having gone through the course and used many different comm tools in my career… I can’t tell you  how many question threads were posted in Slack… and if it’s one thing slack is terrible at it’s threading conversations. 

All that being said… I’ll focus on the Parent perspective below. 

Firstly… parents take the one online course. It the only option that gives you the flexibility to be with your family if an emergency arises.  I’ll also say that if you are a single parent with 100% physical custody and don’t have support to help watch your children… this program is probably not for you. Emphasis on ‘single parent’ and the requirements needed to be the superhuman you already are. There is a high probability that you will fail out of the program or stretch yourself too thin to be able to take care of, let alone spend time with your kid(s).  

IMO you will NEED support from your partner/support network for childcare. In fact, I’d start budgeting for the best “Thank You” gift you can think of before you even start the program. The balance is critical and allows for you to complete the program and spend quality time with your kids.

If you have a partner in house to help… I’d be very clear about setting the expectation that they will become the primary caregiver, with you seeing your kids for meals and weekends. Did I mention you’re going to have to REALLY say thank you to your partner for helping out as much as he/she will? 

If you have a joint custody agreement… I advise trying to switch to a schedule where you get your kids on Friday and Saturday only. Saturday is the only day of the week where NOTHING is App Academy related. On Sundays you’ll be studying for your assessments. 

To end on a brighter note… I’m proof that it could be done. I had my kiddo on Thursday Night, Friday Morning and Night, and Saturday Morning… and it was doable. Barely… but doable. In fact, I had to project defer over Spring Break (which happens to coincidentally have been my project week) so that I would be able to show up for my family. Parenting and doing this program definitely tops the list of one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do.

There’s also a great a/A Parent group that’s really helpful for support. They meet every two weeks or so. I highly suggest joining and even more so, suggest practicing to reach out to these peers because they are the only ones who can truly understand what it means to be a parent. 

Hope all that helps! In the end, I DO recommend App Academy. My gut says that it will only get better as they learn and time goes on. Good luck!

The education you'll receive at App Academy is good. Assuming you can keep the 100 hour/week pace up and retain any information. I was able to secure a job a little faster than my cohort mates mostly based on my previous job experience outside of Software Development.

The problems start before and after you begin your study. You're going to be told about a 90+% graduation and job placement rate. However I haven't spoken to anyone who didn't have the same experience as me of losing about 30% of their classmates during the cohort. Your going to be told about starting salaries of $100+k/year. That's absolutely crazy. I know of one of my classmates who started around that figure and this person was already a very advanced coder. Your going to be told about a 30% of your 1st year salary as tuition. This is also false. You'll need to sign an Alumni Engagement form and still have to pay back possibly up to $25k in closer to 9 months. I'm not sure how anyone who takes a job at the more likely figure of >= $70K/year is supposed to make these kind of payments. You're going to be told about graduating in 4 months. This is only if you finish your projects that you're most likely not ready for. Be prepared to have to attend a "Study Hall" until your projects are finished to the school's satisfaction and/or you get a job. 

And you better graduate. If you don't, be prepared for an invoice of $250/day of study. Couple all of this with the high turnover of staff and you may be better off looking at another school or educating yourself. The feedback I've gotten from recruiters is they tend to shy away from bootcamp graduates. 

App Academy is a great bootcamp. I started App Academy at the beginning of 2021 as a student. Before this, I also passed the Hack Reactor interview. I chose a/A because the friendliness and responsiveness of the staff. After the start of the program, I have never regretted about my decision. The course design motivates the students to learn as much as they can during the 16 week period. The TAs and career coaches are very responsible and truly wish you to succeed in software engineering. 

 I started App Academy in January 2021, after I had decided to quit my sales job in the medical manufacturing industry to get into tech.  It was a challenging course, and you definitely have to be ready to put your life on hold and dedicate 16 weeks to immerse yourself in the material and keep up with the workload they expect of you (at least 70-80 hours a week).  I think it was a great time to get into this bootcamp since with COVID I wasn't tempted to leave the house much anyway.

You will make many great friends in the cohort along the way that will help you have a good initial base network that you will carry with you into your career, and the career coaches and an abundance of additional resources will be there for you in the job search(which I am in right now).

Keep in mind the onus will mostly be on you throughout the program to pass the assessments, get your projects done, and get the new career you are dreaming of.  The instructors and coaches will help you, but you will also need to help yourself to be in the top applicants in a competitive market.

I would say the main con is there is a lot of information thrown at you and a lot of times it can be disorganized, so you need to ask lots of questions and figure out what is important either for your short term understanding of the technologies or what companies are expecting you to know in the real world.

Overall highly recommend App Academy, if you are looking to make a life change and get into the tech industry!