App Academy

I was a little apprehensive about joining an online program, but as COVID lingered on, I didn't want to delay my education anymore and wait for an in-person cohort. After lots of research and applying to ~10 programs, I decided on App Academy because it seemed like the best fit for me. 

I worried that I would be working alone with lectures and projects to work on for 24 weeks, but I was completely wrong. The staff is absolutely the best part about App Academy. Everyone is so knowledgeable and supportive that I never felt like I was falling behind- I was always able to get the help that I needed. Additionally, my cohort was filled with extremely smart and motivated students that created an inclusive community online. Within the first week, I knew I had made the right choice. 

The content of the program is very aligned with the job market today and everything is structured to give you the foundational knowledge you need to become a software engineer. As App Academy will tell you, they are not creating React or Python developers, they are creating software engineers that can learn any new language or framework. On top of all that, they end the program with an amazing "career quest" that gives you more job search support than you could ever ask for. Highly, highly recommend! 

 This review is for the Fully Online course.  Depending on how quickly you learn and your background, the pace of the 6-month course is totally manageable, and at times felt a little too slow or padded out.  If you don't do your homework readings for the night, you'll inevitably frustrate the class or your pair for the next day.  There are always a dozen people in the class who didn't do the readings or homework, and will take up class time essentially asking the instructor repetitive questions.  This was tough, because it took time away from other students who were asking valuable follow-ups or clarifications.  Additionally, your experience day-to-day varies wildly depending on your pair programming partner.  As the course moves along, folks who get negative feedback or who are not keeping up with the material get deferred, so this becomes less of a problem moving forward.  But at the beginning this can be frustrating if you are working with someone who is not a team player, or who is not performing their due diligence as a student.
The real merit to this program is that it is structured so you have accountability to show up every day and achieve some level of mastery of each week's material. Additionally, the accountability you have during the job search is valuable as well.
If you're thinking of joining this bootcamp, it'll be a great fit for you if you don't know where to start, or get overwhelmed trying to self-learn.  If you are a fast learner, and enjoy complex thinking and problem solving, you might benefit more from App Academy's 16-week course. The full online might still be a good fit for you if you want a little breather room to gain more depth of knowledge on each week's material. 

 App Academy came at a point that I decided to change my life and try to pursue something that I really cared about but didn't necessarily have the means to do so.  a/A provided me the support and tools I needed to achieve that which I didn't think I could.  I went through the 24 week online course and I have to say that it is an intense process that challenges you week in and week out. Some say it's the hardest thing that they have ever done and I can't say that I disagree. I can say that the grueling nature of it has a purpose and you emerge all the better for it. It is not for everyone, some find the steep learning curve too hard but if you are committed and you put in the necessary time, it is very doable and worthwhile. The overall highlight is definitely the staff, who mostly support you throughout the whole course and continue the support into your job search. The curriculum material can be a little erratic in its teaching format and does occasionally need some updating, but you do learn the most current and up to date coding styles. 

    I originally thought I could teach myself the material and skills on my own, but I could never have done it as comprehensively or as quickly. App Academy is a lot of work (the 90 hours a week is accurate for some heavier weeks), but it totally pays off. You not only learn how to create the larger portfolio projects that you complete at the end of the course, but if you really devote yourself to the curriculum, you will learn how to troubleshoot, debug, and most importantly be able to pick up new languages/frameworks easily. This will put you in a great position when it comes to applying for jobs. Throughout most of the course the TA's were easily accessible and were vital for providing the best information to help pass the assessments. My cohort was also a great support group and we were constantly rooting for one another during the process. 
    One thing I disliked was that the HTML/CSS curriculum is mostly self-study. If you don't have a solid understanding, it can make the beginning of your projects a bit overwhelming. Also, help from the TA's starts to get phased out when your projects begin, which can be stressful. The staff and resources during the job search curriculum are fantastic if and only if you proactively take advantage of them and communicate your needs. If you don't, you may feel a bit on your own. 
     Since graduating (< 3 months ago!), I've been impressed with my cohort-mates as several of them have already received job offers or are in final interviews. I'd say if you are willing to study very hard and take advantage of all that a/A has to offer, it is entirely possible to become a full-fledged software engineer in a short time.

I was skeptical of the bootcamp model at first, but the App Academy team and curriculum made me believe in a bootcamp as a very legitimate model to change your career. With that being said, it requires your full attention for 9+ hours per day (sometimes on weekends as well). If you are truly driven to change your career, I highly recommend a/A, but it only works if you put in the work.

Pros: Lots of great instructors (most of whom are a/A grads since they emphasize hiring internally). Many bright, motivated students with whom to learn. 

Cons: Some of the curriculum material is difficult to understand and could definitely be improved. To the instructors' credit, they consistently acknowledged student feedback on the material. My understanding is that they are constantly updating/upgrading the curriculum, so I suspect this issue is not permanent. 

I took the July 2020 in-person curriculum held remotely. I enjoyed my time at App Academy. The staff was great and a/A does a great job in providing a great learning environment (You are encouraged to always ask questions). I met a lot of great people and would highly suggestion creating a study group. App Academy's curriculum provides every student the foundation to succeed but every student's experience is a lot different. This is a situation where you get what you put in. The curriculum is fast and very tough, especially if you do not have any experience in coding. By the end of the program, you will have had 3 capstone projects (Full Stack, MERN stack, Vanilla Javascript). Overall, I'm happy with my decision on attending App Academy, but because it was such a rigorous curriculum, I would not want to go through it again.

 TLDR: Of course it's hard. But the payoff is greaaaaaat! :D If you're thinking of what bootcamp, just apply to App Academy. 

Pros: - Amazing experience - You can ask for help aaaaaaaaaall the time - Lots of resources - Relevant course materials - Software salaries are QUITE high - You learn 2 languages, a frontend framework, 3 projects (2 solo, 1 group), and a bunch of other stuff 

Cons: - Sooooooooooo much work (your routine will be: Coffee, Lecture, Lunch, Work, Work, Dinner, Work, Sleep, Repeat for 16-weeks) 

Not TLDR: Hello World! - the beginning of your journey; if in fact you are new to this stuff like I was. Before App Academy, I had been a Host and a Server in the restaurant business for four years. When the pandemic hit I was out of a job and had to look for options. I live in San Francisco and a ton of people here are in tech and so I thought I'd check it out and see if it was for me. I took a two-week Jumpstart program with App Academy and there I learned Ruby - a cool language that flows like plain English; mostly. I was never great at math but have always been interested in languages. Learning to code is like learning a language. If you like that, try it out. When you're coding you're solving problems and trying to get stuff to work. It can be very gratifying! Jumpstart was a lot of fun for me and so I applied to App Academy. On my first try I hadn't practiced my skills enough but on the second try I did great! From the first day at App Academy know that you are in for a lot of work. In the morning, I think it was ~9-12:30 for me, you will have lectures with 1-2 5-10 minute breaks in-between. In the afternoon, ~1:30-5, you will be paired up with a fellow classmate to solve a bunch of problems mostly related to your morning lectures. The lectures will be based on your previous evenings material. Expect about 4-6 hours of studying every evening - I wish that were a joke but you've got a lot to learn in 16-weeks. You will do your partner and yourself the most good if you do your homework. Please, please, please, do your homework. When I graduated, it took me about 2-3 more weeks to finish up my final projects. After that you go into job search and you will continue to do tons of work so that one day, you will land an awesome job in software!! :)