App Academy

I thought that with education costs and the time it takes to get a degree, I would never be able to transition into software engineering. Not while taking care of my family anyways. Well with their deferred tuition and instructional approach, I can proudly say I have made the switch and with everything I have learned I feel confident with my skillset and look forward to the opportunities to come! I do gotta say though, no one is going to do this for you. They have all the tools and curriculum and support you need. You just have to buckle down and get it done. There is no easy way! The Job search is just that... a Job search! You gotta put in the work for that too. No one is going to be begging for you to work for them you need to put in the work for your own branding and self presentation as well. This for me is the hardest part! Good luck to all those who are going to take the leap it will be worth it!

I attended App Academy after graduating college with a degree in Ecology and working in the US Forest Service for three years. Basically, I had no technical experience whatsoever outside of playing video games and experimenting with basic coding in the language BASIC when I was a kid. After about 7 months total of coursework and the job search, I landed a job as a software engineer at a series C startup and I feel wholly prepared to assume my new role.

App Academy has a pretty solid curriculum, and while you could conceivably learn it all on your own it's much more efficient to do it through them. While most of the TA's are recent A/a grads, the cohort leads are usually experienced engineers and can answer your in-depth technical questions. I'm pleased to say there is a decent focus on true CS concepts rather than just how to use the trending tools of the industry, which is really what counts in the job search. Specific languages and tools go out of style rapidly, but if you can internalize the core concepts of CS and learn how to pick up new things on the fly, you will be able to apply to a wide range of jobs and have a chance of passing the interviews. 

Pair programming is one of the most infuriating experiences imaginable, but I will say that it is the secret sauce that makes this bootcamp work. Left to you own devices you will likely not be motivated or focused enough to work through the whole curriculum on your own, but when paired with another person all day it makes sure that both partners are on task and making good progress. I will say I love pair programming when two people can just freeform work on the project together and throw out the driver/navigator roles, and I encourage you to suggest this to your partners if both of you are on board.

I would also say that while the A/a model works really well right now, it is definitely a crapshoot whether or not it will work for you or in the future. Right now tech is a bloated whale of high paying coding jobs that could be conceivably had with just 4-6 months of rigorous training, but I suspect that like the gold rush this will come to an end. Most of these jobs are for startups which are not profitable and are funded by VC cash. While I'm not an economist, I have heard from people who are that the tech industry is likely overvalued and may crash in the same way that finance did in 2008. Just be wary, and have realistic expectations. At the time of this review I would 100% recommend App Academy as a viable option to a tech career, but if you are reading this a year or later down the line I would do my research into the state of the industry and bootcamp placements before registering. If you are older (say, 35+) or lack a degree you may also struggle to find a job as many companies will automatically weed you out for not having a degree or discriminate against you for being an older candidate. Ditto if you are not a citizen or green card holder. While I and many of my friends found jobs within 3-6 months of finishing the program (some even sooner), I also met many people who fit into the above categories who ended up searching for upwards of a year.

The one place where App Academy really shines is the job search. This to me is where 90% of the value comes from. Anyone can learn how to code on their own, but I can honestly say without my dedicated and talented coaches I would have been dead in the water. They teach you things that you can't easily learn off the internet, things you wouldn't even think to google, and the job search formula works, at least in this current economy. Indeed, I did App Academy because I didn't think I could find a job in my old field (ecology), but after going through the job search curriculum I realize I total could have if I knew what I know now about job searching. Lastly, I'd like to mention that my first coach was a dud and pretty useless, but after he "left" App Academy I was assigned to two new coaches who were total rockstars. My point is your milage may vary, but for the most part I would say the coaching staff is solid.

Finally, read the fine print. The ISA money-back guarentee only applies if you finish the program and don't find a job after a year, and even then you will more than likely have to sign a job search extension adding extra months before you are eligible to get your money back. This is due to the fact that your projects and job search materials will likely not be done by the time you graduate and you will need to spend additional time working on these, during which time you are not technically job searching. Make sure that you are able to support yourself being fully unemployed for a period of 17ish months (4 months curriculum + 13 months for the search) before you start the program if you want to be safe. Of course you could just send it anyway, but you are running a risk as if you run out of money and have to go back to work you will still owe A/a $28K. Also, plan on moving to a tech hub city (most likely SF or NY) if you do not already live in one, these are the places where companies will hire bootcampers. I was lucky enough to score a remote job, but that is also mostly due to COVID. You may also be able to do so but again it is a crapshoot.

Overall, I would recommend App Academy but only in an artifically inflated and booming tech economy.

Pros: 
- Good class structure and accountability to help keep students on track.
- Great teachers, feeling of community with other students, even though everything is online remote.
- Good breadth of material, focused on what companies are currently looking for in an applicant.
- Good pacing and balance between learning material and practical project work. 

Cons:
- Certain subjects are still a little rough around the edges and need to be refined. Specifically, how we were taught react during my cohort was rough and kind of backwards, spent a lot of time on old ways of implementing react and very little time on the new (hooks) way. However, they are actively rewriting the whole react curriculum, so should be fixed for new students. 

I had a great time at App Academy. For me the con is also a pro, when you first sign up they tell you that it is a very rigorous and demanding program but I didn't take too seriously. Just a few weeks later I was putting in anywhere from 80 to 100 hours of work into completing the course work. Which is necessary due to the amount of material that we learn in just a few weeks.
I feel that the boot camp made me a better developer and that I was given all that I signed up for and more.
Thank you so much for changing my career path.

I feel like saying that I enjoyed my time here would label me as a masochist, but yes.. I did enjoy my time here.  I was looking into getting into coding, but didn't know where to start and what stacks to learn, so I decided to give App Academy's 16 week Full-Stack web development course a shot since I've heard of all these good reviews, and so far, I'm not disappointed.   To get in, first you have to pass their interviews.  After you get in, things start a little slow, for the first week, but then speeds up really fast.  Especially after the first two weeks, which is the foundations part of the curriculum, after which, the real meat of the course starts to show and the pace picks up even more.  It's extremely vigorous, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  If you manage to pass all their assessments you'll be rewarded with newfound knowledge in programming and the ability to build cool apps.  After completing the course you enter your Career quest, in which you will be provided a Career Coach  who will coach you on applying for jobs and interviewing.  All in all it's been a great experience that leaves you feeling fulfilled, and I'm also impressed and how they turned this in-person course to an online one.

Pros: Teaches you all the things you really need to know. Teacher assistants are really useful and the projects they provide for you to do are helpful. The teaching strategy is to repeat concepts until it's cemented in your memory, which I believe is rather effective.
Cons: They stop giving you meaningful assistance when it comes to your personal projects at the end of the bootcamp. You're pretty much on your own, but of course you have your fellow students as resources but they're also trying to complete their own projects. They claim that the independence on the projects is to emulate your experience outside the bootcamp (without Teacher Assistants).

In 16 weeks at App Academy, you will be thrown in lots of Computer Science concepts over various programming languages, given job searching prep work, and projects to demonstrate your programming knowledge. From my experience, those projects were fun and the knowledge gained has helped me to figure out additional technologies to incorporate into my projects! Even though this journey through this bootcamp has been challenging, it is worth it in the end. Aside from the amazing material you get, you also will get to meet amazing cohort-mates from various backgrounds. Overall be prepared and be serious, which I can't emphasize enough, to put in lots of work to understanding and practicing those computer science concepts.

Pros:
- The instructional material were up-to-date, fun, and challenging.
- Really helpful instructors to help you understand Computer Science concepts.
- Plentiful of help for your job search

Cons:
- Some Computer Science concepts taught (either in lecture or in instructional material) are hard to understand or not self-explanatory.
- The transition from programming projects to job searching was awkward. I can say the same when switching between programming languages too.

Tips I could give:
- Try to learn some new programming languages/concepts ahead of time (even better if before the bootcamp). I highly suggest learning Python.
- Have a set schedule as you do not want to overwork yourself, especially when you're going to be studying new concepts daily.
- Be prepared to be expected to learn new concepts instantly.

As a student, I felt that I only scratched the surface of each topic, then did my best (with my pair-programming partner) to apply the knowledge on daily projects. During the initial week-long full stack projects, I didn't have a clear idea on how to start. However, my Principle Instructor (Ian) and the TA's (Javier, Dean) were always there and extremely helpful in guiding me in the right direction and helping to debug. By the time the capstone project came around, I felt equipped to develop a full stack project -- to the extent that I taught myself a whole new framework in just a few days to use in my project.
a/A simplifies complex topics across the full stack into simple, but not always digestible pieces. You will spend only a few days on topics that are taught over a semester in college. At times, you are likely to be overwhelmed by the pace. On the flip-side, you are also likely to be too immersed to even think about it. It may feel like you are being rushed to cram new material each day, but you would be surprised to realize how much you are actually learning under the hood. In addition to the basic knowledge, you are learning how to learn new technologies quickly and effectively. This resourcefulness is probably the most valuable return on your investment of time, money and effort.
My thoughts upon completion of the program: I thought I was running a marathon, but it turns out I was being taught how to tie my shoes really well for five months. The marathon has only just started.