App Academy

App Academy provides people the opportunity to switch to a different career and grow as a software developer. My experience there was great and rewarding. The course itself is intense and challenging and definitely requires hard work and dedication. I think people should take into consideration how much time and work it actually takes to succeed in the course. I wish though there can be more support and opportunities for women and minorities to succeed there. Over all, I do recommend the course, however, it is not for everyone. You will need a lot of support from your family and friends close to you.

TL;DR
Yes, you will learn enough at App Academy to find employment as a software engineer and earn salary at market rate, but be prepared to do a good amount of work on your own after the program.

I graduated from App Academy earlier this year. I was waiting until I found a job before I wrote this review. To be transparent, App Academy offers a free sweatshirt for writing reviews, regardless of rating, but my intention here is to share my experience and honest opinions.

Initially I applied to App Academy and Hack Reactor, as these appeared to be the top two bootcamps with the most rigorous admissions process. I ended up choosing App Academy because you learn two languages, Javascript and Ruby, and they offer tuition deferment.  

The curriculum is App Academy's best asset.  I can attest that they teach Ruby, Rails, SQL, and React very thoroughly. They lay a strong foundational basis for Javascript, jQuery, HTML/CSS, and algorithms for you to improve upon later. And you will have to study some of these topics on your own to get to a level sufficient for employment, particularly when it comes to Javascript. 

Other positive points of the program include pair programming, supportive staff, smart cohort mates, etc. The staff for the most part consists of App Academy graduates, teaching and non. This is a double edged sword; on the one hand they know the curriculum very well, having gone through it themselves, but as most of them don't have industry experience, it becomes challenging when you have question beyond the scope of the curriculum. App Academy is also deeply committed to providing a safe, inclusive environment. They take violations of their code of conduct incredibly serious and as a female of color, I very much appreciated these efforts.

The job search curriculum is not as strong as the academic portion, but it is a work in progress and constantly changing. I was expecting App Academy to have built connections with recruiters and companies over the past several years, but that was not the case. There is a small team called Talent Match that does focus on outreach to companies, but no one that I know in my cohort or previous cohorts has found work through them. You are pretty much on your own in terms of finding and securing work. App Academy provides resources and suggestions on where to look for work, how to write your resume and cover letter, how to network, what networking events are happening each week, interview practice, etc. but this information is also readily available on the internet. They do have a relatively good alumni network (that's how I ended up finding my job) but that is mostly dependent on the individual and how willing they are to help others. I'd like to see App Academy have hiring partners that recruit directly from App Academy graduates and continue building their alumni network.

In the end, it took me three months to find a job, which is about average. For me, the job search was the hardest part. I had to do CONSIDERABLE additional learning on my own, with little App Academy structure and the entire reason I wanted to attend a bootcamp in the first was place was to have everything laid out for me. Recently App Academy added a job seeker program which was somewhat helpful in organizing my time and giving me some form of structure. 

From what I've seen, it's taking each cohort longer and longer to find work. Alums I spoke to from a couple years ago often found work within weeks. The first person from my cohort to find work took almost a month. This is no surprise considering the volume of students that App Academy and other bootcamps graduate every few weeks. The best piece of advice I can give here is to be prepared for that both financially and mentally. Also recognize that it really is a numbers game, the more jobs you apply to, the better your chances of an interview, and the more interviews, the better you get at them, the more likely you are to get an offer.

To address and/or echo some of the comments/criticisms that have made here. Yes, the 13 weeks are extremely time intensive and you will probably feel burned out at the end (I know I did). You don't have much time to recover post program/pre applying to jobs, however, I did find the staff accommodating and reasonable like humans, not like corporate robots. There are rules because students perform better when there are consequences but the rules are not so rigid that App Academy will not work you if have a concern.

App Academy has probably been one of the best and most unique experiences I've had. I was admitted through their JumpStart program, which I gave me a good sense of the actual bootcamp would be like.  Even though I have no prior coding experience, App Academy has provided me the resources I needed to succeed. 

PROS:
- STAFF: App Academy has amazing staff members. They're always very willing to provide help and share their experiences with you. All the TA's have gone through the program previously, so they really understand how you feel.  Everyone is very knowledgeable and ready to tackle your next bug.
- CURRICULUM: The curriculum is constantly being updated to match the current state of the industry. They know what is hot at the moment and what employers are looking for. Every night there is always homework and readings to be completed to prepare for the next day.

CONS:
- STRICT: Because of their unique business model, they do have to hold us accountable. Assessments happen often, and you have to be prepared for them. If you fail two assessments, you will be asked to leave the program.
- WORKLOAD: Be prepared to dedicate yourself 110% to this program. It really is a commitment and determination. 

App Academy is one of my biggest decision in life to date. I am currently in week 10 of the program, and it has been everything that I expected but more.

The hours are not a joke. Expect to put in 80-100 hours a week on programming and do nothing else. Coming from a engineering background, I was really relaxed for the first two weeks, but the the program quickly outpaced my existing knowledge. I started learning completely new technologies every week, and got tested the following week on a decent level. The fast-paced program helped me learn a lot in a short period of time, which I definitely could not have accomplished on my own.

The people you meet here are incredible, I didn't think there would actually be graduates from Harvard MBA, Stanford, MIT, or ex-workers from Google, Pinterest.

The only thing you have to know that App Academy is still a company and it has to make profi. They try to pack a lot of materials into the job search curriculum where you build your javascript project and flex project, each in less than a week. So the last couple weeks of the program can be a little overwhelming.

Overall a great experience!

Overall, App Academy is a great program: The curriculum is for the most part, adequately structured as well as relevant to the current web development market. The staff (especially the Teaching Assistants who all went through the same program) are excellent for the most part, and greatly benefit both struggling students as well as those who like to get ahead with extra material throughout the course. I attended this program because of its longstanding history of excellence in the job market as well as the deferred payment plan. Be forewarned, however, that in the interest of the company's business model, students under the deferred tuition plan WILL be expected to put in many hours during the job search, and will face a variety of pressures during the assessment as well as the post-program period as App Academy tries their very best to get you a job, so they can be paid in full. This may come as a surprise, but in the end benefits the student as they ALSO should want to find a job as soon as possible. Furthermore, the curriculum is only the barebones of what is expected of a constantly growing industry, and learning programs and technologies on the fly is essential to any software developer regardless of where they are at. Thus, the students attending should be aware of the fact that a job is not GUARANTEED in any way, and will need to put in EXTRA work during or after the program, no matter how intense the program itself is. 80-100 hours per week is NOT a joke, even for those who are ahead, as there are always things to be done, or learned. The more the student gets ahead while they know the material, the better their experience will be. All in All, App Academy is a great place to learn the basics of web development as well as the job search process, but like any other bootcamp, requires much more effort from the student themselves. I recommend that anyone thinking about applying also consider and prepare themselves to do nothing but eat, sleep, and code for at least 3- 6 months.

At App Academy there are an amazing staff of instructors and advisers who work hard to make sure you have the tools you need in order to change your carreer path and become a developer. You'll have to put in the hard work, they are not joking when they say ~80-90 hours a week, but if you put in the time you will see results; ask for help, stay curious, and review.

Enrolling in App Academy was everything I was looking for and easily the best descison I've made in my adult life.