App Academy

After working 7 years as a Mechanical Engineer/Controls Engineer, I decided to take 24-weeks to study Web Development at AA. I joined the program last January (2019) and was part of the App Academy's first Online Cohort. We were a group of 8, spread across the US and even had a classmate living abroad, eating and sleeping on US Eastern time.

The program is very intense in terms of time commitment, where I spent every hour of the day and night studying (100hrs+ /week). But the more time I committed to study, the more I understood about each topic and learned. Each hour spent was worth it. 

If you really enjoy programming, you will love this program! You will have access to great TA/instructors, well-thought and detailed ressources. And learned all the skills you will need on the job.

Our initial cohort had Live Lectures from our instructor, where I was able to ask tons of questions to really understand very deeply each lecture. A minus point for future Online Cohorts, is that it may no longer be true as more recorded lectures started to get used right after our cohort. Even though, AA breaks it down so you can still ask questions every 45mins or hour. Staying engaged and awake while watching video lectures was never my strongest point. 

I have no regret though, the education was fantastic! Please give it a try and see whether it's for you!

I chose App Academy because it was one of the few bootcamps that still offered an in-person experience. I attended App Academy’s 16-week in person software engineering program in San Francisco. Being able to have your instructors there with you and pair program with your peers in-person was invaluable. If being in-person is something you can commit to, I highly recommend it! 
The coursework is rigorous (about 8 hrs of lectures/programming during the day and a few more hours of readings/homework at night) and the job search after is even more rigorous. But they do provide you with all the tools you need to succeed with experienced instructors, opportunities to build projects to showcase your skills, and career workshops and partnership jobs after. The in-person curriculum may be lacking Python, but App Academy prepares you to learn and implement new languages and frameworks on your own. 
I was previously a marketing manager with little coding experience. The job market was slow at the time I graduated App Academy and it took me 6 months to receive 2 software engineering offers. The program is tough, but definitely rewarding if you are dedicated to shifting your career into engineering. 

I recently completed App Academy's bootcamp and I can say without hesitation that it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The curriculum was challenging but comprehensive, and the instructors were top-notch. They provided great support and guidance throughout the program, and their industry experience really shone through in their instruction.What really sets App Academy apart, however, is their job search support. They provide excellent resources and personalized guidance to help you land a job after graduation. Thanks to their help, I was able to secure a great position shortly after completing the program.

Be prepared to spend many hours because App Academy is a very rigorous course because if you don't, you will struggle a lot.

You expected to read/learn material ahead of the next day, so that you are able to do the projects. They also have assessments that test your skills, be ready for those tests.

Once all of the assessments all done, you get to make your own websites using what you have learn over the course. The course does a good job teaching you how to apply these skills on your own project, so the course does pay off once you reach to this part of the course.

Although App Academy is a pretty great course, I feel like some parts of course should be expanded upon as I felt like they were just barely a footnote.

And once you finish your sites, they will provide you a lot of support to get your next job. In fact, I was able to land my job thanks to their support. If you don't get a job within a year, they will refund your money back.

Overall, as you long as you are willing to commit your time to start a career on software engineering, I would recommend you join App Academy.

I did the online bootcamp during the pandemic, while abroad. App Academy is legit. It is rigorous, and you must know your stuff to move on to the next week, every week. Everyone who makes it through is well prepared for a modern software engineering role with the latest frameworks etc. The curriculum is up-to-date, so that is an advantage for bootcamp grads.
But I was most impressed with the support after graduation.  They keep students on track and guide you in the job search process with workshops, projects, strategies, and partnerships. Post-grad is just as rigorous as the bootcamp itself.  They are motivated to support you post-graduation, unlike any other academic institution I've been involved with.I got a software engineering job within 3 months of graduating.

The most important thing I’ll say after participating in App Academy’s 6-month online intensive boot camp is that I should have done it sooner! I’m not going to lie…it was a lot of really, really hard work. Probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But, what’s great about a/A besides the up-to-date curriculum and technical resources at your disposal is the support system that is in place to help you succeed. It’s a win win, and their career coaches are truly top notch. Based on where I am now, I'd say App Academy Open is definitely a real success for me. It's by far the best resource out there for learning to code, and it's entirely free. If you want to land a tech career without breaking the bank, App Academy Open might just be for you 

I did the 16 week program. It was truly one of the most intense courses I've ever taken, you've been warned. They guide you with lessons to help you develop the skills necessary to become an excellent engineer. You get to do 3 portfolio projects with light guidance, and after graduating, they have career search support which I attribute to the success of me quickly finding a job. And it doesn't stop there, there's continued support for alumni with mid to senior level job searching too. The tuition payment plans are very flexible too.

A little about me, my previous career I was a Registered Nurse, but wish I had always gone into software and eventually landed on coding bootcamps as my attempt to become a software developer. I found it incredibly difficult to decide on which bootcamp to attend given the rising number of bootcamps out there and the high risk of many being non-legitimate. Eventually I found a few that seemed to be solid bootcamps and ultimately chose to go with App Academy based out of San Francisco/New York. If you are in the same position as I was, then you probably have researched many reviews as well and come to find that it really goes 50-50 on whether to do a coding bootcamp or not to do one. So many people say its worthless and a waste of money and how you can learn it all on your own or to pursue a computer science degree instead. Me personally? learning on my own was not going to work. Having the structure and discipline a bootcamp provides was exceedingly beneficial, especially in how they slowly advance you in learning topics. When learning on your own you get very lost in where to start and what frameworks to pick up, you end up in a constant limbo of learning small things here and there but never really gaining true knowledge of how things work. 

I recently completed the 6-month online software engineer track with App Academy in April of 2022. Before I started this program I spent about a month with on and off learning through websites such as Free Code Camp, Codecademy, and youtube videos. Essentially, I came in with next to know knowledge of coding. Most bootcamps are designed for people with very little coding knowledge, and build them up to speed as fast as possible. As most reviews say, attending a coding bootcamp can be very difficult and will take up most of your time. I can attest to this, It will definitely take up almost all of your time for the time you are enrolled, but I promise you it is not as hard as they say it is, it is very doable. For the 6-month online program, it was mon-fri 8am-5pm and had tests on every monday in which you need to pass to advance to the next week. You can only fail the tests or the projects (there were 4 projects total) combined of 3 times. But don't let that scare you, so many people have done this and have been successful, and App Academy does a really good job of preparing you with practice tests and office hours. They have various payment methods, which usually comes out to be around 20-22k depending on how you choose to pay. They are on the higher end of the spectrum of bootcamp affordability, but in my personal opinion, well worth it.

With that said I had a great experience with App Academy and highly recommend them if you are searching for a well established bootcamp. One of the best features is that they have a career team that continues to do work shops and hiring events after you complete the program help you in your job search. I am not sure if other bootcamps do this, but this is a must, they help to keep you focused after you finish to keep learning and applying so that you will obtain that job. Don't be afraid if you do decide to choose App Academy and see that there are 100 people in your online cohort, within the first 3 weeks that number can drop in half with people deciding they don't like coding and people failing because they are not truly dedicated to learning. It is also true that most of the teachers/aides are previous students, do not be alarmed by this either, every single bootcamp does this. But do know that they have real experienced software engineers above them that also provide lectures and guide the curriculum to ensure that the correct things are being taught and that we are progressively learning. At the end of completing any bootcamp, don't expect to land a job within a few months, while it certainly does happen, it is definitely not the norm. You have to continuously work on projects/learn new concepts/study DSA/obtain certificates/ and most importantly do not stop applying to jobs. Completing the bootcamp is one part, the job search is a whole different monster, but I promise this bootcamp offers enormous help once you finish to land that job.

Sorry if some of my thoughts are random through this, I am trying to put down every thing I found to be important and what I wish I had knew before I started lol. All in all if you decide on App Academy it is absolutely legit, you will learn enormous amounts, and it will be incredibly fun if you love coding. As stated above I finished in April of 2022, I just now landed a remote software engineer job this month of November 2022, it took me 6 months to land my first job and around 1000-1200 job applications. Sounds like a lot right? Many people including Computer Science graduates have this same issue in the job search. It takes a while to land that first job because everyone wants experienced engineers. Its a crappy situation, but once your in, your in. Right now the average to land that job is 6 months, sometimes sooner, and sometimes later. But it is very cool to say that I made it, from Registered Nurse to Software Engineer. I'm sure you want to hear the salary as well, it was always annoying to see people who got jobs but never listed their salary, it would be incredibly helpful if they did. For me, I am starting out at around 70k. If your in a big tech city such as San Francisco you will easily be over 100k but remember cost of living there is insane. For an entry level position I am pretty happy with that salary, within a couple years it could easily jump to 150+, but ultimately I just want to learn and grow more with a great work-life balance, so money is secondary to me. 

Final words, in case you were wondering if these reviews are fake or App Academy paid me to do this, they did not. That was another fear I had when searching, was that so many bootcamps had such great reviews lol. But this is absolutely my honest review, bootcamps are not for everyone, but if you truly do want to make the switch, be prepared with enough money to last you for a year, 6 months to do the program and 6 months to find a job. I hope this aides you in your search, and absolutely keep App Academy as one of your top choices if it is not already. 

Let me start by saying that, enrolling in App Academy has been one of the most rewarding experiences in recent memory. It helped me land my first role in tech, and with that role came freedom and financial security. I was enrolled in their 24-week full-time software engineering program. Though it was tough, having now made it through and finally landing that first role is amazing experience. 

The curriculum is well thought out, and the instructors are good at explaining all of the programming concepts that are foreign or difficult to comprehend. In my case, everything was new to me, as I didn't have any sort of background in information technology whatsoever. Those 6 months of constant study were quite difficult, but as long as you can stay determined, you'll definitely make it through.