Fullstack Academy

Fullstack is an incredible institution. I started my journey with Fullstack through their boot camp prep course (which I highly recommend), and upon completing the course was able to pass the admissions process to be enrolled into their fulltime immersive.

Upon admission, I chose to take the Sept'18-Dec'18 cohort and even passed on a half scholarship to another coding boot camp (Flatiron School). I had talked to a few people and it just seemed that FSA's education was substantially better than a handful of the other boot camps. 

Based on my research I had high expectations for Fullstack, and to be honest they exceeded just about all of them. 

Given how much you learn in a relatively short amount of time, the instructors for these programs are probably the most important part of your experience, and I can honestly say that my instructors (John, Geoff, and Dakota) were the best instructors I've had in any educational setting ever.

There are no dumb questions at FSA, and the institution does everything they can to make sure is staying on track and up to speed with the rest of the cohort (office hours, extra study sessions, etc). I can't tell you how many questions I asked my instructors, but they always were able to bring it down to my level, and always able to help me walk away feeling more confident.

The experience is intimidating at first, and it does require a lot of work, but the experience was hands down the most rewarding of my entire educational career.

FSA is a springboard for a new career, it still requires you to be dedicated to learning, and to have a strong work ethic, but if you are truly committed to learning this curriculum and to opening the doors to a new career, then I can recommend this boot camp enough.

I started researching coding bootcamps while in a job that I loathed. I had only one friend who had done one, which is what prompted the research, but other than that, I had no idea what they were about. I was an English major in school, and had taken pretty much only humanities classes, and so never even thought that computer science or engineering would be something that I could even do at this point! The Grace Hopper Program stood out to me for 2 reasons: a) all women's and b) deferred tuition. Overall, it has proven to be a great choice, and I do not regret it.

It is hard to get in. My advice would be: take at least 3 months to prepare for the interview. Take all of the pre-bootcamp stuff that Fullstack recommends, but do even more than that. The Foundations course (the first month of the bootcamp, which is online) is really hard. Meaning that even once you get in, you need to pass the hurdle of actually passing Foundations. This was not made very clear to me when I applied: Foundations is HARD and the only way you will pass if you have no background in coding is if you study 24/7 and also take some months to just get the muscle memory down and let the vast amount of information sink in. I had to take Foundations twice; the second time it was even harder! By some miracle I passed. Consider yourself warned, though! It will take time and grit. You will need to sacrifice lots of things (time with friends and family, outdoor activities, any other activities....). But it is possible!

The on-campus experience once I finally passed Foundations (phew!) was generally very good. The cohorts are pretty small (25-40 people from what I have seen), and they really do try to foster a collaborative, friendly atmopshere where women can feel free to be themselves and explore a field that (most likely) they are not comfortable in. That said, there were quite a few people in my cohort who had been engineers in the past (maybe a different kind of engineer, but still), and so they hit the ground running and were clearly faster than the rest of us. I thought that everyone was going to be on the same page, but some of us were most definitely not. On the other hand, I certainly learned from pair-programming with them.

In general the on-campus experience was very positive. The first half of bootcamp, called "Junior phase", was all about absorbing tons of information (they called it "drinking from a firehouse") -- so the day would be full of lectures and labs (where you'd either work on it by yourself or with a partner, usually with a partner). Sometimes the lectures would be just 20 minutes long, but you'd have 3 or 4 interspersed throughout the day with labs in-between. You'd have a different partner each day so you really got to know people that way, plus it was good experience in pair-programming. We would have checkpoints (tests) each week, but they were take-home, and technically weren't graded, though actually your fellow (a recent grad who stays on to be like a TA) does grade you just to know how you're progressing. They do keep tabs carefully on each student, by the way, to make sure that everyone is on track and will be in good shape to get a job by the time the program is over. If for some reason you seem to be behind, they will let you know and try to assign you a remote tutor and give you some tips on how to study/survive bootcamp better. Anyways -- aside from the checkpoints, you also have two timed, in-class exams: the mid-term and the final (which is called the "senior checkpoint"). The mid-term (called "pillars") doesn't actually have any real consequences, it's just another way for them to gauge how you're doing. Senior checkpoint, though, is make-or-break. In that if you don't pass it you don't get to move on. Although I think recently they've offered a re-take option. There is also a final project that you do at the end of Jr phase. If your project and exam are up to par, then you move on. If not, you may be asked to either a) repeate Junior phase or b) leave.

I was asked to repeat Junior phase because my project wasn't quite there. I welcomed this opportunity, though it did end up costing me 3k more in the end. The pace during bootcamp is lightening speed, and I'm not necessarily to quickest learner, so I felt I needed more time. They rarely don't let people repeat, but it did happen in my cohort. 

The second phase is "senior phase", and that's all project work. This part was really fun. Stressful, because you have very limited time to do your projects, and on top of that you have to start worrying about career stuff, but it was still fun because it was so creative. You can think for yourself a lot more; it's less about grades. At that point they basically can't kick you out, either, so that is some aleviated stress! I really enjoyed senior phase. Career counseling was very good, I thought.

Once you leave the program, the (in my opinion) hardest part begins. Now you are no longer surrounded by others who are on the same journey as you (that is, you can be, but you have to make a big effort to get together with them). You don't have the support network and the encouragement of being on campus. You are at home. In front of your computer. Checking your email and LinkedIn obsessivley because you never know when you'll get that message that could lead to a job interview! I do not recommend going on vacation after bootcamp. You will lose your momentum. Stick it out, and keep going full steam ahead. That is what I did. I didn't apply to any jobs cold -- only went through friends, undergrad, and bootcamp networks, mostly through LinkedIn, and talked to people over the phone and over coffee from there. That sometimes led to a referral, which sometimes led to an interview. I've just accepted a job 2 months out of bootcamp, and the offer is good :) But it was a ton of work, probably just as much as bootcamp itself. 

In sum, I never would have gotten a job like this if it hadn't been for GH. So I am so grateful for that, and for the alumni network which I am now a part of. It has been very empowering to learn how to code. However, it was been a grueling journey, so don't go into this thinking it will be an easy way out. It is no cakewalk. It feels like a bootcamp. There were days when I could barely get myself to roll out of bed because I was so tired! It will take a lot of perseverance, but it can help you greatly improve your career, salary, and life. If Jess Bracht and Geoff Bass are still there, they are awesome. Get to know them.

Finally, the all-women's aspect definitely makes a difference. People would always comment on how the atmosphere on our floor was so friendly and convivial. It really does become like a sisterhood.

Best of luck!

Fullstack took me from having no knowledge of coding to being able to land a job as a software engineer. From starting prep courses in Nov 2018 to graduating in April 2019 to finishing my teaching fellowship in July 2019 Fullstack has been supportive, helpful, and a fantastic experience every step of the way. Before fullstack I was a directionless college grad saddened by my employment prospects. Now, I'm on my way to forging a promising, interesting, and rewarding career in a burgeoning new field. I would recommend to all with an interest in logical thinking, problem solving, and design, and who want an invigorating experience. 

My experience at Fullstack was amazing. Completing the course made me a more skilled & confident engineer. The instructors were great, knowledgeable and ready to help whenever you needed. The material we covered and the approach we took prepared me for my technical interviews. The help provided by the career success team was amazing. I will recommend Fullstack to anyone who is looking to improve or gain engineering skills. The people in my cohort were amazing and we all grew and learned together.

Attending to Fullstack Academy was the best decision of my life. I have found my true passion and gained a lot of valuable skills. Besides that, I also had the best friendships during my time at Fullstack.

I attended Fullstack from September to December in 2018 at Chicago Campus. Then, I was hired by Fullstack as a Teaching Fellow where I worked there for 3 months. About 2 months after the end of my fellowship, I found a job at my dream company, Google, as a Web Solutions Engineer.

Before Fullstack, I was a PhD student in Molecular Biology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I had interest to coding before; but it was always like a hobby. After I quit grad school, the best thing I know was coding (seriously, I didn’t have skills in any area besides biology) and I wanted to turn this hobby into a career. I looked at the best coding bootcamps around Chicago and Fullstack was one of the first ones that came up through my searches. I talked to many grads before convincing myself that this will worth the money. After the first week at Fullstack, I already knew it’s worth it!

Let me talk a little bit about specifics. Curriculum! There are tons of materials out there and other teaching methods where you can learn coding. Some of them are good for some students and some students might feel like a total loss amongst all these materials. The key point here is consistency. Fullstack has consistent track of success where graduates coming from different backgrounds who achieve at the end. And Fullstack has been doing this quite a while. Fullstack developed one of the best curriculums out there and they are constantly developing it to make it better. They adjust the curriculum based on the industry’s needs and these changes can be documented by the success of their graduates. Another thing is that they know the best how to teach that curriculum. So, instructors! Instructors in Chicago are really good! My instructors were Collin, Finn, and Ben and they were all amazing! Due to their technical work history, they know the ins and outs of the internet for a long time. When you ask a question outside of the curriculum, you see their expertise on many other topics. Besides their knowledge, they really care about the students. There were multiple times when an instructor helped us after hours or even during lunch sacrificing their free time. I will give a specific example: One time, we were debugging really hard and it was about 4:45. Collin was passing behind us, and we didn’t call for his help as it was late already. But he saw that we are struggling a lot and he offered help. Then, he helped us debug for about an hour straight. He was passionate about finding the bug (more like helping the students actually) and he found it at the end. Another thing I want to mention is job search and career development. Fullstack does not only teach you the skills you need but also teaches you how to present them in a best way while you are applying, at the interviews, after the interviews, at the offer stage, negotiating, and even accepting the offer (Sounds exciting, huh? You all will get there 😊 ). Chicago’s career success counselor, Holly, is great as she is super helpful. She helps you at every stage of your job hunt which is while you are at Fullstack and after you leave until you sign the offer. I think this is a really good opportunity for people like us who learned bunch of new skills recently but don’t know how exactly to present them. The last thing I want to talk about is Fullstack’s special way of teaching Data Structures and Algorithms. As you might already know, most of the big tech companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft asks a lot of data structures problems at the interviews. They are like the fundamentals of the computer science and these companies want to make sure you know them really well. Not all companies ask these questions and when they ask, they don’t ask as hard as the other bug ones. Fullstack teaches data structures really well at an introductory level. In junior phase, you got some data structures lectures to kick off. Every week, there is an optional meetup where you can study more of these kind of questions after school. And at senior phase, students have 1-hour morning session where they either learn a new data structure or an algorithm taught by an instructor or they are given a question to solve followed by explanations by teaching fellows. I think this is a great opportunity as you get to deal with these hard topics every day and after 6 weeks, they do accumulate. As I mentioned before, it is still like an introductory to data structures. It’s more than enough for most of the interviews. It is also a great start if you want to study more and try one of the big tech companies.  

Overall, my experience with Fullstack was excellent! I strongly recommend Fullstack to anyone who will be devoting their time and effort to become a Software Engineer. I know it’s not so simple but it’s doable with Fullstack.

I’m gonna try a Q&A interview style here.

Q. What were you doing before?

A. I majored in business for my undergrad degree. Worked in finance for several years, then joined a startup company doing marketing.

Q. How did you become interested in coding?

A. Throughout my career, and many of you will or already may have experienced is that companies are continuously trying to automate workflows. Who plays the crucial role? Developers! To even work as a project manager role, you can no longer be in the dark of all the technical side. I believed that it was a must-have-skillset.

Q. Why did you decide to go to Fullstack?

A. The coding bootcamp industry has been around for almost a decade already. Big companies are recognizing this and acquiring the bootcamps. It is no longer a matter of being a scam or not. We are in a very lucky era. We now can get a good job in a good cultured company without the degree. No matter what your age is or what academic or career background you come from, you still have another chance to make the transition. We ALL still have an opportunity to get back up and try something else! And thanks to coding bootcamps, it’s even easier.

That being said, like all schools and companies, there are top-tiered bootcamps right now. Since all the rankings and data are available online, I’m just going to share a personal opinion, or more like a word on the street from bootcamp grads. Before I say it, let me emphasize that this might be biased and is not a fact. It’s just what I’ve gathered from several people around me before deciding. The top bootcamps with the strongest alumni network were the following at the time: Fullstack Academy and HackReactor. So I only considered these two schools. The final decision was made corresponding to my personal circumstances (tuition, living cost, and location). I chose Fullstack’s Chicago campus.    

Q. What did you think about the curriculum / structure of Fullstack?

A. Junior Phase (6 weeks): I was really impressed with Fullstack’s learning platform. The topics you learn will be popular ones that you actually see on many real life job descriptions. You will experience solo labs and pair programming workshops everyday. Frankly, most of you will prefer solo labs, but thanks to the forced pair programming style Fullstack provides, you WILL get better. And you need to! Pair programming is a skillset that really does help coding and I’ve been asked a bunch of times on actual interviews what I thought about pair programming. FYI - junior phase is very very intense and fast-paced but don’t give up! You will get all the support and help needed.

Senior Phase (6 weeks): One thing I love about Fullstack’s senior phase is that you will have three projects out of this program that could be added on your portfolio and resume which is CRUCIAL during job hunt. An excellent part of Fullstack’s curriculum is that it gets you to be trained and disciplined on learning new libraries and frameworks on your own. You will have this experience and be amazed how much you have grown at the end. It’s just an amazing feeling.

Q. How are the instructors?

A. AMAZING! They really do care about you. They know you’ve come to the program very determined. So they take it very seriously, like a mission. They are very clear on explaining topics and very good on debugging your code as well. It’s like magic when you go up to them and ask for help. If you do get in to the program, learn and absorb from them as much as possible!

Q. How was career success support and the job hunt?

A. They have an amazing career success coach always at your service. She will well prepare you on your resume and cover letter. She is an action taker which is why the network with companies are growing rapidly in Chicago too. At the end of the program, you will have ‘launch day’ which is like a ‘career fair’ but you will be guaranteed to have a one-on-one conversation with the companies. This won’t guarantee you a job, but many did get jobs from this event. At worst, it gives you actual experience to practice interviewing.

Q. What do you think about our alumni community?

A. As mentioned earlier, the alumni network is one of the main reasons choosing Fullstack. See for yourself. Look up bootcamps on LinkedIn and see where the alums are currently working. Also, whenever I reached out to them personally and I’m not going to lie, not all of them but most of them do reply and are so willing to help you! I’m honestly very proud to be a Fullstack alum.

Q. How were your classmates?

A. As I mentioned, word on the street goes that Fullstack is considered a top-tier bootcamp. And I wasn’t the only one hearing about it. That’s why so many students apply and put Fullstack as their top choice. This leads to competition and the ones that do get accepted are the more prepared. As a result, your colleagues will not only be smart and intelligent but disciplined and persistent individuals. Most of all, I don’t know if this was intentional but somehow most students in Fullstack are generous and warm-hearted human beings. I made so many great friends here. This kind of environment is what keeps you motivated.

Q. Anything else you wanna say?

A. It seems like I’ve said a lot of good things. Am I biased? Absolutely. But that’s what Fullstack has done to me. I love it and so darn proud to be a part of it. Of course there’s always pros and cons, but I’m also adding my word on the street, Fullstack is definitely worth it.  

And just one more thing. Fullstack is great, but you yourself need to work hard! It's not going to be easy at all.. But do NOT give up. 

I could not be happier with my decision to attend the Grace Hopper Program at Fullstack Academy. In two weeks, I will be starting my first job as a Software Engineer, and I am tremendously grateful for the instructors, career success team, and wonderful peers that all helped me get where I am today. This curriculum truly synthesizes everything you need, and only what you need, to get up and running as a modern developer. As a person who has gone through traditional Computer Science education in the past, and struggled immensely, the education style at Fullstack / Grace Hopper emphasizes learning-by-doing in the most effective way. Most of all, the genuinely lifelong friendships and now massive professional network I gained here are nothing short of invaluable. As a cherry on top, the all-female learning environment, something I'd never experienced before, was a gorgeous community that championed validation, respect, and inclusivity. The culture here is not one of "if you're not good enough, you don't belong here," it's "we will do whatever it takes to help you succeed." This is everything I could have ever wanted in a computer science education and more — 100% worth the investment. My time at Grace Hopper was absolutely stellar and I cannot restate enough how grateful I am.

Fullstack was great! One of the best educational experiences of my life. The instructors are clear, approachable, and genuinely care about their students. It's hard to believe how much I learned in such a short period of time. (My background had nothing to do with comp sci.) I went in knowing only basic javascript, and some html/css, and came out knowing how to do fullstack development, with a greater understanding of the internet, and computer science fandmentals.

One of the main reasons I chose Fullstack was because of what I read about their career services. It delivered! Fullstack has many mechanisms in place designed to help students find employment post graduation. As a student you get training in computer science fundamentals (e.g., data structures, solving algorithms) that help you on the job hunt. And you also get paired with a remote career counselor who helps you refine your resume and behavioral interview persona. There are workshops to help with your pitch, resume, and strategies for a job hunt. And finally, at the end of your time as a student, Fullstack invites in a number of companies looking to hire students. In addition to all of this, career counselors are also very helpful with everything just mentioned and more. Career counselors put me in contact with Fullstack alum, sent me job postings they thought I'd be a good fit for, and were supportive throughout my job search. (Make sure to keep in contact with your career counselor throughout your search!)

I took the Bootcamp Prep in a Month course back in August to see what FullStack Academy was all about.  I had no real knowleged of JavaScript or coding beforhand.  This course taught me so much is so little time.  It gave me the foundations that I needed to know to better understand the Javascript language and it gave me the tools to pass the test to get into the Immersive Progame. 

The Prep in the month is fun, challenging at times, and the teachers are amazing.  I am very gladd I attended the course becuase I start FullStack Academy Immersive in Feb. 2019!  

Going to Fullstack in Chicago changed my life.  I went from zero technical ability (I was formally a chef), to employed at a great company as a full stack software engineer in less than a year.  

I actually struggled through the program in the beginning.  I had many resources available to help: teaching fellows, incredible instructors, supplemental material, and my fellow classmates.  The senior phase will give you exposure to working on agile teams, and you are going to get some great portfolio pieces. My only suggestion to the program would be to find a way to extend the time to work on the capstone project.  

The faculty is phenomenal in Chicago.  Ben, Priti, Collin, and Fin are all so knowledgeable and are obsessed with being quality educators.  They provide the most up to date curriculum - they continuously update lectures and workshops as needed.  Each one has his or her own passion for different aspects of development and a unique personality. Inevitably you will find one that suits your particular learning needs.  Together they could probably teach a really smart dog to code. All of their work is supplemented by the teaching fellows, who will spend as much time as you need going over concepts, code, and answering questions.  The atmosphere of learning is painstakingly iterated upon at all levels and it really shows.

You will need: a positive attitude, a growth mindset, and the ability to put in hard work to get through this program.  What you make of your time at Fullstack with be entirely up to you - don’t squander it. If you can become a teaching fellow DO IT.  That extra time spent teaching and leading the student agile teams will make you a better developer, give you perspective, and it will do wonders for your resume.  Being a fellow gives you extra time with the material, access to the faculty and staff, and you will be challenged every day to be confident in your technical knowledge and abilities.

The journey concludes with the job search.  This portion of the program is really different depending on the individual.  For me, it was a three month emotional rollercoaster resulting in a dream job.  Fullstack provides so many resources to help you land the right position. Again, it’s up to you to take advantage of these resources.   You get assigned a remote career counselor who will go over your resume and tease the professional out of you with practice interviews, and pitch reviews.  There are mock technical and behavioral interviews, alumni panels, workshops, sample resumes, cover letters, lectures on how to look for jobs, follow up, interview behavior, even how to write thank you notes and negotiate for a better salary.  Launch day gives you the opportunity to have several very real interviews, which at worst are great practice, and at best could result in continuing the interview process or even a job offer.

The most valuable resource, however, is Holly the career success counselor.  This woman will provide professional help on things like your emails, resumes, cover letters, how to word a LinkedIn message - literally anything that you need help on.  On top of that she is there to talk, vent to, or cheer you on or up depending on the situation. I could have never gotten through the job search without her. She was the one holding my hand the whole way.  In my previous career an interview involved showing up with a sharp knife - so clearly I needed a lot of guidance. The help she provided was invaluable.

Lastly, shout out to Bret for keeping the whole place together.