Fullstack Academy

I had such a great experience at Fullstack that I just had to leave a comment.

Before Fullstack
Like many students that went through Fullstack, I came from an entirely different career path (Civil Engineering) non-related to programming. After mustering the courage to make a career change, I did my research on how I could best transition to a new career in programming and came across programming bootcamps. 

I was very skeptical at first because these bootcamps offered short programs (ranging between 3-6 months) for a substantial amount of money (~$12000 - $15000). Furthermore, there were also a lot of bootcamps available, so it was tough deciding which one was right for me. I dug deeper and reached out to graduates from many bootcamps such as Fullstack Academy, Flatiron School and DEV Bootcamp. To me, I found the most responsive people were the ones from Fullstack. Some of the major questions that I asked them were:

1.    How quickly were they able to find jobs after graduating?
2.    Did they feel like they were ready for the workforce after completing the program?
3.    Did they feel like their experience was worth the time and money?

I've received very positive feedback. The students I've spoken with had many interviews lined up the week after Fullstack and most found jobs ranging between 2 weeks to 2 months. Even more surprisingly, they all stated that they loved their experience at Fullstack and some have even mentioned that "it was the best career decision they've made in their life".

During Fullstack
As the program is split into 3 parts: 6 weeks of lectures/workshops (Junior Phase), 1 week for break, and 6 weeks for project phase (Senior Phase). 

In the first 6 weeks, we had our work cut out for us. Although the workload was heavy, I felt that Fullstack did a great job scheduling and planning it in a way where the material didn't seem too rushed. We spent a lot of our time learning from JavaScript Fundamentals, Data Structures and Algorithms, Server Side JS (Node, Express), databases (MongoDB, some SQL), Front End Js (Angular), Promises, OAUTH and the list continues... What I loved most about my experience in the junior phase was that all the workshops were done in pairs. This taught me how to adapt to other people's coding styles, which will be very common in the work force. It also taught me how to code as part of a team, which can be very different than if you were to code individually. By the end of the junior phase I would have worked with most people at least once, which made it very comfortable working in groups leading into the Senior Phase.

In the last 6 weeks, this was entirely project based. There was a lot less hand holding from the teaching staff, which gave teams the freedom of how to complete their projects and divide up their work. It was in this phase where I learned the most because I started to see how the entire tech stack fell in place, and what I learned from the first 6 weeks started to make a lot more sense. However, this only came through hours of hard work and debugging which is the learning process all students inevitably will go through. The teaching staff and teaching assistants (Fellows) were very quick in providing help when you are completely stuck with a problem, and did a great job in guiding you towards a solution rather than just simply telling you what to do. Also during this phase, Fullstack helps with your career preparation such as resume building, cleaning up your LinkedIn and Github Profile, interview preparation, whiteboarding sessions, as well as providing a hiring day where many companies come out to see your capstone projects and interview with you. Shanna, who led all this career preparation, has been extremely approachable for career-related questions or advice that I had.  

After Fullstack
After graduating, I was fortunate enough to land many interviews within my first week out, some of which came from the hiring day event. Even more fortunately, I accepted a job offer within 3 weeks of graduating. A large part of this success I owe to Fullstack's continued help in which they called "Fullstack Flight". Shanna was integral in helping us by providing us resources for preparing for interviews with coding challenges, and questions, networking and job application advice, and being accessible whenever we had any questions, even when it came down to salary negotiation! 

As a side note, Fullstack does an excellent job creating a friendly, personal and down-to-Earth environment from planning weekly events for people to mingle, mentor groups and more. From the Fullstack staff to students, everyone was extremely friendly and open to conversation. I never had any difficulty reaching out to anyone for coding help, not even David or Nimit given their busy schedule managing Fullstack. I personally feel that it was because of this aspect of Fullstack that turned it from a good experience to an amazing one. A million thanks to the entire Fullstack team!

In short: one of the best decisions you can make for your career (with a few caveats)

Pros: World-Class instructors, great workspace, in NYC, good amount of personalized attention, GREAT quality of fellow classmates,  High Job Placement rate 97% (I, myself, have found a job as a developer with a higher salary than I ever thought possible), and an average salary that is quite high at 70-80k

Cons: The only major con I can think of would be cons at all bootcamps...There is generally such a wide array of programming abilities coming in that it is difficult for the courseload to be appropriate for all of the students.  We had students come in with five years of work experience, students with Computer Science degrees from Princeton, and students who have been programming since they were very young.  On the other hand, individuals like myself came in with virtually no programming background.  When catering to a class of 20+ students, it is difficult to teach the course at a speed that is appropriate for the majority.  Essentially, I felt like this course was like drinking water from a firehose, whereas some students felt that the curriculum was moving a little bit too slowly.  The only con that pertains to Fullstack Academy alone is the fact that the majority of the jobs that you will be qualified for at the end of the bootcamp are going to be FRONT-end roles. The irony that Fullstack Academy places the majority of their engineers in non Fullstack roles is not lost on me.

 

THINGS TO KNOW :

To be adequately prepared for the bootcamp I reccommend that you do the following before you even APPLY: finish codecademy's course on JavaScript, API Calls, and jQuery; read eloquent javascript cover to cover; finish the codeschool AngularJS course; and get to a level where you can complete difficult programming problems that include recursion etc.....this will accomplish two things, first it will solidify that programming is really the type of thing that you want for a career, and it will get you to a point where you feel comfortable with the ins and outs of programming.

Finally, after the course is over, you are going to have to put in A LOT of work on your own.  Bootcamps really only get you to a solid starting point.  Read various JavaScript PDFs and take supplementary courses online.  After a month or two, you will definitely be at the point where you can interview for Developer roles.

Next, the career counseling is definitely improving, but the majority of the work is going to be done on your own.  A few students do get opportunities from Fullstack Academy's hiring day...and others through reccommendations from Fullstack staff... but the majority need to go out, network, attend career days, attend information sessions, and generally work their butts off to get a job.

As opposed to the majority of students who attended Fullstack Academy; I arrived with a CS degree and a couple of years work experience under my belt.  Even so, Fullstack was a great decision for me.  The greatest assets were definitely the people and the environment.  

  First of all, the lead instructors David and Nimit are the smartest engineers I have ever met.  They were not only capable of solving any issue that I encountered but were also entirely able to communicate the issue and solution to me in ways that I could understand.  While this means that I was able to complete projects with extremely experienced mentors, it also meant that students with more experience were able to gain just as much if not more from Fullstack than the students entering with less knowledge.   Second, with all of the students arriving eager to learn, there is an environment of curiosity and exploration that doesn't exist almost anywhere else.  The students are gaining the technical skills necessary to understand and use some of the newest and coolest technologies while at the same time, they have yet to become jaded and dismissive of emerging technologies.     Fullstack increased my value to prospective companies and made me a better and more curious coder.  My only issue, is that I cannot attend again.   Thank you David and Nimit! 

In one sentence: 

The best career move I have ever made.

 

In many more sentences: 

********* Back Story. You can skip this if you just want to get right to the meat ***********

Before attending Fullstack Academy, I had VERY little knowledge of web development, coding, or javascript.  I had recently finished up a degree in Psychology and planned to move further down that career path.  But, it just wasn’t the right thing for me, so I started feeling around for other fields that interested me more. 

 

I began taking some online courses to learn HTML and CSS and enjoyed them.  It was fun to be able to create something from scratch purely on my own.  Then, I started to get into javascript as a way to make my pages a bit more interactive, but quickly realized that trying to teach yourself Javascript or coding in general is a very difficult task.  There are so many rules and syntactical nuances to follow that it can become a very frustrating process very quickly.  So, I started to look into schooling for web development.

 

There were several options: I could get a bachelors from a University in Computer Science, but felt that that may be a bit to broad. I could get a web-development certificate from a trade school, but those are for-profit schools and cost far too much. Plus, both of those options take two years to complete, and I didn’t want to take that much time.  So, I came across the concept of a coding bootcamp.  I loved the idea.  It’s fast, it’s intense, and it costs less. So, I began researching schools.

 

Most bootcamps offer training in Ruby, but very few offered a Fullstack Javascript experience which is what I was looking for.  Javascript is taking on a whole new role in the development community with newer front end frameworks and powerful new backend frameworks for Javascript allowing for use of Javascript in the entire stack. Of the few schools that I found with a Javascript focus, Fullstack Academy felt the most professional, comprehensive, and well-structured. So, I went for it.  I applied, was contacted, did an interview, and was accepted.  Even though I didn’t have prior experience, they could tell that I had a desire and a passion to learn and I was accepted.  I’m extremely grateful that they chose to take a chance on me.

 

************************** The Meat of the Review ***************************************************

I loved the structure of Fullstack Academy.  Before you get to school, you have a one month introductory course to Javascript.  This was invaluable for me.  I couldn’t have lasted in the bootcamp without putting my full attention into the Foundations work.  This brought me up to speed and helped me to be ready for the deep dive that I would get once I got to New York.  

 

The school experience itself was amazing. Full stack is located about 10 seconds from Wall Street in Lower Manhattan.  The space that they have got is great.  It’s large enough to teach 30-40 students at a time in two groups.  The instructors were amazing. David and Nimit are very good at what they do and are extremely helpful and interactive teachers.  In addition to them, there are several other instructors and fellows that are there to give lectures and workshops and to answer questions. 

 

**** First 6 weeks of the program *****

A typical day at school went something like this. Show up at about 9:00am and start working on a javascript exercise to get yourself going for the day. The first lecture would begin at 10:00.  It would last for about an hour or two and would introduce a new concept for the day. We would then be assigned partners and would spend several hours working on a workshop which applies the concept from the morning lecture.  Then, halfway through the day, we would have a mini-lecture which would allow us to discuss issues we were having in the workshop and ask questions.  Then we would go back out and finish up the workshop for the next several hours.  Then, at the end of the day, we would have a final lecture that would review the concepts from the morning lecture, go over the workshop and the proper way to complete it, and allow us to ask questions and discuss the concepts.  (This repetition of concepts and the ability to apply the principles in workshops every day really embedded the knowledge into me rather than just getting theory and lecture all day.)  This finished up around 6:00pm.  Then, you can leave if you would like to, but I found that many people stayed until 10:00 or 11:00 just working on tutorials or reviewing the workshop, or preparing for the following day. 

 

***** Last 6 weeks of the program *****

The last 6 weeks of the program are devoted to projects.  This is where the majority of the learning takes place.  You build a personal project and a group project.  I found that we would spend upwards of 15 hours per day just working on projects.  I learned so much during this phase because I had to take all that I had learned in workshops and lectures and piece it together into one cohesive project.  I had to go back and review concepts so that I could implement them in my project.  The application of principles in a real life setting is what made this phase so productive and I loved it.  The instructors are always available for questions if you run into a road block on your project, but they are very good at helping you assess the problem for yourself and then helping you find the answers to the problem.

 

Overall, the curriculum and the way that it is taught is very well thought out.  The atmosphere was warm and allowed for asking questions and for collaborating with fellow students. It was the perfect intense learning environment.  But, I have to say that it was VERY challenging.  The rate at which you must learn and acquire concept after concept after concept is unlike anything I have ever done before. It was so much information so fast that my mind hurt at the end of every day.  But honestly, I would have expected nothing else.  I got exactly what I paid for; a ton of knowledge very quickly.

 

*********** Post Program **************

So, then the program ended and I got home… Now is the real test of how effective the program was. I am from Utah, so I didn’t move to an area that is as great of a tech hub as San Francisco or New York.  Fullstack was still great at helping me to prepare myself for a job by cleaning up my LinkedIn, preparing a resume, helping prepare for interview questions, and so on.  They also hooked me up with anyone that they knew in Utah who would be helpful in finding a job.  

 

I have been home from the program for two months now and have been actively looking for a job for about a month of it.  Many places told me that they wanted someone with more experience, but all were impressed with the amount that I knew considering that I was so new to the whole development world.  But, several companies offered first and even second interviews and offers.  I am glad to say that I have now landed a job that is going to be extremely fun and rewarding and pays almost double what I was making just three months ago.  I am so happy to have done this program and now that I have a job, I know that it was a good decision and was a great investment.  I’m in a field that I love and have an entire career ahead of me to keep learning, but Fullstack was the foundation that I needed.  It would have taken me years of self-instruction or other schooling to get where I am now.  I’m glad that I did it and I would recommend it to anyone. 

I'd like to start out by saying FullStack Javascript is awesome, and attending Fullstack was the best decision I've made in both my professional career and my education. My investment in the program is paying dividends and I have been expanding upon the foundation built during those 12 weeks every day since April. It might sound like I'm blowing smoke here but seriously, I'm not.

Motivation
My lifelong interest has been learning about useful, versatile and in-demand technologies. What I had failed to do was to devote myself to a computer language, or any formal technical skill, and gain a level of fluency to build things.

Prior to Fullstack, a significant portion of my career was spent working in a Unix environment, but I wanted to build applications to solve real world problems. I attempted to learn some basic scripting by using resources on the web, but I needed a more formal experience to really start making compelling apps. 

After surveying technical bootcamps I came to the conclusion the best curriculum for me would be Fullstack Javascript. Node.js can be used in a wide variety of applications, and I would be able to use the same JavaScript knowledge in the browser to build web applications. Since Fullstack Academy was a pioneer of the immersive Fullstack JavaScript curriculum in New York, my decision was clear. 

During the admission process I completed a multi-question technical challenge in Python, and an in person technical interview with Fullstack Co-Founder Nimit Maru. When I was accepted into the program I was ecstatic, which made the awkward process of leaving my comfortable job, and my colleagues, a little less painful.
 
Experience
Fullstack set me up with 100 hours of preparatory work before day 1. This work was focused on javascript and DOM fundamentals. On the first day it was clear I was joining a diverse and intelligent group of students along with some very technically savvy, and friendly instructors. For the first 7 weeks of the program I spent 10-12 hours a day working on my Javascript fundamentals, while building apps with Mongo, Express, Angular, Node.js, HTML5, and CSS3.

Each day we started with JavaScript challenges, then transitioned into modular lectures. The lectures were jammed with valuable information, they were recorded, and I am glad I still have access to them for review. At the conclusion of the lecture we would break into groups and work with the components or javascript libraries that were introduced. Each day built upon the last, and every Friday I felt I needed another day of work to assimilate everything and complete my mental model of the concepts.

The best part of the program is that everyone, including the instructors, are engaging in the learning process together. When one person is struggling with a technical problem or a bug, they feel bad. Once they realize fifteen other people are stuck on the same issue, the frustration turns into constructive problem solving and learning.
 
Results
I completed FullStack academy in July 2014. My group project, which comprised the final four weeks of the program, was the development ofhttp://postermuseum.com, which I completed with a fellow Fullstack student. 

Since Fullstack I've worked on numerous development projects. My skills feel more relevant and well rounded than ever. I've had a steady stream of very compelling jobs, and I've been working nearly 7 days a week to keep up with the workload. My earning potential has increased substantially, but most importantly, I'm finally doing work that I truly enjoy. I don't feel trapped in a job anymore, and I feel like I have options to work on exciting projects, and in any industry I choose. 

Thank you Fullstack Academy - you changed my life.

I first realized that I had a passion for coding when working with Excel macros as a Business Analyst. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I had no idea that I could actually pursue a career change into the development field. I figured that most professional developers had been coding since childhood and that companies wouldn't hire someone with little to no experience. This all changed when I came across the hot new trend in the development world: immersive software bootcamps.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn about these programs that help non-developers become developers. While I was intrigued by the bootcamps, I felt that the price tags were quite steep, and figured that I would be able to teach myself. I then spent my days working full-time and nights studying as much as I could, but quickly realized that while I was making progress with my studies, it would take forever to learn enough to apply for a job. Although I was concerned that these bootcamps seemed "too good to be true," I was eager to learn more about them, and decided to apply to a few in NYC. I also relished the challenge of putting my new coding skills to test throughout the competitive admissions processes :-P.

Upon being accepted to Fullstack Academy, Nimit reached out to me and spent over an hour answering my questions and addressing any concerns I had. He was extremely candid and helped me assess the pros and cons of attending a bootcamp vs. continuing to learn on my own. I was very impressed with Nimit's patience throughout the conversation as well as the lack of any "sales pitch." After our call, I reached out to some Fullstack alumni to gain students' perspectives and was blown away by the overwhelming praise of Nimit and David. Every single student recommended Fullstack and many claimed that enrolling there was the best decision of their lives.

Fast forward six months and I couldn't agree more. As an employed software developer at an exciting company in NYC (I got a job less than 2 weeks after my program ended), it's hard to imagine that I was struggling to find time to learn the basics of coding only a few months ago. Although I felt that I was capable of learning on my own, there was simply so much to learn and not enough time in the day to view a career change as anything more than a distant possibility. I'm still amazed at how much I've learned and how far I've come in such a short amount of time, and I can say without a doubt that I have Fullstack to thank. I know that all my classmates feel the same way about their experiences as well.

Fullstack offers a unique learning environment that combines a rigorous and challenging hands-on curriculum with a driven, intelligent, and collaborative student body. The pace is quick and intense but also fun and exciting. Nimit, David, and the TAs are all wonderful teachers and always eager to help with any challenges/bugs that students encounter. They care deeply about their students and you can see their enthusiasm and joy as they're teaching. 

I highly recommend Fullstack Academy for anyone considering a bootcamp. The excellent curriculum, mentorship and guidance of Nimit/David/TAs, and great friends (and professional contacts) you make throughout the program are truly unique. My time there was easily the most intellectually stimulating and rewarding three months of my life, and I couldn't have asked for more.

I graduated from the summer 2014 class at Fullstack and I am now working there as a Teaching Fellow. Based on my time here I can confidently say that if you want to quickly learn the skills needed to become a professional software developer, Fullstack Academy is the best resource you will find.

The program is a unique combination of guided workshops, group and individual projects (in which you build your own apps). This provides just the right combination of fundamentals and practical skills training.

Having also gone through traditional academic channels (undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees from Columbia University), I found this approach much more efficient than that of a typical degree program. Fullstack's approach and exceptional staff were essential to rapidly learning the skills that matter in a job as a developer.

A year ago, I was laid off from my previous job not under the best circumstances and now I am working as a Software Engineer at a promising startup making more than twice the amount I did at my previous job. I would say that qualifies as having a pretty good year and a lot of it is due to Fullstack Academy.

After my layoff,  I knew that I wanted to get into tech and learn coding so I tried to teach it to myself using tools like CodeAcademy, CodeSchool, TreeHouse, various tutorials I found here and there. But I knew that I needed a bit of guidance because the biggest thing holding me back was that I didn't know what I didn't know.

To be honest, I got accepted into quite a few bootcamps including DevBootcamp, General Assembly, and App Academy and the only reason I chose Fullstack was that it started the earliest and I figured the earlier I joined the earlier I would get a job. But I am lucky that I did. Fullstack Academy was great in guiding me and helping me learn the basics of Web Development. And it was truly an environment where you got out as much as you put in.

And I would like to think I put in quite a few hours (I spent close to 80 hours a week at Fullstack) and I learned more than I ever did in a span of 12 weeks. And the best part about it was that I was learning by doing. 

I agree with everything that the glowing reviews have said here about David and Nimit. Nimit is probably the most patient human being I've ever seen when dealing with sleepless-crazed people trying to learn to code, while David is one of the most skilled debuggers and knowledgable fullstack developer that I've met. They genuinely care about your success and how to make your experience the best.

But the thing with any of these bootcamps is really the amount of effort you keep exerting after you leave Fullstack. It's been about 5 months since I've left Fullstack and I would say I am probably lightyears better as a developer than I was then. But I really can't say that I would not get to where I am without the jolt star that Fullstack gave me.

I also wrote a much longer review about Fullstack in my blog, if you care to read:superjisan.org/devblog/m…

During my coding bootcamp search, my main goals were to become extremely proficient in programming, learn from great mentors, and land a great job once I was done. I'll assess my experience based on these three criteria.

Coding

Thanks to Fullstack, I can now have an intelligent conversation about the pros and cons of SQL vs. NoSQL databases, explain what $watch and $digest are in AngularJS, build apps from scratch, and show you how to do three-way data binding with AngularJS and Firebase. I have a Github repo full of code that I can explain, and projects that I was able to show employers during interiews. I definitely felt like I got my money's worth here.

Mentors

David and Nimit, the co-founders, have pretty impressive backgrounds. David was a former early employee at Gilt Groupe & RecycleBank. Both worked at Yahoo! together (and have the stories to prove it). Nimit was the co-founder of Bloomspot (acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase in 2010), and a Wharton grad. I didn't just want to learn from someone who was good at teaching, I also wanted to learn from someone who has been in and understands the startup world. They did -- they made the coding real by peppering in stories about how things were done at Gilt, Bloomspot, etc.

Job Prospects

The market is extremely hot for developers. The 2 weeks after graduating, I ended up having about 6 to 8 interviews, and ended up landing a position at a great startup which I am loving.

If you are serious about becoming a professional developer, I'd highly recommend attending Fullstack. If interested, I wrote a a more extended review on my blog here.

Prior to attending FullStack, I spent over a year and a half learning web development independently through the usual suspects of free and paid online channels. However, despite all the invested time, I still felt woefully unprepared to move beyond 'hobbyist' mode and into production-grade development. I applied to FullStack with that intention -- to become a professional grade developer and synthesize all the concepts I had learned online and in my undergrad electrical engineering days (many many many moons ago). It's a big investment of time and money, but well worth it -- in saved opportunity cost (of not having to learn concepts in isolation), high quality of instruction (the lead instructors are fantastic!), and network of other students. I came into the school with a decent amount of prior experience compared to some of the other students, and still felt that I couldn't learn enough. You learn things that there is no way you could learn on your own -- the latest technologies, deployment, working with other developers in a simulated production environment. Plus, you have a whole classroom of potential hackathon partners! You basically learn how to learn, and once you have a solid foundation of web development principles, you're on the path after graduation to continue to learn on your own and find a job, which many of my fellow students did quite quickly post-graduation. I highly recommend FullStack (and learning to code in general!) to anyone -- it will pay off in spades in any field you are currently in or decide to enter in the future.

I attended Fullstack in the beginning of 2014, and after my experience, I truly believe that Fullstack Academy is the fastest and most effective way to learn to code today. Your learning is accelerated by great teaching/teachers, but also by a great program design and structure, which includes plenty of struggling, helping and getting helped by 20 other students with same goal: to learn how to be a competent developer fast. I know that acquiring the same knowledge would have taken at least 5X longer without Fullstack, if not more. 

And besides the technical stuff, I had a blast for almost the entire three months, including making connections with really smart people that will definitely serve me well throughout much of my lifetime.