Fullstack Academy

On Attending a Software Development Bootcamp

Last fall, I made the decision to attend Fullstack Academy's 13-week Software Engineering Immersive course. Now almost six months after graduating, I feel confident in saying that it was a worthwhile investment. FSA is a constructive experience for people who are confident that they want to inhabit a technical position and benefit from structured, immersive education.

I wrote this to help people that are on the fence about enrolling in an in-person programming course. I start off by documenting the plan you should take to first validate your decision to enroll in one of these programs. Then if you've confirmed this is the path for you, I discuss the pros and cons of Fullstack Academy and why I feel it is a leader among coding bootcamps.

Preparation FSA

The high cost and time commitment of coding bootcamps should indicate that they are not something to do on a whim. In fact, when compared to traditional universities, their cost-to-time ratio is equivalent to several prestigious institutions. As with most things in life, you should first educate yourself on what these programs entail.

If you are considering making this move, there are three general steps you should take:

Get Advice from Past Graduates

Seek out people who have completed the course and gone on to work at companies similar to your interest. Simply peruse LinkedIn or AngerlList and you will probably find a number of these people. In my prep, I reached out to five former FSA students. Out of those five, four of them got back to me. I spoke with one on the phone for awhile and the three others wrote me lengthy, detailed opinions on their experience.

When making important life decisions like this I always feel it is best to speak with people who have been through the ringer. Learn from people who have been in your shoes, preparing to make that same decision. This is your chance to ask real people (not paid employees) things like:

- What did you get out of the course?
- Was it a manageable workload?
- Were the instructors helpful in learning the material?

These interactions were by far the best thing I could have done to help assure me that I was making the right decision.

Determine Your Path

By now you (hopefully) know that you want to take your career in a more technical direction, but maybe you are not sure how that desire will manifest itself. Sure, you can be a software developer, but maybe you are a creative with a greater appreciation of design? What about product management? A mathematics nut who would actually be better off exploring data science?

It turns out that a lot of people are interested in tech, but aren't actually passionate about development. And that is fine! Do yourself a favor and educate yourself on the different paths available to someone in this field. All of these alternative fields are growing and worthy pursuits of your time and there are bootcamps out there for almost all of these disciplines. It is reassuring to know that you explored all these possibilities before jumping into one in particular. Most of these fields are related in some capacity, but there is rarely significant overlap. It is much harder to move into a design role when you just spent 13 weeks investing your time in a development course. It's certainly not impossible, but that time/money might have been better spent on a UX bootcamp.

Start Learning

If you've made it this far, then you're pretty certain that the development path is for you. Excellent! Now get to work.

Preparation for the bootcamp needs to begin months in advance of the actual course. The quality schools necessitate that you come in with a solid grasp on the fundamentals of programming and the language that they teach. More importantly, the longer and more in-depth you prepare in advance, the more you will get out of the course material once you are on-site.

Here are some great resources to help you prepare for and supplement your journey:

- Computer Science Course Videos: Recently, several top institutions (MIT and Stanford among them) have been distributing their beginner CS course online for free. These are great starting points for the fundamentals.
- Free Code Camp: Learn to code with one of the most collaborative and resourceful online coding communities.
- The New Boston: A huge collection of free video tutorials on CS, web design, and more.
- You Don't Know JS: I am not one to recommend programming books, but this series is key if you intend to truly understand JavaScript from the compiler up.
- HackerRank/Codewars: Coding challenges of progressing difficulty to help you practice and level-up your programming chops.
- Functional Programming Exercises: Learn how to effectively use functional programming in JavaScript, an increasingly popular pattern.
- Team Treehouse/Code School/Codecademy: Although there are plenty of free options above, these paid services contain a great breadth and depth of courses covering most popular languages and concepts.

Here is what I love most about this step: once you have spent enough time learning, you are faced with a crucial question. Why do I need to attend a bootcamp when I have all of these free or lower cost options available to me?

The truth is, you don't...

I know several professional developers who have no formal background in development and learned everything they know from the abundance of online resources. It is definitely possible if you are disciplined and take a concerted approach to learning the right things in the correct manner.

Where I will say bootcamps differentiate themselves is in their ability to provide regimented learning and hands-on support. Most online options fall short in that area and it is exactly there where I see most people fall off the wagon in their attempt to take on learn independently. This is exactly why I chose to attend FSA. Being able to completely focus on learning and not worry about establishing my own curriculum was instrumental to streamlining my mental process throughout the course.

With these steps complete, we come to a final fork in the road. If you still think that the software development program will suit you best, keep on reading for my take on FSA.

The Pros

• Structured Learning: I alluded to this in the previous section, but I really cannot overstate this fact. Where FSA excels is in their ability to provide a regimented curriculum that logically progresses from CS fundamentals all the way to building a web application from the ground up. To aid in learning all of the concepts along the way, instructors present well-composed lectures that aid in students' understanding of how and why each step is important. If you are genuinely interested in the material, there will be nary a dull moment throughout the course.
• Applied Learning: Not only is the learning sequence logical, but applicable "modules" are provided at each step to cement your understanding of the concepts. Instead of simply just discussing theory, these modules have you actually implement what you are learning. There are two things I loved about this format:
  1. Each assignment had varying degrees of difficulty embedded in the module. Each one would cover the basics, but for those progressing at a faster rate, therewould be an advanced section to take you to the next level. This was never required, but super helpful in truly understanding the nature of what we were learning.
  2. These challenges were better than anything I generally come across on the web. Not only did they help you grasp the material you were learning, they aid your understanding of how the technology itself works. This afforded a deeper level of comprehension and truly was transformative for my thought process. No longer am I content with using a tool. It made me a better engineer by imparting a curiosity in how my tools worked so that I am better able to compare and leverage the ones out there.
• Guidance: As someone who rarely took advantage of office hours in college, this was instrumental for my learning. The teachers were all former software developers and had a strong grasp of the concepts being taught. Each cohort at FSA also has a group of previous graduates, known as fellows, who assist in the learning process. I liken them to graduate students at a college, mentoring undergraduates in the studies still fresh in their minds. Most importantly, there is rarely a time when you cannot seek the help of one of these people. The "always on" mindset of the staff was instrumental in my learning experience.
• Full Stack JavaScript: Most bootcamps offer a Ruby-focused curriculum. FSA and a few others focus on JavaScript. Having had the benefit of formerly working in the tech space, I was aware that the JavaScript language was blowing up. Between Node.js and the resurgence of ECMAScript standardization, it was clear that JavaScript was the language in which to invest. The TIOBE Index for programming languages is one of many reputable sources that shows compelling data behind this trend. Full stack JS also means less context switching, which in turn means more time to focus on learning the fundamentals. I really think this is the way to go moving forward.
• The Cost: To be clear, I am not saying that FSA, or any other coding bootcamp for that matter, is cheap. What I am suggesting is that when compared to most universities, it is cost competitive. Take a look at this chart to get a sense of what I mean. The cost of the FSA Software Engineering Immersive program is right on par with the University of Michigan's (my alma mater) annual tuition for out of state students. Of course this doesn't take grants, federal aid, and other educational loan programs into account, but it does suggest a comparative cost model. Not to mention that as a graduate of both programs, I strongly believe that most FSA graduates are better prepared for a real-world development job than many Computer Science Engineering graduates from UM.

The Cons

Fullstack Academy does not come without its flaws. A few things to note:

• FSA is a Lean Startup: Never forget that FSA is itself a "startup" of sorts. This means that it operates more like a business than it does an institution of higher learning. This is not inherently a bad thing, but it does mean that they try to minimize costs in non-essential areas. Like using free Slack accounts and buying second-rate monitors and cables. I don't think these are imperative to the learning experience, but do not expect to roll into a classroom with shiny new equipment and stand-up desks.
• Not everyone is a "Teacher": Let me start this one off by saying all the teachers were professionals and adequately educated on software development. Unfortunately — and this should not be surprising — being a good developer does not make you good at teaching. While FSA had their standout instructors, there were those that rambled and did not present well-structured lectures. Most made up for this inadequacy during informative one-on-one conversations, but some lectures added little value to the material.

Conclusion

Based on the above breakdown, I would say the positives of the FSA course far outweigh the negatives. I believe you would be a good candidate for the course if you:

- want to quickly ramp up your technical skills
- are confident that programming is your thing
- have done serious research and preparation

In short, FSA provides a concise, focused, and relevant curriculum to help you transition into the software development world. If you see yourself in this world, why not explore this possibility?

Overall the bootcamp was a great experience. Started with css/html culminating in a Javascript based working e-commerce website utilizing industry specific skills such as react and restApi. There were several instructors, 5 at the start. Two were amazing and 1 left after a short while and never replaced. The other two were quite unhelpful overall and it showed when no one would sign up for extra help with them. Overall, always room for improvement but it gave me the knowledge to gain a foothold in the industry and that's all I hoped for.

I want to start off by saying thank you to the entire Fullstack team for all the help that they've given me. Kim Wood is an extremely knowledgeable career coach and she helped me a ton when it came to my interview process. The instructors were extremely friendly and knowledgeable as well. A few things to consider if you're thinking about enrolling at Fullstack... Start studying for your Security+ ASAP and be prepared to study outside of class hours. My two goals when starting this course were to have Sec+ completed and a job lined up for when I graduated. Both of those goals have been accomplished, I actually got my job offer 3 days before graduation! I know most everyone who reads these reviews wants to know whether or not they will get a job and I'm confident to say that if I can do it, anyone can do it. The only downside I can think of with this bootcamp would be that my cohort was over 70 students which made it a bit tough to get 1 on 1 time with the instructors and to have your personal questions answered. However, there are mentors in the cohorts in which they provide outside class office hours that you can attend to ask any questions if you can spare any time outside the course itself. Lastly, start focusing on LinkedIn and building connections. This is how I found out, applied and got my job so I cannot stress enough how important LinkedIn is. Also, NO I did NOT have prior tech/cybersecurity experience before this bootcamp either. I started from scratch!

Nobody wants to hire anyone in my class and I'm not surprised.. This class was incredibly rushed and It seemed like the instructor had zero to negative energy when teaching. Nobody wants to hire a fresh cyber security apprentice with no real experience.. But these people make it seem like this "bootcamp" is the way to get to it. Anytime we had intricate questions we were met with the usual "if you want to learn It you have to spend time outside of class learning it" 👍 
I would of left a decent review if I had paid 1/10 of what I did. But since I paid what I did.... I can attest this is 100% not worth it. Everything you "get" with this class, you're able to get on the internet for free. Starting with VirtualBox. 

My overall Experience with Fullstack was very good. The Instructor I had Stephen Mathews was great at communicating the material in a way we could understand and input his real life experience in the field. The Cyber mentor Dawon Han was excellent at being flexible whenever you needed help. She was an excellent mentor and aid. Finally my Career coach Kim Wood was very Instrumental in my locking in a job 5 months after the bootcamp. She helped tailor my resume, LinkedIn, and gave me Networking Strategies and always held me accountable and pushing me to achieve my goal. Any question I had, she was proactive at getting back to me in a timely manner and to help me succeed. 

Prior to becoming a student at Fullstack Academy I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical, but I gave it a shot and it changed my life.  I came into Fullstack Academy with absolutely ZERO experience in cyber and tech in general. But that did not matter as the Bootcamp can take you from, as some would say, "Zero to Hero". To put your minds at ease for those contemplating attending the Bootcamp; no, I was not very tech savvy nor is there MATH involved. There, better?  The instructors are awesome and VERY knowledgeable.There are also assistant instructors who are available whenever to help and assist you with any assignments and provide the clarity you may need. USE THEM, they were students prior to being assistants. They were in your shoes. Job assistance. What you're here for....When it comes to job assistance there is a Career Coach who is there to help with your resume, work on your elevator pitch, work on how to answer interview questions, and work on how to network with people via LinkedIn/Social Events. (Shout-out to Dezzi, she's awesome!) Fullstack Academy does offer an event where you have a chance to network with people who are already in the field and work for already established/start-up companies. The Bootcamp doesn't necessarily host a Job Fair where you meet recruiters, and you get hired on the spot. (Things may have changed since I graduated a year ago).  Now, DO NOT LET THAT DISCOURAGE YOU. Fullstack Academy has a HUGE alumni network. You can find people who work for well-known companies and start-ups in various industries and connect with them to potentially refer you to a job posting, invite you to events, or direct you to the company/person that can help/hire you. From my experience, the people in the cyber community are extremely helpful and willing to help you. Put yourself out there, network, and smile.  There is nothing to fear. Take the leap. You miss 100% of shots you don’t take. *!!LinkedIn is your best friend!!*

Fullstack Academy's Data Analyst Training Accelerator (DATA) program was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn data analytics and get to know a whole network of data professionals. Class was engaging and supportive; the instructors are paired well in terms of teaching style and my classmates were helpful and collaborative. The topics covered by this program are highly relevant in data analytics, and my presentation and speaking skills constantly improved. In my job search, I sought out additional support while interviewing, which was immensely helpful. 

Areas of growth: the readings in the modules could use proofreading and fact-checking. The associated challenge questions also needed proofreading and the short-answer questions were usually a rewording of the reading material, and did not necessarily encourage critical thinking. Particularly with the SQL challenges, students were asked to write hypothetical SQL code pertaining to a non-existent database, making it difficult for students to check their work. 
In response to student feedback, instructors did provide alternative challenges that were more engaging.

The Fullstack Academy Cybersecurity Analyst Bootcamp was intense and yet, by far, the best learning experience I have ever had.  The leaders and instructors were always available, willing to stay a few minutes after class to ensure a complete understanding of the material provided and how well we comprehended and applied all the principles of the lessons.  Lastly, I truly feel gaining an offer letter recently was highly due to having completed this Bootcamp.  Thank you Fullstack Academy for allowing me to have a professional learning experience that I will never forget. R/ Carey 

I felt challenged and empowered by the full-time data analytics bootcamp program at Fullstack Academy. The instructors are knowledgeable and the lead instructor imparted helpful advice from their extensive professional experiences. The student success manager and career coach were empathetic listeners and overall, kind people. I felt supported by the team in my education and post-graduation job search.
An area of improvement is the curriculum. The modules are easy and at times, redundant. The "challenges" at the end of each module often asked me to regurgitate the modules and did not add value to my learning. The curriculum was thankfully supplemented by challenges provided by the instructors.

Fullstack Academy gave me the tools, experience, and knowledge I needed to unlock a world of potential in the cybersecurity field. 

Joshua Mann and Kara Medema were the most patient instructors I have ever met, they had an answer to everything I could imagine. Dillon Daniels and Evan Haberman were excellent mentors and offered top-notch education support and resources. 

Kim Wood my career coach and wonderful advisor in this journey taught me exactly how to write a resume, cover letter, what skills I needed, how to understand my past experiences, and leverage those soft skills to show I am a team player and contributor to organizational goals. She was there for me at all hours of the day and night when I needed her to look at a cover letter, analyze my resume for the applicant tracking system, or coach me on how to beat the ATS. Most importantly, she taught me how to network, when to network and why to network. Fullstack students and alumni, Kim will be your greatest battle buddy before your graduation and especially post-graduation. Talk to her regularly, connect with her and you will reap the benefits of her experience and knowledge. 

Words cannot describe the experience at Fullstack Academy; all experience is positive.

I had a great learning experience at Fullstack Academy in Offensive and Defensive knowledge. The instructors are very knowledgeable Security Analysts with prior work experience in Cybersecurity. Some are in Offensive and some are in Defensive. We were taught everything from AWS, Linux, Splunk, Burpsuite, Wireshark, Nessus, and so on. The list goes on. They prepare students for the CompTIA Security+ as well as the CompTIA CySA+. 

I want to thank Kim Wood, the Cybersecurity Career Success Manager as well as Lesia Harhaj-Kudryk, the Director of Career Success for their full support during this job hunting journey. They were both equally highly had motivated me to not give up and be confident to look for a job. Their mock interviews, behavioral interviews, and career coaching had helped me tremendously. 

Thank you so much.