App Academy

I joined App Academy with no prior coding experience and I believe that I came out with a solid understanding of web development. The program was no small feat and you definitely need to put in the work, but for as little as just 4 months of your time,... Read More it was for sure worth it! Probably the biggest skill that I've learned early on in the program was how to use the debugger. This allowed me to debug my code as well as other people's code and figure out what every single line of code is doing. Definitely a great tool for beginners if they want strong fundamentals and a better understanding of the code that they write.

Pros: 3 different complete projects. Each one significantly different from the other. Two are fullstack apps, one using MERN and the other Ruby on Rails. The last is a frontend only javascript app. 2 languages. You learn basics of programming in ruby... Read More and then switch in the middle to javascript. You are forced to learn a new language in a short amount of time which I can attest is very helpful in the real world. Cons: Staffing issues, students are finding jobs and the teacher positions can't compete.

App Academy has team of instructors who give lectures on SW topics and help with projects. These instructors and the job search coaches are recent graduates from AA who are also doing their own job search. The projects were fun to work on and helped me... Read More put into practice the knowledge and skills that I was gaining from the curriculum and from working with other peers. AA makes sure you adhere to deadlines and stay on top of your projects and job search. This bootcamp is useful if you need some extra encouragement and direction in software engineering. On the curriculum: You will learn Ruby, Ruby on Rails, SQL, Active Record, JavaScript, React and Redux. There is very little on CS topics and ultimately when you finish the curriculum, they tell you to go back and study data structures and algorithms on your own and via LeetCode because that is what companies will interview you on. There is an assessment almost every week for the first 2 months and will have very thorough practice tests and some will just be a simple practice test. Instructors will tell you to do each practice test at least 10x over the weekend and the assessments are mostly memorization of material. Every night there is homework to do each night to prep you for the project you will do pair programming with the next day. The quality of this material can vary greatly from topic to topic. Post curriculum: Once you finish the 16-week curriculum, you have to do 3 projects (JavaScript, Fullstack and MERN, with MERN being a group project) which will become your portfolio projects. Once these are done, their job search team will guide you through the process of making job search materials. This will includes resume, cover letter, portfolio website, creating GitHub, LinkedIn and AngelList profiles, and how to give a personal pitch. So far I have received wonderful feedback from coaches (also past graduates). For those who are good at self study, you probably won't need AA because their curriculum is the same as their free online curriculum, or other free resources online. Communication with their team can be disorganized as they don't have a consistent platform to share information (including what is expected of each student). There were a couple things that caught us off guard and was a bit frustrating: * We were initially told passing scores for assessments are 50% but once you start, they tell you its 85% * They do not use Slack Premium, so you will not be able to look at communication that is over 1 week old * Deadlines for various tasks may be given in Zoom chats, Slack or verbally (inconsistent) - It would have been best if they used email * They have a bot that emails nightly with information needed but they are not updated - often we received deadlines for previous cohorts * All marketing says it's a 16-week program but after the 16-weeks, they begin the job search period which you are still required to attend for at least the first couple weeks after graduation, meaning you can't make vacation plans, this should have been better communicated prior to signing onto bootcamp Ultimately, it depends on what you want to get out of a bootcamp. They provide a set curriculum and structure for those who need it, which I like to have. I really enjoyed meeting people from a very diverse collection of backgrounds and learning from each of them. I also had a lot of fun using the knowledge learned to do the final projects. Since instructors are past grads, there is quite a bit of turnover and I think each cohort's experience will vary greatly depending on the team of instructors. It's a very good start for anyone who doesn't have a technical background and doesn't know how to start, or what materials to study on their own.

As someone with zero background with software engineering / coding, I thoroughly enjoyed and learned a lot from their well-crafted curriculum. The course is quite rigorous, and the instructors are super attentive. Everybody is super welcoming and willing... Read More to help one another out - instructors and students alike. I look forward to the job search and applying the skills that I have acquired over the last few months.

The last couple of months have been life changing. The program is intense, but the instructional staff provides great support. I didn't have a lot of prior experience in programming before starting, but now I can build a full stack application. You will... Read More definitely learn a lot during the program and put in lots of work but it's all worth it in the end. I had an amazing time and would recommend.

The instructors explained lectures in a timely and orderly fashion. The curriculum was well-crafted by team of highly-respected professionals. Every day, I could not have been more excited to arrive to App Academy, as the lectures were paced appropriately... Read More and staff were welcoming. Learning how to be a full-stack engineer was amazing. Meeting great colleagues was enjoyable. At anytime, I could always ask staff for help, as I truly looked up to them. It was my honor to be here. I'd like to thank the team at App Academy for bringing lots of great experiences.

Pros: - AppAcademy has a great network of alumni - Course is well-designed and allows students to explore different technologies / APIs during their projects - Career coaches are experienced professionals who teach the best methods Cons: - Curriculum... Read More is outdated (Bootcamp utilizes version 5.2.3 for Ruby on Rails and uses Heroku Stack-18 which will be deprecated soon) - Some New York City Instructors lacked experience in teaching, making it difficult for some students to grasp concepts - Fast-paced; not a course for individuals who prefer a slower pace or wants to laze about

My husband went to App Acadamy about 5 years a go. When I needed to choose a bootcamp, he highly recommended it. The past 6 months at App Acadamy is truly life changing. The staff and instructors were all very knowledgeable and supportive, and most of... Read More my cohort mates were easy to get along with. The best of all was the curriculum design. Even though the pace was intense, it all makes sense learning one after the other.

App Academy has truly been a blessing to experience. From the course material, to the classmates and teachers, it was an absolute blast to be a part of since day 1. The curriculum was intense most of the time, but this was built specifically to learn... Read More the most efficiently. Loved my time with everyone and I am now very excited to begin my career as a Full Stack Software Developer!

I had a great experience with App Academy. The curriculum was excellent, and I think a huge part of the value is the assistance with the job search after you complete the program, for up to a year. I would recommend a/A to anyone looking for a serious... Read More web development bootcamp. It is, however, very difficult. I attended the full-time online program lasting 6 months. The majority of the students that started in my cohort were deferred (meaning you did not pass an assessment and are rolled back to the previous cohort to retake the last month's material - you get 3 deferrals and are dismissed on the 4th). The advertised 60-80 hours of work a week is no joke. The program is certainly not for everyone - you will get out of this program what you put into it. They are constantly updating the curriculum as technologies change, which can be frustrating, but this is a real-life part of being a developer. The emphasis on pair programming also turns some folks off, but once I got used to it I came to really appreciate the approach. Bottom line: If you are not planning to dedicate yourself fully to this bootcamp for 6 months, do not attend. But if you are willing to live breathe and sleep code and comp sci for 6 months to facilitate a career start or a career change, I can't think of a better option than a/A.