App Academy

This review is a bit about App Academy, but it is also about my personal experience there. There are plenty of reviews talking about App Academy specifically and all the different things that make it great, but I think getting another data point on what... Read More my experience was can hopefully give you some sense on how you will be able to handle a bootcamp. (For the record, App Academy is amazing, the teachers are awesome, the documentation is 'mostly' great, and I tripled my salary after a month of job seeking) Prior to joining App Academy, I was about a year out of college and was working as a software engineer recruiter. In college I graduated with a degree in Economics and took several computer science classes out of genuine interest. I soon began to realize that several months into my recruiting job that I did not like the work, but was still interested in software engineering. I did a lot of research and decided App Academy was the best bootcamp and I would strive to get in. I completed a web development udemy course as prep and a refresher, then applied, interviewed, and was accepted. The class was technically the in-person New York software engineer track but it was online due to Covid. I had some experience with software engineering and it's principals prior to App Academy, so the first few weeks of the course were nothing more than further review of things I had learned, but in a different language, Ruby (I believe courses now will use Python instead). Every day you have a lecture in the morning followed by projects to complete with a partner by pair programming. This is a good way to learn if you are both on the same level of understanding about the current subject, but can be frustrating when that is not the case. In the first two weeks of the course you have two exams, if you fail one of them you are suspended until the next cohort to study up and get a better understanding of the basics. If you cannot pass these exams or struggle to, you will not make it to the end. After those two weeks, you are allowed to fail two assignments. The first one you fail you do not have to retake, however, the second one you fail you must retake it later than day. If you fail it once again, you will be asked to leave the cohort, and you are not able to join another. I thought it is important to include that to know what you are getting into, it can be very stressful for some people, so please to your own studying and prep before you decide to do this course because it is extremely fast paced. Fully understanding all the material if you are learning it for the first time is unlikely. By the end of the course we had about 40 of our original clas size of 60 that graduated. After you graduate you are pretty much on your own, they give you a career coach but they are dealing with so many job seekers that they have minimal time for you per week (maybe 1-2 hours). I graduated on October 23rd and instantly began polishing up my final projects, resume, linkedin and other job seeking sites. After I was happy with how I was presenting myself, I went hard at Leetcode and did a dozen or two problems a day, making sure I was understanding them, and hitting a variety of subjects. By the end of my search I was capable of doing all easy problems and most medium level problems. While doing leetcode problems I would apply to jobs mostly on linkedin and google jobs. Technically, you are supposed to wait to apply to jobs until your career coach gives you the OK, but i went ahead and started applying anyways because it takes so long to get feedback from them. About 2 weeks into my job search I han't recieved anything back from any companies until I got a take home interview question from Draftkings. I was able to complete that (it was about OOP and building a companies organizational chart, so DFS was involved). I had a HR call the week after, and the week after than I had a virtual onsite (more OOP questions, working with json-like objects, talking about my projects, and whiteboarding (design a messaging app). I thought it all went really well, and a week later I was given an offer, which I accepted since I had NOTHING else in my pipeline. I felt I was pretty lucky to get a job only a month out of graduation, and that will certainly not happen to everyone. However, it happened to me and I pretty much tripled my salary from my last job. Bootcamps are worth it if you are able to handle the amount of information being thrown at you and you are ready to work non-stop for about 6 months with no pay (3 months at bootcamp, 3 months avg job search). Hope this helped.

I started the program in July 2020, while the pandemic was in full swing, and finished it in October 2020. I felt like App Academy did a good job organizing the switch to a virtual cohort and while I still wish I had that immersive in-person experience,... Read More I think I had a good and rewarding experience overall. Pros: - The curriculum is well assembled and the projects do a great job of teaching the intended materials. I enjoyed working on daily projects a lot. - Almost every day, you pair-program with a new partner to work on a project. I liked this because it lets us practice our soft-skills which are very important in the real world. I worked with some amazing partners and we ended up having fun the majority of the time. - The instructors and TAs were helpful and were always available to point you in the right direction but never explicitly give you the answers. Cons: - Ruby was the first language taught to us in the curriculum, but they are switching to Python instead. While Ruby is a great language, I would have preferred to learn Python instead as it seems to be widely used in the industry. Alumni do have access to the Python module. - The last couple of weeks of the curriculum that lead up to the job-search part of the program felt rushed. We were introduced to an entirely new placements team but I found it difficult to reach them much less connect with them.

Instructors are knowledgeable, helpful, responsive and always available (even in weekends if necessary). They pay attention to the needs of the class, supply an incredible amount of extra material and make a real effort to give more explanation if they... Read More see a lack of understanding. Fellow students are smart and helpful as well. I enjoyed working with them all. This is an honest and supportive learning environment. The experience with the staff handling administrative matters is also good, they do their best to help you. Since I could go straight to a job at the end of the course I have marginal experience with career coaching, but that was also impressive. During the course count on a 80-90 hour/week work, about 15 tests and four projects that need to be completed, two individually, two in groups. The projects are all very good opportunities to cement in the material. This is not an accredited institution, there is no possibility to get any benefit for the tuition in your personal income tax. Now that I know how it works, I would not hesitate to take it.

App Academy lived up to my expectations for the most part. I knew it would be fast paced and that there would be missing spots in my learning. I am a 'career transitioner' that had a little nest of cash stored, so I took that opportunity to move to tech.... Read More I came in with knowledge of the basics of HTML & CSS from creating a Wordpress blog a few years prior and doing some FCC and Codecademy training. At the time, I was considering multiple coding bootcamps and had never even heard of a/A, but once they were on my radar, the reviews made me confident that I would be pushed to my limit, which in my head translated to becoming a very capable software engineer through intense studies. Personally, my time was solely dedicated to 32 Weeks of a/A, so if you are unable to give your entire days to them, your process will be quite trying. 10-7, take a break for dinner/family, and then a few hours of homework/study afterwards. To be transparent, I haven't found my first role yet, and I am 3 months into the job search. I have a Bachelor's and Master's. It takes time, and the expectation given down to us is 400 - 600 applications at 25 minimum apps placed a week. I believe I'm somewhere between 225 and 250 applications thus far. Please prep for this. Important Things To Note * Marketing - Take the marketing material for what it is. Yes, you can get a job making 100K in San Francisco or NY, but this is significantly harder for the online cohorts due to everyone being disbursed throughout the world. I can only speak from my experience, and my experience also tells me to let you know that you will be in the market looking for role for months if you are unwilling to move to hot spots, and many time if you are, it won't be for 100K. 100K is a lot of money if you didn't know, and companies expect a lot of those that are making the big bucks. Just frame your goals properly and know what you are signing up for. * Deferrals - I started right before Covid hit, so we were given additional opportunities to defer to later cohorts simply because of how much was going on at the time. To put it plain, once shutdowns were instated, no one was solely focused on school, family arrangements were different, and things just changed. Typically, I think you are given 3 deferrals, but 1 was added for us, making it a total of 4. I have seen people defer for medical reasons and family issues, but the most common is not passing assessments. There were around 14-15 assessments. Understand that deferrals is not a scare tactic. You will be removed from a/A and will also be required to pay a prorated amount if you end up not making it through the entire program. Read your agreements, please. For me personally, I deferred twice, making my total time in a/A 32 weeks compared to 24 weeks. That's an additional 2 months. There are weeks where 0 people defer, and then on the harder weeks, you will see double digits defer. Don't let it deter you too much. You will move to the cohort immediately behind you. There is 1 new cohort a month, so it places you 4 weeks back. On the positive side, this gives you the opportunity to reinforce concepts that didn't stick. It was well stated in my cohort(s) during our graduation that potential deferments induced more anxiety than anything else. That is where the stress lies due to you not knowing what the assessments could potentially have on them. Pressure makes diamonds, but pressure also busts pipes. * Finances - Plan accordingly. I was one who bet on myself and believed I could make it straight through without any deferrals, meaning, I chose not to do the contract and instead paid a portion up front. Well, I deferred twice. If I wouldn't have budgeted correctly, that extra two months out of work could have had long lasting implications and could have really hurt me. Be smart. * Skill Level - For the most part, a/A tests for the correct personality types in the pre-work/interview stage, but on day 1, you will soon realize that some people are just naturally gifted, have a little more experience, and there is really nothing you can do about it. They look for ambitious and driven personalities, but that isn't all that matters. Don't let this get you down. Those that are answering all of the questions and know alot more when you pair with them is great, but if you're not that person, it's not a death sentence either. We all learn in different ways and different speeds. * Technical Mentors & Teaching Assistants Matter - Like college, I believe who is teaching you is equally as important as what you are learning. Speaking for myself, I didn't feel that I had the right mix of teachers until I made it into my last cohort. I felt like the mentors and ta's really fought for us when assessments were just unfair(timing or not good questions), and it genuinely felt like I had met my tribe. This has nothing to do with my previous cohorts, but honestly speaking, I didn't get that same feeling or attention. It made me regret starting when I did, meaning I came in halfway through a cohort once relationships had already been established and additionally, I had learned things in ways that were taught much better in the new cohort, etc... My cohort mates just seemed to be fundamentally stronger than I was at times, and I believe it was due to the culture that the TM and TA's created for the group. * Post Covid a/A Experience Is Different - Put simply, you're prone to be more of just a number. The pre-covid groups were small. Jan graduated ~11 , Feb graduated ~6, March graduated ~12, April graduated ~17, May graduated ~18.... Numbers ballooned severely after this. People are out of work and taking the opportunity to transition to new careers. The cohorts are now starting with 75+ students, leading them to have to change the way instruction is given as well. In my estimation, from those 75-90 students in a cohort, each graduation will now be anywhere from 30 - 40 students graduating. Just be aware that the small circles and having the little school experience is no longer there. * Students with kids under 5 - If your kids are at home during the day and you are the sole person responsible for them, I can't imagine how you will survive the curriculum. This is not extremely common, but there are some. In my case, I saw 3 different cases. Those 3 are no longer enrolled at a/A. This is not a scare tactic, but owing a company thousands of dollars is not a bright outcome, so make sure you have a daycare or someone to care for them. * Diversity - Simply put, not a ton of women and not a ton of color. For a graduation class of 17, 2 were black and 1 woman.Scholarships and marketing material(Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Instagram Ads) should be geared towards both of those communities. Slack channels for subsets of individuals is respectable and an attempt, but it's not enough. There also needs to be some diversity in the C-Suite roles. You can't understand people that you have no exposure to. * Curriculum - Pretty decent. I can only speak from the perspective that I never worked with most of the languages before doing it, so I can only compare it against FreeCodeCamp and Codecademy. From that lens, it was pretty good. There were weaker sections, but I also understand how tough it is to make changes, getting approval, and everything that comes with that process. Bottom Line: Don't expect too much when you are literally learning a new subject/concept pretty much every week. A personal frustration is that a lot of the projects were centered around building a game such as Tic-Tac-Toe, King's Travail, recreating Pokedex and things like that. So, I'm not a gamer, and though many coders are, it was tough at times to keep my attention. Most of us aren't going into game development, so diversifying the selection of projects should be considered. E-Commerce sites, internal banking applications, you know, things that are actively being built in the market. Just a thought. * CareerQuest/Job Support - If you are opening up an online portion, naturally I believe a global partnerships team should also be rolled out. You have students across the world, but most opportunities presented are for NY and SF. Career Coaches are doing what they can I believe and have a lot on their plates. Overall, I'm still going through this process, so my entire outlook is dependent on the first role I acquire. Let it be known that the student does the work though, the coaches are just their to hold you accountable. Trust, you can also get kicked out while searching for a job as well. There are still meetings you are required to attend weekly and the pressure lessens, but doesn't stop.

App Academy is a fast paced, challenging, web development course that claims it can teach people to code with no prior experience. I attended the bootcamp in June of 2020. Here are my thoughts.

Pros:
-Lots of help.
-Friendly staff.
-Has a current curriculum... Read More because it always updates.
-You pair program a lot, a necessary skill for team based tech jobs.
-The staff works extremely hard to make sure you understand the material.
-They help you find a job after graduating.
-Lots of payment plans/options for people, for example the deferred tuition.

Cons:
-Expensive
-Not enough coverage on data structures and algorithms.

You can make the argument that the price is worth what you get out of it. Similarly, you educations depends on you being willing to put in a lot in order to get a lot out of it. In a way you dictate the experience you have here. I enjoyed my time here. The welcoming environment was nice, and the teachers spent countless hours teaching you how to solve problems, rather than just pointing to solutions. If you genuinely want to learn and have the drive to survive the 6 month long program, you will learn a lot of information. In addition to the price the lack of data structures and algorithm teaching is in part the draw back of all boot camps, there simply is not enough time to teach you everything. They make an effort on this front however, by teaching you how to teach yourself. So by then end of it if you don't know something, you can easily find out how to do it.

This bootcamp is not for everybody, but if you are willing to set aside 24 weeks of your life and pretty much only focus on developing your skills as a software developer, this is the place to go. The teachers are all wonderful. The curriculum covers... Read More a wide array of material, teaching fullstack web development. If you want to be a developer within 6 months this is the school to do it at.

I thought that with education costs and the time it takes to get a degree, I would never be able to transition into software engineering. Not while taking care of my family anyways. Well with their deferred tuition and instructional approach, I can proudly... Read More say I have made the switch and with everything I have learned I feel confident with my skillset and look forward to the opportunities to come! I do gotta say though, no one is going to do this for you. They have all the tools and curriculum and support you need. You just have to buckle down and get it done. There is no easy way! The Job search is just that... a Job search! You gotta put in the work for that too. No one is going to be begging for you to work for them you need to put in the work for your own branding and self presentation as well. This for me is the hardest part! Good luck to all those who are going to take the leap it will be worth it!

Oh man, just finished up the curriculum and currently getting ready to apply for jobs. Here are the pros and cons of my experience:

Pros:
- The curriculum is extensive, everything you need is explained in full details in articles, reiterated in videos and... Read More then the TAs would go over examples to make sure the concepts are understood.
- There are projects to do every single day, which makes learning much more hands-on.
- The staff are very easy to talk to and are available when needed.

Cons:
- The curriculum can use some proofreading, typos are everywhere and as a former designer, they all jump out to me.

Really not many negative things I can think of about my experience. It really has been a pleasant experience for me. With that said, it really is an intensive bootcamp. LOTS of materials to digest within a short amount of time, which takes a toll on personal life. So plan accordingly.

The instructors and TAs were amazing, always going the extra mile to make sure we understood what was going on. The curriculum covers a lot of important material and does a good job explaining the concepts.

If you are thinking of going, make sure you have... Read More enough to support yourself through the program AND for potentially 6+ months after (current placement rates for App Academy graduates is ~50% in 6 months.)

Pros:
Rigorous curriculum, full stack is a lot! Especially to someone who does not have background in this field. The boot camp gives students plenty of material to absorb. If one can not totally absorb, then later you have to pick it up yourself!
Core... Read More teaching staff are good quality and passionate about teaching and learning.
Atmosphere is excellent in the academy in general, they have regular happy hours for students and teachers to mingle. And they have lunch hour topics for everyone to discuss topics of diversity, equal treatment, black life matters, etc.
Student quality, due to high defer rate, even though they admit a large number of students, the ones that last to the end and never get deferred are s small fraction! These people in my opinion are the good quality software engineers! Especially in terms of learning, they are fast learners and know how to collaborate and get resources themselves.

Cons:
Too fast paced and if you are not careful you could be deferred even if you are well trained and qualified. So quality of graduates come from the fact that there are intense filtering processes.