App Academy

This course demands A LOT of your time and devotion. I came in to this program with no coding experience at all and know I still have more to learn even after but I have come leaps and bounds in my coding skill. If you're not ready to commit 12 - 14hrs... Read More 7 days a week to coding then this program isn't for you. The TA's are amazing (from my cohort at least), they were knowledgable and past grads so they knew what it was like to be in our shoes. The curriculum readings need to revised and updated in a few parts, thankfully TA's are there to clarify. Before the cohort starts they have you learn the basics of Ruby since the beginning of the program is focused on Ruby. I highly suggest also taking time to learn some JavaScript as well. Because you get a lot of time with Ruby and then when JS time happens you'll feel like you just got thrown into the deep end. At the time of writing this review I am just finishing week 15 out of 16, getting ready to get into the career quest part (technically already started), which is also intense. Pretty much from start of the program until you get a job you will be working you butt off. So make sure you know how to take care of yourself, exercise, get some good rest and try to maintain one hobby that is a stress reliever. Your fellow cohorts will be some of your greatest resources and best friends, you will bond over struggling together and it's a great time to make networks (you never know what companies you or any of them will get into).

So if you are more than interested in coding, are able to not work for 4months straight or more, dedicated enough to spend 12-14hr days to learning then this is the program for you. It's not the best because it's easy, keep that in mind. As stressful as this experience has been, I am extremely happy that I did it and that I made it to the end. I have family in the tech industry and showing them what I can do after these 4 months they are very impressed and reassure me that I can land a role as a jr dev. Hoping and continuing to study hard so that that is the case.

I enrolled in a in person cohort but due to pandemic it was switched to zoom. The bootcamp was intense but everyday you are learning something new and practicing that in the pair-programming. TAs were great and really helpful. Many of them had gone thru... Read More the course themself so they knew the sort of problems and understanding that is required to be successful. Everyday seemed really long but at the end of the week friday seemed to come by really quickly as you are coding every hour. I feel like I am very confident in my ability to code and I have also discovered tons of resources which I will look into to further my coding skills.

Pros- their curriculum supports anyone who does not have a technical coding background which is where I was. As long as you put in the time and effort, you can succeed.

Cons- throughout the last few weeks of the cohort, the projects seemed to be rushed... Read More and were combined with the job searching curriculum which I think is not the best idea.

App Academy did a great job giving us all the skills we need to become a good software engineer. The program is fast paced and students will only get out what they put into it. The high frequency of tests helped ensure that concepts were nailed down quickly... Read More but could also change some student's priorities to test taking rather than learning the actual concepts. The TAs were very supportive and helpful and there was a tight nit culture despite our cohort being switched to online only due to COVID. Overall would recommend.

App Academy is definitely no joke. It is 16 weeks of constant work with no letting up. 60 hours a week of work is the bare minimum, and honestly I don't even know if that is enough. I am pretty sure that I worked well beyond that most weeks. The assessments... Read More are very tough but often fair.

The pace is insane but definitely doable. You just need to keep on top of everything. I often found myself worried that I did not fully understand a certain topic covered in class only to find out that I knew more than I realized when the time came to utilize those concepts. You will be surprised when you realize the topic that gave you trouble a few weeks ago is now second nature.

Overall it was a very positive and life changing experience that I would highly recommend!

I am very glad I attended App Academy. I had been dabbling in different web development technologies for years. For example, I knew how to build web-scrapers with Python and Selenium. But I never had any formalized knowledge of the best practices to build... Read More a full-stack application. By the end of the 16 week curriculum, I was able to clone the core functionality of Quizlet.com as my final project. It was one of 3 large projects that we did.

In all we covered broad CS topics like data structures, algorithms, authentication patterns, tree traversal, among many others. And we learned specific technologies like Ruby on Rails, SQL, HTML/CSS, Javascript, React/Redux, Node & the MERN stack. We practiced using git & github extensively. We learned Test Driven Development thru technologies like Rspec & Capybara. Most importantly, we learned to learn. For example, when it came to the MERN stack & MERN projects, the instructors stopped holding our hands and made us practice picking up a new technology ourselves.

My cohort was supposed to be an in-person cohort, but it turned out to be online only due to Covid. At first I was upset that I wouldn't be able to interact with my instructors and classmates on a daily basis, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise - with the amount of work we had to do every day, I couldn't imagine having to spend another hour or two each day commuting.

I would give a 5-star review, but I do think it can be improved in a few ways.

1) A large part of the curriculum focuses on Ruby and Ruby on Rails. I believe that this is part of the design, in a sense, because Ruby is an easy introduction into the world of programming. We had people that came from completely different backgrounds and had little prior programming experience. However, it's looking like Python & Django are becoming more popular now and I wish we had some exposure to these frameworks as well. It appears that future aA cohorts will, in-fact, be going this route instead of RoR.

2) While aA has a wealth of knowledge on App Academy Open - the main tool for content for our curriculum (it's where all of our projects, homework, and readings were housed), that portal is not very organized. If I wanted to go back and reference something we learned 4-5 weeks back - it was hard to find. I wish they made all the projects & topics we covered searchable.

To say that App Academy was intense is not an understatement. About 1/3 of our initial cohort didn't make it to the end. But it was very rewarding to have completed it.

App Academy was a great experience for me. I started with very little coding knowledge prior coming from a completely different career. During the actual curriculum everything feels rushed and the constant assessments create a ton of pressure but the... Read More once I got to building my own projects it was an amazing feeling.

I went into App Academy without any prior coding experience. Coming out, I feel sufficiently prepared to answer tech answers intelligently, and absorb new technologies with some kin of framework. For those thinking about applying, remember that you get... Read More exactly what you put in. App Academy is not necessarily impossible to pass, but it is entirely up to you how successful you want to be coming out. You can "pass" the course with 60 hours a week, but in order to get the most out of it, 90+ is definitely preferable.

I have loved my experience at App Academy. The curriculum has been rigorous but thorough. Not only did we learn the fundamentals, but we learned how to think like a programmer. We learned how to solve problems and how to ask the right questions. The curriculum... Read More extended beyond just coding and languages, and included many lessons on white-boarding, pair programming, soft-skills and job search principles. The instructors are knowledgeable and approachable, and there is always help to be found if you look for it. I have enjoyed my time at a/A and cannot recommend this program enough to all those who are trying to find the right fit.

I came to App Academy with some previous knowledge in programming and computer science. I just finished the 24-week online program, it wasn't easy but I enjoyed the structure of the course and I got to know amazing people that were collaborative and supportive.... Read More I completed my training as a software engineer and now I'm receiving training to find my first job. I learned web development using different technologies and computer languages like React, Express, Node.js, sequelize ORM, Javascript, Python, Flask, among others, aligning with high demand from tech companies increasing the chances of landing a great job. App Academy provided everything I was looking for and I am a proud alumni!