App Academy

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.

I did extensive research before committing to App Academy, and there are three main reasons I chose it and WOULD CHOOSE IT AGAIN:

1. a/A has an income sharing agreement, so they are intrinsically motivated to get you hired, and every piece of the program... Read More is motivated by this. In short, your goals and theirs are aligned as long as you are committed. Speaking of alignment, you really will be paired with a coach for your entire job search, and you'll have the support of your classmates, assuming you connected well with them throughout the program. In sum, a/A offers tremendous researches to aid in your search, in addition to the thorough prep in the last couple weeks of the program.

2. a/A is assessment-driven and engineering-focussed, meaning they don't carry dead weight—and more to the point, they do not have a reputation for allowing dead weight or for graduating "web devs" who don't really know how software works. You learn multiple languages. You learn algorithms and data structures. You build 2 solo projects and 2 group projects. It's intense. But... You are allowed up to 3 deferments. This is designed to give you the chance to have more time if you are struggling, and it also means that at a certain point, the unmotivated/less capable will be significantly challenged. That challenging is good for your skill and reputation as a potential a/A grad, so as long as you can keep up this is a plus. I found the rigor was typically held in good tension with empathetic instructors who want to support you well through what they know to be a high-paced 24 weeks.

3. People! Students I reached out to prior to choosing a/A generally had great things to say about their experience. Reach out to a/A grads on LinkedIn who live near you, and you'll likely find the same. But what makes this difference? For me, it's the people. I had the best lead instructor I could've imagined, and the TAs are generally of good quality as well. While every company likely has some instructors that fall below the curve, I really can say the instruction I received was personable, encouraging, and technically substantial. (There are some instructors that occasionally guest lectured for my cohort, and I liked them as well.) And the students? Amazing! I genuinely made a good handful of friends, and we voluntarily check in with each other as we each look for jobs. Yes, every class will have that person looking for a quick way to money, but even so they get weeded out or have a change of heart. And how can you not make friends when the average day consists of several hours pair-programming?

I've harped on about the strengths of App Academy. What are the weaknesses? I give the curriculum 3 stars—maybe 3.5 if that's allowed. But I actually really liked the curriculum, particularly the structure, pace, and topics, as well as the video instructors. a/A even updated it earlier in the year, so even recent language developments are covered. So why 3 stars? Simple: the videos are typically paired with homework in the form of article-style readings to be done the night before their topics are covered, and while many of the readings were fine, just as many were riddled with grammatical errors and unclear phrasing. Additionally, occasionally the code-along videos involved deprecation issues, leading to avoidable, class-wide encounters with bugs. While the deprecation issues are understandable, the lack of writing quality is not (aside from the classic engineering stereotypes that come to mind).

None of these curriculum issues are reasons not to choose a/A. In fact, I bet every bootcamp faces these same challenges when it comes to keeping curriculum current and polished. These reasons do, however, provide for a point of growth on the part of App Academy, and I know they are aware of this and constantly improving, welcoming your constant feedback. You are, after all, required to provide it daily, and in my experience they take it really seriously. What makes this ultimately excusable for now is that students always have ample opportunity to ask questions on every single lecture topic, so you are always supported as you seek to master content. There wasn't a single topic for which I wasn't provided a live Q & A. Ask away!

A small but earnest point should be made before concluding. You really must take into account the length of job search and the possibility of deferment when thinking about how you will support yourself during the bootcamp. For many, 24 weeks is already a stretch. You've got to ask yourself if you could be income-less for a year. While your career coach will understand if after the 24 weeks you feel that you simply must get a part time job, this will provide a ton of stress if you don't consider your "worst cases" before starting the bootcamp. This goes for any bootcamp, and even though I bet a/A's placement pace is relatively high compared with other programs (on average roughly 6 months after graduating), you simply can't afford to make a poor choice when it comes to your finances.

Ultimately, joining App Academy was likely the best choice I could've made in a year nothing went to plan. The ISA means they have skin in the game and are aligned with your goal of jump-starting your career. The rigorous, assessment-driven structure means you will actually become something by the time you are done. And the people are worth the cost of the late hours, tears, grit, and (deferred) money. While the curriculum can be improved in its delivery, it really just might make a software engineer out of you!

App Academy was a great experience overall. You really have to be committed 100% to get through it. I thought I was in over my head the first week or 2 but the instructors were the reason I stuck it out. They were not only great teachers but also excellent... Read More motivators. Once I got to the first project week I really started enjoying every day and was able to see the results of all of our hard work. I think a/A does a great job of picking out the best candidates for the program as everyone, staff, and students, were awesome to work with. I thought about self-learning programming early on, and after going through the 24-week online program, I know it wouldn't be possible to be where I'm at now had I tried. A word of advice to those who are already decided to go through the program: Don't cheat yourself, treat yourself. It is so much better to struggle early on and figure it out on your own or with a partner/instructor than to look at any answers. Mistakes will teach you so much more than getting it right the first time. You will make a lot of mistakes and that is a good thing.

I attended App Academy after graduating college with a degree in Ecology and working in the US Forest Service for three years. Basically, I had no technical experience whatsoever outside of playing video games and experimenting with basic coding in the... Read More language BASIC when I was a kid. After about 7 months total of coursework and the job search, I landed a job as a software engineer at a series C startup and I feel wholly prepared to assume my new role.

App Academy has a pretty solid curriculum, and while you could conceivably learn it all on your own it's much more efficient to do it through them. While most of the TA's are recent A/a grads, the cohort leads are usually experienced engineers and can answer your in-depth technical questions. I'm pleased to say there is a decent focus on true CS concepts rather than just how to use the trending tools of the industry, which is really what counts in the job search. Specific languages and tools go out of style rapidly, but if you can internalize the core concepts of CS and learn how to pick up new things on the fly, you will be able to apply to a wide range of jobs and have a chance of passing the interviews.

Pair programming is one of the most infuriating experiences imaginable, but I will say that it is the secret sauce that makes this bootcamp work. Left to you own devices you will likely not be motivated or focused enough to work through the whole curriculum on your own, but when paired with another person all day it makes sure that both partners are on task and making good progress. I will say I love pair programming when two people can just freeform work on the project together and throw out the driver/navigator roles, and I encourage you to suggest this to your partners if both of you are on board.

I would also say that while the A/a model works really well right now, it is definitely a crapshoot whether or not it will work for you or in the future. Right now tech is a bloated whale of high paying coding jobs that could be conceivably had with just 4-6 months of rigorous training, but I suspect that like the gold rush this will come to an end. Most of these jobs are for startups which are not profitable and are funded by VC cash. While I'm not an economist, I have heard from people who are that the tech industry is likely overvalued and may crash in the same way that finance did in 2008. Just be wary, and have realistic expectations. At the time of this review I would 100% recommend App Academy as a viable option to a tech career, but if you are reading this a year or later down the line I would do my research into the state of the industry and bootcamp placements before registering. If you are older (say, 35+) or lack a degree you may also struggle to find a job as many companies will automatically weed you out for not having a degree or discriminate against you for being an older candidate. Ditto if you are not a citizen or green card holder. While I and many of my friends found jobs within 3-6 months of finishing the program (some even sooner), I also met many people who fit into the above categories who ended up searching for upwards of a year.

The one place where App Academy really shines is the job search. This to me is where 90% of the value comes from. Anyone can learn how to code on their own, but I can honestly say without my dedicated and talented coaches I would have been dead in the water. They teach you things that you can't easily learn off the internet, things you wouldn't even think to google, and the job search formula works, at least in this current economy. Indeed, I did App Academy because I didn't think I could find a job in my old field (ecology), but after going through the job search curriculum I realize I total could have if I knew what I know now about job searching. Lastly, I'd like to mention that my first coach was a dud and pretty useless, but after he "left" App Academy I was assigned to two new coaches who were total rockstars. My point is your milage may vary, but for the most part I would say the coaching staff is solid.

Finally, read the fine print. The ISA money-back guarentee only applies if you finish the program and don't find a job after a year, and even then you will more than likely have to sign a job search extension adding extra months before you are eligible to get your money back. This is due to the fact that your projects and job search materials will likely not be done by the time you graduate and you will need to spend additional time working on these, during which time you are not technically job searching. Make sure that you are able to support yourself being fully unemployed for a period of 17ish months (4 months curriculum + 13 months for the search) before you start the program if you want to be safe. Of course you could just send it anyway, but you are running a risk as if you run out of money and have to go back to work you will still owe A/a $28K. Also, plan on moving to a tech hub city (most likely SF or NY) if you do not already live in one, these are the places where companies will hire bootcampers. I was lucky enough to score a remote job, but that is also mostly due to COVID. You may also be able to do so but again it is a crapshoot.

Overall, I would recommend App Academy but only in an artifically inflated and booming tech economy.

Pros:
-Great curriculum taught by competent and (mostly) empathetic instructors who want you to succeed.
-If you can pass the curriculum as well as are giving a true "best of yourself" effort then you will learn to program.
-Resources are plentiful during... Read More the course
-Don't pay a dime until you get a job.

Cons:
- During job search technical resources are very much limited and watered down compared to help you received during curriculum.
- Although there are few, I did encounter instructors that I felt were chosen for their ability to program rather than their ability to teach and program.
- Terrible system of conduct and accountability. There has to be a better way to handle plagiarism. Everyone who programs grabs info from stackoverflow etc.

Pros:
- Good class structure and accountability to help keep students on track.
- Great teachers, feeling of community with other students, even though everything is online remote.
- Good breadth of material, focused on what companies are currently looking... Read More for in an applicant.
- Good pacing and balance between learning material and practical project work.

Cons:
- Certain subjects are still a little rough around the edges and need to be refined. Specifically, how we were taught react during my cohort was rough and kind of backwards, spent a lot of time on old ways of implementing react and very little time on the new (hooks) way. However, they are actively rewriting the whole react curriculum, so should be fixed for new students.

With any boot camp I am sure there is going to be ups and downs or things you like and don't like, so with all that aside was App Academy wroth the time and money? For different reasons than I thought when I joined yes it was. Everyone will have a different... Read More experience base on how you view things and what your expecting. So here is what I know for sure without App Academy there is no way I would be in the same place today without them. You don't know what you don't know tell your face to face with it. App Academy forces you to move on to new stuff even if you think your not ready and you when you move on you find out that were actually ready. This is the biggest reason why I would say if your thinking about a boot camp go for it!

I had a great time at App Academy. For me the con is also a pro, when you first sign up they tell you that it is a very rigorous and demanding program but I didn't take too seriously. Just a few weeks later I was putting in anywhere from 80 to 100 hours... Read More of work into completing the course work. Which is necessary due to the amount of material that we learn in just a few weeks.
I feel that the boot camp made me a better developer and that I was given all that I signed up for and more.
Thank you so much for changing my career path.