ACC Web Developer Bootcamp

I recently completed an online coaching program for full stack development, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the experience. The course was incredibly well-structured, covering both front-end and back-end technologies in depth. The instructors were... Read More industry experts who provided valuable insights and practical knowledge, making complex concepts easy to understand.

One of the highlights of the program was the hands-on projects. These projects allowed me to apply what I learned in real-world scenarios, which significantly boosted my confidence and skills. The one-on-one mentorship sessions were also a game-changer, offering personalized guidance and feedback that helped me improve continuously.

I enrolled in the condensed three-month bootcamp, which was intense and equivalent to a full-time job. Only attempt if you are unemployed and can focus the necessary time. Otherwise, apply for the six month. So worth it. I went into the course with experience... Read More in PHP and some Javascript. I learned tons! Others were very green programmers. This course is wonderful for all levels of experience. You will be amazed at how much you will learn in a relatively short amount of time. For those opting for this experience, remember to take some extra time to practice what you learn. Do not stress about it. Ask questions often. Have fun! I blogged my journey here: https://www.checkeredscissors.com?cat=blog-157

I researched all the available boot-camps in the Austin area taking the intro classes for all of them. There were 4 main areas where ACCs program stood out from the rest:
1. Trial class - Although there was a small fee associated with it vs free like the... Read More other companies, you actually completed something in ACCs trial class. The others were 2-4 hr intro classes where you would start to "build" a website however it felt more like an ordered list of steps to follow instead of a place to get a feel if this is what you want to spend your hard earned money on.
2. Cost - The cost of the program was about half of the competitions prices with a very similar syllabus and you do not have to "interview" to start the program like almost every other program out there!
3. Lead Instructor - When I reached out to Piyush with all my questions about the program, he wasn't quick to rush me off the phone or just push me to the trial class, he took the time to answer all of them as well as offer guidance based on our conversation, all before even registering for the trail class.
4. Instructor Team interaction - Jon-Mikel, John, Piyush and Sage were all extremely knowledgeable and were easy to follow (although sometimes the information itself wasn't so easy to follow! LOL). They used real world examples when breaking down the materials and they were eager to help whenever necessary. They spent numerous hrs helping me understand topics that I struggled with outside of class time on many different occasions.

IronHack has exceeded all expectations, the knowledge I have acquired has been consolidated and I am confident in putting everything I have learned into practice. At first I was afraid to bootcamp because of the value of the investment and in the end,... Read More not what I expected, since I was a person with no knowledge of web development, but it was worth every penny invested. In addition to all content, career assistance is also very cool and helped me a lot to position myself in the job market.
I highly recommend anyone thinking of entering the area.

My time at the ACC Web Developer Bootcamp was the most fun I've had learning thanks to the great instructors and mentors that were always available when I needed help, and always gave me more to do when I asked for more.

I came into the class with only... Read More a basic understanding of one of the many languages we learned and it took me twice as long on my own to get what a fraction of this class taught me. The sacrifice for that was a very intense class where I was responsible for keeping up with the work they gave me and having to set aside anywhere from 20-30 hours of work outside of class each week, the complexity growing exponentially each week.

I highly recommend this bootcamp to anyone who has the time and dedication to seriously learn, the hours in class work around a normal working schedule but the time you have to put into it to properly learn make this a second job, do NOT take this class if you just want to pass and get a new job, only take it if you truly want to learn.

Bootcamps are a crush on your brain and your time no matter what. What set ACC apart in my eyes was the longer class length. Most try to cover in three months what we did in almost six.
There is no way you could retain that much information in a three... Read More month session. There were also many class aides so that and answer or helpful tip over Slack came quickly.
An overall good immersive experience.

I got my Bachelors in Computing several years back. Before the bootcamp, while I was running my small real estate rental business, I felt it was the time to learn the foundational coding skills needed to develop full products. As it will help me run my... Read More business easier and it will give me a more in-depth understanding of the best and most efficient process for building web and mobile apps.

The experience of going through the ACC bootcamp was amazing! Especially the project in the last four weeks where we were able to develop a fully functional web app and see how software teams work. Working in a team with an assigned instructor was the perfect way to combine everything I had learnt into the right mix of knowledge, problem solving and breaking down complicated requirements.

While this may not be the perfect program for everyone, it does cater to those who have no prior programming background to those that have some light skills in web development.

The instructor team did a great job facilitating this program and I’m really thankful for this experience!

I looked at the various coding boot camps in Austin, the syllabuses, their instructors profiles and most importantly the schedule.

Only at the last moment during my online research, I noticed that Austin Community College also offered a coding bootcamp... Read More program. As such I wrote to Maria Coleman, the ACC officer and she promptly sent me a syllabus and advised me to sign up for the trial class. The trial class ran on 2 week nights and was only $80. They promised that the trial class was taught by the actual boot camp instructors. And it was.

I found the trial class very informative about the program and did meet Jon, Piyush and Sevy, the instructors. Jon Michael, a mentor (TA??) also stopped by. I was very thrilled to see the dedication of the boot camp staff. The material covered at the trial class was quite a lot and sometimes I felt a bit rushed. However, it was all good, since the instructor provided copy of the materials and I was able to learn the materials, and did manage to complete the home work challenge. The fact that they gave a home work challenge was a good sign, as it would weed out those who were not really interested in the program, or not up to the task.

I attended the boot camp. It started off a bit off wobbly, as there were some students who were having issues setting up their computers and development environment. However, Piyush's technical talents came to the rescue and the issues were all ironed out.

They provided detailed self learning assignments and home work projects for each week from Week 1 till Week 16 or 17 (I don't exactly remember). The self learning was a bit too much, as it took a lot of time completing. However, I found the projects very useful in applying what I had learnt. Eventually I learn how to speed-learn from various suggested sources, as well as find out what I should be learning and what I could postpone till later.

The final project was what got me learning on steroids. Applying everything I had learned earlier to a full stack project was tough. However, we had help from JOn and Piyush our instructors. We also learnt an interesting exercise in algorithmic thinking in Javascript from Jed, a recently hired senior instructor. Piyush tried to teach us how to integrate Redux into our project, but I didn't understand Redux, honestly. I'll learn it on my own soon.

What did it for me at the ACC software bootcamp was the dedication of the instructors. They do this because they obviously love to teach and help. I was able to ask technical questions from them over the Christmas break. I also got help over Christmas eve. They would ask to me to join a screensharing session and help me work through my issues. This factor alone makes this the best progrm you can find around here.

I whole heartedly support this program. I wish I could go and teach here, so I could work with these wonderful folks, but I have other aspirations ;-)

Go try the trial class and decide for yourself.

There is nothing offered in this course that you can't obtain for free off of the web. The instructor exclusively refers to W3schools and other sources like Udemy as reference material. The program provides zero reference material of its own. In the end... Read More this course offers nothing that cant be done on your own for free online in w3schools or chat rooms. Certifications can be obtained directly from Javascript for less than $100.
-The course presented does not match the course description (it is self-taught)
-No certifications are included in the course. They have to be purchased and completed outside of the class.
-There is no organization to the course materials, or content. Information and projects are routinely lost because there are too many channels to search.
-The communications for the course and projects are all over the place with multiple threads and no consolidated repository.
-Channels are not utilized consistently for resources (study materials may be posted in resources, slides, GitHub, or a number of other options. It's anybody's guess where you'll hear stuff).
-No reference materials are provided.
-The resource materials utilized are free online sources that students have access to without paying ACC.
-The online resources include tutorials which are consistently more concise and informative than the lectures provided in the ACC course.
-The professor solicits feedback and responds in a reactive, defensive, and aggressive manner. Further, will take additional retaliatory steps after the fact.
-The mentors are not permitted by the professor to assist students with questions, thereby limiting their efficacy. They have been instructed to refer all questions (outside of the most basic) to Piyush.
-The presentations are impossible to follow not because of the content, but because of the lecture style (hopping topics, overlapping subjects, getting 'lost in the weeds', unrelated materials, etc)
-The professor telling mentors to end pre-existing friendships with students is blatantly unprofessional and an overreach/abuse of power.

If you are working a full time job and looking to learn new technologies in a well thought out, structured, and organized curated course... THIS IS NOT IT.

Granted, you will learns from the self-learning which is usually provided via other well established... Read More online resources like Udemy and even YouTube.

The first site of issues with this course was the lack of organization the first real day of class. Intro into basic web authoring that was very alarming by the poor execution of the instructors and the lack of confidence which was a huge disservice to the students. But it's not all of the instructors fault, as this is the brain child of the creator - Piyush, who may know and love the course material but has no ability to teach effectively.

Do yourself a favor, take your time, find a good online course and resource. Repeat and use the information you are learning daily over and over again. And you will not have wasted over $7,000 to sit in a class with slides with no context, minimum information/instruction and instructors who obviously aren't all on the same page (some not even working or worked in the industry).