App Academy

After much deliberation between going the self-taught route versus attending a bootcamp, I enrolled in the 16-week online program focused on Javascript and Ruby on Rails. Without a doubt, attending App Academy has been one of the best decisions of my... Read More life. Attending the program gives you a support network of TAs and peers who are with you each step of the way to keep you motivated and to hold you accountable, which is something I would have missed had I decided to teach myself to code. Who knows how long the projects would have taken me to complete had I decided to try to code for X or Y hours each day? The coursework is challenging and for the most part is very hands-off - you get out what you put in. I still recall one review of App Academy that I saw before attending and the punchline read something like "Sure you could teach your self to code, but who knows how long that will take. You'd probably get a job and start making money 1/4 of a year earlier with A/a which would offset the cost of the program very quickly."

My dive into software engineering was very spontaneous, and I chose App Academy almost purely on the fact that I know a few successful graduates. However, I definitely do not regret choosing this bootcamp. I attended their 16 week program and spent 80+... Read More hours a week learning all sorts of skills such as React, Javascript, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, and more. We constructed 3 separate projects with the material we learned, and this really helped cement the skills into my head. My only gripe with the curriculum is that it felt a little outdated. I would have preferred learning Python over Ruby and maybe learned a bit more about React hooks as well. The teaching staff was exceptionally helpful and really did try their best to help you learn. My cohort started at a little over 30 people and ended with about 20, so it definitely is quite the rigorous program. The career coaches have been great so far and they really seem to know what they are doing. Job support seems very well structured and aimed at securing you a job as quickly as possible. Overall, a great bootcamp where you can not only change your life, but meet awesome people along the way!

The experience was amazing, being able to meet and experience the 16 week journey with the cohort and making some lifelong friends along the way. The curriculum felt mostly self-driven, because the guidance offered got looser and looser over time, but... Read More that helped build strong habits and good problem solving, since it was mostly up to you to learn the material. With this style of learning, the more you put into it, the more you get. Personally, I found it very rewarding, and going through with my cohort-mates and asking a lot of questions helped me feel confident to solve any problem I'll be faced with in the future.

I decided last year to sign up for app academy. I was a beginner coder with only enough experience to pass the requirements to get accepted. I had a great time meeting new friends and very smart people along the way. The instructors are very good and... Read More skilled to explain everything you need in the class. The technical instructors are also amazing across all the modules, they are always there to help and don't hesitate to answer any questions. The structure of the program is also very good. Now that I have been through it, I feel like it is well structured to optimize the amount of material students learn each week. The job search support and the career coaching that is available is also great. Not many coding bootcamps have this kind of support to really set all students for success. I had a great experience and would definitely do it again! The one thing I would do differently now is, that I would take some time prior to starting the bootcamp to study up to set myself for a success from Day 1. Unfortunately, since I did not have any experience prior to starting aA, I felt very overwhelmed especially at the beginning which resolved in the deferral in the first few weeks. After that I was able to catch up, understand the basics and create a momentum to be successful in the program. Again, if you are thinking about joining a bootcamp or not sure about which one, I cannot recommend App Academy enough. It is money well spend and I would do it all over again.

Attended App Academy's 16 week hybrid bootcamp option (now available in-person rather than online). Overall enjoyed the program and feel as though it prepared me well. The curriculum does facilitate your learning and help you pick up more skills on your... Read More own after your studies are done. Pros: - Really good instructors (at least for my cohort - Darren/Spencer/Diego were amazing teachers) - Short timeframe to gain the necessary skills/experience - Good project experience to fill out resume and give real world examples of programming - Got a lot of pair programming experience - Good partnership opportunities with certain companies (including some FAANG level opportunities) - Strong sense of community with your cohort Cons: - Some of the curriculum is a little outdated (specifically the React portion could be better). You should 100% learn React hooks after the cohort ends to be ready for frontend interviews (or even before if you feel ambitious). - Homework/instructional videos start out quite good and get to be lower quality towards the end of the course - Advanced data structures and algorithms are mostly just touched upon briefly and not covered in depth, so you'll need to learn them on your own - JavaScript is the language you'll feel strongest in by the end of the program, and it's not ideal to interview in. Ruby is also taught but you won't be using it too actively post week 8 aside from the full stack project, but a lot of companies do not interview in Ruby - After the instruction ends, there are a lot of boilerplate meetings you'll need to go to for the career quest which will slow down your study of data structures and algorithms. If you want to be strong at this, you'll need to really study hard and not take it easy despite graduation While I did list several cons, all of these can be nullified by having a strong work ethic and learning on your own. If you're motivated to do well and want to take a career change seriously, App Academy provides a really good foundation and I would recommend it a lot.

Pros - Good career services with not just counselors but a community that pushes you to learn and grow as a software developer. If you're willing to put in the work to not only produce the projects but also understand the concepts and speak intelligently... Read More about approaches to software development, you will get a great job. The classes, with 16 weeks to learn a lot, could sometimes feel a bit dense, but with the amount you're expected to learn in that time period the instructors do a great job of it not seeming too overwhelming or putting too much pressure on the students to learn at a pace they would struggle with Also a huge plus, with the ever-growing industry, people seek out boot camp grads more, and App Academy partnerships are a pre-vetted opportunity to get some great experience under your belt with a good wage. Cons - Very steep learning curve at first - about 65% of our cohort made it to the end. Whether this was a failing on their part to properly understand the material or instructors' inability to pick up on people struggling, this was sad and the process of deferring was handled in a rather macabre way that was needlessly dramatic.

The App Academy 16 week software engineering boot camp was one of the most challenging but rewarding experiences of my life. Comparing my programming knowledge and skill now to when the bootcamp started is truly night and day. You not only learn new programming... Read More languages and skills, but you also learn how to time manage and how to handle your stress.

Over 16 weeks at A/A, I went from knowing hardly any code to being able to develop a full stack web app. The instructional team is great, and I feel the teacher-to-student ratio was appropriate. There was always time to go over any questions I had. I... Read More enjoyed being able to work with other students and improve my soft skills. Once the curriculum winds down, there are many resources provided to students to assist with job placements. I only recently finished the program and am not yet employed but I feel like I am in good hands with the A/A career coaches.

I had a really great experience at App Academy. I attended 16 weeks Full Stack Software Engineering program. Due to the pandemic, it was online. I started with basic knowledge of programming. I remember I used to struggle with loops and variables when... Read More I started the Bootcamp, but in the end, I was able to create a full-stack single-page web application. App Academy's course structure is perfect, it starts with basics and ramp-up to an advanced level. Before starting the Bootcamp you don't have to have previous knowledge of programming, but if you do, it's a plus because it is a fast-paced Bootcamp. The First 2 weeks of the course are the basics of ruby, and there are no lectures, so you have to study by yourself but the TAs are always there to help. After 2 weeks, there are lectures in the morning and pair boarding in the afternoon.I really enjoyed pair boarding, it does improve your social skills and prepare you for the work environment and job interviews, plus you get to learn a lot from your fellow students. I had an amazing team of TAs, they were always ready to help and teach new things. They are also app academy graduates, so you get to learn a lot from their experiences. After graduation, the app academy assigns you to a coach who helps in the job search and prepares you for the job interviews, whether it be technical interviews or behavioral interviews. I highly recommend people to join App Academy if you want to start a career in the software engineering field.

I enrolled in App Academy with some prior programming knowledge hoping to land a software engineer role. The program itself wasn't extremely difficult for me, but I had lots of friends to ask for help and prior exposure. My biggest takeaway from the bootcamp... Read More was that you get out of it what you put in. There were students that dedicated 6 months to learning as much as they could and it showed by the time we presented our capstone projects. I would be hesitant to recommend this program to anyone without prior knowledge or experience with programming. You are making a massive financial commitment and quite frankly this career isn't for everyone. I think App Academy is a great investment if you know you're capable and want to break into the tech industry. If you have any hesitations or doubts about your ability to be a software engineer or to complete this program then I would recommend waiting to enroll until you learn some fundamentals on your own time.