App Academy

I attended App Academy's bootcamp prep course about two months ago. I had pretty much no experience coding and decided that the prep program would be a good way to get my feet wet and see if this career path suited me without too much of a commitment. The program was well organized and the teachers were great. Shout out to my teacher Alvin. He did a great job. At App Academy, I learned everything I needed to know to feel comfortable moving forward with a coding bootcamp. You will need to study on your own a little to make sure you are ready for technical interviews at bootcamps, but the program reviews all the material that is expected of you.

I have now applied to several of the top bootcamps in NYC and have been accepted to all of them. The prep program is a pricey when compared to others, but the program lived up to its promises and I have no regrets about going.

If you are looking this review, I can tell all the information on a/A website are true. 
You need to spent AT LEAST 100 hours per week. 
The curriculum are intense and tough.
You basically learn new stuff EVERYDAY. 
The assessments are really thing, you will be kick out if you failed twice.
But if you really want to be there, here are some good news.

All instructors at a/A are excellent, not only knowledgeable but also extremely supportive of students.
The curriculums are well structured, and have clear instruction to follow.
Your classmate are awesome, will give you any help you need. 
Trust yourself you can make it.

Tldr; this program will push you to your limits and expand what you thought you were capable of. If you can't make it here, you're no less capable of doing this work, this is just a super intense environment that's not meant for every learning style.

Long: AppAcademy has been a whirlwind of a learning experience. I came in with some prior experience coding, but not enough to do anything with. Before I got accepted into the actual program I spent about 2 months preparing by learning ruby, in part with their JumpStart program, which I strongly suggest if they ask you to join - it's free compared to the Bootcamp Prep, but isn't as in-depth from what I hear. Take the AlphaCourse really seriously - don't approach it with the attitude of "it only takes x hours to finish, I'll wait until x hours before it's due!" because that's the mentality that gets you failing out of the program.

The curriculum has been worked over by a lot of people and on the whole is very solid and thorough, but at times can be hard to follow if you don't understand the style it is being conveyed to you in. That said, after 9 weeks of the curriculum, I made a fully functioning, albeit slightly bare-bones, website which completely blew my mind to see the progress I made. This accomplishment is just as much due to my own abilities as it is to the curriculum, institution, and the teachers they employe here.

10/10 would suggest, but I need at least a solid week of rest following this. Be ready to put in a minimum of 10 hour days and 60 hour weeks - anything less is a fleeting luxury. When you get to the cap-stone project you get 10 days, expect to work those 10 days straight and put a minimum of 100 hours into your project.

Just finished the curriculum part of App Academy. It was intense, grueling, and sleep-deprived, but I would do it all over again. I have learned so much and went from being an absolute beginner with no coding experience whatsoever to where I can call myself an software engineer (still have so much to learn though lol). They have a great and intense curriculum (it has to be that way for you to go from 0-100 real quick), and they have a great and talented staff of teachers that will lead, mold, consult, and be there with you every step of the way. They are smart people, people. You  in good hands.

If you are someone who wants to change the direction of your life or want to get into programming for whatever reason, AND above all else is willing to put in the hours to do it, do not hesitate and go for it. You won't regret it.

You will learn ruby, rails, JavaScript, react, css

App Academy's curriculum is absolutely fantastic. It is rigorous and often stressful, but you learn at such an accelerated rate (relative to self learning or the like) that I think it's definitely worth the time if you can afford it. A lot of that is due to the excellent instructional readings and videos provided to you, as well as the amazing help from your instructors. You learn full stack web development with a back-end in Ruby on Rails, which may not be the hottest thing out there right now, but by the end of the course you will be skilled enough to be able to transition to any other back-end framework of you or your future employer's choosing. The instructors teach you not only about the frameworks, such as Rails, but also about how they work under the hood, which is great to really cement your understanding of core concepts and build your foundation. I'm also a fan of their weekly assessments, which are a great way to gauge how well you're doing in the course up to that point. The material on these is extremely fair relative to what you learn in class on a daily basis, and they are a great way to sharpen your test taking and pressure handling ability. 

The people of App Academy, in my experience, are all really great. At least in my cohort, everyone got along beautifully. I can't say this is always going to be true, but I trust in App Academy's hiring process enough to think it should be true for future cohorts as well. 

Although the curriculum is very rewarding, it is also very demanding. If you want to excel, you will most likely need to dedicate most, if not all of your time to this course. Though the assessments are fair, you will need to spend a lot time studying for them. Don't be afraid to ask for help! You will get what you put in. Good luck!

The curriculum seemed like a compilation of tutorials and books already available online. The value of the program is in being instructed to do it with a sense of direction with a room full of other people buying in. Having yet been hired I cannot attest to the primary goal of the program which is their ability to get you a job, however I will say that I'm confident of doing so. If you're a self-starter and have people in your network that can help you land that first job, you might be able to succeed without the program. If programming is a fresh start for you, this is a good launch pad.

App academy is an 8-week long intensive coding bootcamp that teaches everything you need to know to start your new career in Software Development. Prepare to dedicate yourself completely for the duration of the program. It will require your full attention. The skills and technologies that you will learn are current and in high demand! The staff is friendly and supportive throughout the whole process. It was an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone who is serious about making the career change to Software Development. 

I just received and accepted a 6 figure job offer, 3 months after graduating from App Academy's program. a/A is an extremely rewarding program, where you will learn the fundamentals of coding and full stack web development. 

I would not recommend this course if you are only looking for a pay check. The course is extremely rigorous, easily 80 hours a week, sometimes over 100. Even after this, you will always need to keep improving your skills. 

Those who fall behind too far are removed from the program. While this seems harsh, this is integral to ensuring the quality of the a/A name. Employees look to a/A to find skilled and driven software engineers. 

I met so many cool people at a/A, and I wish the best for a/A and all of its students in the years to come!

After graduating college (2 years ago), I decided to pursue software engineering and taught myself through MOOCs, meetups, and attending small introductory workshops for people with a non-traditional tech background. It's safe to say that App Academy was by far the hardest yet most rewarding experience that I've had. I learned more in 3 weeks at aA than what I did in TWO YEARS of teaching myself. 

The thing that I admire most about aA is that they push your limits, they prove to you what your true capabilities are.. and the TAs are there to support you every step of the way. I remember looking weeks ahead during instructional, thinking, "there's no way I could do that!!" yet when that week's assignment flew by, I realized how quickly I adapted to the pace of the curriculum and managed to complete what I initially thought was impossible. 

Some tips: Follow the allotted time that they recommend for the homeworks and nightly assignments. If they give you a coding challenge and it says on the curriculum to take 45 minutes to complete it, STOP at the 45 minute mark! I know it can be easy to go over the time limit they suggest, and it might stress you out, but sacrificing your sleep IS NOT WORTH IT! You will struggle the day after, and it's crucial to be at the top of your game everyday. 

This program isn't for everyone.. but if you know for a fact that this is something that you'd like to do and you're willing to devote yourself 100% for 3 months, then go for it! I absolutely loved it and would totally do it again!

As the title reaffirms, App Academy is a bootcamp and will live up to the word's definition. You will be challenged day-in, day-out, and will frequently need to step out of your comfort zone - especially if you are like me and coming in from a non-CS/technical background. But you will also learn to embrace the structure and come to appreciate the way the curriculum is designed to optimize the amount you learn in such a short timeframe. While you'll mostly never feel entirely comfortable with any topic introduced before you're required to move on, the way everything compounds will eventually help you fill in these gaps and paint the bigger picture. And no matter what you do, you must NOT neglect sleep for any reason - you will not have time to make it up and it will deter your ability to learn and you will quickly dig yourself a hole you'll find hard to climb out of.

App Academy's rigorous and challenging curriculum will probably be nothing like any other educational experiences you've had, and it's certainly not for everyone. But it will also be one of the most rewarding experiences you'll attain in terms of personal and professional (98% placed!) growth. They've also employed a team of passionate teaching assistants that are fully invested in seeing every student emerge successful. I know they certainly were instrumental in mine.

I have some programming experience before I went to App Academy. And I thought I can pretty much finish all of the assignments and projects with ease. App Academy showed me how wrong I was after the second week. They gave you so much to learn it is simply not possible to learn it all unless you are really really smart. And they have a way of pushing your ability beyond what you think you can accomplish. The program is definitely not for everyone because of of the pressure they put on you and the amount of time you have to commit in order to finish

It's reputation for a demanding schedule yet quality curriculum might even be understated. The most valuable lessons I've learned were time management, keeping calm under pressure, and, most of all, learning how to fail. There have been many times when I've been disappointed in myself for not completing a daily project, and even a larger one, but the TAs have been so supportive and encouraging that I've learned to leave regrets behind for greater things ahead.

The TAs they've gotten are extremely helpful and understanding; most of them have gone through the program themselves, so they help you prioritize and manage the workload, as well as give very helpful tips without giving away the answers. Plus they're good people in general too.

One thing to consider: the curriculum is constantly changing and improving, so there will be some inconsistencies and confusion, especially because the NY and SF offices have to share the curriculum. But then again, that's like a real company, isn't it? Don't expect smooth-sailing; expect to be blocked and forced to find solutions to problems you don't expect to happen. That being said, though the frustrations mount, if you can learn to handle it all with grace, you'll come out from it all a very competent web developer and a very competent employee.

I just completed the curriculum and I feel great about what I’ve learned and what I can accomplish in the future. The TAs really care about your learning. They are supportive and easy-going, which makes all the difference when you experience bootcamp levels of stress. The lectures are interesting and the projects are by and large fun. Your classmates are also great because everyone is motivated to be there and works hard.

When I started at App Academy, I did have some prior coding experience from college, but those classes had never gone well and I was not at all confident in my abilities. With the App Academy curriculum, I learned a bunch of languages and with the culminating full-stack project, I feel like I’m ready to start a career as a software developer.

However, the curriculum is super intense and you always feel like you never have enough time in the day. That being said, it’s very important to get adequate sleep and take breaks. Even if you don’t feel like you can take a break. Do it, and do App Academy!

I just finished week 9. It has been really fun and rewarding, especially when you learn new stuff and build programs/games/projects right away. You have no idea what is going on (for a while), but somehow it always works out just fine. Being able to code full-time is amazing on its own, and having a supportive environment is way better than fighting alone. 

Some tips for future students:
- About your peers: Most of my classmates have some coding background or self-studied some languages, while others didn't code before attending aA. There are CS graduates,  and people with non-tech background. It is a diverse group, but one thing is in common: everyone is pretty passionate about coding and wants to make it. 
- About prior experience: Some people have asked me if they can attend without coding experience. In my opinion, having prior experience or not is not the deciding factor. The most important thing is making sure that you really want this. People have different learning styles, so think about whether you like a fast-paced environment.
- That being said, do consider the potential risk of being dismissed after two failures in assessments. We have 6 assessments in total. In our cohort and previous cohort, the dismiss rate is about 20%. 
- If you can, try to learn data structures and algorithms before you start aA. In aA, recursion is taught in one day. It is helpful to know basics such as Big O time complexity, sorting algorithms, etc. before you start this program. Two of the assessments are about algorithms (in Ruby and JavaScript).
- I also hope I had known more CSS before I came in. CSS is relatively easy to learn on one's own, but there are so many details. In aA we don't learn a lot about CSS in the curriculum, just because it is not the focus of the curriculum. Core curriculum includes Ruby, Rails, SQL, JavaScript, React/Redux. But you do need to write HTML/CSS in your final projects.
- Pair programming: At first I was skeptical, but it turned out to be the best thing about aA. I learned so much from my coding pairs.

The job search curriculum starts next week. So I don't know yet.

Personal story: I considered switching my career path to coding in 2013. But I thought it's impossible with my liberal arts background. So I didn't give it too much thought and pursued another path. But inevitably I came back to coding. I started to code more in 2016 but still hesitated about whether to apply for developer jobs. When I finally made up my mind it was kind of late. But better late than never... I am grateful for being able to make that decision. No matter the results, had to try. I think you don't have to attend a bootcamp. Just don't give up easily. Try to learn programming for several months and see if you enjoy it. If not, that's fine. Even if you really want to be in the tech industry, there are options: many other roles like marketing/design are fun rewarding jobs too.

App Academy is not for everyone, there's no way around that central truth. It is mentally and emotionally exhausting to cover the amount of material at the pace that the course demands, and the stress only grows week after week.  During my time in the course, the only times I wasn't at the office working were when I was commuting there, or asleep (this isn't an exaggeration).  But if you can handle that, then the course is very rewarding.  If you want to work at a high level for 12 weeks to get into a competitive, growth field, App Academy is certainly worth it.  If the idea of not seeing your friends for 12 weeks while you're sitting in front of a computer for 12+ hours a day sounds like torture, the program might not be for you.