App Academy

Before signing up for App Academy, I did a good amount of research among all different coding bootcamps and everyone seemed to agree App Academy was one of the best. They were not wrong. 

If you're considering applying for this program, you will need to give up most of your time and prioritize this program before anything else. You will spend at least 80 hours per week studying and working on projects. It is all worth it at the end but can also very overwhelming if you don't know what you're getting into. 

You don't need any prior experience to enter App Academy but def previous knowledge will help you onboard faster. My advice is to spend as much time as possible before the bootcamp starts reinforcing some of the key concepts. You will not have a lot of free time once the bootcamp begins!

The first few weeks are really intensive and you will have to digest a lot of new information. I believe the key is to always keep an eye in the big picture. You don't need to fully understand every single algorithm and detail. This will come later.

I also strongly recommend you don't fall behind the program. Do your homework and assignments every day (catching up is extremely hard). 

Now that the bootcamp is almost over I am looking forward to my next step in the process: finding a job! App Academy provides numerous resources to help you achieve this.

App Academy definitely is not for the lazy or unmotivated individual. The rigorous 1000-hour course demands attention, focus, and dedication. However, if you put in the work and time, this bootcamp is completely doable and gives you all the materials you need to succeed. The pace is slower during the first ten or so weeks, but really ramps up afterwards. The latter half of the bootcamp really requires you to buckle up and self-teach a lot more, as the curriculum is not as polished as the first half.

My time at App Academy was overall very pleasant. My cohort started just as coronavirus started to spread and we were only able to be in person for two weeks before we were forced into remote learning for the remainder of my time. While it was not the experience I had signed up for, I was still able to learn effectively and the staff really did their best to still keep the in person spirit alive. However, there were still a lot of uncertainty and change throughout my time that made it hard to get comfortable and fully focus on learning.
The course itself is very fair and App Academy sets you up to succeed as long as you put in the effort. Both the assessments and solo projects are fair and you’re provided with all of the resources to excel. You should, however, expect all of your time to go to either learning the material, or if you have extra time, to learn other topics on your own as there are some gaps in learning that bootcamps in general can’t really cover due to their short duration. That being said, the curriculum can definitely stand on its own and its crazy how fast you go from knowing nothing to building large scale websites in almost no time. The curriculum is very thorough for most of the course, although some of the lessons in the last part could use an update. Overall, I feel like I got the most out of App Academy and I feel ready to succeed, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to start a career in software development.

Intense and worthwhile course

Pros:
 - Curriculum attempts to keep up to date with the most useful technologies for current job search.
 - Cohorts are small enough that you can get the attention and help you may need when you're having trouble.
 - The TAs / instructors in our course were the kindest and most helpful and attentive staff my cohort had ever had the good fortune of meeting.

Cons:
 - Some of the written course material/readings could use some updating/proofreading
 - *Do* expect to spend as much time per week on the coursework as most other reviews have said so

^ But *do* remember you are not alone. Support and uplift each other in your cohort.

Applied to App Academy after spending about 7-8 weeks getting prepared for the admissions process.

Pros:
- Great curriculum and technologies
- Relatively small classes so you won't have to wait more than a few minutes for assistance if you or your pair partner get stuck on something
- Amazing staff (I can only speak for the cohort that I was in.) Our class unanimously loved our TAs and instructors since they would go above and beyond the written material to help us understand everything.

Cons:
- They told us to expect to spend 90-100 hours per week in order to succeed. This is not exaggerated at all and after speaking to other cohort members, there were many of us who would spend this much time minimum every week. I only list this as a con because it really does do a number on your mental state and body. You may get used to it a few weeks in but it is a tough course and exhaustion was commonplace. Know what you are getting into before you apply.

App Academy will tell you up front how tough the course is and how many hours you must put in. 80-100 hours a week is required as a minimum to really learn the material and pass the assessments. However, at the end of this experience you'll be completely surprised at how much you've learned in such a short space of time. You'll find it hard to believe that you went from nothing to a complete software engineer. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything, and if you're considering going through this rigorous process I highly recommend it!

Studying at App Academy was a great experience and definitely a game changer.
Before enrolling I had just a tiny bit of experience with Python, which was just enough to know that I wanted to get into software development. Now after, four months I feel ready to actually make it my profession!
That being said, it's not for everyone, if you're serious about getting through the program, you must be prepared to put in 80-100h/week. Also, the learning curve is steep, so you will feel a lot of frustration and growing pain.

If you are willing to put in the work, App Academy does a great job at what they advertise. The first month is easy if you have any programming experience whatsoever, but it really ramps up after that. Most days are spent pair programming, which is a great learning experience no matter who you are paired up with. After class, you spend the rest of the day learning the next day's material. New topics are introduced almost every day and you can find yourself falling behind easily if you even slack off for a day or two.

Overall, you can expect to come out of App Academy with new and improved programming skills, a portfolio, and tremendous job search resources (despite a generic job search curriculum).

App Academy has a team of wonderful and dedicated teaching assistants. AA fosters a welcoming environment. They prepare you to become better programmers through pair programming. This is helpful to have a new partner everyday because your pair becomes your motivator. If you're the one that are struggling on that day's topic, then your partner can help you understand the topic better and if you are the one helping your partner, it only helps you solidify and strengthen your knowledge 

I attended App Academy after graduating from UCSC with a minor in Computer Science. I 

Pros:
Technologies being taught are applicable to the industry which is nice. It's not the exact same, but the technological concepts are similar.
My cohort might've been the odd one out, but 95% of the people I met were very smart, kind, and hardworking.

Cons:
The program, at the end of the day, is still very bureaucratic. They do things that incentivize making money.
The ratio of staff to student is kinda bad.
Very difficult for students that fall behind to catch up again.

 The main learning section of the course was really well structured, which made it ideal for me (someone who needs critical timelines and an uncompromising schedule to not slack off).   The fact that you have to learn basics yourself and interview to get into the program inspires more confidence than other bootcamps who will follow up call you to make sure you are still interested.  App academy seems to survive on its reputation, and I know multiple students in just my cohort who came to A/a because a friend or sibling already went through the program with success.  I was really surprised at myself how much I learned so quickly.  I tried self-learning for a year, but couldn't get to a point where I was comfortable knowing what to learn to do what I wanted.  However now, I don't know everything, but I feel confident I know how to learn any language/framework with enough time due to the solid foundation App Academy provided.
It's not necessarily a fault of App Academy, they do the best they can in such a short time frame, but I wish there were more employers willing to at least give me a phone screen to prove I know my stuff.  You just can't get the reputation a 4 year degree will get you at a bootcamp.  Especially considering how undergraduate internships are the new start of the pipeline to full time employment.  The job search portion is arguably more grueling due to financial stress and comparative lack of structure.  You still have weekly targets to meet, but there just aren't enough qualified coaches to help you through the post-graduation section of job-searching (especially considering most coaches are previous App Academy graduates who are only working there until they can find a better job offer themselves).
Overall a worthwhile experience, and this is written from someone still in the midst of the job search.  If you have the money or time to attend A/a, and you are capable of self-motivating after the main program, it's arguably one of the fastest ways to get into the software engineering profession from a different career.
 

App Academy provides an extremely rigorous and fast paced coding curriculum and is an efficient way to be indoctrinated in software development. However, be prepared for an exhausting 6 months, working constantly. Sometimes, help from the TAs can be hit or miss and it is helpful to find those TAs whose teaching style works for you. That said, I believe they have set me up to build a strong portfolio and the job training and management portion of the course is promising. I didn't know it was possible to learn so much in such a short time. If you make it through, you are part of the community forever.