App Academy

App academy has been an interesting, challenging, and enlightening experience.  I don't believe there's another program right now that is more difficult and more capable of transfering large amounts of knowledge in skills in such a short period of time as App Academy has done.  The curriculum, including rails may seems slightly dated, but it serves as an excellent launching pouint for the uninitiated to begin to understand MVC's.  The program helped give me the tools I need to truly begin a career as a software engineer and I would recommend it to anyone who was looking to do the same.

I enjoyed the program very much. It was well paced and definitely very intensive. They teach more than just the basics and structure the curriculum very well to get you to the point of being an independent learner. I think it's daunting at first to pick up web development without much coding background, but I think the program does a good job at teaching you what to focus on.

 

The most intensive part of the curriculum is keeping up with the schedule. The material by itself is structured to teach a student from the ground up. The challenging portion is for the student to maintain studying priorities, time management, and health. If a student can do these things well, then the student will be able to pick up everything needed to pass the program.

 

The job search support is very good. I feel like App Academy is set up for a student's success, giving the student constant support and material to work on post-graduation from the program. If the job seeker puts in the work and keeps routines established by a/A to find employment, it'll only be a matter of when.

I've had some coding experience before App Academy, but I still found myself studying 80+ hours a week.  During my time here, I learned how to use the latest cutting edge technologies, I learned about the tech industry itself, I've met amazing people, and I learned a lot about myself.

From start to finish, everything that App Academy teaches you is a needed skill in the tech industry.  For example something that might be overlooked is pair programming.  As a pair you learn how to code but more importantly you learn how to explain your code.  This is such a valuable skill because within a team environment or in an interview, we have to talk about our app/code to people who may or may not have coding experience.

The curriculum is designed in such a way where everyday is packed with new information.  If you join a bootcamp, I recommend building good study habits from the start (even if it seems easy at first).  I found that the people who tend to slack off are the ones that struggle or fail out because the pace tends to ramp up as the weeks go by.  If you try hard, you will succeed.

This was probably one of the toughest 12+ weeks of my life. 

Everyday was a grind and a struggle. Oftentimes I felt like I was suffocating with the amount of work and hours needed to stay afloat with the program. The near-weekly assessments were constant pressures to keep going. Everyone else around you seems to have a much better grasp of concepts than you do, and just "smarter" than you in terms of coding ability. 

But, despite all of that, it was an extremely rewarding experience that I would definitely recommend. The difficulty of the program helps you cope in any situation afterwards no matter the circumstances. You're working with some of the smartest people around (you included), and you're able to learn and grow accordingly. You really get what you put into this program, it's definitely not for everyone, but if it is, it will definitely be worthwhile. 

If you are looking for a challenge , definitely go for App Academy.  The program is rigorous and fast-paced. There are assessments throughout the first nine weeks of the structured curriculum. Students will get kicked out of the program if they failed 2 assessments or unable to keep up with the pace. However, the students will be given all the supports and resources to prepare for the assessments.

 

I came with a non-technical background and only started to prepare 3 months before the cohort started. So, I had a hard time going through the program but it was also one of the most rewarding experience I have ever had challenging myself mentally, physically, and intellectually. I joined the program alone and came out of it with a massive network and close friends who will always be there to support me in engineering career.

 

The only cons I have is i wish they would teach another language other than Ruby. However, I heard that they are going to change their curriculum in the near future.

App academy is 13 weeks of crashing through material. You will feel everyday that your brain cannot fit any more material in it. However, after the course you will realize how far you have come. From there you should know what you need to learn and how to go about learning it. You cannot learn everything about software engineering in 13 weeks. It's up to you to round out your education and continue practicing. Overall it was an awesome experience that I would recommend to anyone who can buckle down and learn at a fast pace for an extended period of time. Great staff, awesome cohort, Mar 19!

Overall I'm happy with my experience as an App Academy student! The staff are very engaged and truly focused on the success and learning of their students. The curriculum spends time covering concepts but also requires projects to rebuild the concept so that your understanding goes into what is occurring behind the scenes and not just the use behind it. A lot of effort is placed to provide students the resources required to learn the material, either staying late or volunteering their time over the weekends when students can come in to study. While I still have things to learn before I probably will be hired full time, aA provided me all the tools and skills necessary to achieve my goal of becoming a software engineer!

App Academy is a bootcamp in every sense of the word. You'll be dedicating 3 months of your life to learning algorithms, data structures, and various frameworks for full-stack web development. Be prepared for early morning commutes and long nights studying challenging material--it will test your limits. While curriculum may be intensive, it is not without support. App Academy has employed amazing instructors that are highly-skilled, well-prepared, and extremely patient. Beyond instructorship, you'll network with dozens of other software developers in-training with similar motivations. Awesome experience.

This was definitely one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences. It's challenging because you're learning a lot of new material every single day, dedicating your waking hours to studying the material and feeling lost and confused at many points throughout. It's not an exaggeration that it feels like you're drinking from a fire hose. It's also incredibly rewarding because at the end of the curriculum when you're building your own projects and finally seeing everything come together, you realize how far you've come. a/A has a great group of instructors that are always willing to help, and are very knowledgeable. One thing I do really appreciate is that they are always refining and working on making their program better through incorporating feedback and making sure everything we're learning is relevant and up-to-date.

I would say if you're planning to apply, please take the time now to put in as much effort as you can to study as much as you can to build up a good foundation and getting you into good studying habits. The application process is not easy and it's probably intentionally that way to weed out only people who really want to be there because once the program starts, if you're not ready you're going to fall behind. Know exactly what you're signing up for and be willing to dedicate 100% of your time and effort. The way the course is structured, if you put in the effort, time,  and dedication you will be successful and you will not regret it!

App Academy is by far one of the hardest things I've done in my life and definitely the most exhausting. I'm writing this review after finishing week 10. Before getting accepted into a/A I had absolutely ZERO coding experience and now I've completed two full stack projects and working on a third one. You're going to be amazed at how much you can learn in the amount of time that you have. It's going to be hard like what everyone else says but if you stay committed it will be worth it.

When I decide to learn programming and search some bootcamps, a/A stood out because of their high job placement stats and course structures. Upon getting accepted and attending, I found the staff were amazing, and will answer every question you have and also give you suggestions. Also, I was very doubtful of my abilities to pass through the entire course from day one, and that comes as no surprise because the curriculum is extremely fast-paced and difficult. The course is well structured, I feel I have a strong foundations of different programming concepts. If you want to become a software developer, app academy is the way to do it.

App Academy is a super intense bootcamp which the whole coding curriculum is 9 weeks long including the last two weeks is fully for your full-stack project. After that, you will enter the job search part of the rest of the curriculum. Basically, you won't any spare time left in each of every day in App Academy. You have to finish tons of homework, readings and videos to be prepared for the pair-programming in the next day. So be prepared. 

Beside of the curriculum, you will meet many cool people here. The TAs and your cohort mates are super friendly, helpful and cool! You may feel like you are not qualified for the program. But hey, they chose you for a reason, so trust in yourself.