App Academy

App Academy lived up to my expectations for the most part. I knew it would be fast paced and that there would be missing spots in my learning. I am a 'career transitioner' that had a little nest of cash stored, so I took that opportunity to move to tech. I came in with knowledge of the basics of HTML & CSS from creating a Wordpress blog a few years prior and doing some FCC and Codecademy training. At the time, I was considering multiple coding bootcamps and had never even heard of a/A, but once they were on my radar, the reviews made me confident that I would be pushed to my limit, which in my head translated to becoming a very capable software engineer through intense studies. Personally, my time was solely dedicated to 32 Weeks of a/A, so if you are unable to  give your entire days to them, your process will be quite trying. 10-7, take a break for dinner/family, and then a few hours of homework/study afterwards. To be transparent, I haven't found my first role yet, and I am 3 months into the job search. I have a Bachelor's and Master's.  It takes time, and the expectation given down to us is 400 - 600 applications at 25 minimum apps placed a week. I believe I'm somewhere between 225 and 250 applications thus far. Please prep for this.

Important Things To Note
* Marketing - Take the marketing material for what it is. Yes, you can get a job making 100K in San Francisco or NY, but this is significantly harder for the online cohorts due to everyone being disbursed throughout the world. I can only speak from my experience, and my experience also tells me to let you know that you will be in the market looking for role for months if you are unwilling to move to hot spots, and many time if you are, it won't be for 100K. 100K is a lot of money if you didn't know, and companies expect a lot of those that are making the big bucks. Just frame your goals properly and know what you are signing up for.

* Deferrals - I started right before Covid hit, so we were given additional opportunities to defer to later cohorts simply because of how much was going on at the time. To put it plain, once shutdowns were instated, no one was solely focused on school, family arrangements were different, and things just changed. Typically, I think you are given 3 deferrals, but 1 was added for us, making it a total of 4. I have seen people defer for medical reasons and family issues, but the most common is not passing assessments. There were around 14-15 assessments. Understand that deferrals is not a scare tactic. You will be removed from a/A and will also be required to pay a prorated amount if you end up not making it through the entire program. Read your agreements, please. For me personally, I deferred twice, making my total time in a/A 32 weeks compared to 24 weeks. That's an additional 2 months. There are weeks where 0 people defer, and then on the harder weeks, you will see double digits defer. Don't let it deter you too much. You will move to the cohort immediately behind you. There is 1 new cohort a month, so it places you 4 weeks back. On the positive side, this gives you the opportunity to reinforce concepts that didn't stick. It was well stated in my cohort(s) during our graduation that potential deferments induced more anxiety than anything else. That is where the stress lies due to you not knowing what the assessments could potentially have on them. Pressure makes diamonds, but pressure also busts pipes.

* Finances - Plan accordingly. I was one who bet on myself and believed I could make it straight through without any deferrals, meaning, I chose not to do the contract and instead paid a portion up front. Well, I deferred twice. If I wouldn't have budgeted correctly, that extra two months out of work could have had long lasting implications and could have really hurt me. Be smart.

* Skill Level - For the most part, a/A tests for the correct personality types in the pre-work/interview stage, but on day 1, you will soon realize that some people are just naturally gifted, have a little more experience, and there is really nothing you can do about it. They look for ambitious and driven personalities, but that isn't all that matters. Don't let this get you down. Those that are answering all of the questions and know alot more when you pair with them is great, but if you're not that person, it's not a death sentence either. We all learn in different ways and different speeds.

* Technical Mentors  & Teaching Assistants Matter - Like college, I believe who is teaching you is equally as important as what you are learning. Speaking for myself, I didn't feel that I had the right mix of teachers until I made it into my last cohort. I felt like the mentors and ta's really fought for us when assessments were just unfair(timing or not good questions), and it genuinely felt like I had met my tribe. This has nothing to do with my previous cohorts, but honestly speaking, I didn't get that same feeling or attention. It made me regret starting when I did, meaning I came in halfway through a cohort once relationships had already been established and additionally, I had learned things in ways that were taught much better in the new cohort, etc... My cohort mates just seemed to be fundamentally stronger than I was at times, and I believe it was due to the culture that the TM and TA's created for the group.

* Post Covid a/A Experience Is Different - Put simply, you're prone to be more of just a number. The pre-covid groups were small. Jan graduated ~11 , Feb graduated ~6, March graduated ~12, April graduated ~17, May graduated ~18.... Numbers ballooned severely after this. People are out of work and taking the opportunity to transition to new careers. The cohorts are now starting with 75+ students, leading them to have to change the way instruction is given as well. In my estimation, from those 75-90 students in a cohort, each graduation will now be anywhere from 30 - 40 students graduating. Just be aware that the small circles and having the little school experience is no longer there.

* Students with kids under 5 - If your kids are at home during the day and you are the sole person responsible for them, I can't imagine how you will survive the curriculum. This is not extremely common, but there are some. In my case, I saw 3 different cases. Those 3 are no longer enrolled at a/A. This is not a scare tactic, but owing a company thousands of dollars is not a bright outcome, so make sure you have a daycare or someone to care for them.

* Diversity - Simply put, not a ton of women and not a ton of color. For a graduation class of 17, 2 were black and 1 woman.Scholarships and marketing material(Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Instagram Ads) should be geared towards both of those communities. Slack channels for subsets of individuals is respectable and an attempt, but it's not enough. There also needs to be some diversity in the C-Suite roles. You can't understand people that you have no exposure to.

* Curriculum - Pretty decent. I can only speak from the perspective that I never worked with most of the languages before doing it, so I can only compare it against FreeCodeCamp and Codecademy. From that lens, it was pretty good. There were weaker sections, but I also understand how tough it is to make changes, getting approval, and everything  that comes with that process. Bottom Line: Don't expect too much when you are literally learning a new subject/concept pretty much every week. A personal frustration is that a lot of the projects were centered around building a game such as Tic-Tac-Toe, King's Travail,  recreating Pokedex and things like that. So, I'm not a gamer, and though many coders are, it was tough at times to keep my attention. Most of us aren't going into game development, so diversifying the selection of projects should be considered. E-Commerce sites, internal banking applications, you know, things that are actively being built in the market. Just a thought.

* CareerQuest/Job Support - If you are opening up an online portion, naturally I believe a global partnerships team should also be rolled out. You have students across the world, but most opportunities presented are for NY and SF. Career Coaches are doing what they can I believe and have a lot on their plates. Overall, I'm still going through this process, so my entire outlook is dependent on the first role I acquire. Let it be known that the student does the work though, the coaches are just their to hold you accountable. Trust, you can also get kicked out while searching for a job as well. There are still meetings you are required to attend weekly and the pressure lessens, but doesn't stop.

I thought that with education costs and the time it takes to get a degree, I would never be able to transition into software engineering. Not while taking care of my family anyways. Well with their deferred tuition and instructional approach, I can proudly say I have made the switch and with everything I have learned I feel confident with my skillset and look forward to the opportunities to come! I do gotta say though, no one is going to do this for you. They have all the tools and curriculum and support you need. You just have to buckle down and get it done. There is no easy way! The Job search is just that... a Job search! You gotta put in the work for that too. No one is going to be begging for you to work for them you need to put in the work for your own branding and self presentation as well. This for me is the hardest part! Good luck to all those who are going to take the leap it will be worth it!

I attended App Academy after graduating college with a degree in Ecology and working in the US Forest Service for three years. Basically, I had no technical experience whatsoever outside of playing video games and experimenting with basic coding in the language BASIC when I was a kid. After about 7 months total of coursework and the job search, I landed a job as a software engineer at a series C startup and I feel wholly prepared to assume my new role.

App Academy has a pretty solid curriculum, and while you could conceivably learn it all on your own it's much more efficient to do it through them. While most of the TA's are recent A/a grads, the cohort leads are usually experienced engineers and can answer your in-depth technical questions. I'm pleased to say there is a decent focus on true CS concepts rather than just how to use the trending tools of the industry, which is really what counts in the job search. Specific languages and tools go out of style rapidly, but if you can internalize the core concepts of CS and learn how to pick up new things on the fly, you will be able to apply to a wide range of jobs and have a chance of passing the interviews. 

Pair programming is one of the most infuriating experiences imaginable, but I will say that it is the secret sauce that makes this bootcamp work. Left to you own devices you will likely not be motivated or focused enough to work through the whole curriculum on your own, but when paired with another person all day it makes sure that both partners are on task and making good progress. I will say I love pair programming when two people can just freeform work on the project together and throw out the driver/navigator roles, and I encourage you to suggest this to your partners if both of you are on board.

I would also say that while the A/a model works really well right now, it is definitely a crapshoot whether or not it will work for you or in the future. Right now tech is a bloated whale of high paying coding jobs that could be conceivably had with just 4-6 months of rigorous training, but I suspect that like the gold rush this will come to an end. Most of these jobs are for startups which are not profitable and are funded by VC cash. While I'm not an economist, I have heard from people who are that the tech industry is likely overvalued and may crash in the same way that finance did in 2008. Just be wary, and have realistic expectations. At the time of this review I would 100% recommend App Academy as a viable option to a tech career, but if you are reading this a year or later down the line I would do my research into the state of the industry and bootcamp placements before registering. If you are older (say, 35+) or lack a degree you may also struggle to find a job as many companies will automatically weed you out for not having a degree or discriminate against you for being an older candidate. Ditto if you are not a citizen or green card holder. While I and many of my friends found jobs within 3-6 months of finishing the program (some even sooner), I also met many people who fit into the above categories who ended up searching for upwards of a year.

The one place where App Academy really shines is the job search. This to me is where 90% of the value comes from. Anyone can learn how to code on their own, but I can honestly say without my dedicated and talented coaches I would have been dead in the water. They teach you things that you can't easily learn off the internet, things you wouldn't even think to google, and the job search formula works, at least in this current economy. Indeed, I did App Academy because I didn't think I could find a job in my old field (ecology), but after going through the job search curriculum I realize I total could have if I knew what I know now about job searching. Lastly, I'd like to mention that my first coach was a dud and pretty useless, but after he "left" App Academy I was assigned to two new coaches who were total rockstars. My point is your milage may vary, but for the most part I would say the coaching staff is solid.

Finally, read the fine print. The ISA money-back guarentee only applies if you finish the program and don't find a job after a year, and even then you will more than likely have to sign a job search extension adding extra months before you are eligible to get your money back. This is due to the fact that your projects and job search materials will likely not be done by the time you graduate and you will need to spend additional time working on these, during which time you are not technically job searching. Make sure that you are able to support yourself being fully unemployed for a period of 17ish months (4 months curriculum + 13 months for the search) before you start the program if you want to be safe. Of course you could just send it anyway, but you are running a risk as if you run out of money and have to go back to work you will still owe A/a $28K. Also, plan on moving to a tech hub city (most likely SF or NY) if you do not already live in one, these are the places where companies will hire bootcampers. I was lucky enough to score a remote job, but that is also mostly due to COVID. You may also be able to do so but again it is a crapshoot.

Overall, I would recommend App Academy but only in an artifically inflated and booming tech economy.

Pros: 
- Good class structure and accountability to help keep students on track.
- Great teachers, feeling of community with other students, even though everything is online remote.
- Good breadth of material, focused on what companies are currently looking for in an applicant.
- Good pacing and balance between learning material and practical project work. 

Cons:
- Certain subjects are still a little rough around the edges and need to be refined. Specifically, how we were taught react during my cohort was rough and kind of backwards, spent a lot of time on old ways of implementing react and very little time on the new (hooks) way. However, they are actively rewriting the whole react curriculum, so should be fixed for new students. 

I had a great time at App Academy. For me the con is also a pro, when you first sign up they tell you that it is a very rigorous and demanding program but I didn't take too seriously. Just a few weeks later I was putting in anywhere from 80 to 100 hours of work into completing the course work. Which is necessary due to the amount of material that we learn in just a few weeks.
I feel that the boot camp made me a better developer and that I was given all that I signed up for and more.
Thank you so much for changing my career path.

I feel like saying that I enjoyed my time here would label me as a masochist, but yes.. I did enjoy my time here.  I was looking into getting into coding, but didn't know where to start and what stacks to learn, so I decided to give App Academy's 16 week Full-Stack web development course a shot since I've heard of all these good reviews, and so far, I'm not disappointed.   To get in, first you have to pass their interviews.  After you get in, things start a little slow, for the first week, but then speeds up really fast.  Especially after the first two weeks, which is the foundations part of the curriculum, after which, the real meat of the course starts to show and the pace picks up even more.  It's extremely vigorous, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  If you manage to pass all their assessments you'll be rewarded with newfound knowledge in programming and the ability to build cool apps.  After completing the course you enter your Career quest, in which you will be provided a Career Coach  who will coach you on applying for jobs and interviewing.  All in all it's been a great experience that leaves you feeling fulfilled, and I'm also impressed and how they turned this in-person course to an online one.

Pros: Teaches you all the things you really need to know. Teacher assistants are really useful and the projects they provide for you to do are helpful. The teaching strategy is to repeat concepts until it's cemented in your memory, which I believe is rather effective.
Cons: They stop giving you meaningful assistance when it comes to your personal projects at the end of the bootcamp. You're pretty much on your own, but of course you have your fellow students as resources but they're also trying to complete their own projects. They claim that the independence on the projects is to emulate your experience outside the bootcamp (without Teacher Assistants).

In 16 weeks at App Academy, you will be thrown in lots of Computer Science concepts over various programming languages, given job searching prep work, and projects to demonstrate your programming knowledge. From my experience, those projects were fun and the knowledge gained has helped me to figure out additional technologies to incorporate into my projects! Even though this journey through this bootcamp has been challenging, it is worth it in the end. Aside from the amazing material you get, you also will get to meet amazing cohort-mates from various backgrounds. Overall be prepared and be serious, which I can't emphasize enough, to put in lots of work to understanding and practicing those computer science concepts.

Pros:
- The instructional material were up-to-date, fun, and challenging.
- Really helpful instructors to help you understand Computer Science concepts.
- Plentiful of help for your job search

Cons:
- Some Computer Science concepts taught (either in lecture or in instructional material) are hard to understand or not self-explanatory.
- The transition from programming projects to job searching was awkward. I can say the same when switching between programming languages too.

Tips I could give:
- Try to learn some new programming languages/concepts ahead of time (even better if before the bootcamp). I highly suggest learning Python.
- Have a set schedule as you do not want to overwork yourself, especially when you're going to be studying new concepts daily.
- Be prepared to be expected to learn new concepts instantly.

As a student, I felt that I only scratched the surface of each topic, then did my best (with my pair-programming partner) to apply the knowledge on daily projects. During the initial week-long full stack projects, I didn't have a clear idea on how to start. However, my Principle Instructor (Ian) and the TA's (Javier, Dean) were always there and extremely helpful in guiding me in the right direction and helping to debug. By the time the capstone project came around, I felt equipped to develop a full stack project -- to the extent that I taught myself a whole new framework in just a few days to use in my project.
a/A simplifies complex topics across the full stack into simple, but not always digestible pieces. You will spend only a few days on topics that are taught over a semester in college. At times, you are likely to be overwhelmed by the pace. On the flip-side, you are also likely to be too immersed to even think about it. It may feel like you are being rushed to cram new material each day, but you would be surprised to realize how much you are actually learning under the hood. In addition to the basic knowledge, you are learning how to learn new technologies quickly and effectively. This resourcefulness is probably the most valuable return on your investment of time, money and effort.
My thoughts upon completion of the program: I thought I was running a marathon, but it turns out I was being taught how to tie my shoes really well for five months. The marathon has only just started.

pros:
they bet on you with income sharing
there are instructors to help (within reason)
good breath of material
career support
they force you to learn
great for people who want to learn and feel confident they can do it

cons:
It might feel expensive after you finish
at times you might feel overwhelmed if you don't have any tech background. but still doable. be ready to sacrifice something.
sometimes the curriculum feels rushed or disjointed

App Academy was an over great experience for me. I enjoyed the curriculum and met amazing people in the process. Due to the pandemic, the in-person program became online. It's a serious program that requires focus and dedication. I've had classmates with no background in coding like myself as well as those who have engineering degrees from top schools across the nation. I self-studied for 6 months prior to starting the program. If you have little to no background in coding,  this would be extremely helpful. They also have a pair programming rhetoric. I paired with someone nearly everyday for projects.

PROS - you can learn so much within 16 weeks with effort and dedication
CONS - Some curriculum is outdated. They are working on updating that material. 

If you plan to join a/A, say goodbye to evenings and weekends. It is a lot of work but it's all worth it! 

Overall I really enjoyed my experience at appAcademy. Albeit this is a review for the In-Person track, my cohort was done completely online due to COVID, which I believe provided a multitude of pros and cons. The curriculum was great and it is exactly what you expect: it is 100% a full-time commitment ranging between 9-11 hours a day roughly (prior to your projects; you'll put in even MORE time). The learning curve and experience was absolutely enjoyable for me; I loved going from a introductory level of knowledge in the technology taught to a proficient developer with 3 projects under my belt that I'm proud of. 

Pros: 

• Online helped give flexibility to one's time (we had someone with an 11 hour difference in our cohort); yes it is tedious to have a time difference but you can 100% make it work. I did (I was 3 hours ahead).
• Teach you the basics and work their way through technology FUNDAMENTALLY. An example of this occurred in the React section of the curriculum; we didn't learn best-industry practice using hooks but rather containers. This made my understanding of containers/hooks significantly better. Learn to walk before you run.
• Instructors are well-versed in what you're learning. They are grads of the bootcamp themselves. They know what you go through, and understand the struggle with what they teach you. Use them, they're great.
• Project time was by far the most fun I had during the bootcamp, yet also the most stressful; you can use the tech you learnt over the weeks to build a brand new application from a blinking terminal. Having that a mandatory section of the bootcamp made me really experience my own learning which I feel grounded my foundational understanding of those topics.

Cons:

• Like I mentioned earlier, it is 100% what you expect: a full-time immersive commitment to learning and breathing code. You don't have much time for anything else, especially during the project time. You get what you put in.
• We were always told that the bootcamp is "not a race" but rather a "marathon". I will tell you that is not accurate. It is a very fast paced marathon. You put in long hours and need to be committed to learn the material efficiently and quickly. If you don't put in the effort, you will not succeed.
• During project time, instructors were VERY "hands-off"; I felt like my group and I should've been able to find guidance after reaching a roadblock but we were turned towards crowdsourcing instead. Yes, asking peers is very valuable but when every minute counts during crunchtime, a simple 2 minute solution from an instructor is better than 3 hours of researching a work-around that could need to be changed down the road.

I hope this review gives you good insight into what you're getting yourself into. If ever you'd love to hear about more of my experience, I'd be more than happy to tell you about my experience. Good luck on your coding journey, you'll enjoy it at appAcademy!

Over the course of three months, a lot of material gets squeezed into such a small time frame and it initially seemed like such a daunting journey to embark on. But with all the great support I got from the staff members and also the amount of work I had put in, I strongly believe that it's an experience worth my time and money. The material was both challenging and fun, especially with how much material is taught. And beyond the bootcamp, you get to meet a lot of amazing people!

Pros: Challenging and fun material, lots of opportunities to practice concepts, and you get plenty of help early on.

Cons: Sometimes the lecture feel too broad, and a lot of the CS concepts get glossed over (data structures & algorithms) and is more of a self-study type of deal

Tip: Manage your time if you plan to tackle this bootcamp! Getting enough sleep will go a long way and it helped me succeed and complete the course at full value

I am very glad I attended App Academy. I had been dabbling in different web development technologies for years. For example, I knew how to build web-scrapers with Python and Selenium. But I never had any formalized knowledge of the best practices to build a full-stack application. By the end of the 16 week curriculum, I was able to clone the core functionality of Quizlet.com as my final project. It was one of 3 large projects that we did.

In all we covered broad CS topics like data structures, algorithms, authentication patterns, tree traversal, among many others. And we learned specific technologies like Ruby on Rails, SQL, HTML/CSS, Javascript, React/Redux, Node & the MERN stack. We practiced using git & github extensively. We learned Test Driven Development thru technologies like Rspec & Capybara. Most importantly, we learned to learn. For example, when it came to the MERN stack & MERN projects, the instructors stopped holding our hands and made us practice picking up a new technology ourselves.  

My cohort was supposed to be an in-person cohort, but it turned out to be online only due to Covid. At first I was upset that I wouldn't be able to interact with my instructors and classmates on a daily basis, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise - with the amount of work we had to do every day, I couldn't imagine having to spend another hour or two each day commuting.

I would give a 5-star review, but I do think it can be improved in a few ways.

1) A large part of the curriculum focuses on Ruby and Ruby on Rails. I believe that this is part of the design, in a sense, because Ruby is an easy introduction into the world of programming. We had people that came from completely different backgrounds and had little prior programming experience. However, it's looking like Python & Django are becoming more popular now and I wish we had some exposure to these frameworks as well. It appears that future aA cohorts will, in-fact, be going this route instead of RoR.

2) While aA has a wealth of knowledge on App Academy Open - the main tool for content for our curriculum (it's where all of our projects, homework, and readings were housed), that portal is not very organized. If I wanted to go back and reference something we learned 4-5 weeks back - it was hard to find. I wish they made all the projects & topics we covered searchable.

To say that App Academy was intense is not an understatement. About 1/3 of our initial cohort didn't make it to the end. But it was very rewarding to have completed it.

I went into App Academy without any prior coding experience. Coming out, I feel sufficiently prepared to answer tech answers intelligently, and absorb new technologies with some kin of framework. For those thinking about applying, remember that you get exactly what you put in. App Academy is not necessarily impossible to pass, but it is entirely up to you how successful you want to be coming out. You can "pass" the course with 60 hours a week, but in order to get the most out of it, 90+ is definitely preferable.

I have loved my experience at App Academy. The curriculum has been rigorous but thorough. Not only did we learn the fundamentals, but we learned how to think like a programmer. We learned how to solve problems and how to ask the right questions. The curriculum extended beyond just coding and languages, and included many lessons on white-boarding, pair programming, soft-skills and job search principles. The instructors are knowledgeable and approachable, and there is always help to be found if you look for it. I have enjoyed my time at a/A and cannot recommend this program enough to all those who are trying to find the right fit.