Fullstack Academy

I attended Fullstack Academy the summer immediately following my undergraduate graduation, and I am positive that it was the single best decision I could have made for my career. After attending Fullstack, I worked as a Teaching Fellow for the next cohort of students. Immediately following my fellowship, I had received a job offer and was working a full-time permanent role instantly. I am confident I would not have been able to land the position I had without Fullstack, had I tried teaching myself.

One of Fullstack's greatest strengths is the community of growth and encouragement it fosters. The admissions process does an excellent job of vetting its candidates, and it shows. In addition to an excellent community, the instructors do an amazing job of not only teaching the students materials, but teaching students how to teach themselves. Software is a constantly changing field, where an engineer will regularly need to learn new skills and abandon dated technologies. Fullstack not only teaches the cutting edge technologies, but teaches them in a way that allows students the freedom to discover. The instructors also do a great job of making sure no one feels left behind, and offer countless assistance to those who feel like they are struggling. It is certainly not an easy program, but if you are passionate about development and willing to put in the work, you will not regret attending Fullstack.

I moved to New York for Fullstack in April 2015, stayed on as a teaching fellow through the end of that year, and started contracting with a company I met through hiring day in February 2016. Shortly after, I went on full-time and have been with that company since. I’m back on coursereport because I’m now interviewing bootcamp grads and wanted some perspective of other programs.

It’s disappointing to see some reviews of other programs indicating that students were unable to get quality help or were asked to leave so quickly after initially struggling because it reflects poorly on the bootcamp style of education in general. That said, there is a substantial range in the competence of graduates. A lot of it is due to the prior experience and work ethic of the individual before attending, but from what I’ve seen thus far, most of that range is due to the quality of the bootcamp. Awesome developers come out of a number of programs (one of our best developers is a Dev Bootcamp grad), but I sincerely believe Fullstack is a cut above. Our company, where the majority of engineers are Fullstackers, would not have been able to double its revenue in the last year if Fullstack provided a mediocre education.

I’d like to add two impressions to what’s already been said to help answer why. 

1. While applying to Fullstack, my interviewer made sure I left the interview knowing more than I did before - even though I had yet to be accepted or become a student. That culture of making every engagement a learning experience, and genuinely trying to do the right thing for every applicant and student has modeled how I strive to engage applicants at my current job.
2. Fullstack does not simply teach you how to program in a javascript framework. Fullstack teaches you how to learn software development. My first project after graduating was a react native app. While react was not apart of the curriculum at the time, I was able to quickly pick it up because I understood javascript at an advanced level, and I was able to leverage my understanding of how angular provided solutions to the general requirements of an application. I knew the right questions to ask, and how to find answers to them in order to efficiently learn react. Curriculums change to match demands in the industry, and that Fullstack has successfully made the shift from Ruby to MEAN (mongoDB, express, angular, node) and now to NERDS (node, express, react, databases using SQL) demonstrates its agility. 

As someone who had no formal education nor experience in software before Fullstack, I never had to pretend to know more than I knew in order to get a job, and I never felt I was in over my head when asked to learn something new. I ended up becoming a de facto lead developer on projects ranging from mobile apps for local startups to proof of concepts utilizing machine learning for PwC and Google. If this is what you want and it’s inside of you, Fullstack will bring it out. 

I attended Fullstack's Flex Immersive (part-time) course from January to July 2015, as part of its first cohort. It's been over a year since I've graduated (and successfully transitioned to be a fulltime software engineer!) and judging from not only my own experience but other alums/students as well, I can confidently say that Fullstack continues to be a place of excellence that strives to help its students succeed, whatever their goals may be. 

First I want to mention it's really commendable that Fullstack has various options of attending, whether it's the Flex program or the remote immersive. I was really grateful Flex existed when I was looking to make a career switch (mainly for money/flexbility reasons). Running all of these cohorts in unison must be a logistical nightmare, but Fullstack pulls it off with high satisfaction. 

Curriculum: Fullstack consistently iterates and improves on its product/curriculum (as all good developers do). When I attended we learned & used the MEAN stack, now it's the NERD stack. I'd advise prospective students to not be /too/ hung up on the specific technologies though - what Fullstack really teaches is the ability to pick up any technology or language and the proper methods and tools to do so effectively. Getting better at debugging and reading documentation are some of the key things I learned at Fullstack that have far longer lasting impact than specific syntax. As for Flex vs. fulltime, the curriculum was completely equal across the board, though you will most likely need to spend more time outside of class reviewing the material and/or finishing up workshops.

People: Both instructors and staff at Fullstack are all incredibly friendly and open to help on whatever issues you may have. The hiring team is supportive and loves meeting and advising alums, even months or years after graduation/landing a job. Connections and relationships made at Fullstack are long-lasting and really strong, as proven by the latest alumni event which was bubbling with people and lots of hugging and chatter. No matter what your background, you will definitely meet your people here -- some of the most intelligent, curious, inquisitive and friendly people I know I've met at Fullstack. 

Thank you to Fullstack for providing an amazing opportunity to productively learn development and build awesome projects -- and helping make a dreamed about career switch possible. 

I really enjoyed my time at Fullstack - it's a really well run program on many angles and the best educational experience I've had (and I went to an ivy-league school).

Some of my favorite things include:

- Your cohort mates.  We got along super well and made many friends that I still meet up with quite often.

- The curriculum.  I did a lot of online tutorials before Fullstack.  Some online tutorials are great but some really were hard to follow -out of date etc. I can tell Fullstack does a lot of work here to keep up with what's going on.

- The fun activities - we did lots of fun things on campus besides just code.  I got really into this game called Avalon while I was there.  If you go to Fullstack, I'd definitely check it out ahead of time :)

- Job searching - don't get me wrong - job searching is rough and difficult - but I also enjoyed seeing lots of companies, catching up with old friends about jobs and taking some time to figure out what kind of companies I liked.  Fullstack is pretty helpful - got back to me pretty quickly and was always willing to try to connect me with someone past the initial filter gatekeepers.

tldr - being a programmer is awesome and going to Fullstack was a great way to get there!

Deciding to attend Fullstack Academy was undoubtedly the best decision I ever made. The curriculum is one of a kind and specifically tailored to give you exactly what you need to hit the ground running as a software engineer at some of the best companies in the world. I started at American Express as a software engineer and immediately contributed to architecting and developing software that is used by millions of people. I am now a Senior Engineer and I would not have been able to realize my potential without going through the Software Engineering Immersive program.

Beyond the curriculum the staff of Fullstack is its biggest asset. They are all excellent mentors and teachers and I still keep in touch with most of them. They foster an open, accepting, and collaborative atmosphere that really makes everyone feel welcome regardless of your skill or background. For as much as I valued the programming skills I learned at fullstack, what I value more is the high quality of people that I made friends with when I was there. It is such an awesome community that continues to grow and put alumni into companies in every corner of the industry. 

I could not recommend anything more highly choosing to attend Fullstack.

I come from a completely non-technical background. I studied social sciences in college and the last time I took a math class was sometime in high school. I always liked computers and logic, but never thought that software engineering could be for me. But after finishing school I was pretty stuck professionally and so I started thinking about changing my path. I ended up learning some basic coding on my own and then realized it’s something I really enjoyed and could actually do full time.

I started looking at coding bootcamps and when I learned about Grace Hopper I knew I found the right place. As someone from a non-technical background I knew it would be easier for me to learn how to code around other women, and I think I was right. For me, Grace Hopper was the perfect mixture of a supportive and constructive environment with a rigorous curriculum. There was definitely pressure, the pace is very quick and for a lot of us there was a lot on the line, but it never felt like unnecessary/unproductive pressure that actually keeps you from learning (which I think happens sometimes in other bootcamps). 

I think that often the deal with bootcamps is that what you put in is what you get back, and GH makes it pretty easy to put a lot in. The culture is really positive, the instructors are very dedicated (and so very smart), and the staff is super helpful. Even months after graduating GH is still there to help with career advice and general support, and I feel like I’m a part of a really valuable network of women engineers, which is pretty great.

About a month after finishing up at GH I got an offer and started my current job as a full stack developer at a small startup and I’m really happy with where I am in my career. It’s hard to explain how different my professional trajectory is now from what it was before GH, but I just feel so grateful for having that opportunity and for now having an interesting job that I love and where I’m appreciated and can keep improving as an engineer.

A lot of people talk about bootcamps as something they’re glad they did, but wouldn’t want to go through again. Personally, I would redo GH any day of the week, but for now I’ll just have to settle for the great job they helped me get as a full time engineer.

I researched and applied to several coding bootcamps before choosing Fullstack.  Looking back -- I'm confident I made the right decision.  Compared to other bootcamps, I think Fullstack has the strongest cirriculum in terms of learning relevant technologies (React, Node, SQL) and learning enough about computer science to succeed in technical job interviews.  

I was impressed by my classmates in the immersive program who were, for the most part, intelligent and hight caliber people looking to make a change career in their mid-late twenties.  It was great to make some friendships with other people at a similar point in life who were also learning to code.

The teachers at Fullstack were a little hit and miss.  However, Joe and especially Omri were excellent.  Fortunately, most of the learning comes from the practical experience of coding in workshops.  The workshops are very well designed to help you learn step by step.  If you have sufficient intelligence and desire -- you will learn a ton.

After completing the Fullstack Immersive program I was able to reach my goal of working as a fullstack software engineer at a small startup.  As with any education program, the student is responsible for finding a job.  There is no magic resume recipe here or anywhere else that's going to get you a job with little effort.  Like any job search -- you're going to have to network and reach out to people and interview.  Be ready to hustle. 

Grace Hopper at Fullstack Academy was an intense and focused curriculum.  When I decided to make the career switch from the medical field to programming, I had never taken any programming classes in college, and had only recently taken a Front End Web Development class taught in Javascript.  I was fortunate to be in the first Bootcamp Prep class offered by Fullstack Academy to really insure my comfort level on what I knew and what I needed to hone in on.  The instructors are so knowledgable and really care about your learning process and take the time to make sure you understand. And the Teaching Fellows are a huge asset having just come out of the program.  The curriculum preps you to beceome a true Javascript expert and really helps you understand how all the pieces come together.  I also feel like everyone is highly approachable, from the founders to the dean of my program Shanna, and the Job Assistance really makes you feel prepared for in-person job interviews and coding challenges.  So grateful for my time there and all the great friendships I made as well!  Best decision I ever made!

I know you're probably tired of reading reviews that say, "attending Fullstack Academy was the greatest decision of my life." But it's true. After many years of professional acting and part-time jobs in New York, I wanted to change careers and pursue a new direction in life, and I couldn't be happier with the results.

Were my instructors - Gabriel, Omri, Ayana, and Joe - brilliant? Absolutely. Did they know their subject matter like the back of their hands? Of course. What really set them apart, however, was that they worked PHENOMENALLY hard for the success of every student. If you were excelling, they made sure that you were challenged. And more importantly, if you were struggling, they would fight tooth and nail to make sure that you had the support that you needed - staying extra hours, having one-on-one sessions during their lunch break, whatever it took. Fullstack was demanding, but it was also a deeply caring and supportive place to learn. I don't know if there are bootcamps out there that boost their numbers through attrition, but Fullstack is certainly not one of them.

The job placement team is equally on point. Coming from the world of acting, the idea of being sought after by employers was completely foreign to me, but that's the reality of this job market. Fullstack graduates are extremely qualified, and need to be strategic about negotiating among multiple competitive offers. Liz and Ceren are experts at this. Without their help, I would have had a great job at a medium-sized company; with their help, I got my dream job as a frontend engineer at Amazon.

A word of advice to older prospective students like myself. You may be frustrated where you are right now, but afraid to make the leap, to quit your job, to spend your savings on a bootcamp, to take three months to learn, to work 80 hours a week. I promise it's worth it. As human beings, we have many talents, but the most valuable one of all is the ability to reinvent ourselves. Take the plunge. You'll be glad you did.

As a Communications major in college, the vision I had for my future was crystal clear. I wanted to become a software engineer. Sounds strange, I know. In my senior year, I had become enamored with programming, and I was learning quickly enough to even take on some freelance projects using Wordpress and customizing static websites with HTML and CSS. I wasn't spending much time on my schoolwork anymore, and I wasn't able to graduate with my classmates. :'(

My mind was set, however, and from reading blogs and articles, I thought I had a fairly good idea of just how much more I needed to know before I could get a job. I was spending almost all my time just studying and practicing while tutoring and freelancing on the side. 

But it wasn't enough. I started applying for jobs before I thought I was ready, just to get a sense of my progress, and I remember an interview where the latter half was just me saying "I don't know." For some reason I wasn't hired. 

After that experience, I reflected and thought about if what I was doing made sense. I could continue to learn on my own, but I wasn't sure how much longer it would take. Around that time, I had started learning about these coding bootcamps, and of course, I was very intrigued by the idea that they could teach you to be industry-ready within 3 months, and at that time, I was really only looking at AppAcademy due to their deferred payment model. If I just learned on my own, could I also be industry-ready in 3 months? In retrospect, I’m very happy that I decided to interview with Fullstack, because that interview with Omri changed my life, and now that I've graduated Fullstack, became a Fellow there, and started working as a software engineer, I have an answer to that question. Maybe I could have been able to learn enough on my own to get a job, but Fullstack made me a substantially better engineer than I would have been able to do on my own, even if I was given a year.

Most people considering bootcamps are looking to break into the industry, and Fullstack provides excellent help in finding a job in the form of their Hiring Day and very dedicated career team. I was able to turn my vision of becoming a software engineer into a reality, but I’ve seen how grueling the job search can be, even for the best engineers. Without an existing network, it can be difficult to get a conversation started, and because relationships take so much time to build, starting to network after you have graduated can feel unnatural and rushed. Still, once you are able to get interviews, I’m not sure there is a better place than Fullstack to learn the material necessary to work in the industry. 

I left Fullstack with more than just new knowledge. I’ve met lifelong friends and a supportive network of alumni who all share the unforgettable experience of being at a place like Fullstack. Even now, I reminisce often about my time there, and it would be hard to find alumni who didn’t feel the same. 

In case you have more questions about Fullstack, feel free to read some of my earlier blog posts about my time there, or just get in touch. I’d be happy to talk more about it. 

http://johnatfullstack.tumblr.com/

Good luck!

I had this huge review that I was going to post, but it was tl;dr and so here I am, boiling it down.

My outcome: I had a great experience, met tons of brilliant and interesting people, and got out of there with a job. The role is more interesting and cutting edge than I could've imagined, and the salary blew my expectations out of the water. This is not representative of all outcomes, but it's also not out of the ordinary. 

Fullstack:

• provides top notch instruction and materials
• is what you make of it; if you put forth the effort and trust the program, you'll do great. The inverse is also true
• is most importantly a community of equally motivated, risk-taking, highly intelligent individuals 

Fullstack is not:

• This scene in the Matrix (Kung Fu replaced with Programming): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vMO3XmNXe4
• Free jobs and $$$ with no effort
• Easy, relaxing

To their credit, I think Fullstack does a great job vetting applicants, and has stringent admissions standards to ensure that only the people who are likely to succeed get in. After all, it's in nobody's interest for a student to quit their job, pay tons of money, and then fail. As a result, most students have very successful outcomes, but again, the onus is on the student to do the work; there's no magic involved.

Additionally, they just changed the curriculum from teaching Angular to React/Redux. The first cohort that was taught React/Redux had some of the best and most ambitious capstone projects to date, which speaks very highly of both the organization and the quality of the students.

If you get in, I wish you the best of luck, and remember to take advantage of what Fullstack does provide. Learn as much as possible, because the chance to be in a community/setting like this is rare!

I recently attended Fullstack Academy from April to July 2016. I graduated from the University of Michigan with a Computer Engineering degree in December 2015. I now currently work as a Software Engineer at Embark.

Fullstack Academy was definitely a pivotal decision for me and is a huge reason as to why I was able to work at Embark. Fullstack now currently teaches the SEAN stack (Sequelize instead of Mongo) and other parts of web dev. It brings together the full stack for its students and helps them to see the greater picture. It’s educational system is top notch, and it helps students obtain the ability to pick up new technologies quickly.

However, not only is its educational system one of the best in the country, but also its support outside of academics. Ceren helped me with interview prep and connecting with others. She also continually checked up on me after I graduated to see how I was doing in the job search and gave me lots of tips on what I was doing wrong. David, the co-founder of Fullstack, helped me connect as well, and gave me the opportunity to give a presentation at a Node.js meetup. The support of these two was what helped me the most.

Fullstack deeply cares about its students. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re guaranteed a job just because you attend. You definitely have to give in the effort, but with Fullstack’s help, you will be rewarded handsomely. 

It was like a scene out of Revenge of the Nerds:  there I sat on my NYC apartment couch a few days before Christmas of 2015, casually flipping through the latest issue of CPU Magazine.  As a self-employed IT consultant and occasional programmer in the big city, keeping myself apprised of the latest tech trends was always important...albeit rarely exciting.  

Despite enjoying fiscal success since 2009, the ratio of time spent on IT work to software development had simply been way too high for my tastes.  For several years I had considered pursuing a computer science master's degree, but the substantial commitment of time and money required for graduate school was daunting.  To put it bluntly, I felt lost and stuck...sitting idly by with a highly-demanded skill set wondering whether it would ever find its way into the scalding-hot tech scene.  

And then it happened.  Out from a sea of processor benchmark scores and graphics card advertisements jumped the article that would change my life forever:  "The Camper's Code:  Coding Bootcamps Promise A Bright, High-Paying Future."

I spent the next several hours churning through every online reference I could find on coding bootcamps.  How did they differ from one another?  What languages did they focus on?  What sort of success rates did their graduates have?  How challenging were they?  These among countless other questions were painstakingly analyzed and funneled into one master question...

Which coding bootcamp is best?  Luckily for me, the answer was clear:  Fullstack Academy. 

Not wasting one more minute, I hopped onto Fullstack's website and applied for admission into their 24-week Flex Immersive Program.  The application process was vigorous and thorough, and it was immediately apparent that I had made the right choice.  Before even setting foot on campus, I had already had in-depth conversations with BOTH founders of the academy (David and Nimit), each of whom was patient enough to answer all of the scheduling-related questions one might expect from a professional with limited free time.

The first six months of 2016 were easily the best of my 15-year career, as my classmates and I found ourselves plunged into the center of the startup tech scene.  While computer science fundamentals and theory are at the heart of the program, there is truly nothing hypothetical about Fullstack Academy.  All lessons are immediately put to good use, with workshops and projects comprising the vast majority of time spent by each and every student.

The atmosphere on campus (and FSA online) is electric, which is clearly the result of a unique continuity of information flow among students, fellows, instructors, and alumni.  From simple tweaks and tricks of the trade to the latest in cutting-edge web development trends, nothing goes under the radar at Fullstack Academy.  

By the time I presented on Hiring Day in June of 2016, I had been fully transformed from an on-the-outskirts programmer to an in-the-know software engineer.  Fullstack's ever helpful and knowledgeable staff walked me through all of the necessary steps for preparing myself and my resume for the ultimate goal:  career transformation.  Several months of hard work and job hunting later, I can proudly say that it has all paid off as I have recently accepted a job offer from Google as a full-time software engineer.

As co-founder David Yang warned me during our first conversation last year, there is no such thing as a "magic pill" when it comes to anything in life, and Fullstack is no exception.  It requires hard work and determination, but the experience and end result -- at least in my case -- is nothing short of magical.

My time during Fullstack was amazing, I could learn in a very fast pace and had fun while doing it. My main instructor was Omri Bernstein and I also had classes with Joe Alves. Both are amazing teachers and awesome people. I finished the program in July and I still ask Omri some questions now and then, always with a happy response.

Make sure to try to learn extra stuff during the program - e.g. some people in my cohort studied React (our curriculum had Angular, they just changed it to React for next year) and left the program already knowing it. In my case I had to work on React after the program and I only wish I had already tried it while studying at Fullstack.

Most of the people from my cohort got offers already and I just got mine! I was an international student and went back to my country afterwards, that's why I prefered to leave Job Assistance as N/A in my case.

After accepting a software engineering role at a Silicon Valley tech giant, I'm happy to say that I'm extremely happy with my decision to attend Grace Hopper at Fullstack Academy (GH)!

Prior to GH, I was a recent university graduate with a background in computer science and business. I decided to attend GH to round out my CS background. However, GH did more than just that for me. Not only was I able to really solidify what I learned in college, but I was also able to develop concepts into full stack apps in team environments; dip into libraries, frameworks, and platforms outside of the GH curriculum during project phase; and also practice whiteboarding techniques which were extremely helpful during the job search phase. 

In addition to gaining a job-relevant portfolio, GH also introduced me to the extremely welcoming community of GH and Fullstack Academy.  Before, during, and after the program, I was able to network with alumni from both GH and Fullstack Academy, who provided me with awesome advice and also connected me with their network. With a job-relevant portfolio and skillset; insider tips; and a strong network, I was able to land my dream job at as an engineer at a great company.

If you're having second thoughs -- don't! GH has a solid curriculum AND a great alumni to prove it. 

I just finished the first Chicago Fullstack Academy cohort, and one week later I received, and accepted, an offer to work for a very exciting startup here in Chicago. This program has completely changed my life and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

A little bit about me - prior to attending Fullstack I was a high school math teacher for 17 years. I got into coding through teaching, as there was an opportunity to teach computer science a few years ago and I jumped at the chance, even though I had very little experience coding. My teaching experience eventually developed into a passion for software development, and I saw Fullstack as a way to get me professionalized, quickly. It was absolutely worth every penny.

The instructors were extremely knowledgeable, and most important- passionate. The best part of the instruction is that they didn’t just give you a recipe to follow - they taught you how to think like a software engineer. I’ve been able to pick up new frameworks with ease because their philosophy was about understanding why you’re doing things and what was happening under the hood.

Most of the early part of the program focuses on their workshop format and pair programming, which is heavy on test-driven development and struggling through challenging problems. I really liked that the instructors didn’t shy away from letting us struggle through things, as there is so much personal growth that comes from the struggle.

The second part of the program was building real-world applications, and it was here where the program really shines. I felt completely prepared to be a contributing team member on our projects and I was thrilled with how our projects turned out.

Ultimately, as one of the “older” students in the program, the most important outcome for me was getting a job, and here again Fullstack shines. They have a team of dedicated career people ready to assist you with any questions you have and I felt completely prepared for all of the challenges that were thrown at me throughout the job hunt.

As a final note, one big concern I had going in was this- would the Chicago version of Fullstack be as successful as the New York one has been? I think I can answer that with a resounding YES.