Fullstack Academy

I found the world of code bootcamps enticing and suspect with their promise of "12 weeks from amateur to pro." Given that they all pretty much make this claim alongside the assurance you'll be learning the latest in web development, some research was in order.

My three criteria in finding the best fit were:

1. The curriculum truly had to be of the moment. This meant learning the MEAN stack.
2. The pace and scope had to be geared towards someone that's more than a beginner.
3. The people running the place had to be great teachers, not just great developers.

After reading numerous reviews, reaching out to alumni, and speaking with school reps, Fullstack became the clear choice. The knowledge, connections, and opportunities I've gained from the experience well exceeded my expectations, but it's a get-what-you-give situation. If you put in the time/effort to master the material, David, Nimit, and the rest of the team are more than supportive.

In short, Fullstack was one of the best professional decisions I've ever made. I think anyone considering a code bootcamp ought to give them a serious look.

I’m confident that everyone who attended Fullstack Academy has mostly good things to say about it. In fact, most of them would probably claim that it was the “best decision of their life.” It may seem like hyperbole, but personally, it was one of the best decisions of my life.

In terms of cost and time invested, Fullstack Academy was one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my life. I learned and did more in those 13 weeks than in any other 13 week period.

- The class size is kept small (around 20 students) so enough attention is given to everyone.

- David and Nimit are amazing instructors, mentors, and engineers. They’re extremely passionate about teaching and helping you succeed too.

- The TAs are all super smart, knowledgable, and helpful.

- The curriculum is well-thought-out and designed. It has a focus on the JavaScript (MEAN) stack so there’s less language context-switching (as opposed to other bootcamps that use say Rails). This way you can become extremely proficient with one language yet also focus on fundamentals and concepts. It was awesome to see how far everyone in the class had progressed by the end of the program.

- Projects are super fun and you’re pretty much free to do whatever you want, with any language, libraries, frameworks, technologies, etc. I made a Wafels & Dinges locator, a chat-roulette battle Tetris game, and a prototype mobile app for a company (which my team and I got paid for). I also participated in and won my first hackathon with two other classmates.

You’ll learn how to learn but you should be a perpetual learner -- the journey has only just begun by the time you graduate. If you put in the effort, David, Nimit and the rest of the staff will do everything they can to help you succeed. You’ll make new friends and professional connections. You’ll gain confidence in your abilities as a software engineer.

Oh yeah, like me and most of my classmates, you’ll probably land some cool job opportunities too.

I really enjoyed my time at Fullstack Academy. It gave me the skillset and confidence to land a dream job at a growing startup! Here are my pro’s and con’s of my time at Fullstack.

 

Pros:

• David and Nimit are both amazing teachers. Their teaching styles and backgrounds complement each other and provide diverse perspectives on the course material. They’ve known each other for years and have experience teaching together.
• The TA’s are all very smart and willing to help whenever you need them.
• The curriculum is well designed and logically progresses from foundations to theories to individual technologies to complete projects (which tie all prior topics together).
• Every single student in my cohort reached something called “escape velocity”, or the ability to quickly teach yourself new technologies as needed.

 

Cons:

• In my cohort we had one guest lecturer for a few days who was very knowledgeable but not a good teacher.
• Fullstack Academy is a newer school so their brand is limited, however those who have heard of it are usually very impressed.

 

Advice to Management:

• Be careful to maintain the integrity of the program as you grow: this’ll be hard but you can do it!
• Make sure that guest lecturers are knowledgeable and good teacher.

 

Going through Fullstack was one of the most empowering and liberating experiences of my life—academic, professional, or otherwise. I’d never heard of a learning environment like this before, and I’d certainly never had the pleasure of being a part of one. My classmates, as diverse a group as any, were smart, capable, motivated, and most importantly generous—you’ll find no shortage of new friends eager to help you squash bugs when you (inevitably) run into them. By the time I left Fullstack, I felt like I’d fast-tracked my way into an elite professional network of ridiculously skilled developers. You will learn many of the latest and most in-demand web development technologies during the course of your 13 weeks with David, Nimit, and the rest of Fullstack’s warm and highly capable staff.
 
I graduated Fullstack confident in my abilities as a software developer. Within four weeks, I accepted a competitive front-end position at a startup here in New York, and I couldn’t be happier.  
 
Deciding whether a bootcamp is right for you is obviously an important choice—for one thing, they’re not cheap. But my final bit of wisdom is that you should pick your bootcamp (should you decide to attend one) based not on the technologies you’ll be learning, but instead on the quality of the instructors and your fellow students. There’s nowhere I would have rather enrolled than Fullstack.

I was in the Fullstack Spring 2014 class and it was the best decision I've ever made in my life. Web development has always been something that has interested me, so I decided to quit my job to go to a bootcamp. I applied to quite a few bootcamps but during my interview when I spoke with Nimit for the first time (one of the co-founders/lead instructors) I knew that Fullstack Academy was the one for me. When class started, I met David (the other co-founder/lead instructor) and immediately knew I made the right decision. You can't find better instructors when it comes to learning development because these two know their shit. Not only are they great teachers with reputable Software Engineer resumes, but they are great guys that you end up becoming good friends with. I highly recommend Fullstack Academy to anyone considering a bootcamp.

My cohort was around 40 students. Many students don't have any previous coding experience at all. I enrolled it because I heard it was a good bootcamp, but fullstack doesn't filter any students who didn't make any efforts studying by themselves before the bootcamp and the application process was so easy now. I studied some fundamentals by myself and I just ended up teaching others in the class. It's ok that we all have different backgrounds, but not knowing the difference between Java and JavaScript shows no efforts in transitioning into this career. And one of the biggest reason to enroll a bootcamp is for the community, I just don't think the peers are what I expected. 
The majority of our cohort have military background, which means they don't pay any tuition for this course. It's not the same drive when someone invest a lot in both money and time. 
I like the lecturers, they are very good and helpful, the lecture goes really fast, so expect study extra time by yourself if you haven't learn any of the topics before. If you are not a complete beginner or a veteran, maybe have a think before enrolling. 

I chose to attend Fullstack Academy after much rigorous research on best web development bootcamps. 
I opted for a part time program, joining live lectures & classroom sessions a few nights a week. This gave me time to earn income while studying as well do deeper research and study on topics.
The program more or less has 3 parts: 
1. Foundations: lessons for self study with exams every other week that required a certain score in order to make it to the next part of the program. This made sure that my cohortmates were at a similar level to me. Yet, this was the weakest part for me, I encountered slightly out of date data here. Specifically, much time was dedicated towards concepts like 'this' and Javascript closure that were more relevant a few years ago when React class components were the only option.
2. Remote classroom with daily lesson plan, leading into paired lab work. 3 hours per session, 3 times a week. Instructors and assistants were knowledgeable and went to GREAT lengths to help students. Finalized with a solo CRUD app that was graded - students of below a certain score were further assessed/spoken to. Lots of knowledge to consume.
3. Team projects. This is where the learning "on-the-job" feeling happens. This was my STRONGEST part of the bootcamp, simply because I grew the most here. Getting team experience is hard for self-study / if you dont do a bootcamp. Coding + weird bugs no one has encountered because your app is completely your own creation + interpersonal conflicts with the team + managing & tracking project goals, features, while balancing deadline. Teams were of 3-4 people, and you self-managed the project together, including handling when people couldn't get stuff done, or were AFK due to IRL reasons. You earn a lot of 'stories' you can tell during interviews. Instructors were mostly hands-off, and could be messaged or called into the virtual table during class time for help on bugs.

Job search is nothing guaranteed, but the cohort gets a career coach you can book 1-on-1s with basically whenever you want. With the tech market being what it is, sending in your resume and praying doesn't cut it. Networking & reaching out & following up & not falling into a pit of despair is on YOU to do. Post-grad Job search is what YOU make of it.

I absolutely loved Fullstack's Data Bootcamp. I took the part-time bootcamp and I was able to continue working while taking the class. I have a background in computer science and was still able to learn a lot and prepare a portfolio for a data analytics career. Tina Lowry was an amazing instructor who gave us additional practical and real-world experience outside of the assigned curriculum. She always made herself available to help outside of class for any additional help or questions. Kim Wood was an exceptional resource after the bootcamp, helping and advising how to job search. I felt prepared and ready for interviews with her help. 
The only reason I would give the curriculum is 4/5 is because some of the information was a little out of date. Tina always made sure we were aware of the changes and went over the new ways. Tech changes quickly, and it is understandable but the curriculum should be updated to reflect the new information. 
I highly recommend Fullstack for anyone serious about breaking into data analytics. 

This bootcamp is no where near what it used to be. Instructors are unprofessional and incompetent. They lecture about how critical it is to put out good code that works but the instructors, who aren't even familiar with their own curriculum and course materials, send out broken links and buggy, broken, or outdated code. The lectures typically range from 45 mins to an hour of blubbering and being told to "google it" or "you don't need to know that" only to find out that we did really need it and an extra 15-30 mins talking about the lead instructor's interests like legos, cartoons, and toys. Then their career services has the audacity to gatekeep job/professional lectures and force us to fill out forms every week to make sure we're doing the minimum requirement to stay engaged and continue being eligible for career services. Full-time program where you need to put in Full-time hours after hours to receive the same level of education as previous cohorts. Stay away if you really want to learn something.

Our instructors really cared about us and did a great job explaining everything. We did two major projects and they are very helpful. The set of the bootcamp mimics the real world day to day work in the industry, including standup meetings and using git. It was indeed overall a good experience. Even after graduating, the instructor was kind enough to answer my questions about interviews and offers. All you need is a good instructor. In addition,  I was able to land a job in this not so stable tech environment and found that what I learnt is useful in my work.  

This program is great if you are a motivated student—everything you learn can be found for free or a nominal fee online, but attending a bootcamp like this is great if you need the guidance / structure to learn *AND* you have the follow through. If you are expecting to be spoon fed the information or to go at your pace, I don't think this bootcamp (or any) is going to be helpful. If you are motivated to spend the time learning this subject material and need a little bit of a push to get you on the right path, this is a great place to do so.

This course had great instructors but they advertise that they have this great help to get you placed in a job. After graduating my hiring help went over my resume and gave me very simple recommendations. She missed or was late to many of our meetings and didn't seem to remember what we were talking about from past meetings. I don't expect her to memorize all her clients but some notes being taken down would have been nice. They advertised they had many companies  that hire through fullStake as they know they put out good people. I've yet to see ANY company referenced as hiring or recommended from them. 
As for the course itself you learn REACT, SQL, and Javascript as the main things you code in. Which you can build an app from front to back with that but most places I've seen hiring want you to know some object coding like C++ or JAVA which they don't introduce you to at all. As such all companies I've applied to don't think I have the qualifications for them. To my knowledge my whole cohort is having an extremely  hard time finding at job.

Before attending the Fullstack Cybersecurity Analytics Bootcamp, my knowledge and ability to perform industry specific skills was very minimal. I graduated from Fullstack confident and well prepared for a career in Cyber Security. I was challenged my skills were increased tenfold. Big shout out to my instructors and mentors Ned, Kyle, Greg, Neel, Lauren, Anjili, and Michael. Our career coach, Kim Wood, was with us from the beginning and really set me up for success with pursuing career opportunities well in advance of the bootcamp ending. Thank you team! 

Fullstack Academy lied to my entire cohort. Everything throughout the 3 month bootcamp for Cybersecurity was fine until graduation came and the job hunt started. Terrible. Horrible. I am so glad I didn't have to pay due to being a veteran and I was covered through VETTEC. 6 month job guarantee? Yeah, right. I have been on the hunt since before I graduated and I have come up with nothing. My recruiter, Kim Woods, gives the standard "just keep going!" and "here's a group zoom chat with an employer". None of those jobs have materialized. Also, only 33% of students from my cohort have secured employment! 33%! I did finally get a yes from a job after 7 months, and that job is Instacart. Not to be a driver, but to be an in store shopper. Thanks for nothing Fullstack.