Fullstack Academy

TL;DR

I had a great experience at Grace Hopper at Fullstack Academy and I learned a lot. It is expensive but is a good investment in your education. Overall I would recommend it, but it’s not perfect.

Grace Hopper vs. Fullstack Academy of Code

The Grace Hopper Program in NYC is an all women’s program within Fullstack Academy of Code. The curriculum is identical, the instructors and most of the staff are shared (the instructors only teach one cohort at a time, but rotate through both programs). The main difference is the all women environment and the deferred tuition. Another difference is that in the summer, the main Fullstack Academy of Code includes college students who will be returning to school in the fall, which is not the case of the Grace Hopper program. Students from both programs are invited to optional lectures during lunch and other joint activities.

The Curriculum

Fullstack Academy/ Grace Hopper teaches full stack javascript, which sets it apart from most other bootcamps (many teach Ruby on Rails). One advantage of full stack javascript is that you get to do a deep dive into a language (javascript) that you will need to use on the front end anyway. On the other hand  a lot of people don’t really take javascript seriously as a server side language, and it has some quirks which make it harder to learn. I am undecided on whether I would recommend a full stack javascript curriculum over a Ruby on Rails curriculum or a curriculum that incorporates Python.

One great thing about Fullstack/Grace Hopper is they are constantly improving/changing their curriculum as technologies change. While I was there we learned Node.js and express on the backend and React with Redux on the front end. We used a sql database (PostgreSQL) for our database. They really take seriously feedback on what works and what doesn’t and are constantly improving/changing the curriculum. I think React with Redux is a good choice for the front end.

Computer science concepts (data structures, algorithms etc.) were incorporated throughout the curriculum, which I really liked.

The schedule

Builders

Some students (including myself) are accepted to the program on the condition that they complete a two week  remote “builders” program which reviews javascript fundamentals. This program does not cost extra. I found it to be very helpful and was glad I was “invited” to do it. I did it while working and it was totally manageable.

Foundations:

Foundations is a remote, part time program to continue developing your foundation in javascript and programming. I found it to be quite good. I continued working while completing this program which was doable but busy. Supposedly the program is 5 weeks, but the last week just setting up your computer and is optional. When I took the course (summer 2018), the bulk of foundations used pre ES6 javascript and then we learned ES6 at the end. I’m guessing this is because they hadn’t yet had time to redo their videos.

Junior Phase: The first 6 weeks of the program is junior phase. This consists of lectures followed by “labs” which are short solo practice assignments and “workshops” which are longer structured assignments completed in assigned pairs. Pair programming is an essential part of the curriculum, and while not every pair will be a positive experience, overall I think it really does help one learn. In junior phase we also had readings/videos to review at home and weekly homework assignments. There were also two tests and a project to help evaluate student progress.

In my cohort there were 5 fellows (teaching assistants who have recently graduated from the program). The fellows answer questions during workshops, help with grading, have office hours, and hold group lunches once a week. The fellows did great work and were a big part of the program being so good. The teachers were also quite good - they varied from pretty good to extremely excellent. Usually you have two teachers for junior phase, but because one of ours had a vacation scheduled we had some “subs” (other instructors in the program) who ended up being excellent.

The students varied in background and I thought the program did a pretty good job accommodating this. There was optional lectures and optional extra work if you wanted to dig deeper into the curriculum, and there were extra study sessions (by invitation) on Saturdays for students who could benefit from more practice. However, if you wanted to slack you could, you need to be self-motivated to get the most out of the program. For the most part the other students in my cohort worked hard and it was a good culture of learning.

Review week: The schedule varies slightly cohort to cohort, but while I was there we had our final exam the first day of “review week” and has the remaining 4 days off. I would have liked if they had been more clear about the schedule upfront. The stated purpose of review week is to review any materials you are weak on, but it is essentially a vacation as you aren’t required to be on campus (although I would recommend doing some review work during this period). During review week the instructors determine which students are ready to move on to “Senior Phase”. If you aren’t ready, you are invited to redo Junior phase (you are charged extra tuition which is also deferred), they call this “replaying”. In my cohort 1 student dropped out in the middle of Junior phase, 1 dropped out  between junior and senior phase, and three “replayed”.

Senior Phase: Senior phase is project based. Working on projects is a great way to learn. The instructors did include a few lectures which were good, and I would have liked a few more. The first project is an e-commerce site group project, the second is a solo 4 day “hackathon” project and the last is a 2.5 week capstone project completed in groups. Except for the first project the topic and technology is up to you/your group. I found that in this section of the course you had to be especially self motivated - the resources were there, but if you wanted help from an instructor you had to make sure to request it. I thought the code reviews by the instructors were helpful. Each day in senior phase we also had “REACTOs” which are white boarding practice in pairs. They were great practice although they were different/more difficult  than anything I was asked in an interview.

The program does a good job packing in a lot of material in a short time, but I felt that the last week and a half was a bit light in content. They focus on making videos for demo day, which are more of an ad for the school then anything useful for one’s portfolio, and on getting ready for launch day.

Value

The program is expensive.

In terms of an investment, in my opinion it is worth it, you will likely make back the cost of the program in a year (or less) at your first job (not counting the cost of taking time off for the program and the job search).

As compared to other education options I would say the cost is slightly higher but the quality is better. Grace Hopper is a bit more expensive than other bootcamps, but is not the most expensive bootcamp. It costs about the same as a semester at a private college, but prepares you for the workforce better in my opinion. So the price is probably inflated just as most education is these days, in my opinion.

An aside: free bootcamp options

In an effort to increase diversity in software engineering there are some free bootcamp options for people who qualify. Here’s three I have heard of, and I’m sure there’s more.

1. If you are a New York City resident check out whether you are eligible for the NYC Web Development Fellowship (and whether the city is still funding this program). This is a tuition free program at one of 3 partner schools one of which is Fullstack Academy of Code. While I was at Grace Hopper there was a cohort of Web Development Fellows. They had the same curriculum as Grace Hopper/Fullstack, although there are some (mostly small) differences in the program because it is funded by the city. There aren’t new cohorts as frequently as in Grace Hopper/Fullstack. But basically it is a Fullstack Academy of Code education without the cost.

2. If you are looking for an all women’s experience and would be interested in living in Seattle and pursuing a longer program check out Ada Developers Academy which is tuition free.
3. Resilient Coders in Boston is a free, full-time, 14-week Javascript coding bootcamp that trains young people of color for apprenticeships and careers as software engineers. I met a couple people from this program at a meetup, but don’t have any first hand information about it.

The Job Search

I found that the program had prepared me pretty well for technical interviews, although I did continue to study. I was mostly applying to small and medium sized companies.

Career counselors: Our cohort had a dedicated career counselor. I found her advice (during and after the program) to be helpful, although at times a little generic. I really appreciated that I had  someone in my court who I could message on Slack or arrange a call with if i needed advice on what to say to a potential employer in a particular situation, whether an offer was good, how to negotiate, etc. She was very responsive and I really felt that she was in my corner. It made me feel much more comfortable during the negotiation and decision making process. We also each had a remote career counselor who helped us polish our resumes and our “pitches”. Mine was a bit helpful, but I didn’t rely on him very much.

Job search curriculum: The career search portion of the curriculum was ok.  The advice on resumes was really helpful - the format they suggested worked for me! The advice for LinkedIn profiles and Github profiles was also helpful. The advice they gave in person was better than the out of date advice in the ‘workshop’ which they admitted needed an update. They put a big emphasis on writing technical blog posts. I think this is the kind of thing that might help you if you do it but isn’t going to hurt you if you don’t (I didn’t).

Launch Day: Launch day (formerly called hiring day) is a career-fair style day to introduce ourselves to companies in New York City. It is combined with the Fullstack cohort. Each student has ten minute interviews with at least 3 companies. The companies are assigned to you. At the end there is a networking session where you can talk to any company you would like to. Because I was primarily looking for jobs in Boston I treated this as a chance to beta test my resume and pitch which was helpful. My classmates who were looking for jobs at Launch Day were somewhat disappointed by the quality and selection of the companies. Our launch day was Labor Day Weekend so that may have made it harder to get top notch companies there. I believe that some people did get jobs from launch day, but not the majority.

Overall Grace Hopper/Fullstack’s network with employers in not strong. Unless you get a job offer from launch day, they are not going to find you a job, or find you jobs to apply to. That is up to you. But they are helpful with advice on how to perform the search, prepare  for interviews and negotiate an offer.

Alumni Network:

They don’t provide a directory of alumni, but they do invite you to a slack channel for alumni once you graduate, which is pretty active. Among other things, alumni post job openings, many of these require a few years of experience, but some are looking for junior developers. I found this to be very helpful. I also met up with a few alums in the Boston area in person.

General advice:

Before I chose and attended a bootcamp I had a really clear idea of the gaps in my knowledge that I wished to fill and I found a bootcamp that targeted what I wanted to learn. This helped me get the most out of my experience. As you look for your entry into software engineering I would start by considering what you know and what skills and projects you already have under your belt, and choose a course of study (whether a bootcamp, studying on your own, pursuing a CS degree, working on projects, or something else) that compliments what you know and fills in the gaps. Employers care about what you know and what projects you have made, they don’t care whether you are self taught or went to a bootcamp.

Feel free to find me on LinkedIn if you have any specific questions about Fullstack Academy or Grace Hopper.

My summer at the Grace Hopper program was without a doubt the most intense and most fruitful learning experience of my life. It wasn't easy, but it was absolutely worthwhile.

I had previous coding experience, in Python with a focus on data analysis and machine learning, and I decided to complete a bootcamp to gain software engineering skills that I could combine with my data science skills in order to be able to a) actually make cool stuff that people can use, and b) have the skills to be considered for a wider variety of jobs. This prior experience definitely helped, but many of my most talented cohort-mates hadn't had any coding experience before preparing to apply for the bootcamp. I would recommend Grace Hopper for people with any level of prior experience.

I'll lay out some of the highlights that defined my experience at Grace Hopper in terms of pros and cons.

---------------------------------------------------- 
Pros 
---------------------------------------------------- 
Preparation resources: Fullstack Academy (the umbrella bootcamp that Grace Hopper is a part of) has a great array of resources to help you prepare to apply and get in. I used a combination of one of their in-person bootcamp prep classes, and their online "JavaScript Jumpstart" course. These are both great as opposed to using outside resources because they prepare you specifically for what you'll be assessed on in the application process.

Program content: The Fullstack/Grace Hopper team do an amazing job strategically creating, honing, and constantly improving their curriculum. Talking to graduates from previous cohorts, it's easy to tell that every cohort gets an updated, carefully edited iteration of the curriculum. This applies to everything from small details such as what order workshops are presented in, all the way up to major changes like teaching completely different frameworks (e.g. switching from Angular to React), if they assess that a newer technology will be more in demand on the job market.

Program structure: The program is split up into three phases (one remote preparation section, then six weeks of Junior phase, then six weeks of Senior phase). This was really helpful in terms of making things more digestible. The one week break between Junior and Senior phase is something that I think all bootcamps should implement! In Junior phase your time will be spent on a mix of lectures, labs, and workshops. In Senior phase it's a mix of team projects, individual projects, interview prep, and career success prep. I really appreciated this structure. You consume and process a TON of information in Junior phase, and practice using it through small projects. Then in Senior phase you put it all together through bigger, longer-term projects. I really appreciated this structure and found it very conducive to learning and mastering skills.

All-female environment: Learning software engineering with a group of thirty women was a wonderful experience. My favorite part about it was actually that day-to-day I never really thought about the fact that we were all women. I was just able to completely focus on learning, rather than spending mental or emotional energy on dealing with interactions tinged by gender bias. Coming from tech education experiences where I was one of very few women in the room, there was an incredible difference in how much better and more unhindered my learning experience was.

Location: The bootcamp is located in the financial district, which is much less crowded and tourist-ridden than midtown. If you live in Brooklyn, I highly recommend commuting via ferry. The building is five minutes from the Wall St/Pier 11 ferry terminal. I barely had to go to midtown or take the subway all summer!

Deferred tuition: An obvious draw!

---------------------------------------------------- 
Cons (Really just one thing to be aware of going in - not necessarily a true con.) 
---------------------------------------------------- 
This applies to any bootcamp, but make sure you're willing to fully commit 100% mentally, emotionally, physically, and logistically. Most of your waking hours will be spent coding or thinking about code, and you will dream in code at night. This is only a con if you're not prepared for it/willing to embrace it! The total immersion of a bootcamp is a PRO in terms of learning, even if it's challenging and requires a lot of stamina! Also, if you've worked for a startup before and that's a helpful point of comparison, I found that working for a startup was similar to bootcamp in terms of the time required. However, startup life was actually a lot more stressful than bootcamp life because with a bootcamp you have an end date, and the experience has been carefully engineered and honed over multiple iterations to make sure you have the best possible experience. With a startup you have neither of those things!

---------------------------------------------------- 
Conclusion 
---------------------------------------------------- 
Get in the right mindset, do the preparation necessary to get in and do well, and take the plunge!

I am currently in the foundations portion of the Immersive Software Engineering cohort. I completed Bootcamp Prep in a Month recently and it was an amazing experience. Before the prep course I had only been studying on my own for about 3  months, and I can honestly say I learned FAR more in the 1 month of prep than I did the 3 months prior on my own. Now that I am in the Foundations course I feel so much better equipped to learn and understand new concepts. Having a solid background from the Prep course has allowed me to focus on studying big picture and practicing my new skills. There are a lot of complex concepts taught in foundations and with my Prep knowledge I'm able to understand these new concepts a lot quicker and am not struggling just to understand the concepts. I highly recommend to anyone who's thinking about joining an immersive cohort to take the Prep course.

The instructor was extremely knowledgeable and took the time to make sure all of us in the class (there were 7 of us total) really understood the concepts he was teaching. We worked together with the instructor, he really encouraged feedback throughout each lecture. Once the lecture was over it was our time to Pair Program (a technique explained in detail at Fullstack, where 2 people code on 1 machine or sharing a screen, one as the 'driver' actually writing the code, and the other as the 'navigator' walking through what to write and how to approach the problem) and work through a set of problems in the workshop. Pair Programming was by far one of the most influential aspects of this course, as it really helped to solidify any knowledge I had just received from the lecture. To be able to explain yourself and even to teach a concept ensures that you understand the concept and also helps you to identify the weaknesses you might have in that concept.

There was a plethora of options for support during the prep course. At any time during each class we could reach out to either the instructor or one of the Fellows who were there to assist us. On off hours we could reach out to the instructors and fellows on Slack, any time of day. A solid support team is so important when receiving this level of education.

The way I look at it, our time at Fullstack will only be a few short months, so why not get as much attention and education as physically possible and take advantage of all of the available options.

Overall I had an amazing experience. This 1 month course was one of the defining moments in my life and one of the most exciting moments in the journey to my future career as a software engineer. I can't stress enough how beneficial this course was in my educational journey. 10/10 would attend

Attending Fullstack was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The instructors are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate. The curriculum is constantly being updated to always be relevant to the top tech trends.

My favorite part of the entire experience was getting to pair program with fellow students. It was the first time I was around people as motivated to learn how to code as I was, and it taught me a lot about how to collaborate with others.

I was fortunate enough to be selected to stay on as a teaching fellow for another 3 months after graduating from the program. Having the opportunity to help others with the same material I had been taught cemented the concepts for me and made me more confident for my upcoming job search.

I am happy to say for me, fullstck was a worthwile investment. Just over 1 month after my fellowship, I was hired as a Software Engineer at Bloomberg.

Fullstack has been one of the best decisions I made in my life. All the instructors were not only knowledgeable of all the concepts in the curriculum, but they were all very compassionate in helping every student grow their skillset in coding. 

Fullstack is split into three separate phases: Foundations, Junior Phase, and Senior Phase. Foundations is 5 weeks long and is primarily self-paced. You are given online video lectures, weekly assignments, and checkpoint tests throughout the course of those five weeks. This phase is primarily self paced and helps reinforce advanced JavaScript concepts like functional programming, recursion, and closure, which will be useful to know in Junior and Senior phase. 

Junior phase is 6 weeks long at the Fullstack campus. About half of each day are live lectures, and the other half are pair programming workshops. Pair programming was one of the best learning experiences I had at Fullstack. Not only do you learn more about each person in your class, but you acquire knowledge from your time working with each individual (i.e. setting up your code editor to be more efficient when coding, understanding the Github workflow, keyboard shortcuts, organizing your code in a DRY manner, etc.). Pair programming is also reflective of how programmers code in their day job and is one of the fastest ways to really learn the technology taught for that day.

Senior phase is also 6 weeks long on campus, but focused primarily in building three projects, an E-Commerce website, a personal project, and a Capstone project. Both the E-Commerce website and Capstone project are built in teams of three or four people, and really help you learn how to work agile. The personal project helps you learn new sets of technologies outside the Fullstack curriculum to build a project you're passionate in and want to highlight in your portfolio. I built a Pokemon Augmented Reality game. 

At the end of my 17 week long journey at Fullstack, I was picked as one of the three Teaching Fellows to help teach the next incoming cohort of students. Being a Teaching Fellow added another level of coding experience that was invaluable. Not only did I have another 3 months of reinforcing all the concepts I learned from Fullstack, but also was given the opportunity to teach these concepts to incoming students. I also helped manage senior project teams to be more agile, and conducted daily stand up meetings. I am happy to say that after 1.5 weeks from graduating as a Teaching Fellow at Fullstack, I will be accepting a Software Dev. Engineer role at Expedia. 

If you are passionate in growing your coding career and want a quality curriculum, please consider Fullstack. If you are worried about the large expense, there are free information sessions, bootcamp prep, web development workshops, and other resources to give you a taste of what you may expect at Fullstack, and see if it is a worthy investment for yourself.

Fullstack Academy is so amazing! From the instructors to the curriculum, everything is designed to give you the best learning experience.

This course was split into two phases, the junior and senior phases. During the junior phase, students learn through lectures, hands-on workshops, and labs. First, the pace and organization of the course is great! Lectures were long enough for us to learn a ton of information, and they were paired with workshops and labs to really make sure we fully understood the information. Instructors and teaching fellows were always on hand to give additional guidance and answer any questions we had. I really got the sense that they actually cared about making sure we not only understood the information but also that they cared that we succeeded.

Towards the end of junior and throughout senior phase, we then shifted to synthesizing the information we learned through group and individual projects. These projects definitely gave me invaluable experience for my job search. This was all alongside some fantastic career counselors who made sure I was presenting the best version of myself for the job hunt.

If you are debating about whether you should attend Fullstack Academy, you should go for it! The instructors are fantastic and they actually care if you do well.

I first took the bootcamp prep course while working to see if I loved this new field enough to quit my old job. I enjoyed BCP so I continued to study and told myself once I was accepted into Fullstacks emmersive program I would quit. It was a big change but one of the smarted decisions I have made. I chose to attend Grace Hopper but debated back and forth some -- between GH and Fullstack.

The students in my cohort had a wide range of backgrounds - from CS degrees to just learning enough to get into the program. Regardless we were all in it together which makes the atmosphere supportive. In addition, the instructors are extremely skilled and helpful, usually there are two at a time teaching a cohort which is great because you get exposed to a variety of teaching skills. The ciriculum is dense.. I worked every day and weekend to keep up (as you can imagine I had no social life during the program). It is not a long program and it really has to be as dense as it is for you to go in knowing very little then graduating expecting to get a job. I busted my ass but it was very rewarding. After the program, because I loved the atmosphere so much and wasnt confident about looking for a job I became a fellow. This was great because you gain confidence as you help the new students, also you essentally get to go through the program again.

I would definitely reccommend Fullstack/Grace Hopper to anyone who is interested in learning to code likely looking to get a job as a developer. It is challenging but if you enjoy coding/learning it is very rewarding. If you arent sure then I would suggest the bootcamp prep course to get a taste of what will be taught in the full time program.

I've graduated from Fullstack Academy Web Development Fellowship, the program sponsored by NYC Tech Talent Pipeline.

I have an awesome experience with FS, like the most of it graduates and here is why:

1. Instructors are outstanding. A lot of people complain that instructors in bootcamps are often don't have much experience in real-world development. It's not the case with FS. First of all, because they do have not only experienced but PASSIONATE teachers. I won't speak for everybody, but give a shout out to Corey Greenwald and Dan Soval who were my instructors. Experience in web development multiplied by the natural ability for outstanding public speaking and great desire to teach other people => that's the recipe to engage you in solving the problems every day, every hour, think about code when you go to sleep and wake up because of the dreams about code. Sure it's information waterfall brings you to that state of the mind, but instructors make this crazy state ENJOYABLE and ENCOURAGING. They really care about you and want you to learn. Thanks Corey and Dan!
2. Curriculum. It's awesome. Why?
   • No spread of tech. You need to master your JavaScript before you go further or you'll have a total mess in your head. All stack is based in JS: React.js, Node.js, and other supporting frameworks. If you didn't do development before it's even hard to imagine how COOL is to write your front and back end using THE SAME language. Sure there may certain trade-offs, but it's the fastest way to learn FULL STACK for a beginner.
   • They listen to the trends. The curriculum is always updating. My cohort was going through the workshops and some of them will be replaced for the next cohort. They curriculum evolve synchronously with the tech trends.
   • Hands-on experience. You always writing code, even if you don't really understand the topic. A theory was for self-learning and even lectures were mostly based on live code writing sessions.
   • You work either in a pair or in a group. Only a few assignments were individual. That's how you would work in real life, right? You won't be a lone wolf, you should always communicate, that's the key for learning and for life.
   • They keep you in shape with checkpoints and exams. No slackers, you gotta work and code to learn something.
3. Competetive admission. No random unmotivated people, everyone was crazy about learning stuff.
4. No asshole rules. They were really monitored and enforced.
5. Support not only in your learning but also in life. It's hard to learn to code from scratch in a short period of time. You will be exhausted, unfocused or tired sometimes. You may think that you stupid or can't learn as fast as your teammates. But they have a special counselor who can help you to overcome such psychological barriers and instructors are always caring and attentive.
6. Fellows!!!!!!!! Fellows are awesome, that's recent Fullsatck Alums who employed by FS to help you overcome technical challenges and be awesome. They like your older brothers and sisters who will take care of you if you lost :)
7. Career counseling. The job market is a MARKET. Nobody can guarantee you employment (unless US Army is paying for your education). But you can learn how not to suck in the job search. And FS is fulfilling this. They have a special time in the program dedicated to hiring activities. They teach you how to LinkedIn, write a resume, cover letters, provide you with sessions with a personal career counselor and ongoing support even AFTER graduation. (Like negotiation)
8. Ability to apply for a FS fellowship. Later to the end of the program, you can apply for the fellowship and become the older brother/sister I mentioned before. It is competitive but most of the people are happy with it, teaching others to solidify acquired skills and give you more confidence in a job search.
9. Social activities. It may sound silly, but they are VERY important. You spend the time with the people who an in similar circumstances but may be very different than you. Social activities (like a hot seat :) made our cohort solid like a rock and caring for each other.
10. Reflection. Each week instructors seat in a circle with students and listen to all your complaints and kudos. And they really listen and change stuff! That's amazing for every organization, but not every organization do this.

To draw a line I just want to add that if you want to change your life, change your career FS is definitely what you need. 

In Fullstack Academy you will not only to learn how to write code, but how to become the better version of yourself, how to learn to communicate with other people.

Fullstack Academy's part-time Flex immersive was one of the most wonderful, worthwhile, and challenging experiences of my life. While there were some things that could be improved about the course, I can wholeheartedly say that everyone there is dedicated, intelligent, and fantastic. If you're thinking of applying to Fullstack, don't hesitate--you won't regret it!

Application

Applying to Fullstack was fairly straightforward. After filling out an online form and taking an online assessment, I was then contacted for a one-on-one interview with a teaching fellow. The interview consisted of two parts--behavioral and technical. Don't sweat the technical interview. They're not looking for experts, but rather that you have a good grasp of the fundamentals and can handle instruction/feedback if you get stuck.

Do not go in with 0 experience first, though. You need to, at minimum, understand the basics of JavaScript: variables, functions, arrays, loops, objects, conditionals, some recursion, etc. If you're on Code Wars, you should be able to solve level 6 problems with some regularity.

The Class

The Flex immersive runs twice a week in-person and one weekend a month. A block of time is set aside for remote work/homework on Wednesdays, though there is no lecture during this time. The class runs across two phases: a junior phase, which consists mostly of lectures and workshops, and a senior phase, which is when you'll build applications from scratch.

Eric Katz, the lead Flex instructor, is funny, insightful, and an all-around great guy. He's a brilliant engineer and teacher, and you'll be glad to have him as your mentor.

The curriculum itself is challenging and trying--as it should be. Initially, I had panicked and thought I'd fail, but I realized quickly that I'd be okay so long as I put in the time and effort. Every concept you learn in the curriculum is then reinforced in senior phase, which is when you go from a newbie to a software engineer by building real apps--from a shopping website to your own hackathon project to a fully realized final project.

The curriculum was supplmented by weekend projects Eric assigned, which helped us learn to build projects from scratch far earlier than senior phase.

Career Success

The career success team is great. They provide lectures on interviewing, networking, salary negotiation, and so on. But the lectures are the least of what they do.

First, they organize Launch Day--an event where companies looking for graduates come to the campus and interview students in a "speed dating" style event. Though I wound up not going with any of the Launch Day companies, I did gain several good leads there. It's also a great event and a good introduction to tech interviews.

More importantly, they provide you with actual support during your job search. Jackie Ore, in particular, provided tremendous support during salary negotiations--something that had always terrified me in the past.

Cons

The only cons I'd say are that--at times--the Flex program did not feel like it was part of Fullstack Academy. For example, the curriculum frequently mentions deadlines for the full-time students, a source of confusion for us at times. It also felt sometimes as if the full-time staff had forgotten us. I'm sure this wasn't the case, but occasional checkins through all 6 months of the program would have helped. 

Aside from these minor issues, I wholeheartedly recommend Fullstack Academy. If you put in the work, you'll definitely succeed. Two months after graduating, I accepted a job offer to work as a software developer. :-)

I'm a graduate of FSA and it was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. The program isn't just designed to teach you to become a (better) developer, it's also designed to help you become a better teammate, public speaker, life-long learner, and leader. 

I came into the program already having some experience with web development and I needed help advancing my career. Even though I had some experience already, I still needed to do a some JS studying before getting accepted. They offer a JavaScript prep course that many people in my cohort took and it worked well for them so if you don't have a coding background already, I would highly recommend that. If there's one thing I give FSA a lot of credit for is that they do a very good job at testing/interviewing candidates before they're accepted. I'm not sure about other cohorts but I was so impressed with every single person in mine not only by their abilities but also their kindness. FSA isn't kidding when they say they have a 'no a-hole' rule.

The program itself is very fast paced and it isn't intended for you to learn everything you could possibly know about softeware development but it does teach you everything you need to know to be successful. You'll learn how to learn and this is the best quality you could possibly have as a developer. Frameworks will come in and out of style but having the ability to learn quickly and apply knowledge is very powerful. Of course, like most things, you can only get out of it what you put into it. They treat you like an adult which means if you're not asking questions or putting in the effort in projects or exercises, they aren't going to chase after you. You need to make the effort.

FSA is also very attunded to what you'll need in order to get attention in the job market afterwards. The senior phase allows you to build projects, explore new technologies (this will help you stand out from other students), get guidance on your resume and interviewing practice. I was particularly impressed with the career guidance I was given by Holly who made me feel like she would literally drop everything to help me if I had a question. I just never expected to get such personalized attention after I graduated but the staff really made me feel like my success mattered to them.

I think the big question everyone has is what it was like during the job search for me. My experience probably isn't going to be what other graduates experienced because I could lean on my background in web dev a bit but by week five, I had two job offers with a third very close. One of those job offers came from a company that attended our Launch Day (previously called Hiring Day). I know there were a few other students who got offers from other Launch Day companies so it's a valuable event that should definitely be taken seriously.

That's not to say those offers came easy though. I didn't take any time off after graduation (which is what they recommend) and rarely took any weekends off too (mostly spent that time doing take-home projects and studying). There were many many applications, cover letters, interviews, take-home projects, and a lot of anxious nights. It takes some hustling and, as good as the FSA program and career counseling is, it's entirely up to you to land that job.

Overall, I have very little criticism of the entire program. It was an incredible journey all the way from the initial application to getting that first job offer. Entirely worth it.

I did the Grace Hopper program, which is the same curriculum as Fullstack Academy but has deferred tuition and is for women only. The curriculum is STRONG!!!! Before you get to campus and during your very first week, you will coding and learning very advanced computer science topics. They truly ensure that every student knows their stuff and is prepared for the job search ahead including whiteboarding interviews. I never had a doubt throughout the program that I would have any trouble finding a job because of what and how they were teaching.

One of the great things Fullstack did was make sure from the beginning that students are ready and that everyone is on the same page. Just to get into the bootcamp, you need to know javascript and be able to solve somewhat diffucult problems as well as be familiar with recursion. However, they have a lot of great resources to get you accepted such as the online bootcamp prep course. Foundations covered some pretty advanced topics but they provided a mentor for each student and paced the work over 5 weeks so that everyone could master it and there were some tests along the way to make sure everyone was learning the material. I learned so much before I even got to campus and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to converse about code and solve quite challenging problems on the very first day.

I realize that talking about the material in light of how advanced it is could scare some people away, but I just want to say that I found the program extremely friendly and not scary at all. They just want to make sure everyone is ready and on the same page, and they provide a lot of resources to get you there. If you ever feel like you are falling behind, they will not kick you out like some bootcamps will. Instead, they will get you the help that you need, and even allow you to repeat the first half of the program (junior phase) if you are struggling. Everything they do is to make sure you succeed.

I also found they focus a good amount on soft skills, which was amazing to see. They make sure students learn to communicate about issues that arise during pair programming before these issues ever arise, they talk about unconscious bias, they have retrospectives to reflect on different parts of the program, make sure students are taking care of themselves emotionally, etc. I found that students are able to give feedback about the program and the feedback is taken seriously and changes are implemented almost immediately as a result of student feedback.

The career success program is very strong as well. They don't just teach you how to code and build projects on this program. A big portion of the second half of the program was focused on getting students hireable. We had regular mandatory meetings with the career success team, practiced interviews (behavioral, technical, and whiteboarding), received feedback on resumes and linkedIn profiles, and so many presentations on job hunting. The career success team really sticks with you throughout the process and after you graduate to make sure you get hired.

Overall, this program was amazing for me. I went to a different bootcamp before this program to turn around my career, felt like I didn't learn enough to be hireable, and I constantly felt anxious and unready to find a job. Grace Hopper/Fullstack Academy was a night and day difference. It eased my worries and I never once doubted that I could find a job in the end. At first I was concerned because Fullstack teaches pure JavaScript instead of mixing in some of the other competing languages, but I truly believe that it served me well. I was able to learn really complex topics in depth and branch out past just web development. I also believe that now I can learn anything. In a nutshell, I learned amazing things, I built amazing projects including web apps, a mobile app and VR app with AI, I made amazing friendships with the women there, I constantly felt uplifted, and I had a job offer 10 days at the end of the program.

When I decided to switch fields and become a software engineer, I knew HTML, CSS and had very little confidence in my own abilities outside of that. Grace Hopper provided a learning environment that was supportive and encouraging while also pushing me outside of my comfort zone with a challenging, rigorous curriculum that prepared me extremely well for a career in software engineering. I left with a strong understanding of foundational CS and JavaScript concepts as well as the ability to dive into new technologies quickly. I also made so many friends and professional connections, building a network that helped anchor me in a new field. All of this meant that I was able to move into a full-time role in a new career with confidence.

Let's preface this by saying Fullstack Academy is NOT a fast track to a job. The entry bar to a junior software engineering is getting high, and it truly takes hard work to get your foot in the door. 

What this program really is, is a way to bring out your potential as a software engineer. Throughout the months of training, it makes you *fall in love* with programming. With my cohort, I was putting in hours that I didn't know I had. It was addictive. I was a pretty unmotivated individual and I joined FSA because I thought it offered the structure and the peer support(pressure?) I needed to get my act together, and boy did it deliver.

The instructor was knowledable, but he wasn't there to really hold your hand. In that sense it was more of a college lecture format. The instructor had a lot of ground to cover and little time, so it was understandable that a lot of concepts will be hand-waved. It will be up to you to fill in some of the gaps. The TAs were recent graduates who were there to get you through certain sections in the workshops, but I felt they too, were simply constrained by time to go over a topic on a deep level. WHICH MEANS! If you fall behind in your fundamentals, you will fall further and further behind. Even though you will probably still graduate, you are missing the solid fundamentals that you will be required to know to get a job. It will really be up to the individual to make him or herself responsible for really understanding the materials. Fullstack gives you the environment, you give yourself everything else.

Jobs. About a fourth of my cohort received real "software engineering" jobs. But a lot more, I'd say half, did manage a career change into a technical field, which I thought was extremely good. (Note, coming from a 4 year engineering degree, those numbers were pretty much on par.) Like many said, I wouldn't expect much from the "hiring day" here. 

The types of people who found success in this program were apparent in the earlier weeks. You know who they were, the students who were the most passionate and *optimistic* After graduating from the program, they would continue to work on their project, polishing up their skills. I couldn't stop studying after graduating from the program, because like many others, I was addicted to learning.

Could I have done it without FSA? No. Their structure, learning path, the peers, and the environment was what got me hooked and the rest was history. In that sense, this program was worth every penny and it would be disingenuous to say that I could have tapped into my potential myself. 

Because of the way FSA has truly changed my life, I will always consider it the best decision I've made. But in reviews I also need to recognize that some of my classmates complained that the lectures weren't very thorough and there weren't enough resources to catch them up to speed once they fell behind. They expected a more caring, handholding format but instead were thrown into the fire. For such a hefty price tag, it was a fair expectation from them. So, just know what to expect :)



 

I attended the Fullstack Immersive Program in October 2017 at the Chicago campus.  I came from a strong interest in wanting to learn how to code but no actual practical experience.  Before joining Fullstack, my background was in psychology and then a year of sales experience.  My strongest recommendation for anyone even remotely interested in joining the immersive program is to attend an information session that they host each month or so.  For me, that was the point where I fully decided I wanted to make the jump and pursue applying because it made my perspective on the whole concept much more real.  Rather than just being “something with great reviews that I read online”, I actually got to meet the people who run the program, ask questions, and walk inside the campus area.   

 I signed up for the boot camp prep program, which was great because it helped build up my foundational JS skills and also got me more comfortable with common programming exercises like paired programming and solving coding challenges.  If you are new to coding or are even at a beginning level, I also strongly recommend taking the time to join the boot camp prep course yourself before applying for the immersive part. 

As for the immersive program itself, I can easily say it was a very tough and challenging experience, but as you can see with many similar reviews, was also one of the most wonderful and memorable experiences I’ve had.  There are many reasons for this.  The first reason is, of course, going to be because of the peers whom you share the experience with.  Fullstack holds strongly to their “no assholes” culture when selecting applicants and also has a somewhat difficult acceptance rate to get in.  Therefore, it’s very likely that your cohort is going to be made up of a diverse group of determined people who are eager to learn, respectful, and excited to be in the program.  With that, you get to share a lot of “magical” moments such as high fiving your coding partner after solving a bug you were both stuck on for a while, or the camaraderie that comes with doing intense coding sprints with your team to complete a feature before its deadline.  These are all experiences that alone make the boot camp worth it and at the end, you will likely realize you are leaving the program with very strong friendships.  

The second reason is going to be the learning structure.  The curriculum will be very fast-paced and even overwhelming at first, but you will definitely hear from the cohort ahead of you the phrase: “trust the system, work hard, and you will be fine”.  The learning process is also highly focused on paired programming exercises, problem solving rather than hand holding, and gaining the ability to look up documentation on your own.  The good news is that the instructors are super available and are wanting to help you when you ask questions and need the extra help.  Even better, Fullstack provides “teaching fellows” whom are graduated students who stay on for an extra three months and help the newer cohorts of students.   These teaching fellows are trained to not give you the immediate answer when you ask, but rather try and guide you towards problem solving techniques that help you solve the issue yourself.  Before students realize it, the teaching fellows become more like human rubber ducks and students start solving the problems themselves just by talking out loud the issue.  Finally, concepts that you learn each week will be repeated many times and become foundation for future week’s material and what will seem foreign at first will be super familiar by the end of the program. 

Overall, on top of a very adaptive curriculum that focuses on popular and in-demand libraries and frameworks, due to Fullstack Academy’s teaching style you will be leaving the program with increased problem solving skills and the ability to effectively communicate code to others, and these will be your most valuable tool sets in the work field. 

In the end, I was able to get an offer three weeks after graduating for a front-end developer position with a company I am really enjoying being at.  I want to be transparent and say that I was one of those teaching fellows and this helped me stand out in the interview process. I also was able to meet the company in person at the Launch Day event that Fullstack will host for each cohort.  Realistically you should expect to have to continue to work hard in applying for at least a few months after graduating before solidifying an offer.  You will have access to the career success department and the fullstack alumni community and they will frequently put the word out for networking events and position offerings, so these will help with your journey to getting that first job in the field.  

At my job, I am not using all of the frameworks and libraries that I was taught in the program but I am definitely using the problem solving skills that I gained on a daily basis.  I have access to a large group of Fullstack alumni for networking, and I have the career success team to reach out to in case I need assistance with salary negotiations or other career related issues in the future.  I also got to leave the experience with a great group of friends.  My time at Fullstack Academy was very strong and I was happy to write this review because I want to recommend the opportunity of joining to anyone who is interested in making a jumpstart into their career in coding. 

II was a part of WDF Fullstack Academy Bootcamp for a period of almost 6 months and when I look back at my journey it still feels unreal sometimes because the growth I have achieved and the amount of knowledge I have gained in such a short period is something I had been aspiring to achieve for a long time. 

I found my interest for programming during my undergrad and I knew I wanted to pursue it as my career but I faced a lot of hurdles along the way and could not pave a path by myself through online courses and self study. My husband told me about bootcamps and how they provide you with the skillset needed in the job market today in a short interval of time. During my search for bootcamps, I stumbled across many options, all promising to offer the best learning experience and future career goals and i was over whelmed by the number of options I had. I decided to reach out to alums of various programs and ask them how their experience had been first hand during their time at various bootcamps. After hearing back from a number of people praising Fullstack Academy's teaching methods and how their curriculum taught frontend and backend in the same language (Javascript), I was convinced on joining this program.

The next hurdle I faced was to figure out how to pay my tuition for the program and the two options I came across on Fullstack Academy's web-page were:

1) Web Development Fellowship NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Program (free of cost sponsored by the state)

2) Their all female (Grace Hopper) deferred tuition payment program

I applied for the WDF program and gave the Grace Hopper as my second option( in-case i don't make it through to the program i really wanted to join). I was asked to take an online assessment and after a one month long wait time (the longest wait of my life), I was told I have not made it thorough directly to the program and that I have to attend an on-campus Bootcamp Prep Course and if i pass that, i would be officially accepted into the WDF program. How could i say no and honestly it was the best opportunity for me because i like working under pressure. 

Bootcamp Prep was a fast paced one month long course where we were on-campus for 3 hours on weekdays (evening) and were first given a lecture on the topic and then a workshop to be completed in pairs. (Yes pair programming was one of the things we were being tested on in order to qualify for the program) The instructors who taught us during this course (Sean and Corey) were the best I could have asked for. They were very experienced in the course material they were teaching and had a solid grasp on the concepts being taught. They kept us all on our feet and made the lectures were interactive and energetic. In this course, we took 2 exams and their accumulated score along with an individuals attendance and collaboration during pair programming were taken under consideration to decide who would be considered for the interview phase of the program. I was selected and after an online live coding challenge, I was given the news of making it successfully to the WDF program. 

Next came the Foundation phase, this is where all the pure Javascript core features were taught to us via online recorded videos and workshops( for WDF students, it was mandatory to be on-campus for this phase). We had instructors there to guide us and teaching fellows helping us along the way if we got stuck at anything. This phase involved taking a 3 hour long test every week to make sure each student was on track and if not, was provided with full guidance and help to keep up with the curriculum. The end of this phase was marked with a grand test passing which put me through onto the next phase; the Junior Phase. This is where all the major technology and softwares were taught and was the core portion of learning in this bootcamp. We started off with backend first and then moved onto to front end in the later weeks. In this phase, we were given a lecture every morning (sometimes twice a day) by our instructors (Corey and Dan) who by the way brought so much energy every morning that I found it hard to not pay attention to what was being taught and Dan with is funny jokes made sure to keep his audience awake and upbeat. Following the lecture we had to complete a workshop (pair program) based on the topic taught to us. Pair programming provided me with the opportunity to look at problems from another persons perspective which comes in very handy later on when finding jobs because you would be asked to solve questions in many different ways during interview process. The curriculum that was taught and the way it was planned to be taught was something I really found helpful because implementing a topic right after learning about it, really helped me understand it well and once i wrote the code myself, it helped me memorize the syntax as well. This phase also involved weekly tests to check the progress of each student and to provide them with any help needed. Study Saturdays were also implemented to help the individuals who were lagging and to keep them up to pace of the program. 

The last phase is the Senior Phase which revolves around projects and prepping for the job search related material. We had to complete a total of 3 projects during this time and they became a part of my portfolio once i graduated. This phase really hits it home because you actually build and deploy apps and web pages that others can access using the tech taught during the bootcamp and learning and implementing new tech along the way. Career advisers helped me along the way to formulate a resume, update linkedIn profile and  with other career related stuff. This phase is a little hectic with longer working hours but it really pays off since the things that I created during this time were the ones I talked about during many of my job interviews.

All in all, Fullstack Academy really changed my life because it gave me the proper skill set and knowledge that is currently a requirement of the job market and not only that, it also prepared me so that if i want to learn things on my own, I am more than capable of doing it now. The confidence I achieved during this program is huge and I was honored to be a part of an environment where everyone supported each other, no one was left behind and where no question was left un-answered. 

I recommend this program to anyone who is looking to make a career change and just as I took the word of alums who experienced this first hand, take my word for it and you would not be disappointed.

TLDR
- Amazing life changing experience
- You get out of this program what you put in, so give it your all!
- Hired fast and increased my salary

My time at Fullstack Academy (FSA) was amazing.  I left my job 12/2017 that I felt trapped in, I was unhappy with, and I was not making much for the dissatisfaction. I completed the program at the Chicago Campus and became a teaching fellow (a position you apply for as a senior during the program). I received a Job offer one week after completing the fellowship nearly doubling my previous salary. 
One week and those kinds of gains are NOT typical of the program. I had a low paying job before, and I was very lucky that a company wanted to hire me after Launch day (the event at the end of Fullstack's program where you have a number of 10-minute interviews with companies that are hiring developers). 
Many people that have gone through FSA have had a transformative experience. I am one of those people. My confidence has been restored. I have confirmed my passion for programming and expect a long and fulfilling career in development. I spoke to a previous student at Launch Day (actually a member of the team that hired me) and we both talked about how we almost didn't trust the reviews and testimonials because they seemed too good. I am perpetuating the cycle of people gushing way to hard.
 
I believe my linked in will be on this post, so if you are mulling over going and want to talk someone who did it and does not work for the school feel free to reach out.  

I was part of the first WDF cohort. We spent almost 5 months on the NYC campus going first through the foundational materials and later through the main curriculum. Fullstack gave me a very solid understanding of software engineering principles, and most importantly, taught me how to be self sufficient. 

The instructors and the stuff were excellent. I was never bored but was continuosly challenged. The level of students at FS is very high, yet everybody was always super supportive.

I accepted a job offer at arguably one of the toughest companies to get in after about 4 months after graduation. 

If you are thinking about becoming a professional developer, I can't recommend Fullstack enough. With that being said, I want to empisize that your results will be directly proportionate to the effort you put in (during the program and especially during the job search).

I recently graduated from the FSA program in NYC. Before joining fullstack, I have no experience in coding. I wrote my first line of code in June 2017 while I was taking online prep course to get ready for FSA's interview. 

The program at FSA is amazing, awesome, full of fun, and a lot of hard work. I would like to give a shout out to the instructors - Geoff and Omri. They are both very knowledgeable in the course curriculum and are extremely supportive and thorough to explain concepts to us. I have taken numerous online tutorials and I don't think any tutors that I had online can compare to these two dedicated instructors. That really sets apart Fullstack from any other bootcamps. Once you go Geoff and Omri, you can never go back!!

Towards the end of the program, there is a huge emphasis on career coaching. We were being mentored by a one-on-one career coach as well as the support from the entire career success team. At the end of the program, there is a Lunch Day where companies come on campus. I was really impressed by the Lunch Day and quite a few individuals from my cohort get recruited that way. However, I didn't get recruit through the hiring day and instead stumbled upon this role on LinkedIn. If I were to tell you getting a job is easy, I would be lying to you. If requires a lot of hard work and I did apply to hundreds of jobs online. However, what keeps me motivated throughout this process is Jackie - my career counselor. She really did take the time to keep us on track on a weekly basis, and helps us stay positive. I wouldn't have done it without all the pouring love and support from FSA. 

If anyone is considering a bootcamp, definitely Fullstack. Because not only you learn to be an excellent programmer, you also make friends that would last for a lifetime, and the impacts that each individual who works at Fullstack on me in insurmountable. I love FSA!

I graduated from the Grace Hopper program in 2018 and 2 months after graduation, I received an offer from my current company, who I came into initial contact with during Fullstack's Hiring Day. Prior to the program, I had no experience in Computer Science or Software Engineering, and Fullstack took me from having never touched a line of code to landing a full time software engineering role in a matter of months. I highly recommend this program for anyone interested in making a career change. Rather than paying to return to college, paying to attend an immersive program to learn a highly marketable skill is the way to go. The instructors at Fullstack are extremely knowledgeable and invested in the students' work and success. The career success emphasis helped greatly in preparing me for my job search and the practical knowledge I gained in such a short amount of time made the overall experience incredibly worth it!