App Academy

App Academy gives you the tools needed to change your life. The first thing to get out of the way is that the course is not easy. The 80-100 hours a week that they estimate you will spend on the course is not an exaggeration. You can easily expect to spend 9am-10pm 7 days a week at App Academy, but it is worth it in the end. The course takes so much time out of your life because they want to give you everything that will make you successful in the world of software development after graduation. They not only give you the coding tools, but they also spend copious amounts of time teaching you how to succeed in the interview stage and really show your self off!

I chose App Academy over other available boot camps, including Hack Reactor, for two primary reasons. 

The Job Placement program and tuition plan create a strong alignment with student interests. I came from working in small business finance, and one of the design choices we worked to popularize is royalty based financing, where the payback to investors is based on business performance. The same is true at App Academy where you pay tuition based on your first year's salary. This gives App Academy a strong and clear incentive to prepare you for the current job market in software development. 

I also picked a/A because of their Jump Start program, a two week evening class in Ruby. I took the course in San Francisco. It uses test driven problem solving and Repl.it to make picking up Ruby a straightforward and pleasant exercise. I had such a good time learning Ruby this way, that I decided to take the full course. 

No regrets. 

tldr; I learned a ton, and I did get a great job, but not in San Francisco.

I was in the November 2016 cohort at App Academy. I was very motivated, and did a lot of self-study before I arrived. In fact, my situation was a bit unique because I had intended to join an earlier cohort, but then had to drop out after just a couple of days due to having a broken finger. That false start may have given me a false sense of security, because I had a good idea of what the first week or two would be like.

I knew that we would cover a lot of material quickly, and I was very excited to accelerate my learning. The first half of the curriculum focuses on Ruby, data structures, SQL and Rails. In my opinion that section of the curriuclum is pretty polished. Concepts were presented clearly and the work was challenging, but mostly doable. However, the idea that you might need to put in 80hrs + per week was no joke. The more time you put in, the more you get out of this course.

The second half of the curriculum was more focused on front end development including JavaScript, React and Redux. This part of the curriculum was not as well put together, and now that I have a deeper understanding of how React, Node, Redux, and Webpack all work together, I feel that some parts of that section could have been presented a little more clearly.

Then comes a section of the curriculum where you build some projects. These were really fun ideas, but unfortunately seemed a bit too rushed. Now that I am working as a professional software developer, though, I also appreciate the pace that we were pushed at, since that was good practice for a genuine job.

During the job search, I learned that some students paid a slightly lower upfront fixed fee rather than a percentage of their first year salary. In retrospect that would have been a good option for me, since I was not 100% determined to end up in San Francisco. Yes S.F. is a great town to live and work in if you are a software engineer or developer, but the competition for entry-level positions is pretty intense there. I had much better luck looking for work outside of San Francisco.

After I started getting offers in another city, staff from App Academy still helped coach me on how best to negotiate with my new employer. They showed genuine concern for my career outcome, and that is why I give them 4 stars for job-search assistance. They don't really help you find a job, though. Instead, they just help you get ready to go find one yourself.

All in all it was a great learning experience. I met amazing, talented, and motivated people who inspired me and helped me successfully transition my career. I am pretty happy with the outcome of my App Academy experience.

When I told my parents I was interested in pursuing software development, that I found a good program that boast awesome stats, they (and everyone else I knew) was pretty skeptical. To be honest, even I was skeptical. But, I took a leap of faith and am so glad I did.

App Academy is a boot camp (seriously). You'll average 60-80+ hours a week grinding through problems and concepts. You will have little to no social life. You will dream (okay, have nightmares) about code.

In exchange, you will become a better critical thinker and problem solver than you ever thought possible. You'll become acquainted with very exceptional people, and your mind will be blown away by people's genius. At the end of the long and challenging road, you'll walk away with a six figure salary, and will get paid to just solve puzzles all day.

All in all, App Academy was the single best decision I've made for myself as a full-fledge adult.

This program is a must if you have little to no coding knowledge! Over the 4 week course period App Academy gives you all the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed. You have access to all notes, practice problems, solutions, and explanations ONLINE! This really helped me study at home and focus while I was in class. Also the instructors Alvin and Chase rock! Super knowledgeable and patient. They're always looking to help and make sure you understand the material. 10/10 would recommend to anyone looking to get into coding.

I started the BootCamp Prep Course after debating whether to apply straight to App Academy or not.  It was definitely the best decision ever. The course really shapes your coding skills (especially when you have only a basic coding knowledge like me) and allows you to be ready for any Coding Boot Camp interview you might want to take when taking it seriously. 

Boot Camp Prep is really challenging and the tools and 'tips' provided by the instructors are really valuable. I haven't regretted it for a second!

I have to admit that going down the path of changing careers is daunting, and really scary. Learning how to code adds another layer of stress. So I really liked how App Academy began our course by stressing how they understood how difficult it can be, but not to give up. It seems so trivial, but for a team of "techies" to believe it's such an important topic to cover shows their compassion  in teaching people of all skill levels. That put me at ease early in the course.

I'm a beginning coder, with very limited experience so I had a lot of catching up to do to prepare for my bootcamp interviews. However, after these last four weeks in the bootcamp prep course, I am confident that I can tackle most problems, and for those I don't know, at least show my interviewer that I'm able to think like a software engineer by fully explaining my thought process. 

I've learned so much more in these 4 weeks than I ever would have been able to on my own in the same amount of time. I simply would not have been prepared to interview, now, however, I'm confident that I'll be accepted into one of the top bootcamps this coming fall. It's not easy, and I really liked how our teacher, Alvin, pulled no punches in forcing us to be clear in our code writing and explanation. It was like being in school all over again, but at a much higher level. 

I fully recommend App Academy's Bootcamp Prep, especially for those career changers who need the skills necessary to succeed, not only in interviewing for a top bootcamp. But those interested in succeeding once they are in! 

 

 

 

I took the App Academy Bootcamp Prep course and really got a lot out of it.  I couldn't imagine applying for a top tier coding school without having taken this course.  The only experience I had coding previously was from a book about introductory programming.  There’s no way I would’ve been prepared for an interview just from the book alone.  One piece of advice for how to succeed in bootcamp prep is to take the pre-course work seriously.  It’s important to hit the ground running because one lesson builds on the next.  Another thing to remember is how important practicing coding in your free time is.  Watching videos and attending lectures helps, but the best way to improve is by sitting in front of a computer, coding and debugging programs.  It’s even better to practice with a partner in your free time.  

Overall, AppAcademy was a great experience because despite of how difficult and sometimes unpleasant it is, it gets the job done. You can’t beat the deal of becoming a full-stack engineer earning 100K after merely 3 months of training.

Campus - I attended the campus in NYC. It has great facility. Obviously there are enough computers for everyone, and there are private rooms for people to do phone screens and whatnot.

Teachers - In general they are responsive, knowledgeable, and dedicated. However, sometimes some of them may act impatient and annoyed at you, which is simply unprofessional and immature given their profession.

Curriculum - The readings are easy to comprehend (until you get to the React/Redux part, which is not well explained). Video content is delivered clearly. The only bad part I can think of is that it is too fast. Sure, the majority of the students still manage to graduate and get high-paying jobs; but if the course had went 10% slower I think the learning experience would be much better, at least for me.

AppAcademy is not perfect, but it is still a great deal for what it offers. I would definitely recommend it to people who want to transition into software development.

 

Hm, how to describe App Academy? For starters, it's hard. Certainly the most challenging course I've taken. Coming from a non-tech background certainly did me no favors, either, but it is certainly doable. That said, I do wish to stress to applicants that the entire process is a huge commitment. Coding and learning for 12+ hours a day takes its toll and I did not take into account the burnout. I felt truly worn out within the first 2 months. Taking care of yourself is paramount, as the 13 week program is quite the marathon in itself.

That said, going through this program allows you to learn so much. It would have taken me so much longer had I chosen to self-study to get to where I am now. And there's still so much to learn, but I feel properly equipped to get through the job search that soon awaits me.