App Academy

TL;DR: No exaggeration, App Academy was a life changing experience for me, and if you are willing to work hard it can be life changing for you as well.

I started out with a little experience programming and the idea that I might like to do it professionally and app academy tough me the skills I needed to do just that. The application process requires you to work hard but is also highly rewarding. The prep materials they provide give you a clear path toward what you will need to learn to get accepted. I became a better programmer just by learning the material required to get accepted. 

The program its self is nothing short of amazing, in my opinion its the ideal model for education. Expert teachers, helpful TAs, and a well rounded and diverse group of smart and enthusiastic peers who are just as eager to learn as you are. The peer interaction is one of the best parts of the program, you can easily learn as much if not more from your peers as you will from the lectures and reading. 

The BEST and most unique part of app academy is the tuition model (no tuition until you find a job,  at which you pay a % of your first year salary over time) . This is crucial and something you can not find in any other boot camp that I have ever come across. The fact that they do not get paid until you find a job means that your incentives are aligned with theirs. They have every reason to make the curriculum the best that it can be, and they will support and advise you until you find a job. This also means that you dont have to shell up $10K or more up front like you would with other boot camps  and there is no risk if thing don't work out.

I learned a tremendous amount and made a lot of friends during the program, many of which I am still in touch with today. I attended app academy in October of 2013 and I now work for groupon making 2.5x as much as I made before I was a software dev. Fellow graduates of my cohort are have jobs ranging from big name companies like Tumblr to cool start ups and all to my knowledge found jobs after finishing the program.

App Academy is a sure path to a software dev job for those who enjoy programming and are willing to work hard at it.

I took the A/a 4-week bootcamp prep course at their SF location. You can get a weekly rundown via my blog posts from that experience on my blog. If you're a woman, I suggest you take that jump and get in the reads about my experiences from that position.

As an aside: I've gone on to Hackbright Academy and am beyond thrilled with my experiences. My foray into A/a was supportive in some unusual ways. One of those ways was to highlight many of the masculinist and patriarchical cultural values in which the tech community and the App Academy bootcamp are rooted. I was genuinely sad to see so much sexism present in their cohort. I would often arrive early and be in earshot of the full-stack bootcampers and instructors for hours. There were some dicey moments, and a few that made me want to throw my computer out of the window.

Considering the prep course OR bootcamp?
Here are a few highlights from my experience:

• It's worth taking the time and spending the money to take a prep course if you are on the fence about diving into a coding camp, or you simply want to get some support jump starting into one. I am not entirely sure I would suggest paying the A/a price if it gives you pause, but if it’s totally manageable and the support will be of assistance: go for it! In many ways I’m thankful for spending my time there.
• I spent time with one of their tutors: that was extremely helpful, reviewing the problems that I struggled to break down into bite sized chunks. I recommend their services if you have the expendable cash, though it would be a LOT cheaper to find 
• The instructors were supportive but I think it was painfully obvious they were coders teaching, and not teachers coding. I have mostly great things to say about their individual styles to teaching. However, their structure seems a bit hap-hazard and thrown together. I would venture a guess that they have filled in most of the curriculum on the fly — and if not, I suggest they take a step back and get organized.
• I know pair programming is a large part of the coding puzzle, yet this program is extremely individualized in a polarizing way. I had expected to be encouraged to work alongside one another, review code together, etc.  Nada. If anything, I feel we were discouraged from doing so. I’m unsure whether this is indicative of the A/a culture, the bootcamp culture, or this particular instructor & student environment…

I would highly recommend App Academy. If you're interested in becoming a software developer and are willing to work hard, this is the best way to do it. In just three months, I went from knowing only a little about coding to being employed as a full-time software engineer at a major Bay Area tech company. The results from App Academy wildly exceeded my expectations, and I can't wait to pursue a career in software. None of it would have been possible without App Academy. 

Without going into too much detail, I'd say "believe the hype." Right now there is a huge imbalance in the software market -- demand for software developers is massively outstripping supply, and App Academy's training will put you in position to get one of those highly coveted software jobs. 

If you'd like to learn more about App Academy, check out the other reviews and navigate to the App Academy website to see some of the existing students' blogs. Learning how to program at App Academy is an incredible experience, and if you're on the fence about, remember this... leaving your current career may feel risky, but if you think you'd love programming then App Academy is totally worth it.

I attended App Academy in the beginning of 2016. I came into the program with a hobbyist amount of knowledge of Ruby and Javascript. I knew that I needed an extra push to make the career change, and App Academy seemed like the perfect option. 

The reason I chose App Academy was that they were the only bootcamp that relied on YOUR success as a business model. With the deferred payment model you don't pay until you are employed. This gave me all of the faith that I needed in the program to start my journey!

The coursework is very well put together, and covers an ever-changing array of technologies. They stay up to date, and are always trying to produce the most employable junior developers in the country. If you are thinking about it, just do it. You won't be disappointed.

Pros: 

• they taught a lot really quickly and really well -- they're the reason I'm employed now 
• lots of opportunities to ask for help from smart TAs 
• information was delivered really well in manageable chunks

Cons: 

• wasn't clear at the time that they asked for a deposit up front
• when I took the course, the backbone curriculum was a little weak (but that's probably changed) 
• mostly left alone during the job search period -- I think they could have been a little more supportive

Summary: Worth it.  You can learn this stuff on your own, but it will take much, much longer, and it will be harder to convince employers that you have the requisite skills.  While App Academy (and bootcamps) are unknown to some employers, most have heard of the concept and are more willing to take a chance on you than if you have no coding-related experiences on your resume.

Pros:

- Instructors/curriculum: The quality of instruction was really high.  The readings were up-to-date and very clearly written/easy to read.  The assignments were challenging and effective at getting you to understand more thoroughly what you were introduced to via the readings.  The instructor is basically the bulk of what you're paying for -- they are generally great at debugging your code and some are very good at explaining complex concepts.  I think it would've taken me many more months to learn the same materials on my own by digging through resources on the internet. 

- Peers: You'd be surrounded by peers who are smart and passionate about tech. I definitely learned a lot by pairing with different people and picking up their good habits.  It's also a network that you can hang on to after graduation.

Cons:

- Job asisstance: This was the weakest part of the program when I attended.  I think the job curriculum (how to write resumes, how to interview, build your portfolio, network, etc.) was much less structured and more under-staffed than the coding part of the program.  I believe this has changed since my cohort (they hired more people and tweaked the curriculum) but I can't comment on how well that's going.  There's also ongoing efforts to create a network of alumni, which I think will be the most helpful for future job applicants.

About two years ago I was feeling stuck and bored in a career as a microbiologist.  I had picked up programming as a hobby and found that I really enjoyed it, but I had no idea how to turn it into a job.   Around that time, programming "bootcamps" entered my radar, seemingly presenting a viable means to make the switch.  After some research, I decided a/A was the one for me, largely due to the pricing structure and an excellent review from a friend of a friend that had recently attended.   Let me go off on a tangent here and rave about the pricing structure.  If you're not aware, App Academy charges nothing up front (although there is a deposit).  You don't pay anything until you get a job and then once you do get a job, you pay a percentage of your salary.  This unique model is incredibly fair, allows someone like myself who couldn't afford other bootcamps to attend, and says a lot about what a/A offers.  With this model, a/A would completely fail if what they were offering was anything less than high quality.

The application process was very challenging and took a bit longer than I expected.  The process includes interviews and several coding challenges but you are not penalized for the time it takes to get through it all. a/A even provides a whole bunch of rich materials that, with enough review and practice, should be sufficient enough for one to get through the challenges.  This says a lot about a/A's integrity and accessibility.  a/A has high acceptance standards, but if you are willing to put in the work there's a good chance you'll get in, and a/A wants to help you be successful in doing so.  In fact, I didn't pass the last coding challenge, but since I was close to a solution I was given more material to go through and a second chance.

a/A kicked off at full speed.  I was expecting the program to be challenging and a whole lot of work, and I experienced exactly that.  Days typically consisted of a "lecture" in the early morning led by the instructors  where we went over the previous days assignments, went through demos, had a Q&A etc.  Then we jumped into the days assignments which would take up most of the rest of the afternoon and often the evening.  Most days we pair programmed, which was much more fun (and less lonely) than my programming journey had been up until this point.  Seeing others' approaches to problems was also very insightful.  At night we were expected to go over the solutions to the days problems and do the reading for the following day.  We had nearly weekly programming assessments that were often very difficult, primarily due to not being able to use any resources.  I hated the assessments due to the stress they brought me, but they did force us to develop a deep understanding of key concepts.  However, even with regular stresses and working upwards of 100 hours a week, my time at a/A was very enjoyable. The instructors were incredible resources (I wish I took more advantage of this) and I made a ton of great friends.  I have no shortage of fond memories from this period of my life and I was pretty bummed to see it end.

I can't recommend App Academy enough.  I had a great time, the program is of the highest quality, and I couldn't be happier with the results I got.  3 months at App Academy (plus a few months in preparation) got me into a career that I'm very happy to be in and my income has doubled.  How can you beat that?   Also,  6 months after completion my debt to a/A was completely fulfilled.  I graduated from college six years ago and I don't even want to get into how much of that student debt remains.  If you're seriously interested in programming as a profession, make a/A your first consideration.

I had a fantastic experience with app academy.  It is certainly a stressful few months, but ultimately, it was very much worth it.  Not only did the program help me change careers in a very short time, I was able to land a job after a relatively short time with a good salary, working with an organization whose mission and culture match my values.

  I chose app academy over other bootcamps because of its tuition structure and its selectiveness, knowing that I would be surrounded by the sharpest peers and colleagues that I could learn with, and the latter was the most important reason in retrospect. My cohort was exceptional -- I had less programming experience than many of my peers, but the curriculum moves so fast that students of all backgrounds were constantly challenged and engaged.  Sometimes the speed and quantity of assessments felt overwhelming, but it is necessary if you want to learn something as complex as the fundamentals of web development in such a short period of time.    I'm sure everyone reading this has looked at app academy's website and read other reviews, so I won't get into the hiring stats, salaries, etc., other than to say that my cohort's experience with the job hunt certainly lived up to all of the advertising. Instead, I want to focus on something that I didn't expect before joining app academy, and that is the culture of instruction.  App Academy promotes itself as a rigorous program with great stats, but doesn't necessarily advertise culture, and this made me nervous going into the program (I really liked some other bootcamps' focus on culture). I was extremely happily surprised when I joined app academy -- even if the focus on promoting a positive culture isn't part of the brand, the instructors at app academy did an incredible job fostering positive conversation, promoting inclusiveness during a stressful period, and I can see that they've continued to hire some of the brightest and most empathetic communicators from succeeding cohorts. This was hugely important, but many of the reviews that I read before joining app academy just focused on the challenge and the job hunt.  The instructors are top notch developers and generally great individuals.   Even though I was coming into app academy from a grad school, I was continually amazed at the pace and rigor of the learning experience.  I would wholeheartedly recommend this program.

A little background.
I graduated San Jose State University as a Business Management Major.

I got accepted and went through the program and found work roughly 3 months after I graduated.

 

Pros:

they test you on roughly a bi-weekly basis, you are given assesements and if you pass them, you get to keep going through the program, if you don't, they'll ask you to leave. While this does create tons of stress, it also forces you to stay sharp.

Pair programming all day. At my current job, I'm doing this more and more frequently(might be a weird situation exclusive to me, but it does happen). You talk with another classmate through whatever thing you're building/coding. it's super important outside in the work force that you can communicate what you need to do/ what is going on.

Pay after you find work. The specifics for me (August 2015 cohort) was to give them a $5000 deposit before I started the course. when I finally get work, I am to pay them 18% of my first year's salary over 6 months. so 36% for 6 months.
Most other boot camps cost roughly the same(somewhere in the 15k to 20k range IIRC). Since I didn't have that kind of money on hand, this was nice.
a friend of mine going through the boot camp actually gave a smaller deposit, however the pay after getting a job was increased(I believe he only deposited ~$2250, and has to pay 22% of his salary after. a/A seems flexible.

 

Cons: At the time I went, there was too many students for the class. some times we'd have to wait a good while before getting assistance.(a/A has adjusted class sizes since my being there).

at times, you'll get a bad partner, whether they're impatient in helping you understand what is going on, or you're impatient helping them understand what's going on. You're probably gonna have a bad day or two pair programming.

 

job search curriculum can use work. I don't know what the plan is now, but the job search team was very small and needs to address industry relevant stuff. there was an Uber on Slack hackathon and I over heard one of the Uber hiring managers there laugh intensily at the fact that we wrote cover letters with our applications(he claims he's never read one). While that is only one man's opinion, it seemed like he had a really strong one.