I chose App Academy because it was one of the few bootcamps that still offered an in-person experience. I attended App Academy's 16-week in person software engineering program in San Francisco. Being able to have your instructors there with you and pair program with your peers in-person was invaluable. If being in-person is something you can commit to, I highly recommend it!  The coursework is extremely rigorous (about 8 hrs of lectures/programming during the day and a few more hours of readings/homework at night) and the job search after is even more rigorous. But they do provide you with all the tools you need to succeed with experienced instructors, opportunities to build projects to showcase your skills, and career workshops and partnership jobs after. The in-person curriculum may be lacking Python, but App Academy prepares you to learn and implement new languages and frameworks on your own.  I was previously a marketing manager with little coding experience. The job market was slow at the time I graduated App Academy and it took me 6 months to receive 2 software engineering offers. The program is tough, but definitely rewarding if you are dedicated to shifting your career into engineering. read more

App Academy is the most rigorous program I have ever completed, but it was absolutely worth it. Starting with no coding experience, I was able to develop three full-stack projects by the end of the course. The program equips you with all the support you need from instructors, TAs, career coaches, and fellow students. I loved the structured curriculum, as it suited my learning style perfectly. However, be prepared for a very fast-paced environment that requires your full dedication. If you want to break into tech, learn how to code from scratch, and are willing to commit all your time to become a developer, I would definitely recommend App Academy. At the end of the day, success ultimately depends on your commitment and effort to secure your first job in the field, which is tough in this market. However, after completing the bootcamp, you will have the confidence to keep pushing forward. read more

App Academy was rigorous but certainly worth it! The curriculum was extensive and offered many opportunities for hands-on practice. The exams were intense at times, but by the last couple of weeks, students are given much more flexibility to develop creative apps on their own. The market is tough, so it'll take longer to find a job after, but I'm grateful to say that I'm now employed in my dream job! Great experience overall. read more

I can only speak from my experience, but this seems less like a schooling program and catering more to certain employers. There's no consideration for those who are autistic. They make you complete a test shortly after applying which I passed. They rush you into an interview process, which comes off as fun and quarky by the way the interviewers are dressed. T-shirts, and not really professionally done. Never received a straight answer what the interview is for, but it's obviously geared towards making sure you're marketable to an employer. They only take 5% of candidates that apply as stated by the email. Not going to apply again, process is overly pushy and they only care about providing employees to companies, not getting graduates who are looking to improve themselves and get back on their feet from hard times. read more

I attended the 24-week program. I would recommend it to others but only if they know the commitment it'll take to finish. The 24-week program is very generous with time and allows for students to learn at a comfortable pace. Sometimes it might be too much time because some days feel pointless. The program will also only focus on Web Dev as it is the easiest way into the industry. Now that the negatives are out of the way. I have nothing but praise for a/A. They have a very up-to-date curriculum that reflects the pace of the tech industry. Instructors are helpful and just pure awesome. The job support afterward is incredible if the alum puts in the effort. Finally, the income share agreement/deferred payment plan lowers the financial barrier and is by far the highlight of a/A. Verdict 4.5/5. read more

Prepares you from start to finish; no experience needed! The program is fairly intensive, being a full-time commitment. That being said, the staff does a great job of walking you through the day to day and the ever-improving curriculum prepares you from any beginner level to being ready to apply for a full-time software engineering position. It's a little pricey, but a more than worthwhile investment. read more

Before App Academy, I didn't know how to use a terminal. But after graduating from the 16-week online program, I learned how to build full-stack projects and debug codes to make the app live. You get what you put in so make sure you allocate at least 100 hours per week to study and work on projects. What I like most about App Academy though is how supportive the staff and TAs are. If you have any questions or you don't understand something, they would try their best to help you. The only downside about the curriculum is that it's outdated. If you want to learn the updated technologies, you would have to read the documentations on your own. Even then, you can't use it on your full-stack project so that's a bummer. read more

As a recent graduate I am still working to fulfill the goal I set before joining App Academy, to get paid as a professional developer. Even though I am not able to tell you how a/A helped me achieve that goal, I can say that the long hours and break neck pace in a variety of projects, as well as pair programming, definitely changed my own perspective of what I can accomplish within a week and I'm confident I can take care of any job that the industry will throw at me. I'll be honest: At their pace you wont retain most of what you learn. You will be acquainted with many things, but not quite knowledgeable in them. Maybe that's what the industry wants, maybe it is just how I feel. Regardless, it is a mixed bag. Do your research, be prepared for it, and make most of it. read more

This bootcamp is rigorous and sets you up to successfully transition into a career in software engineering. During my time there, I learned numerous technologies that allow me to build full-stack web applications. The community is strong and I have created life-long friendships in a mere 4 months. The best part is I don't have to pay until I find a job. Therefore, I can focus all my energy on learning and job searching. read more

I was part of one of the very first online cohorts 2 years ago. The class was difficult, which was expected. I passed all 6 exams and the course itself. Most days were an hour or two lecture, then you typically are put in a zoom with one other student, who you then work with for 6 hours. This can be hit or miss, one of the classes for example, I had a fellow student present for the first 5 mins, and asked me to cover for them every time a teacher checked in. This no longer felt like adults learning a career, this felt like high school kids ditching class. Overall, I was able to learn the material, but with more credit to the hours I did on my own after the class, rather than working with another student who also didn't know what they were doing for 6 hours a day. I was somewhat aware of this stuff already going in. What I did not expect, was how little they help you get a job after the class. They advertise the heck out of it, but they did nothing. -I had multiple staff quit throughout my time there, so I was constantly needing to reintroduce myself and explain things to new staff, at times basically restarting my job search. -They advertise connections they have with other companies for employment, but they were all near their campuses in CA and NY. Like I said, I was in the online class, and they had 0 recommendations for Florida. Their advice would be to 'find networking events', this was during lockdown. -The job search program as a whole, just came off as a way for them to drop you from the program and bill you the full tuition. You need to do 25-40 applications a week depending on your 'job coach' and 40 hours of job search. If you don't, you get a strike for each of those offenses. 10 strikes and you are dropped and are liable for the tuition. This did not happen to me, but it was what you were subtly threatened with, every week. It took two weeks for it to feel like I was doing job applications for app academy, rather than myself. I was stressed trying to hit a certain number or apps, rather than find a job. -Their job coaches at the time, we're not job coaches. They were more like a/A police, doing their best to get their company money. This job search did not help me at all, and in fact, hurt me. I had to keep applying at these companies in Florida, who barley knew what a coding bootcamp was. I was broke, taking loans, and couldn't go back to my previous job field, because that would break contract and I'd again be liable for 30k. I was very excited getting accepted into App Academy, at a time I needed some help in my life. The whole experience ended setting me back 3 years. I am worse off, from attending App Academy. ***************UPDATE 11/28/22**************** It has been 8 months since I posted this review. This post is quite long, but I assume if you are still reading, you may be a former student in a similar situation, or simply curious about the program. This month (November 2022) I began receiving emails from App Academy, requesting help as a program graduate, to help test their current students. Not a job offer, just asking me to help. I replied asking to be removed from that email list. App Academy's response just a few days later was a demand for my financial documents. This email came on a Thursday, requesting my financial documents by Monday, or else I would owe the full $30k immediately from 2019. The request to be removed from emails and demand for my financial documents may be coincidence, but prior to this exchange, I had not heard from them in a year. Feeling as I had no other option, I sent them my documents. Turns out I qualify for my $500 to be refunded. App Academy agrees and creates an invoice stating I would be refunded that week. I am here now 8 days later, with no responses to phone calls. In my original review, I felt as though App Academy had over-promised and under-delivered. I now feel as though the company is actively against me. I would like to be left alone and never interact with this company again. read more

App Academy provides a decent curriculum, and I believe I learnt enough for me to build upon in the future. However, the quality of education is quite subpar. At the cost of tuition comparable to a private university, one might expect the standards to match. This is, unfortunately, not the case at App Academy. While most of our instructors I can say are among the best I've encountered, there can be instructors who leave you questioning why they're there at all. More disappointingly is the inconsistency with which the program is run, which is no fault of the instructors, but the fault of the administrators who control them. The administration greatly restricts what the instructors are allowed to say and do, which is definitely a detriment to the student experience since we have almost no face-to-face contact with admins--how can they decide the method of education that's best for us? Additionally, there was an instance of extreme ignorance and xenophobia that came from one of the administrators. The person at fault here did not receive any reprimand made public to students, even though this person's comments had a detrimental effect on the entire class that was present, and even those who weren't there but heard through others. Overall, though I do believe I got out of App Academy what I came for, I am displeased with the treatment the students received throughout the course of the program. It seems that things happen here at the detriment of students for the convenience of a/A's employees, which I firmly believe should be flipped, since the success of the students is what drives the profitability and success of the company. read more

My friends recommended App Academy to me because they have met several aA alumni in their workplaces and thought them to be great engineers. I have an engineering background so am used to rigorous academics, but aA still definitely required a lot of hard work and many hours of studying. I think it is a great place to quickly learn essential SWE skills, but a lot of the CS fundamentals, algorithms, data structures, etc. are not a big part of the course so we will have to study that on our own time for job search. It would also be great if they can update the curriculum to include more in-demand technologies (React hooks, for example). The instructors/TAs and cohort mates are awesome, but the career coaches really don't provide much help and it's mostly on us to gather as much resources as possible after graduation. read more

Pros: - Great instructors and TA's - Great networking opportunities with daily pair programming - Large alumni partnership network - Lots of alumni resources Cons: - Extremely fast paced. Be sure that you are able to make the next 6 months of your life dedicated to learning. - Mix of accepted students are sometimes questionable. Some are flat out anti-social or just impolite/stubborn or lazy. - Mix of teaching styles within every other module. It can be hard to adjust for some. Overall, it is a great program for those who are serious about having a career change into tech. Their staff is very supportive and if you really put in the work and are able to graduate, it's a wonderful and rewarding experience. read more

App Academy was more than just an academic institution to me. It taught me many life lesson that I will carry with me throughout my entire life. I was part of the 24-week online curriculum, and not only did I learn the full stack of software development, I sharpened a lot of soft skills that will benefit me in and out of the office, such as communication, collaboration, and most importantly the ability to teach myself complicated material. To be completely honest, App Academy is vigorous, and not for everyone. But if you're serious about changing your career path, be ready to put in the work and constantly be pushed out of your comfort zone. I wish you all good luck on your endeavors. read more

Pros: -Great curriculum taught by competent and (mostly) empathetic instructors who want you to succeed. -If you can pass the curriculum as well as are giving a true "best of yourself" effort then you will learn to program. -Resources are plentiful during the course -Don't pay a dime until you get a job. Cons: - During job search technical resources are very much limited and watered down compared to help you received during curriculum. - Although there are few, I did encounter instructors that I felt were chosen for their ability to program rather than their ability to teach and program. - Terrible system of conduct and accountability. There has to be a better way to handle plagiarism. Everyone who programs grabs info from stackoverflow etc. read more

BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL App Academy will charge you the full tuition even if you were laid off /fired by your employer. (And proved with termination letter from the employer) For example, if you job searched for 12 months and got an offer but were laid off after six months. You will still be forced to pay for all the tuition as if you were still employed. Notice that App academy has no restrictions or contract with those companies who come to recruit regarding the minimum employment duration for students. So you will be at risk with no protections. That's really unethical and doesn't make any logical sense, esp since The Biden administration just canceled $5.8 billion in student loans. read more

I had a great time at App Academy. For me the con is also a pro, when you first sign up they tell you that it is a very rigorous and demanding program but I didn't take too seriously. Just a few weeks later I was putting in anywhere from 80 to 100 hours of work into completing the course work. Which is necessary due to the amount of material that we learn in just a few weeks. I feel that the boot camp made me a better developer and that I was given all that I signed up for and more. Thank you so much for changing my career path. read more

App Academy was an intense boot-camp. The instructors we're AMAZING and if it was not for them I do not believe I would have made it. The school was full of intense projects that definitely challenged you. Get ready to lose sleep and LOTS OF IT! It is a temporary sacrifice for long term gain. The course consisted of lots of readings, lectures, discussions, and projects. You learn not only the most up to date tech stacks but also how to be adaptive to learn anything else. The career search portion of the curriculum was informative and I was able to get lots of helpful information regarding job searching (especially during a pandemic). This was definitely a life changing experience and those thinking about moving forward with an application and feel ready you should definitely jump in. Be prepared though, like I said, the course is rigorous and you will not be able to work, binge netflix, or any of that normal life stuff. Once you get through it though I bet you it will be the among the most satisfying feelings you will ever feel. read more

The experience was tough, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm already getting bites for multiple interviews a week after graduation. It would be unfit for me to say that this wasn't in part due to my previous engineering experience in the Mechanical Engineer field. The average span from graduation to a job offer is 6 months and many of my fellow graduates with no prior work experience are still struggling to get interviews. Nevertheless, App Academy does a great job of guiding their graduates with the best job search practices and even finds internal referrals with partnering companies a couple of times per week. With the ISA Plan, they don't get their money until you do, that is what ultimately convinced me to choose them as my coding camp and it has not failed me to this day. read more

I am very glad I attended App Academy. I had been dabbling in different web development technologies for years. For example, I knew how to build web-scrapers with Python and Selenium. But I never had any formalized knowledge of the best practices to build a full-stack application. By the end of the 16 week curriculum, I was able to clone the core functionality of Quizlet.com as my final project. It was one of 3 large projects that we did. In all we covered broad CS topics like data structures, algorithms, authentication patterns, tree traversal, among many others. And we learned specific technologies like Ruby on Rails, SQL, HTML/CSS, Javascript, React/Redux, Node & the MERN stack. We practiced using git & github extensively. We learned Test Driven Development thru technologies like Rspec & Capybara. Most importantly, we learned to learn. For example, when it came to the MERN stack & MERN projects, the instructors stopped holding our hands and made us practice picking up a new technology ourselves. My cohort was supposed to be an in-person cohort, but it turned out to be online only due to Covid. At first I was upset that I wouldn't be able to interact with my instructors and classmates on a daily basis, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise - with the amount of work we had to do every day, I couldn't imagine having to spend another hour or two each day commuting. I would give a 5-star review, but I do think it can be improved in a few ways. 1) A large part of the curriculum focuses on Ruby and Ruby on Rails. I believe that this is part of the design, in a sense, because Ruby is an easy introduction into the world of programming. We had people that came from completely different backgrounds and had little prior programming experience. However, it's looking like Python & Django are becoming more popular now and I wish we had some exposure to these frameworks as well. It appears that future aA cohorts will, in-fact, be going this route instead of RoR. 2) While aA has a wealth of knowledge on App Academy Open - the main tool for content for our curriculum (it's where all of our projects, homework, and readings were housed), that portal is not very organized. If I wanted to go back and reference something we learned 4-5 weeks back - it was hard to find. I wish they made all the projects & topics we covered searchable. To say that App Academy was intense is not an understatement. About 1/3 of our initial cohort didn't make it to the end. But it was very rewarding to have completed it. read more

Pros- their curriculum supports anyone who does not have a technical coding background which is where I was. As long as you put in the time and effort, you can succeed. Cons- throughout the last few weeks of the cohort, the projects seemed to be rushed and were combined with the job searching curriculum which I think is not the best idea. read more

Before App Academy I was already moving towards another bootcamp since I was in their prep course. Unfortunately, the experience decimated me to the point where I questioned if a career move was right for me. As a last ditch effort, I did App Academy's prep due to the guarantee. I was honestly blown away. There was an honest attempt to break down the concepts and present it in a way that anyone, even with no coding experience, could understand. From there I was sold, never looked backed and made it into the immersive program. Daily life as a student: - Days are M-F from 8AM - 5PM PST. - There are 6 assessments, failing 2 will get you kicked out so there is a lot of pressure involved - While in immersive, you'll mostly be pair programming working on projects - There is homework every night which needs to be completed for the following day. Some of the homework can be 4-5 hours long, so after a long day of work, you have more work - After immersive, you'll spend most of your time working on projects while learning some new concept and materials in between I will say for my individual experience: - My instructors were amazing. They were really chill, knowledgeable, and their support is one of the things I will always speak highly of. - All of my cohort mates are awesome. Everyone has different backgrounds, but you start to lean on each other for support, and build connections you didn't expect. - I learned a lot, it doesn't always feel that way. But the knowledge you gain from the begin to end is substantial, and that is a big plus. I can't speak for job search since I'm only beginning, but what I can say is I like my career coach. His plan and expectations make sense and I'm hopeful it'll land a job soon. Overall, if I went back in time, I'd still do it all over again. I had such an amazing experience and would recommend App Academy based off of that. It's hard of course, but worth it. read more

As someone with zero background with software engineering / coding, I thoroughly enjoyed and learned a lot from their well-crafted curriculum. The course is quite rigorous, and the instructors are super attentive. Everybody is super welcoming and willing to help one another out - instructors and students alike. I look forward to the job search and applying the skills that I have acquired over the last few months. read more

"A very productive learning experience" Pros- The community of peers and instructors are App Academy are extremely supportive. I definitely feel comfortable approaching them for help and being honest with my struggles. You learn a lot in 16 weeks and practice being comfortable with discomfort. Cons- It really is very fast-paced, especially when the projects begin. read more

App Academy's program was one of the most challenging things I have personally done but I think it's all for good reasons. When I decided to make this big decision and pursue not only my passion to become a Software Engineer but also a better financial opportunity I knew it wouldn't be easy. Pros: - Peer programming really helps you work with others and explain your thoughts better - The curriculum and technologies were set up in a way to prepare you for building full stack projects - The Teachers and T/A's are all amazing programers who have their own skills and understand the workload - I've always felt like I was well supported - You build relationships with other students in your cohort through daily peer programing and group projects - At the end of the program you truly feel like a Software Engineer Cons: - The program requires anywhere from 90 - 100 hours a week this often means even after class hours you will be spending time to make sure you understand the material so you don't get left behind. This is only a con because it can be really hard to adapt to this change and not get burnt out but as I said in the pros there will be support. - Some of the materials or readings need to be updated but since they are switching the whole curriculum up I'm sure this will be addressed. read more

Pros: - Amazing instructors - TA's we're great for the most part - A lot of support and resources to help you pass, you can pass every portion of the program by just doing the homework Cons: -Big cheating problem. If you get far enough in the course you will need to do 2 group projects and it becomes incredibly difficult when your group partners cheated their way through the curriculum and don't know what they're doing, suddenly a four-person group's responsibilities fall under one or two people. - A lot of restructuring was going on while I was attending and take it how you will but I had one module where the instructor did not explain anything very well and we're all left to pick up the pieces and I feel like I wasted 2 weeks. - A lot of grammar problems in the materials and sometimes wrong answers that lead you down the wrong path, it gets a bit worse the deeper you get in the course so much so that a student actually made a google doc listing all the issues that the rest of the class added to. read more

Intensive, solid courses I finished the App Academy Online Program recently. Here are my pros and cons: Pros: - Great technology selections. They did their research well, all the tech stacks they teach are very relevant to current tech job market. - Very tentative teaching environment. Instructors, TA's are all very responsive. You can always reach them and they are knowledgeable on the materials. - Great job search coaching. They set up your portfolio with tech relevant projects, help you with your resumé and interview questions. They also host job fairs from time to time. Cons: - Slightly light on the academy side. They breezed through Data Structures and Algorithms and provided resources if individual wants to learn more. But to be fair, given the program's duration, there's not enough time to stuff everything in. - More team building activities with classmates would be ideal. read more

I really enjoyed my time here! I came to App Academy with a background in biology and knew nothing about coding. I've come a long way these past few months and I think that App Academy's done a good job preparing me for entry into the workforce as a software engineer. I have a very good opinion of App Academy because I can see the results of all my work and studying. I'm able to make amazing web applications and I have a good understanding of the coding languages and tools taught by App Academy. It is a lot of work, though. I woke up at 7 and commuted 40 minutes to App Academy, where I coded from 9AM to 6PM. Then I commuted 40 minutes home and either reviewed the day's material or studied for the next day's material from 8PM to 11PM. As daunting as that sounds, it is completely do-able. It's hard, but it's not impossible. Just be prepared for it and keep your end goal in mind. Furthermore, I've been talking to friends and hear about the friends of friends who have gone through coding interviews. Many of those interview topics have already been covered by App Academy. If I have to nitpick about things, it is that I don't think that we reviewed enough material as we progressed through the course. We learned ALOT. Which means we also forget a lot. We're told that we should review after class, but most days, there's so much material to look at for the next day that I don't have time to review. I still really enjoyed my time here at App Academy, though, and I'll be missing it. read more

Work hard. Learn a ton. Make good friends. EAT SLEEP CODE REPEAT. Seriously this is not for the unfocused. But if you're seriously about changing your career they are a great way. read more

App Academy was easily the most demanding endeavor I've taken on. From Day 1, you need to be firing on all cylinders, and you need to be dedicated. The assessments are quite difficult, as they are timed, and they're not subjective at all. If you make a silly mistake, you'll pay for it, and if you fail two exams, you're allowed to retake the second one. If you fail the retake, you're asked to leave. They are not messing around with this policy. Having said all that, the instructors are fantastic, and really know what they're doing. They genuinely WANT you to succeed, and are very patient. App Academy is something that I'm really happy I did, but would never want to put myself through again. I don't have a job yet, but I have no doubt that I've been given the tools I need to succeed. read more

Complete rip off. They cheat you and do not clarify the details before the class. Once you attend the class you can not withdraw unless you pay $150 per class. I have researched 20 different bootcamps and these guys are the worst. To summarize in one word, they are a SCAM read more

There are many positive things about App Academy. I will begin by saying that the program is absolutely as rigorous as it is advertised to be. That said, you will certainly get out of it what you put in, and the opportunity to learn a great deal in a very short amount of time is certainly, at least to an extent, dependent upon how much effort and time you are able to put in. For me, App Academy was certainly a life changing experience, and I would do it all over again if I had to. But the reality is that it is not for everyone, and the demanding curriculum and constant threat of being expelled are important considerations for anyone thinking about taking the dive with a/A. I can confidently say that the first few weeks of the curriculum are very well organized. While the pace is aggressive, the structure is easy to follow, and the TAs are an invaluable resource. A majority of the day is spent pair programming with other members of your cohort, and asking questions is probably the primary way that you will learn the material. You quickly move from Ruby, to SQL, and on to Rails, before you run into something of a slowdown with the Javascript curriculum. Once you enter the land of JS, the instruction on projects becomes muddled, at times lacking, and is often just flat outdated. I understand that a shift away from Rails to more relevant frameworks and libraries will be a process. But it is unfortunate. I will close by stressing that if you decide to take the leap and attend a/A, be ready to put everything else on the back burner. You will be tested and pushed to your limits often, but if you are able to meet the demands, then it can be a truly rewarding experience. read more

Great experience! Had a great support network from TA's, instructors, coaches, to peers. Learned a lot and only wished it was longer. Went from having no programming experience to landing a job with a great company! Highly recommend! read more

App Academy is great, but the results depend on the amount of work you are willing to put in. The pace is rigorous, and it gets more rigorous from day one. Do not expect to get through a/A without significant effort. If you have a habit of procrastination, don't worry. You won't have enough time to procrastinate at App Academy. Your instructors are, friendly, knowledgeable, and fantastic at explaining the material. Your peers are some of the most talented and hard working people you will ever meet. And if you've done the work, by the end of the program you will be a software developer. read more

Intense but rewarding experience! I graduated from App Academy's online program in January of this year and three months later got a job as a Full Stack Engineer. :) I learned so much during the program and it was a great experience overall. My instructors were really nice and helpful, and I made a lot of friends amongst my cohortmates. Online program was surprisingly very structured, fast-paced, and in-depth. I was struggling having to study 10~14 hours a day with so much new material constantly being introduced, but the hard work really paid off! read more

The workload is everything that you've likely already read about. I spent everyday and the majority of my weekends working/studying until I slept. The payoff is that you'll gain the skills you need to pursue a career in software development. It sets your work ethic and gives you the momentum to continue to work towards success. I am currently in the job search phase. Whether or not I am successful, I am thankful for what I've been able to learn and am confident in my ability to land a job following the cohort. Well worth it. read more

It is a very immersive experience with exposure to different technologies and practicing what we learned through trial and error through projects. Learned a lot once we started individually doing full-stack projects, testing what we learned, and expanding our initial understanding of the topics and concepts we learned through video lessons as well as guided lectures. Personally, I learned way more and at a faster pace than I could have on my own. I really respect that they don't just teach you everything and expect you to find a job on your own, but help you build an online presence that is competitive with today's market. read more

Let me first start with this... this boot camp IS NOT for everyone. What I mean by that is that IT IS intense. You will be stressed out by the amount of work you have to do, the lack of time (or at least the feeling of it) and ultimately the strictness that is enforced. There is a device & attendance strike system (that could lead to dismissal) to make sure people aren't being distracted by their phones, laptops, whatever instead of doing their work. This can be a pro or a con depending on your perspective. They WILL dismiss you if you fail 2 of the 6 assessments that happen within the first 5-1/2 weeks. Curriculum topics change every 1 to 1.5 weeks. If you're completely new to programming, there isn't much time to deeply absorb the topics before moving on to another one. From a materials standpoint, some of the videos, articles, and information that they use is between 3-5 years old. That's ancient in the world of tech. At times, the instructions used in pair programming or for the projects (or the homework) can be vague & unintentionally (or intentionally?) misleading. Often times I was frustrated by how little focus the work presented seemed to have. There were a few times where it felt less like inspiration/motivation and more like scare-tactics were used to get people to do their work. The assessments carry so much weight that a few of my classmates failed because they freaked out during the test and couldn't recover. The instructors tell you to "make sure you sleep", "take care of yourself", etc. But then there's a timed assessment that basically dictates your future looming over your head. And every day is regimented, scheduled, lectured and pre-determined for you, that there isn't time to catch up from anything in the previous days. This all may sound scary, and intimidating or more like a military boot camp, than a coding one (I sometimes wonder if that's really what they're going for), but after the assessments are done, and the weight of dismissal has been lifted, things start to make sense. Around Week 7/8 is when you start to build your fullstack project. For me at least, this is where all the pieces began to come together. Each of the topics that we learned finally had a place, and while you still don't know everything about any of it all, you have at least a base understanding that you can build from. You can start to ask questions about where to begin, where to go, what you want to do, etc. To be clear, the level of knowledge that you gain once the first 9 weeks are done WILL allow you to build a fullstack, fully working app. Will it be the next Facebook, Google, Instagram or Snapchat? Highly unlikely, but you now have a solid foundation that could possibly get you there. All in all, my outlook on the program is that I didn't much care for certain portions of it while going through it, but I am thankful for being shown the frustrations, intricacies and the BS that comes with web development. As they say, "what doesn't dismiss you from bootcamp, only makes you a stronger software dev" (or something like that ;-) ). So to conclude, this school isn't for everyone, it doesn't need to be. If you thrive in pressure or at least know yourself well enough to be able to work through intense situations, then this may be for you. Just know that it's not going to be pretty. It's not going to be easy. But if you make it through, you should feel rewarded. DISCLAIMER: I'm currently in the job search portion of the curriculum, so I cannot fully give an opinion on this piece yet. I will update this review (if I can) once I've had some exposure to that side of things. read more

I enrolled the last 12 weeks intensive bootcamp program at App Academy. Apparently they are changing the cohort to 16 weeks from now on. Overall, App Academy is not the place where you just sit there and hoping someone would hold your hand to review through programming related materials. Sure, there is help provided if you request so, but it definitely takes effort and dedication to be successful at App Academy, and more importantly, to be successful at your future job after graduation. Self-motivation is the key to success here. Even though I came from software developer background, the topics that App Academy taught us are pretty challenging, that I constantly find myself running out of time to study ahead of next day's material. Though, I did feel fulfilled and satisfied by the overwhelming topics that we have to read and understand because it is also probably one of the few way we could improve ourselves rapidly. My only suggestion to future students are: do not slack off during the weekend. I learned that the hard way... read more

I don't really know if I could say App Academy was an overall great experience. On one hand, the curriculum and material covered in the 8-week main curriculum (which is followed by 5-weeks of "job-search" prep) was pretty through, but weighing heavily on the other hand, was it worth the cost? To start off: Bootcamp Prep - AVOID AT ALL COSTS. This is not whatsoever the $2999 they're now selling it for. The curriculum that the prep course contained was extremely mediocre. In fact, if you went through other competing bootcamps such as Hack Reactor or Fullstack Academy, you'll notice that their prep courses are free. The material they cover in their prep courses are almost exactly the same you'll get from the $3,000 App Academy is selling you. And their money back guarantee? There's at least one bootcamp on that list that will easily accept you. When I first applied, there were actually three payment options for the prep class. I was the sucker who chose the most expensive option because at the time I thought App Academy was some elite bootcamp and also was told that if accepted, the amount I paid for would go into my deposit, which it did. Now, they've updated their page to state that whopping $3,000 for a bootcamp prep goes only to your refund, not your total tuition. At October of 2017, that fine print wasn't written on the website. It was only the print that what I would pay for the bootcamp prep would be included into the deposit. Fast forward to today. I didn't get my job through App Academy's alumni network nor through their career fairs where recruiters beeline for certain students nor companies who weren't interested that I went to a "top bootcamp". I got it through a free program offered by another competitor. But that $3,000 bootcamp prep course? It was removed from the deposit. I'm essentially paying $31k to App Academy now. Don't go for their deferred payment plan. The $17k that most bootcamps are charging nowadays are more than enough. In addition, there are restrictions such as "if you reject an offer of at least *50k*, your tuition is immediately due in full" that make it hard for a student to even hit the required full year of job searching before they're able to get their refund. At the end of the day, App Academy will win, they will get their money, and you may be stuck at some lower paying job from their advertised salary, which, after taxes, could eat up more than half your first year's pay. The success rate of graduates doesn't seem to be very high. When I first applied, their website toted a whopping 97%* of graduates found a job within a year (* excluding those who "gave up and went to a non-tech job" hm..). Thankfully, that has since been removed. Bootcamps are rising exponentially. What was once almost an easy way to break into tech could now just be considered a money drain. In regards to their main curriculum, the programming language Ruby was the in-thing when they first were founded. But as of writing, not so much. You're better off at a bootcamp (should you still want to choose a bootcamp) that teaches you full stack JavaScript, or at least Python too. Many of these glowing reviews were written when we were in the middle of our 8-week study curriculum, when we were were still starry eyed, enticed with free hoodies, hoping to get tons of responses from recruiters and become six-figure software engineers. I wonder how it would be rated if they wrote it during the middle of their job-search... read more