Overall, I am pretty happy with the experience. Coming out of the program I feel like I have the tools I need to be able to start a career in software development. Going through App Academy is rigorous, but rewarding. I believe some of the curriculum can be updated (and I believe aA is in the process of doing this now), but what is currently taught will still teach you the fundamentals of software engineering. Be prepared! You will spend most of your life working on App Academy material for the 12 week duration of the course and you will come out of it with a solid foundation in software engineering. Along the way you'll get to know work with a bunch of great people and make some new friends. At times you'll feel like you're falling behind, but don't fear, there is a super helpful group of TA's to guide you through the material and make sure you have what you need to keep up. Be sure to ask a bunch of questions if you are unsure about ANYTHING. read more

Update: [adding in portion about bootcamp prep] I attended App Academy, both the bootcamp prep course and the main course. TLDR: [Bootcamp Prep] - curriculum covers everything, up to you to master it beyond proficiency - give this month your all just like you will during the main course - you can trust me because before this program I was failing the admissions process and afterwards I got into all the good ones [Main Course] - go read it, it's not long [Bootcamp Prep] I had some great results with bootcamp prep and I'll tell you why. Before that though I need to tell you were I was at, because after all, it doesn't mean much for a banker to say he ended the year with a million dollars if he started out with two. JavaScript is what the course teaches and it's one of my favorite languages today, probably thanks to this course. It's also the language I naturally used to test into bootcamps after this course. It was not however my first interaction with programming. Now before you say you success comes from having a background, I'll tell you this, I knew enough to pretty much get me rejected from App Academy the first time around and I'm talking about rejected before even getting to the technical interview. I tried to teach myself Java so that was the first language I touched upon but things didn't get anywhere until I attended this program. You see there are some students that you might think didn't even really need some program and therefore can say good things about it, but I needed the program and if it didn't work then wouldn't have worked for me because coding was not something I had going for me before I came in. The curriculum covers everything you need to know to ace a technical bootcamp interview and I really think that's the main thing. Instruction needs to be good and it was good when I attended. It's always a gamble if your classmates are going to be active on some group forum and mine relatively was but as far as the group chat goes there are always other places you can get that. I knew I was a strong candidate coming out of the month long program because I did well on all the tests and in hindsight I'm glad those test were actually a good indication of how really you really were. You also get mock interviews. I scheduled my technical interviews with the schools I were interested in within a couple weeks and by the end of the first month out I had been accepted into MakerSquare, Hack Reactor, and App Academy. I stopped my search because I knew I would go to one of these choices. Like with most things in life it's about how much you put in. There were 3 students in my class that stood out in particular and by that I mean consecutively excelled at the exams. The one undeniable similarity between us three was that we had nothing else going on during the time of this course. It's tempting to try to balance out this course with other life commitments. After all who wants to halt their life because they're taking a nightly weekday class for 2 hrs. There just seems to be so much room to be able to fit other things in right? Almost seems wasteful to not throw in some part time or full time job or some other class into the mix right? Well maybe you need to and there's nothing that can be done about that. Don't let a lack of ability to put everything down be a hinderance to taking this course if you think it's right for you but really put your all into this as much as you are going to put your all once you get into whatever main course you end up committing to. [Main Course] It is an awesome school with the curriculum that's going to get you a job. Right now React is huge and they teach that here. They do gear their students more towards becoming frontend engineers but I have may friends in my cohort who are planning on being a backend engineer and the curriculum we learned did not cripple those chances in any way. We get a good amount of time for lunches which is great because There are so many places to eat around here. App Academy is big on pair programming but don't worry, you get your fair share of solo projects later in the course. read more

To be honest I had no good idea of how App Academy or any boot camp was like when I signed up. I picked reputation! It turned out most of my cohort mates are young people of my son's age! I had a good time working and learning with them and learned a lot of the aspiring young software engineers. Like I said, first thing is people. App Academy's staff culture, I think. is mainly liberal, California or New York. But their knowledge of the industry is apparent when they teach. Even though students come from all corners of life and are very different the teaching staff try to maintain a aspiring atmosphere as much as possible and keep the difficult conversations private. Curriculum wise, they give a lot of material, some times too much to absorb in a short time. But look at it now it feel like they did the right thing since those are the bare basics for a developer. I think I got 70% of the total. read more

I thought the curriculum was good, and the program was intense, but not worth paying 28k for it. I paid 5k upfront, then paid 23k after I got a job (paid over a year). A little about me - I moved to San Francisco with no job and $1,500, so I had to deliver food in the evenings to make ends meet (and pay for App Academy). I attended App Academy from 12/17 - 3/18. It took me 6 months to get a job, and the salary was only 67k, which is very low for graduates of the program. I would say, if you can pay for it upfront (which would only cost you 17k), then you should do App Academy. If you can't afford it, just do tutorials from these individuals: Wes Bos, Scott Tolinski, and Stephen Grider. Stephen Grider's videos are here: https://www.rallycoding.com/. (2/3 of my projects were built with tutorials). Also check out watchandcode.com from Gordon Zhu, which is also fantastic. The reason I say just do tutorials is because I spent a lot of time just saving up enough money to go to the bootcamp, when I could've used all that time to just code and build projects. Another couple of reasons you should consider just doing tutorials are: the alumni network isn't as helpful as you think, and being self-taught is much more impressive going to a bootcamp. I was surprised that doing only 3 projects in your portfolio is enough to get a job, but it is. Obviously doing more would just improve your chances. If you are struggling with interviews, check out https://www.outco.io/. What might even be a good plan would be to do several projects with tutorials, then go to Outco. Or check out Haseeb's blog: https://haseebq.com/how-to-break-into-tech-job-hunting-and-interviews/. read more

Oh man, just finished up the curriculum and currently getting ready to apply for jobs. Here are the pros and cons of my experience: Pros: - The curriculum is extensive, everything you need is explained in full details in articles, reiterated in videos and then the TAs would go over examples to make sure the concepts are understood. - There are projects to do every single day, which makes learning much more hands-on. - The staff are very easy to talk to and are available when needed. Cons: - The curriculum can use some proofreading, typos are everywhere and as a former designer, they all jump out to me. Really not many negative things I can think of about my experience. It really has been a pleasant experience for me. With that said, it really is an intensive bootcamp. LOTS of materials to digest within a short amount of time, which takes a toll on personal life. So plan accordingly. read more

Hard but rewarding I struggled learning to code on my own. App Academy provided a great environment to learn how to code. This is a very INTENSE program but working with others and having instructors to reference makes the experience all worthwhile. I'd definitely recommend the program to those who are sure they want to become a web app developer. read more

Great experience - fast paced, highly rewarding App Academy has been a great experience! It's a tough, fast Bootcamp and it's extremely rewarding. The instructors are awesome and the curriculum moves at a rapid pace. After a few months, you'll be surprised at how much you've learned. I tried teaching myself (to no avail) and had already surpassed my prior knowledge within the first week in class. On top of that, they dedicate a good portion of your time in class to building up your portfolio and skills for the job search. read more

App academy is tough, you will feel overwhelmed and you will feel like you won't have a break. That is fine and everyone goes through it. You get what you put in, anyone can get in if they worked hard enough. Would recommend 10/10 read more

App Academy has been an intense ride. There were many highs and lows throughput the process but I do feel like I've learned so much in such a short span. a/A teaches you how to learn quick. Although recently they have published the course online, the support system here is the real value. The instructors/TAs here are super supportive and patient. The pair programming experience was both amazing and dreadful pending on the people. Everyone who was enrolled definitely have the potential but quite a few folks have been dismissed from the assessments...but doesn't mean they won't become a developer one day. This program definitely isn't for everyone because it's both fast pace and stressful. My real grip with the program is that I wish they did deep dive a bit more on topics but at the same time, you can only fit so much in a 12/13 week program. My biggest advice for anyone who's aspiring to take this journey: - make sure you understand the concepts well. Don't just be "oh I get it". You should be able to explain it to anyone. The material does build on top each week and some topics will be reintroduced a week or two later. -get some sleep. to be honest, the homework does HELP you but don't lose sleep over it. they do go over the topic/concepts the next morning but I would advise not completely ditching it read more

App Academy is a great place to start your coding journey, especially if you are someone who needs structure. The curriculum covers enough for you to build a full stack web application on your own and there is definitely a lot of support if you ever need it. You learn a lot of things at a very fast pace and it can be overwhelming. There are assessments almost every single week, if you fail you get deferred to the next cohort, it can be a bad thing but when it comes to coding everyone learns at their own pace and this is only in place to make sure you are keeping up with the curriculum. Post grad you are given a career coach and there are also a lot of resources that they provide for you which are extremely helpful. The only cons for me was the check in system, it can be annoying and something you don't really want to worry about especially when you are bombarded with new material every single day. Another con for me was that everything moved at a very very fast pace, but that's how every boot camp is. Overall I would recommend it if you want to pick up coding quickly but at the end of the day it is your duty to put in the work in order to be successful and land your first role. read more

The most intensive coding experience you can have, even for someone with previous coding experience! A lot to learn, ruby rails javascript react and a lot of pair programming. In addition to learning to code you will learn how to communicate your ideas, how to study for a do or die test under a lot of pressure, and how to survive and thrive with a 100+ hours a week workload. Pros: * A lot of pair programming with awesome people * Top notch training for algorithms and user authentication * Rewarding and expansive final projects * Any other challenge will pale in comparison * You will be pushed to become amazing * Bonding with classmates Cons: * Some people don't make it! (Don't pass the assessments) * Its TOO intense maybe. You will suffer! (but worth it) read more

App Academy is a fast paced, challenging, web development course that claims it can teach people to code with no prior experience. I attended the bootcamp in June of 2020. Here are my thoughts. Pros: -Lots of help. -Friendly staff. -Has a current curriculum because it always updates. -You pair program a lot, a necessary skill for team based tech jobs. -The staff works extremely hard to make sure you understand the material. -They help you find a job after graduating. -Lots of payment plans/options for people, for example the deferred tuition. Cons: -Expensive -Not enough coverage on data structures and algorithms. You can make the argument that the price is worth what you get out of it. Similarly, you educations depends on you being willing to put in a lot in order to get a lot out of it. In a way you dictate the experience you have here. I enjoyed my time here. The welcoming environment was nice, and the teachers spent countless hours teaching you how to solve problems, rather than just pointing to solutions. If you genuinely want to learn and have the drive to survive the 6 month long program, you will learn a lot of information. In addition to the price the lack of data structures and algorithm teaching is in part the draw back of all boot camps, there simply is not enough time to teach you everything. They make an effort on this front however, by teaching you how to teach yourself. So by then end of it if you don't know something, you can easily find out how to do it. read more

In this review, I'm going to cover some general questions based on my experience with the App Academy online cohort. 1. Should you apply for a coding boot camp? I can't give you a straight answer for this because it depends on your situation. But in my case, it was worth it for me, since my goal was to learn about full-stack web development and software engineering to be as fast as possible. I think App Academy does a great job at that, and you will be surprised at how quickly you can learn here. It would have taken me far longer of self-studying to be where I'm at today. Not to mention, I've also made some great friends along the way that I talk to every day. 2. How should one prepare before applying to App Academy? I did the intro-to-programming section offered on https://www.aaonline.io and felt that I was ready to schedule a technical interview with AA. I was not, I failed my first interview and was lucky enough to get invited back for another. After failing, I realized that I needed much more practice. I practiced on https://www.codewars.com every day up until my next interview. You need to time yourself and talk out loud through the problem-solving process, preferably to a friend or family member. You should also be very comfortable working with arrays and hashes in Ruby and solving problems that may require nested loops. Sidenote: https://www.leetcode.com is another excellent place to practice. 3. How many hours per week to get through the program? Like many have said before me, this boot camp is no joke. Even if you put in 80+ hours per week, you will only be scratching the surface of the topics covered. But this is the tradeoff of getting yourself job-ready as fast as possible. 4. How stressful is the program? If you have no programming experience, you will need to study hard to pass the six assessments. They cover Ruby algorithms, Ruby Object-Oriented Programming, SQL, Ruby on Rails, React, and JavaScript. If you fail two of the assessment tests, you must retake one of their choosing. If you fail the retake test, you will be booted out. Yes, it's stressful, but keep your focus on the material and the great job that you're going to get out of it, and you'll be fine. 5. How is the curriculum? I think that some of the newer content at the end of the curriculum could use some improvement. But for the most part, it's fantastic. I know some people may be turned off by Ruby and Ruby on Rails, but don't worry about it, you will also build full-stack applications with the MERN stack. 6. How are the instructors? From my experience, they were knowledgable and friendly. Leave the ego at the door and pick their brains as much as possible. They are a valuable resource. 7. What is a day like at App Academy? At 8 AM we would meet on Zoom, the instructors would cover the daily material before splitting us up into random pairs to work on the day's projects. Throughout the day, we had access to the instructors to ask them questions. About an hour before the end of the day, we would all meet to cover the material in the day's project. Before the next day, we would then complete the assigned homework. Great experience and I would do it again. read more

This curriculum will teach you how to code. Succeeding is up to you. What you do with the knowledge App Academy teaches is up to you. Your projects and what you learn while building them will be more important than the fundamentals that they teach during the curriculum. Learning how to teach yourself and correctly identifying errors and bugs something you will learn App Academy and will be something that will be important in your professional career. Overall the App Academy curriculum is great and there are instructors who are there every step of the way. Once you finish the program, the training wheels fall off and you have to keep yourself regimented to keep learning & coding. read more

I learned a lot from the 13 week coding program with little experience in coding. The program is very intense and time consuming. I spent over a month on the alpha course, which is the online study curriculum you're required to finish after you got in the program and i'm glad i spent at least a month cos otherwise there's a good chance you wont be able to keep up. I'm now in the job market, 2 weeks after graduation. They have a job search system that prepares you find a job between 3-6 months on average. With the deferred the tuition program, the risk is pretty low if you can get through the program without failing out. read more

Super recommended. I did the in-person bootcamp and it was a blast, learned a ton at the bootcamp and met lots of great people. The TAs there were especially awesome and made the experience great. It's very time intensive but you learn so much from it. After the bootcamp, they have a ton of helpful resources and people that help you find a job in timely manner. Highly, highly recommend especially for people who don't have a prior CS background read more

Overall: if you're looking for a relatively fast track to switching career paths or accelerating your preexisting programming experience, App Academy is a great option to consider. The main caveat is the extreme time commitment required by the course. 80 hours per week of work is realistic; more if you want to excel. If you have other non-negotiable commitments such as family or volunteering responsibilities, accept that you may fall behind and have to work harder. The App Academy curriculum is excellent. Teaching competency of instructors varies - some are excellent, some are mediocre - but honestly it's probably as good as you can expect from any coding bootcamp. Instructor support overall is very good. Everything you need for a solid foundation to begin the cohort is provided throughout the application process; what's key is setting aside enough time to properly absorb the material (at least two months prior to interviewing, a month between the first and last interview, and a month between admission and cohort start time). The provided prep material is time intensive in its own right, and most who struggle to keep up didn't spend enough time preparing. Time to catch up after beginning the cohort is almost non-existent. What makes aA stand out: - Rigid structure of accountability through roll calls, assignments, and assessments. Like having a good physical trainer, you may often hate the diet and the workouts in the moment, but in the long run you'll be surprised how much you progress. - Constant pair programming and collaborative work. Especially taxing for introverts, but enormously helpful in learning how to communicate effectively. A significant advantage over solo/remote study options, and even most university curricula. - Outstanding job search curriculum. Lots of very helpful workshops, application prep, and interview practice. Can you learn everything taught in a bootcamp on your own? Almost certainly. What you're paying for is the opportunity to learn it faster, make connections with other students/instructors, and receive solid career coaching. Most motivated individuals would still take at least two to three times longer to cover the same amount of material, if studying full time. That's worth considering in the cost-benefit analysis of money versus time. read more

Overall, I had a great and rewarding experience at App Academy. They do not exaggerate the amount of work required to complete the course (often between 70 and 90 hrs a week), and the new material just does not stop coming. That said, a/A and particularly the instructors clearly want all the students to succeed, and the readings, homework, projects and lectures are all geared to make sure you hit the necessary benchmarks during the course. The general structure of regular assessments with severe consequences (can lead to being kicked out of the course) adds a significant amount of stress for students. While I understand the reasoning for this from App Academy's perspective, and believe that it is an overall positive, it can lead to a sense at points that instructors are "teaching to the test". While the pace of the bootcamp is very rapid, the structure of the course materials and projects means that you'll end up working over the same concepts multiple times after their initial introduction, the end result of which is that App Academy will teach you a huge amount of skills in a relatively short period of time.   My cohort at App Academy was originally intended to be in person, but ended up being entirely remote due to COVID-19. I don't believe this had a large impact on the skills I've learned in the course, and the instructional team did a great job of adapting to a life on Zoom for the duration of the course. That said, you definitely lose a lot of the social aspects of an intensive bootcamp with the remote setup.  Finally, I'm just entering the job search currently, so can't speak much to the support App Academy will provide during this period.  The job search material covered has been helpful and informative, but this final portion of the curriculum has felt more disorganized and has not inspired the confidence in this transition to job hunting that I had hoped for given the way the majority of the bootcamp was run.  Overall, if you are looking to jump start a career as a software engineer, I would absolutely recommend App Academy -- just make sure that your expectations for workload and result are set correctly. read more

Overall this program is it rigorous and does teaches you to code. If that is your goal and you have a solid internal support network, I'd recommend. Please note - this does wear on your mental health so be prepared for that. I reduced stars because I did this program during COVID - we were unable to be in-person as we expected. The curriculum, timeline, and expectations did not change to accomodate students, as we were in a completely different environment than expected. The program lacks representation of womxn, POC, and other minority groups. Also in my cohort, these marginalized groups left the program at a higher rate. read more

The curriculum is designed to accommodate all levels of learners to drive them towards a fully qualified full stack developer. The curriculum is fast paced and teaches you to pick up speed as well. The staff were always been friendly and helpful with extensive knowledge in their assigned areas. read more

App Academy is designed to push you to your limit and has you riding the line of being overwhelmed and advanced fast-paced learning. I really enjoyed my time with the TA's and my classmates. The TA's are very competent and helpful. If you're self-motivated and have a focused and directed mindset to become a software engineer/developer, I highly recommend App Academy. read more

After college I began to become interested in learning how to code. There are a lot of free online courses out there, but it was hard for me to motivate myself to learn code on my own. I did not want to take another four years of school, so I looked into a bootcamp. I looked into a few other bootcamps, but choose App Academy because one of my friends highly recommended their program. I pretty much started from zero knowledge about coding, and was able to finish the App Academy curriculum. Would I say I am now an expert at coding, no, but I now feel that I have a solid general understanding. I graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I would say that the two months of curriculum at App Academy was more difficult than any two months of my college career. During this program, you eat breathe a sleep code so be ready! read more

The 12 weeks at App Academy were the most amazing 12 weeks of my life. I learnt so much in such a short period of time which I would have never been able to do on my own. You get to develop your own full-stack project and a JS project at the end of the course to show to the employers. They also groom you to make you ready for the job market, whether it's technically or behaviorally. While doing pair programming, you learn to deal with so many people each with a different mindset which is very important for both personal and professional life. App Academy has very good intructors who make you understand all the concepts so well and are always ready to help. I would definitely recommend App Academy to anyone who is good at logical thinking and wants a career in Software. read more

App Academy opened a door to a career in software development that I didn't even know existed (I had thought six-figure software engineering positions only came through traditional paths, such as four-year CS degrees, etc.). But, after leaving a career in finance, I'm now earning almost double what I was previously (plus I'm in a junior/entry-level role, so that should increase with time/experience), I'm doing something that I love, and I get to work in a relaxed environment (busy, for sure, but it's fun, without any of the stilted corporate rules, like a 50's-era dress code, etc., that I left behind in finance). I have App Academy to thank for this, hence the 5 stars. So I'm happy to report that it's all pretty much as advertised. It's a rigorous 3 month course that will consume your entire life at the time, but you'll learn a ton, make great friends, and be able to land a fun and lucrative position (eventually) to kickstart your new career in software engineering. That said, something that wasn't fully emphasized to me upfront is that the job search can become a long, drawn out, exhausting process that I found much harder and less rewarding (at least in the short term) than the 3 months of intense coding. I believe the "average" job search time estimated when I first applied was "3 months", which was then later verbally estimated at "4 to 5 months", and ultimately ended up being 10 months, in my case. Don't get me wrong; we had one student from our cohort who had a job within 2 weeks of graduating and a healthy number of others had new jobs within the first few months, but many others had job searches much longer than that. Some landed jobs at Google/YouTube, Yelp, Dropbox, etc., while others at smaller startups, and many took on temporary contract work or internships; there's not a single path here, so there's diversity in the success stories and App Academy is pretty flexible in supporting you however you get there. In other words, I'd keep that in mind and plan accordingly; you might get a job right away, but more likely it will take months, and could very well take almost a year to get an offer, in which case you need to be mentally/financially prepared for that going in. There's a lot of rejection involved when trying to get your foot in the door and all of these companies receive hundreds, if not thousands, of applications. If you're skilled at networking, you'll likely fare much better. You may have heard how much of a shortage there is for software engineers in the industry right now, but if you check out the job boards (or just attempt the job search), you'll soon find that the shortage is actually for experienced mid-to-senior level engineers, as there is an abundance of junior engineers coming from colleges, self-taught individuals, or one of the many bootcamps, which each churn out about 70 - 80 new junior engineers every three months, with largely the same technical background. In any case, even though it took me a grueling 10 month job search to finally fulfill the dream, I'd definitely do it again, love what App Academy's given me, and am really excited to grow in my new career. I can't recommend App Academy enough; just remember that it actually gets harder after the initial 3 month coding program and that you may not feel relieved or at rest until you ultimately accept an offer. Thanks, a/A! read more

I started the program in July 2020, while the pandemic was in full swing, and finished it in October 2020. I felt like App Academy did a good job organizing the switch to a virtual cohort and while I still wish I had that immersive in-person experience, I think I had a good and rewarding experience overall. Pros: - The curriculum is well assembled and the projects do a great job of teaching the intended materials. I enjoyed working on daily projects a lot. - Almost every day, you pair-program with a new partner to work on a project. I liked this because it lets us practice our soft-skills which are very important in the real world. I worked with some amazing partners and we ended up having fun the majority of the time. - The instructors and TAs were helpful and were always available to point you in the right direction but never explicitly give you the answers. Cons: - Ruby was the first language taught to us in the curriculum, but they are switching to Python instead. While Ruby is a great language, I would have preferred to learn Python instead as it seems to be widely used in the industry. Alumni do have access to the Python module. - The last couple of weeks of the curriculum that lead up to the job-search part of the program felt rushed. We were introduced to an entirely new placements team but I found it difficult to reach them much less connect with them. read more

As a student, I felt that I only scratched the surface of each topic, then did my best (with my pair-programming partner) to apply the knowledge on daily projects. During the initial week-long full stack projects, I didn't have a clear idea on how to start. However, my Principle Instructor (Ian) and the TA's (Javier, Dean) were always there and extremely helpful in guiding me in the right direction and helping to debug. By the time the capstone project came around, I felt equipped to develop a full stack project -- to the extent that I taught myself a whole new framework in just a few days to use in my project. a/A simplifies complex topics across the full stack into simple, but not always digestible pieces. You will spend only a few days on topics that are taught over a semester in college. At times, you are likely to be overwhelmed by the pace. On the flip-side, you are also likely to be too immersed to even think about it. It may feel like you are being rushed to cram new material each day, but you would be surprised to realize how much you are actually learning under the hood. In addition to the basic knowledge, you are learning how to learn new technologies quickly and effectively. This resourcefulness is probably the most valuable return on your investment of time, money and effort. My thoughts upon completion of the program: I thought I was running a marathon, but it turns out I was being taught how to tie my shoes really well for five months. The marathon has only just started. read more

Pros: Technologies being taught are applicable to the industry which is nice. It's not the exact same, but the technological concepts are similar. My cohort might've been the odd one out, but 95% of the people I met were very smart, kind, and hardworking. Cons: The program, at the end of the day, is still very bureaucratic. They do things that incentivize making money. The ratio of staff to student is kinda bad. Very difficult for students that fall behind to catch up again. read more

App Academy was probably the best decision I ever made. I really wanted to learn how to code, and was unsure of what was the right move for me. There are a ton of coding boot camps out there, especially ones where recruiters will consistently try to rope you in. No, not App Academy; their acceptance rate is really low and to get in is a privilege. While studying for App Academy (their jump start program - which was free); I learned a lot about programming. Within two weeks, I knew how to code in Ruby and solve algorithm problems! I was really excited to find out about all that I would learn (if and) when I got in. Fast forward through the smooth-sailing admissions process, I entered App Academy on my first day and met a lot of great people who later became some of my closest friends! I did not realize how hard, and intense the program would be. There were times where I wondered if I could keep up and make it through the program (there definitely were people who got dropped - and I think it's because they didn't take it as seriously, not because they were lacking the smarts) but the teachers and my fellow peers were extremely supportive. You never realize how much you could learn, and App Academy fosters the right culture and environment for that. I would say that the only drawback was that sometimes the curriculum seemed a bit outdated, and the instructions weren't as clear. But even with those kinks, we learned how to work around this which challenged us as developers (to find solutions when we were unsure of what to do). Anyway, I would say moving towards the end, you will find yourself feeling like a brand new person. The alumni community is great - people who have graduated from here will talk to you on LinkedIn. There is a sense of pride and community amongst the AA grads :) read more

PROS: - As tiring as it was, I enjoyed pair programming because having another perspective when tackling a problem allowed me to learn better. - Instructors are always willing to help when you need it, but won't be babying you throughout the curriculum. - Curriculum is structured well and by the end of the 9-weeks, you'll be able to create a full-stack application. CONS: - There are a couple solo days, meaning you don't have a pair. I think there could be a couple more because some people like myself like to solidify what I know by trying it out myself. read more

To start, I want to say that App Academy is as challenging as everyone makes it out to be. Be prepared to spend 10-12 hours a day studying, 7 days a week for the first 9 weeks. Although there were many stressful days and sleepless nights, the amount of knowledge you accrue throughout the curriculum period is crazy. One of the aspects that I really liked at app academy was just being able to surround yourself around incredibly talented individuals, who are all working towards the same goal as you. It really fosters an environment that allows you to push yourself further. A typical day at App Academy during the curriculum period consists of checking in at 9am, lecture, pair programming, and flex time, which is pretty much a circle time where you discuss with your designated group about what you learned that day. Some of the TAs were previous students and were very approachable, though at times during pair programming, none are on the floor/available. There are lecture videos and homework you are tasked to watch and complete every night, which usually take a few hours to complete. Assessments are given almost every week during the curriculum period and they require tons of studying. Be prepared to simply eat, sleep, code, repeat. I will definitely miss struggling with the friends I have made here - it's like graduating college all over again. read more

This program is difficult. You have to set yourself up to succeed. You should have good work ethic, you basically have to clear your calendar for 3 months dedicated to it (including holidays).The tests are a mixed bag. They can be very hard and feel somewhat contrieved. But in all honesty if you study for them you can not help but learn the material. I was doubtful at first about pair programming. It seemed to me just a way to offload the workload of teaching a student by having other students teach each other. I wondered how much can I learn off someone who doesn't know any more than me? Or how useful can I be to someone else when I have no idea what is going on? But what actually happens is both of you work through a problem together. There are times when know/understand something better and are forced to explain that. That process of having to explain your though process is invaluable. It cements your undersand and proves that you know what you are talking about. All in all it was a good experience. For best results take it seriously and study before hand. Its insanely fast paced. I doubt how sucessful you can be if you come in to it blind. read more

Discaimer: I am getting a free hoodie to write this review. That being said it is actually how I feel about the program. Apply grains of salt as desired. As a whole I reallly loved my time at app academy. I had a great cohort and great instructors. Everyone is very helpful an encouraging, but there will be no handhoding. You wil be thrown in and encouraged to learn and teach yourself a good amout. This is a good thing as those skills will become paramount in being able to learn more as you go. My background was not in anything even slightly related to coding in any way. I found the program challenging throughout and sometimes even felt like i could not mae it through. Alas i did so thats good. Be aware that when they say you will be spending 90-100 hours a week working this is not an exageration. I thought it like was but for the first 10 weeks all we did was eat sleep code rinse repeat. The jib search curriculum was also very good in my estimation. It is hard to assign it an actual value since I just started the job appliatio process, but i do feel i have learned a lot and polished up my professional look online. If youre willing to dedicae yourself to this 100% for the duration I would highly recommend this program. I have no real basis of comparison as it is te only one i attended but I cant say I have any regrets in choosing this bootcamp over any other. Finally if you get in start the Alpha course as early as you can and get everything you can from it, it will be extremely helpful. read more

Don't go to a/A unless you're ready to change your life. That being said, there are a ton of reviews here so I wanted to cover a few points that the other reviews might have overlooked. 1. Even though the cohort is big, you'll feel like it's small a/A divides the cohort into "pods" roughly around 10-15 people. For you're entire time at a/A you'll be partnering with the same 10-15 people for all your projects. This is a pro for some, because you really get to know the people in your pod, but I felt like it would have been nice to work with some other people outside the set group. 2. Don't worry about the assessments I know a lot of people make a big deal about the weekly assessments and yes, they do fail people out - we lost about 20% in my cohort. However, a/A does a great job preparing students for these tests and they never throw curve balls. I honestly felt like the assessments could be harder, and if you find yourself struggling with these tests, I would rethink you're decision to pursue a career in software development. 3. The instructors are (mostly) awesome If you come to a/A you'll be interacting with a group of TA's and be assigned a specific one as your "circle leader". These TA's are going to be the same ones that answer your questions during the daily projects and give the coding lectures. I was super fortunate to get Elliot who's an absolute boss. He knew the answer to anything I threw at him and just observing his process debugging and thinking through problems really helped me improve my own software skills. I can't say this about all the TA's, but almost all of them exude passion and you can really tell they enjoy teaching up-and-coming developers. Your circle leader can really be a hit or miss, but I'll say that Elliot is one of the main reasons why I'm giving the program a positive review 4. Not everyone belongs there Even though a/A tries to vet people before they enter the program, you'll find students that are not quite ready to go into a career in software development. This can be frustrating because a/A randomly assigns daily partners that you're required to work with. When a person his behind, or didn't read the last night's homework, you'll be expected to teach your partner before you can move on. Don't go to a/A unless you're 100% sure you want to be a software engineer. If coding 10 hours a day isn't something you see yourself doing, or genuinely enjoy, don't come here - because that's exactly what you're going to be doing. But if you're ready to make that jump and change your life, you'll find that there's no better place to do that than App Academy. read more

It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. I won't lie to you , there is about a 30% dropout rate. I will tell you that I saw smart people drop out just because of the sheer volume of things we learn in 8 weeks. Most drop out around week 4 when we hit Ruby on Rails. The passing rate for assessments is set at 85% of specifications, (App Academy grades using Rspec). Solid pro-tip if you're interested in getting ahead , learn Rails before App Academy. It's the center stone of the curriculum and what you're going to be using to build out your full stack application during week 8. Rails is an awful lot to digest in 10 days during the course. I really commend my cohort members who managed to swallow Rails, pass A4 with flying colors, and build an amazing full stack application. However if you know that you don't pick up complex topics on the fly, I recommend this 5 star course on udemy to get ahead: https://www.udemy.com/professional-rails-5-development-course/ Good luck my friend. read more

A very challenging programming course, but very informative and worth it! It will be overwhelming and demoralizing at points, however stay strong and be communicative and it is manageable. My biggest tip to help you get through and not feel to drowned in work is to be pro-active and let your teammates and TAs know what is going on with you personally and academically. read more

Above and Beyond Program, Hard for Parents I know there are a lot of reviews here that speak to the curriculum, work, hours needed, and tools used by App Academy to teach their curriculum. In a nutshell... The program is amazing. The work is hard. There is never enough time. You'll meet amazing people and build an awesome network. The TAs are what you are really paying for and are great. The intent behind their propriety tools (that are a WIP) can be clearly seen and it's got a bright future. The online course is best for individuals that have other responsibilities and being in person has the added value of others being in the room to help motivate you to get the work done. The only thing I will harp on is that their current communication tools used for peer and TA chats are in rough shape. The folks who started the program didn't know how big it would get and initially invested in Slack... which if you ask any current employee at a/A is the bane of their App Academy existence. Because a/A leaves their Slack channel open to Alumni (great intent!), the amount of users has grown to a point where it wouldn't make financial sense to pay monthly per user (didn't think about scale from the get go). From a business perspective, I agree that it would be a poor decision to pay monthly and it's a band aid solution for now... but from a student perspective this was one of the biggest resource failures in the course as I have no history of chats from TAs or colleagues from as little as just 3 days ago. I understand the current situation and I also implore App Academy to find a more permanent solution ASAP. Having gone through the course and used many different comm tools in my career... I can't tell you how many question threads were posted in Slack... and if it's one thing slack is terrible at it's threading conversations. All that being said... I'll focus on the Parent perspective below. Firstly... parents take the one online course. It the only option that gives you the flexibility to be with your family if an emergency arises. I'll also say that if you are a single parent with 100% physical custody and don't have support to help watch your children... this program is probably not for you. Emphasis on 'single parent' and the requirements needed to be the superhuman you already are. There is a high probability that you will fail out of the program or stretch yourself too thin to be able to take care of, let alone spend time with your kid(s). IMO you will NEED support from your partner/support network for childcare. In fact, I'd start budgeting for the best "Thank You" gift you can think of before you even start the program. The balance is critical and allows for you to complete the program and spend quality time with your kids. If you have a partner in house to help... I'd be very clear about setting the expectation that they will become the primary caregiver, with you seeing your kids for meals and weekends. Did I mention you're going to have to REALLY say thank you to your partner for helping out as much as he/she will? If you have a joint custody agreement... I advise trying to switch to a schedule where you get your kids on Friday and Saturday only. Saturday is the only day of the week where NOTHING is App Academy related. On Sundays you'll be studying for your assessments. To end on a brighter note... I'm proof that it could be done. I had my kiddo on Thursday Night, Friday Morning and Night, and Saturday Morning... and it was doable. Barely... but doable. In fact, I had to project defer over Spring Break (which happens to coincidentally have been my project week) so that I would be able to show up for my family. Parenting and doing this program definitely tops the list of one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do. There's also a great a/A Parent group that's really helpful for support. They meet every two weeks or so. I highly suggest joining and even more so, suggest practicing to reach out to these peers because they are the only ones who can truly understand what it means to be a parent. Hope all that helps! In the end, I DO recommend App Academy. My gut says that it will only get better as they learn and time goes on. Good luck! read more

I'm really glad I made this decision to change careers and to attend App Academy. The whole entire journey has so far been very challenging, yet extremely rewarding. From studying throughout the application process, to the nerves of interviewing, to getting accepted, to studying some more during the pre-course work, and to non-stop studying throughout the curriculum. The structure during the technical curriculum (weeks 1-10) can be taken for granted easily, because a completely new, but equally (if not more) stressful challenge arose once we moved over to the less structured job search curriculum. Much of going through this program is self-directed and self-taught, with guidance from the readings, lectures, projects, and homework. The instructors are not as hands-on with the students as some may expect, but they are available for questions at all times. This should be taken advantage of to the fullest. The assessments are extremely challenging and stressful, as if you fail to pass two of them, you are dismissed from the program. Be ready to feel behind, feel stressed, question multiple times your decision of choosing this path, but be ready to also enjoy coming in everyday, and feeling like this was the best decision you've made for your career so far. I would absolutely recommend App Academy to anyone trying to decide if they want to pursue this career path. read more

Having just finished App Academy's main curriculum, I can say with confidence that this program is not for everyone. Although I was extremely engaged by the material, had a great time working with the TAs, and have met some great people in my cohort, it's clear that coding bootcamps, especially App Academy, demand a work ethic that not everyone is prepared for. Be prepared to spend 12-14 hrs a day working on code (commuting time included). Be prepared to undergo serious pressure as failing assessments can lead to direct expulsion from the program. Be prepared to embrace the fact that there will be some concepts that will stump you into submission. Be prepared to sacrifice your life as you know it to succeed in this program. Would I do it again? Definitely. I came from a minimal coding background and my skills increased exponentially. I loved the curriculum and being in a pure learning environment--I thought of it like supercharged undergrad (having been on the quarter-system I was used to a faster pace). Why I'm giving 4 stars: there is little to no diversity at all. I could count on two hand ALL students in my cohort who are queer, female, and/or of non-caucasian or non-Asian descent.Having grown up in the East Bay, I was shocked and discouraged by the lack of diversity in the classroom. It also became evident that most students came from educated, middle-class backgrounds and didn't have anything to lose by quitting their jobs to enroll in a coding bootcamp. Coding bootcamps are a business, period. But I personally believe that because they advertise themselves as a sort of trade-school-esque-alternative to college, they should make an effort to market themselves to the communities that statistically enroll less in 4-year colleges: individuals from working-class backgrounds and select minority communities. Bottom-line: the curriculum is fantastic, the people are great. just be prepared for a lot of work and a relatively sterile and uniform social environment for 3+ months. read more

Over the course of three months, a lot of material gets squeezed into such a small time frame and it initially seemed like such a daunting journey to embark on. But with all the great support I got from the staff members and also the amount of work I had put in, I strongly believe that it's an experience worth my time and money. The material was both challenging and fun, especially with how much material is taught. And beyond the bootcamp, you get to meet a lot of amazing people! Pros: Challenging and fun material, lots of opportunities to practice concepts, and you get plenty of help early on. Cons: Sometimes the lecture feel too broad, and a lot of the CS concepts get glossed over (data structures & algorithms) and is more of a self-study type of deal read more

Let me say in advance that I think the program itself is superb. The Teaching Assistants all know what they're talking about, and are very good at answering your questions and clarifying your understanding of things. The course material is all excellent, and by the end of the course, you'll have a strong understanding of vanilla javascript, ruby, rails, and using it all together to create an app or service from scratch. AA does a great job teaching ruby, rails, React + Redux, and putting it all together in a final package. However, while the material is all superb, the downside is the extreme pacing and difficulty. You will easily do 12-14 hour days of non-stop coding, studying, etc (with the occasional breaks for sanity, of course). I would only recommend this program if you feel that you are completely prepared for the sheer intensity of the program. You learn a lot, and you have to learn it fast. If you fall behind, material quickly snowballs, and you'll be left behind. I cannot stress enough how important time management, and being prepared for the workload, is for to get the most out of this experience. Having a very good grasp of ruby, javascript, and a basic understanding of how the internet works, will help a lot to prepare for what you'll encounter. Prior experience helps a lot. If you aren't good at typing at a decently fast pace, practice. Make sure you're fully prepared before coming in, or else you might be in for a rude awakening. read more