App Academy

Pros:
Great TAs that are super helpful and are enthusiastic about their work
You get to work with other engineers and learn from them
Curriculum (for the most part) is very solid and definitely applicable in the industry

Cons:
If you're not willing to work hard, it won't work out for you
Still uses Ruby on Rails which is quickly falling out of favor in the industry
You have to set aside everything to be successful. I spent 13 hours (9 am- 10pm) every weekday and 6-8 hours every weekend with occasional breaks over 12 weeks. You only get as much as you are willing to give.

Yes, it's a demanding experience - that's a given. But, the App Academy experience is really what you make out of it. There is an abundance of content, and knowledgeable instructors. But, if you don't genuinely engage in the material daily, or deliberately ask the instructors for help, then you will not learn as much as others who proactively ask questions and challenge themselves. The instructors will never hold your hand, or give you an easy way out. Rather, they will train you to learn how to learn, so that you may become an independent programmer and thinker. 

If you have a basket that holds 5 apples, App Academy will throw 10 apples at you every week. Accordingly, you will have to drop 5 apples every week, and choose which 5 you will digest. This can feel overwhelming at first, but that's just how the curriculum is designed. The assessments keep you on track, but they are definitely not the perfect system - and the instructors also agree with this. If you fail 2 exams, you will be kicked out. Accordingly, if you fail one exam, you will constantly be in a stressed and anxious state throughout the program, and I can't imagine that being too great for your health. But as for the moment, assessments get the job done.

Overall, I've learned a ton through the program, and became a disciplined individual and developer. My expectations were not met, but I am definitely a better developer today than I was before the start of the program. 

Also, the building has no windows. When you feel burned-out, do take a walk outside and get some fresh air. 

The only prerequisit to App Academy is loving to code. If you enjoy the process then you will be able to get through this incredibly intense but exciting program. If you aren't all in though, don't try it. This is one of the most time intensive and taxing things I have ever done, think finals week, but every week for three months. The testing structure at the start of the course can be pretty stressful, but most people do get through it and if you fail out they give you your money back, so its not the end of the world. I would not trade this experience for anything though. In such a short period of time I have made friends that will last a lifetime, a skill that will hopefully get me a job, and most importantly the ability to learn and teach myself going forward. 

One of the best decisions I've ever made. In going to app academy, I've surrounded myself with ambitious intelligent people who constantly push me to do better.

The program is rigorous, but the difficulty definitely breeds camaraderie with your cohort-mates. A few areas of improvement: Ruby on Rails is trending downwards, would loved to have learned Node.js or Go as a backend framework. Also be prepared to go farther with Algorithms & Data Structures than the curriculum as of writing.

App academy has positioned me well to succeed. I don't regret it one bit.

You will learn more about software development in 12 Weeks than in my opinion you could learn in college. App Academy has given me the tools to be able to hit the ground running. It is an inclusive environment where everyone is encouraging and the teaching assistants give you the tools to succeed. It is a tough bootcamp because you are constantly learning something new and you are pushed to the limit every day. However, it is one of the most rewarding experiences that I have ever had in my life. Being around so many brilliant individuals push you to be better. You will be challenged like never before but it will pay off 10x's over, and you will be incredibly thankful for the experience. In all, it was the best thing I have ever done. Thank you, App Academy.

Be ready to give up everything else that is going on in your life, this course needs 100% of your time. They aren't lying when they say the course can take up to 100 hours a week. 

The teaching is solid and all of the other students are serious about what they are doing and are really smart and capable people. In regards to the curriculum, ruby is a great language to learn the fundamentals of programming.  With that said I don't think that it's very useful to teach us about rails when the last few weeks we barely have enough time to learn MERN stack, which seems to be the more relevant stack in the industry now.

It's rare that someone is given a genuine opportunity to change everything on a dime. 
App Academy offers that sort of experience to every one of its attendees. 

If you're willing to work really hard, day in and day out, for 3 months (plus the time it takes to find a job, which can be a few more, albeit less intense, months) you can go from 0 coding experience to being a capable, well-paid Software Developer. 

It's not perfect - the ergonomics and ambiance could use an upgrade - but it's totally worth it. 
You'll learn a lot and make some amazing friends along the way.