App Academy

Starts with coding algorithms to introduce you to coding -- revisits the algorithms multiple times throughout the course to make sure you get them fully ingrained, and Walks you through developing multiple full-stack web-projects. 

App Academy is a success-driven program that is the most difficult career-oriented task I have ever accomplished. 
App Academy is extremely selective and applicants would benefit from brushing up on algebra, calculus, and statistics before applying. If you stay motivated and study seriously, you will succeed -- this is true for most people. 

I recommend you study the application prep material until you have every detail memorized before you apply as well.

When you get accepted, be ready to work with people all day every day while you puzzle over coding projects.

I only slept seven hours a night on weekdays because of studying and commuting. Slept 10 hours a night on the weekend. Be ready to focus on nothing but coding for the next few months. Do all of the above and you will get a job paying 60+K starting salary upon graduation.

Prepare to dedicate most of your life over the 12 weeks soley to App Academy. Even as someone who was pretty experienced with other languages and had work experience, the curriculum was tough. There were weeks when I spent most of my free time studying or finishing up assignment.

Compared to how much I knew before starting the program, I feel much more commpetent as an engineer. I have a far better understanding of the languages and technologies. that I use on a daily basis.

Even in direct comparison to what I learned in CS in college, I learned far more practicality. Most of the theoritical and fundamental concepts were still taught, my cohorts did not miss out on much that CS grads receive.

The staff were always extremely helpful and answered most if not all the questions I had, technical or career focused. They were also very accomodating towards certain needs.

The friends that I made in the cohort are people enjoy talking about technonolgy and new developments, in stark contrast to my experience in college. Everyone seemed highly motivated to learn and succeed.

I loved my time at App Academy because it provided me with the exact experience I wanted: 3 months of immersion into web development programming. In that time, I learned the necessary tools to build a modern fullstack web application. I also learned the google ninja search skills to continue to learn on my own for the rest of my career as a web developer. 

If you're prepared to work your ass off, love programming, and want to become a web developer in only 3 months, I highly recommend App Academy. 

Be prepared to make this your #1 priority as this is an intense program that'll need you to do just that. Spending around 80 - 100 hours a week to learn, understand, and apply the material will be needed to be able to do well. You will jump from one thing to the next and you need to be able to keep up as it'll be harder when you fall behind. If you are ready to do just that, you are well on your way to attend an awesome program. 

I've previously learned coding at my university; however, this was different in the fact that everything was fast-paced and they were more practical rather than how it was in school. Well of course, this is a 12 week program, everything jumps out at you just like that. Please do not get discouraged by the fact that I said that I had a bit of coding experience, it really doesn't make a big of a difference. The majority of the people in this program haven't coded before and they've come to enjoy coding and built a passion for it. The material was intense, however, if you keep pushing, you can do it. 

The thing I like about this program is the community. You attend the same program with 30-40 other people, work with them, and build a connection. The networking community builds from that and who knows where that'll take you. You will be glad to have met your cohort-mates as this experience was well worth it.

Putting in a lot of work to learn the material and build projects take up a lot of your time, but when it comes down to it, you made something. You learned something. You were able to do something. If you are not committed to learning code or think that this program is a waste of time, then this program isn't for you. If you'd like to delve into the world of coding and know that you might have a passion for coding, then this is definitely the program for you. I highly recommend it 100%.

In just 3 months, I learned a lot of theory and practical skills. The instructions for the daily projects were quite detailed and high quality. Help is always available. The curriculum covers diverse aspects of software development and is always taught with a practical focus. 

The curriculum at App Academy is particularly rigorous. Getting behind is quite easy to do. Many times, there isn't enough time to revise previously learnt material unfortunately.

Overall though, a very important summer for my self-development.

I plan to be honest and critical, but full disclosure: I am receiving a hoodie for writing this review.  I graduated a/A last month, and next week I'll be starting as a front-end developer.

Here's what you need to know:

• the a/A curriculum is fantastic.  It covers a lot of ground quickly, so make sure this is something you're good at/enjoy before commiting.  I spent 12-14 hours a day coding while in the first 9 weeks of the program.  If you're not into that, don't sign up.
• the structure is 9 weeks of learning, followed by 3 weeks of working on projects and preparing for the job search.
• the "job search" is a 1 year commitment.  They require you to apply to 40 jobs a week, and keep doing so for at least 6 months during this time.  You can only accept offers over 60k, and it must be full-time.

What I liked best:

• The curriculum is comprehensive, and really pushes you to learn this stuff inside-out.
• My classmates were amazing, hardworking people.  Made a lot of friends while in the program.

What wasn't so good:

• The job search is 100% on you.  They have no employer network, and do absolutely nothing to connect you with employers.  You will have to find companies to apply to, apply to them, go through 3-6 rounds of interviews, and negotiate your own offer. 
• 95% of companies will immediately dismiss you because you have no experience and no CS degree.  a/A's reputation does not permiate in NY, employers usually have no clue what a/A is, and aren't interested in hiring bootcamp grads
  • That being said, the 5% that let you in the door will be impressed by your skills.  So keep your head up and keep applying and working on projects.  The offer/offers will come.

My overall experience was good.  But this is tough stuff, don't be a fool and sign up without thinking it through.  You must have resiliance, and some degree of natural talent with code to get through this process.  If you have those things, it will be the most rewarding and empowering experience of your life.

In a short period of 3 months, I've learnt a great deal of theoretical and practical knowledge. The instructions for the daily projects are very detailed and of high quality. Help is always there when you need it. The curriculum covers diverse aspects of software development and is always taught with a practical focus. By the end of week 6, students will be able to create fullstack applications from scratch.

The curriculum at App Academy isn't designed to be forgiving. Getting behind on the material is the last thing anyone would want to do. Many times, there isn't enough time to revise previously learnt material but this is understandable since there is so much to go through in such a short period of time.

Great course overall.

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!

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.

App Academy is a great experience with lots to learn.  The program is a long 12 week program, 13 for SF,  and has you coding and interacting with others everyday from 9 am - 6 pm. In addition to the days work, you have readings and homework to prepare you for the next day making App Academy a full-time experience. While it does take up your entire life for many weeks, the programming experience is great and you definitely learn a lot. Being in an environment with others trying to achieve the same goal allows you to bounce ideas off one another which helps facilitate problem solving, depending on who you're working with. 
Pros: 
- Working with others was by-far, one of the best experiences. Being able to talk your code out with another coding individual helped me many times.
- Rewarding coding experience
- Robust coding fundamentals. The alpha curriculum preps students with the fundamentals of basic coding
- Great Staff. The TA's provide a great experience and help when you're stuck
- Bagel Day

Cons:
- Will consume your life. Be prepared for a lifestyle change
- At points, curriculum was unclear and leads to some frustration, but having others share the experience mitigates and the staff is ready to answer
-  Towards the end of the coding curriculum, there is less staff interaction or wait times will be significantly longer. However, you have students as a resource

Overall, App Academy is a tough, but very rewarding life experience. It will consume your life, but you have others with you to share the the experience.