App Academy

The 12 weeks that I spent at App Academy were not only pivotal in my career as a developer but also some of the best weeks of my life.
The curriculum is as good as it gets. It moves at a pace which strikes the perfect balance of absorbable and challenging. After 7 weeks, I couldn’t believe how much I’ve learned in such a short amount of time. The instructors are very smart and friendly. I always felt very safe and welcomed whenever I needed help with something.
Even though I graduated with a CS degree, App Academy taught me things that I couldn’t learn in school. Best practices, hands-​on practice with the latest technologies being used in the industry (yes, they teach react. js!), effective communication and pair programming.
Also, although it was challenging at times but, it never stopped being fun. Pair programming with a new person every day and allowed me to meet up really cool people and tackle some really interesting problems together.

I’m a career switcher with a non-​STEM background. I finished App Academy in SF three weeks ago, and recently accepted an offer from a start-​up that I’m super excited about!
I chose App Academy because of the well-​rounded curriculum, the selectiveness of admissions, and the payment structure that incentivizes them to help graduates get jobs. Previous reviews have covered the basics, and I’ll agree:
— it’s a tough program (70−80hrs of work per week for the first 8 weeks is typical)
— it’s an intense and stressful experience (over 10% attrition rate in my cohort)
— you learn a whole lot and become obsessed with programming
— nearly 100% of students who complete the program get jobs as developers
What I want to emphasize is how great the people are, both students and instructors. The students are not just extremely bright, they are passionate, which is a prerequisite for undertaking something as intense and demanding as App Academy. As a result, and because most days are spent doing pair programming, you are surrounded by people who love what they are learning and strive for mastery (and who are just plain cool) — this is SO valuable. The overall quality of students is a big part of why you learn so much at a/​A.
The instructors and TAs are helpful, knowledgable, and invested in students’ success. The ratio of TAs to students is around 1:10, which means a TA is nearly always available to help you better understand the subject matter. They won’t hesitate to spend the better part of an hour helping you track down a bug, and if something didn’t click for you during lecture, they will go out of their way to explain it until it does.
If you’re considering App Academy and know that you enjoy programming (even if you’ve just started), do it. I’m happy to answer questions — feel free to contact me here on Unilocal or through my portfolio site at ndevvy [dot] io.

Summary: This place is as legit as it gets. No tricks, lies, or scams – everything they say, they do, just as they promise. I, as a college dropout who was pretty much middle of the pack in my cohort, am employed as a software engineer.
When I first heard of App Academy, I was a little skeptical. I think every normal person who comes across App Academy will feel some sense of skepticism, and dig a little deeper. In fact, that might very possibly be why you are reading this review right now. Maybe you think the salary is a little (or a LOT!) exaggerated; maybe you think some of the students there are plants by App Academy to raise the average salary; maybe all the students who get in have at least a degree in CS or have way more background knowledge than you. All of these are thoughts that I had before I applied to App Academy. I’m really just writing this review to assuage the fears of my past self, whose shoes you are in right now, that none of these are true.
(P.S. I also thought that these Unilocal reviews were paid reviews or had some incentive offered to write them for the students that did well… Nope, I’m just here because I’m so excited about the opportunities App Academy has offered me and I want other people to realize that App Academy is a legitimate option you should seriously consider if you want to get into the industry.)
Granted, not all app academy graduates are created equal. Yes, a select few might have CS backgrounds… but that doesn’t guarantee that they’ll outperform you, or that they’ll end up with a higher salary in any way, shape and form. In fact, of the three smartest, most competent, incredibly talented software engineers I’ve ever met personally at App Academy, (who have, and undoubtedly will continue to, receive some of the best opportunities in the industry) two of them came in with absolutely zero knowledge of programming beforehand, and the third was a college dropout with minimal programming experience stemming from middle and high school.
Hint: Like everything else, App Academy will only give you back what you put in. It just has a much, MUCH higher standard for the «minimum required effort» to succeed.
How can you be sure this place works? Well, I got a job. Who am I? No one, really… I’m a college dropout who didn’t excel or «stand out» significantly in any way in my cohort, put in the required work, and got a job as a software engineer.
If you’re on the fence, at least apply. Do it right now! Seriously. It costs nothing, fairly easy to get into, and it teaches you some cool things about programming anyways. There’s absolutely nothing to lose.

Application process is a little challenging, especially if you are like me, a non-​CS major with a few months into learning programming and mini algorithms. But… Although cliché, it is true that you don’t give up applying until it is really over.
This program will change your life, give you a good story to tell later, and spark your interest in developing apps. I was probably the dullest pencil in my cohort, but I was one of the first ones who secured a job — so if you think you are not worthy, I probably have felt the exact same way many many times more.
It is also true that most of the SF grads will secure jobs averaging $ 105k, you just have to stop questioning that and take my advice. I have been there, done that, and kept in touch with classmates in order to know that this is indeed the case. So I CAN say this with confidence. You’ll just have to accept this and move on :)
Feel free to contact me for extra details or questions regarding to App Academy, as there are so much more to it than what I have posted here. Remember, no one will ever know how dumb you have felt while at App Academy, but they will see how awesome you have become in such short amount of time.
Me: years in biotech + 0 CS classes taken + 3 months in app academy + 3 weeks of job search = Employed software engineer
P. S. More than likely, App Academy will also spark another hobby — building cool apps during your free time.

In short: if you’re thinking about App Academy, do it!
I highly recommend App Academy to anyone looking to get into Web Development/​Software Engineering. I was in the cohort that started in June of 2015, and just accepted a job offer in Mountain View less than a month after finishing the program (about three and a half weeks from graduation to offer).
Before starting App Academy, I didn’t have much programming experience (compared to someone with a CS degree). I had taken two courses in college (Matlab and Labview), and two more after college (Python, C++) in addition to some self-​teaching, but I hadn’t done any programming in a professional setting. Within three months, I had developed a full stack web application, a few games, and a simple web framework (similar to Rails).
App Academy is very rigorous and intensive, but it does exactly what it advertises: prepares you for a career in software development in three months. It was a huge time commitment, and it wasn’t easy (long days followed by additional reading and any review of the day’s material), but I learned so much more than I thought I would (or could) in such a short time frame. I can’t recommend App Academy enough!

App Academy was a great experience. I learned a ton while working with a great group of people!
This is the best web development program in the bay area. There is only one real competitor in the area, and their asking for tuition upfront completely excludes anyone isn’t already very well off.
App Academy’s tuition model says, «We think its awesome that you taught high school math, studied philosophy, and/​or volunteered with non-​profits! You seem really excited, hard working, and ready to learn. Lets start doing web development, don’t worry about tuition until you have an awesome new career.»
You should consider App Academy if all of the following apply to you:
— You are really passionate about web development and are willing to commit everything to it. The 90hr weeks are real, you will not have a social life outside the office for at least the first 2.5 months. (It becomes much less stressful near the end, but the most successful people from my cohort kept up the hours all the way through their landing their dream job.)
— You are really passionate about learning. You get excited when you figure out how why that mystery code does what it does.
— You like working with people. The majority of all classwork is done with a ‘pair’; you will not work alone very often. This keeps you focused on long days and provides organic knowledge transfer between students.
— You have at least 6 months to fully dedicate to the process. 3 months of coursework and sufficient time to find a great job. The job search can be expedited if you keep working hard after graduation, but the interview process at places like Google still take time.
FYI: My cohort started on April 20^th and I just accepted an offer at 23andMe. I’m super excited to start working!

My friend (who doesn’t do Unilocal) went to App Academy and he LOVED it. It was a really intense program and he got so much out of it. He had never programmed for a living before this. After App Academy he was offered over $ 100k/​year from a few big shots like The NY Times, Drop Box, and a few others including freakin Google! — which, he actually turned down (believe it or not).
He turned down Google to work at the company of his dreams. I’m so incredibly proud of him and amazed at what App Academy did for him. It’s absolutely incredible.
I would definitely recommend this school for anyone interested in programming for a living. The school also teaches you how to find a job, how to apply, how to interview, and how to negotiate a contract once you accept an offer. This is unheard of for schools. App Academy rocks!

A lot of others already addressed how awesome the curriculum and teachers at App Academy are, so I’ll focus on the burning question you must have if you’re looking into App Academy: Will you actually get a job? Are the placement numbers accurate?
Well, it’s hard to say how accurate the numbers are because honestly I don’t know. But statistics won’t mean much to you anyway if you do end up being one of the few people who get through the program but struggle to find a job. I had a relatively difficult time of it myself; the typical time seems to be within 2 months of graduation and it took me about 4 – 5 months. There are people who have been searching for a lot longer than that as well. It’s not necessarily about being a good programmer vs. a bad one, either. There are a lot of variables, among which are luck and timing. I personally had a lot of confidence issues and had trouble staying focused without the structure of the bootcamp curriculum. I honestly think I found the job search much more stressful than the curriculum itself, which was challenging and stressful in its own right. So what happens if this happens to you?
You know how App Academy has deferred payment for all students? It’s only partial evidence of their investment in their alumni’s success. They recently hired a great Head of Student Outcomes, whose sole job is to focus on getting alumni hired. They have a three week job search curriculum, which, if you follow, WILL get you interviews. Recently they tested out a course extension curriculum with additional Javascript material for a small group of job seekers. I don’t know of any other bootcamp doing anything like that, and it played a huge part in addressing the more intangible, psychological issues I was having in the job search.
I know there’s at least one other bootcamp with a better reputation for getting more alumni hired more quickly (rhymes with Jack the Actor). But those students tend to already be confident engineers with programming or STEM backgrounds going into the program. App Academy, while still having a selective admissions process and challenging curriculum, also doesn’t just give up on you because you’re having a hard time after the course. Other places might also share job openings with alumni or whatever, but I’d bet it’s hard to find anyone doing more for their job seekers than App Academy.
If you know you’re hot shit and you’re one of those weirdos who’s basically just doing a bootcamp for the formality and you’re already awesome at everything, more power to you. You’ll probably do great at App Academy or anywhere else. But if you think there’s a chance you might struggle, and don’t want your bootcamp to peace out on you when you do, I can’t recommend App Academy enough.

I highly recommend App Academy. It has been key in helping me turn around my career (from accountant/​financial systems consultant) so quickly (7 months) and focus on a field that I am excited about and interested in pursuing.
7 month breakdown:
1 month: to prep/​finish homework for the program before starting (if Rails tutorial is still part of prep work, don’t worry about feeling overwhelmed about all the different parts to a web app, these will be engrained into your memory during class, like it, or not: P)
3 months: for the actual bootcamp
1.5 months: to prepare myself for algorithm interviews with Cracking the Coding Interview/​other advanced material
1.5 months: to interview with companies
Payment plan perk:
You just make a deposit before starting and pay the rest of tuition after successfully securing a job. Without the payment plan I would not have been able to pay and attend a similar program until I saved up enough money and would have been stuck in the world of accounting.
Student backgrounds:
People with no programming experience have successfully finished the program, so I encourage everyone to apply! (of course after taking the due diligence to either take some intro programming courses at a community college or online :))
Program difficulty:
You will highly possibly program during all waking hours during the 9 weeks of web dev curriculum. (It is a lot more relaxed during the 3 weeks of algorithms curriculum) Web development is a lot of fun though, addictive even! :D I was initially scared about the «fail 2 quizzes policy and you’re out», but highly similar practice tests are always given, and if not on the practice quiz, you would have gone over the problem during the week’s classwork. Study hard, and study for speed and you will have nothing to worry about.
Fun:
Enjoy yourself, you get to be a full time student again for a couple months, practically for free, what could be better than that? You get to meet many interesting people that made the same drastic decision as you and make friends while pair-​programming with a different person every day.
App Academy has released yet another satisfied individual into the world. Thank you so much and keep up the wonderful mission!

I enrolled in App Academy for two reasons:
— I was tired of having ideas and not being able to make them a reality. Plus my technical friends were getting tired of being pitched to. I wanted to learn to build things on my own.
— I wanted to get paid for the above.
Judging on those two criteria, A/​a gave me exactly what I wanted. I currently have an awesome job with a reputable company that pays me 4x what I used to make, AND I get to learn to build cool stuff on the job, then use what I learned in my own projects. I couldn’t ask for more. Actually I could, and thanks to the skills that I learned at A/​a & the current state of the market, I’m pretty sure I’d get it :)
With all of that said, there are a couple catches. You do have to drop everything in your life for 3 – 6 months. You do need to put in 80+ hour weeks (but it won’t feel like it since you love it, right?). You do need to spend a lot of time in the Tenderloin. And unfortunately, you won’t get to have a free place to stay while you’re doing all of this like my cohort did (they had to end that policy following a row with the landlord). And once it’s all over and you’ve achieved your wildest dreams, you owe them about 50% of you take-​home pay for 6 months unless you can pay upfront, which I didn’t.
But what you come out with — the skills, the job, and also the really close friends — is totally worth it. I recommend it highly. Feel free to use my referral link when applying
(Hi Ned!)

It’s already been over two months since I finished my cohort and the experience is still fresh in my mind. Now that I’m happily employed in SF, I think I can offer some insight into how it all worked.
The program is 12 weeks, divided into two parts: first 9 weeks learning web development, then 3 weeks learning algorithms and searching for jobs. I should mention that I had taken two CS classes in college, so I was somewhere in the middle between students who had zero programming experience and a few who were CS majors. That being said, all of us learned a ton.
The Web Development portion focuses on Ruby on Rails and Javascript, including frameworks like Backbone. From what I hear they’re also covering Node. js now. There’s so much to cover that it really does feel like a sprint, and they’re not kidding when they say to drop whatever else you might be doing during this time. You should stay healthy by getting rest and working out, but that’s about it. You’ll need the time certain days after you get out at 6 to study/​continue working. Luckily the TA’s are super helpful and will answer as many questions as they can. Advice: Don’t fall behind on this. Although you should try to do all the readings, I found some are more important than others. And reviewing code was the most important.
After that you enter the next portion for three weeks, which is a more independent process. You are recommended to come in to algorithms lectures, which help a lot for interviews. You also get some talks about how best to prepare resumes and things like that. This part is up to you and I found it helpful getting organized and ready to start.
Some downsides I found:
— Not enough TA’s. Most days were fine, but some days they were stretched too thin. They need to hire more, but it does seem like they’re actively looking to expand.
— Their room needs a tune up. It got a whole lot better by the time I left, but some new furniture, rugs, and other things to make the place look nicer would go a long way.
— The neighborhood takes some getting used to.
Overall it was a really positive experience and you get to meet some people who are just as crazy and motivated as you are.
I recommend you check it out and if you do feel free to use my link

I’m writing this review FAQ style!
1. Does App Academy Work?
YES. I was able to successfully transition from a full-​time (albeit unhappy) attorney to a full-​time software developer in about 5 months. App Academy teaches you the fundamentals necessary to become a proficient web-​developer and land your first paid position in the software industry. You will still have a lot to learn by the end of the program, but hopefully your education can continue while you are working in the industry.
2. What is it like?
App Academy provides a structured curriculum designed to teach you the fundamentals and best practices in back-​end and front end web development. You will spend a few weeks learning Ruby and Rails. Then you will spend a few weeks learning JavaScript, jQuery, and the Backbone framework.
Expect short daily lectures. Jeff, the lead instructor, is both hilarious and has a commendable commitment to ensuring students understand the relevant material. From there, you spend the rest of the day pair programming with another App Academy student under the watchful eye of the Teaching Assistants. The TAs are there to help you sort through bottlenecks. Not only can they guide you to a solution, they teach you how to find the solution on your own (using debugging tools, online resources, etc.). Shout out to Cj, David, Andrew, Ryan, and Shawna for having an enormous impact on my life!
Solo-​days are also an important part of the program. On solo-​days you are expected to complete larger, more complicated projects on your own (i.e. without a pair programming partner); the solo day projects simultaneously hammer in the lessons from the previous weeks and build your portfolio.
The program wraps up with a final project of your own choosing. This is your chance to use all of your skills to build a project from the ground up. Build something amazing because it is important to the job hunt after the program is over. Speaking of which…
3. What resources does App Academy provide for graduates to help them find jobs?
There is a pretty robust job search curriculum. App Academy will offer advice on how to put together a winning resume, portfolio, and online presence. Furthermore, they offer non-​conventional advice on how to approach your job search (which I found very effective). Moreover, Ned, the company’s founder, provides ongoing lectures on Algorithms and Data Structures even after the official program has ended. You have plenty of support through the process, and most students find jobs in places they are happy to be a part of.
4. How does this compare to other bootcamps?
Because this is the only one I’ve attended, I’m not in a great position to compare. However, I would recommend stalking graduates of other programs on Linked-​In. App Academy students are gainfully employed about 6 – 12 weeks after graduation. Many other bootcamps can’t say the same.
In short, its a great program and I recommend it highly.
Edit: I received a few emails asking more about the experience. I kept a detailed blog detailing my journey, including the steps I took to prepare for the entrance test which might help:

This program was exactly what I needed. I loved it. I had a great time, learned a ton, and now I have a job that I enjoy doing and pays well — not to mention the friends I made while there.
Short version: It’s a wonderfully structured course that will put you out on the street with the knowledge you need to start a career in software engineering!
Here’s some bullet points:
— The day to day is a lot of work. I went in with the attitude that the more effort I put in the more I would get out and I think that paid off. Structure is a short lecture in the morning with paired work throughout the rest of the day and a couple of short breaks to keep you going. Many of us would stay until late into the evening working on improving our daily projects and I know that extra effort really paid off for me.
— The people who teach you are awesome and they are really genuinely interested in helping you learn to code well. Also, the TAs you interact with on a daily basis all went through the course themselves so they know what it’s like. They’re also constantly evolving the curriculum to stay relevant with what’s going on in the industry.
— You will come out of this course with a skill set that is very competitive in the current market. Since I’ve started working (8mos ago) I’ve found that my level of knowledge has sometimes exceeded that of people who have been in the field for years and that is because App Academy taught me to pay attention to the right things.
— A note on the competition: I looked into a variety of programs (General Assembly, Hack Reactor, Dev Bootcamp) and my impression was that the standards for admission to App Academy are much higher. This worked well for me because I was looking for a very technically rigorous program and I wanted to make sure that other students in my program were in the same boat so that I could learn from both my instructors and peers. This was a HUGE plus for me.
I recommend this course to anyone trying to move into engineering as a career. I really can’t speak highly enough about the program and the people involved.

TL;DR If you get into App Academy and stick with it, you’ll become an amazing developer, so much so that you’ll surprise those around you that you learned to code from a «programming bootcamp.»
I knew programming was going to be my profession. But after doing a few classes at college, I was bored out of my mind. The classes go so slow, as slow as the slowest student and you don’t learn the practical skills (at least that early on) to make anything worthwhile.
The huge difference about studying at App Academy is that every single person enrolled is brilliant and so you’re learning at a pace that will keep challenging you every day.
The hours are fairly grueling, especially the first couple of weeks. I spent close to every waking hour either at App Academy or finishing up assignments at home. It isn’t a walk in the park, but every minute of it is worth it.
I ended up getting a salary 3X of what I was making before, which put me over 100k. Funny thing is, not only did I get employed right away, but the CTO at my company has repeatedly said how impressed he is by my code and at the speed that I can complete tasks. I constantly am told the great work I am doing as an engineer and that’s because of the intense training at App Academy.
Doing App Academy is a no-​brainer, if you can get in. The teachers and teaching assistants are beyond amazing and you can always get help to understand anything and the content of the materials is spot on. To this day, I find myself looking back at the a/​A curriculum to use parts of it on the job. The curriculum is that good, you learn EXACTLY the things you will need on the job and thus in technical interviews to get a job.
You might be thinking, if it’s so good, why doesn’t everyone do it? Two reasons, 1) many people are afraid to look at code, and so will never be developers and 2) It seems to good to be true.
Why would 3 months of App Academy get you a higher salary than almost any person newly graduating from a 4-​year school? It’s ludicrous! I’m making more than twice that of a nurse after graduating a 4-​year degree program.
It’s possible because of the super high demand for developers. If every single student enrolled in a Computer Science program in college graduated TODAY and all of them found jobs, they would only fill 25% of the open positions for developers. That’s what makes these programming schools possible. I can’t find the link where I read that, but there is no doubt that the demand of developers far outweighs the supply.
I don’t know of one person in our group that did not find a great job. The lowest, lowest offer someone took was an internship at a company she loved SO much (for 70k) and she actually declined an 90k+ offer, because of how much she loved the company.
A good thing to know is that people who had even a tiny tiny bit of experience doing any development, get a higher salary. Previously I had done some volunteer work using HTML and CSS and this gave me a great advantage on my resume. But don’t get me wrong, I could not get anyone to hire me as a Software Developer before this, I tried.
A few other a/​A grads who had some type of dev experience that they could put on a resume, were offered salaries above a/​A average, so if you have even an inkling of experience with code, you’ll get an even higher salary. And don’t fret if you haven’t done any coding at all, as some people in that position still get salaries 100k+.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE: I didn’t know this before I started, but the average time to getting a job after graduating is 2 months. So, when planning for App Academy, make sure to set aside 5 months of wherewithal to live, because chances are you won’t get a job in the first week after graduating. Some companies move very slow when hiring… In fact, I just got a rejection email this morning for a job I applied to when I graduated over 4 months ago!
Pro Tip: if you can, pay upfront and don’t do the deferred payment. You will save money. You won’t have trouble finding a job and your % paying a/​A will end up being more than the upfront cost of 15k.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or if you want help getting accepted.

App Academy is truly a juggernaut as far as disrupting the traditional higher education to employment pipeline goes. Its ability to teach you web development skills to jump start your developer career is unparalleled. So many App Academy students, myself included, have been able to successfully pursue their dreams in the tech industry thanks to App Academy’s fast-​paced, purposeful curriculum. Best of all, the staff at App Academy make it their personal priority for you to become an able (employable) developer.
My only gripe with App Academy is that it needs to improve its employment pipeline. Considering the immense concentration of talent present in App Academy, it should not be difficult for App Academy to hold better hiring events. Better marketing efforts and hiring pipeline will ensure App Academy’s continued track record of success.
App Academy > Hack Reactor!

I LOVE my experience at App Academy. I went in with practically no experience in web development. After our 9 week curriculum ended, I built a full stack web application using Backbone and Rails.
App Academy moves FAST, but it is SO rewarding and SO worth the effort! I remember one of our TAs (by the way, the TAs are AMAZING and so knowledgeable) telling us something along the lines of «you have 2 days to learn javascript, and we expect you to know as much javascript as you do ruby before our javascript curriculum starts.» I think that’s an accurate representation of how fast App Academy moves.
If you enjoy challenging yourself, pushing yourself, and learning new things, then App Academy is the perfect choice.
One tip: make friends! App Academy is HARD, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Some of my most fun experiences since college graduation happened during App Academy with the friends I have made here.

I graduated from App Academy in December, and definitely feel like attending was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I now work at an awesome company working on really cool problems as a full stack engineer.
My background: I had taken a couple of college C.S. classes and I had a degree in analytic philosophy. I’d done codeacademy and tried a couple small projects, but I was having trouble making the leap to employment-​level skills.
The structure and content of the App Acadaemy curriculum is top notch. They know exactly what is useful and what is not. For example — not useful: rote memorization of code. Useful: learning how to think logically, approach problems with the intention of creating an elegant algorithm, and how to read documentation and quickly pick up new skills. That being said, the tools you learn are also really useful tools to know how to use (most of the focus is on ruby/​rails and javascript/​backbone).
The quality of instruction is incredibly high, and you spend most of your time (probably 80% of the day) actually coding and working on problems. I really liked that, as I definitely learn better by doing, and most of the best learning moments were working with TA’s who could explain a concept in practice after getting stuck on a specific part of a problem.
After the course, they have good resources to help you apply and interview for positions. It’s still a lot of work, but it’s really valuable to hear what actually matters on a resume or cover letter, what interviewers are actually looking for, etc.
I now work at a really cool company, working on stuff way more interesting than anywhere else I’ve ever worked, and getting paid like 3x more than I was at my old job. I’m using the ruby/​rails and js I learned at App Academy, but I’m also using React on the front end, as well as Scala/​C++ on the backend. So don’t let anyone tell you that you’re only qualified in the language you know.
Two quick caveats: 1) This is not a place for people who want to figure out if they’ll enjoy software engineering. You have to be committed and ready to work really hard from the beginning. 2) This is not a place for people who have trouble self-​motivating. 80 – 90 hours per week is not a joke, and a lot of that is forcing yourself to work through really complicated readings and problems. After graduating, you won’t be handed a job, but you’ll have the skills to get a great job if you work hard and keep practicing. But if you’re likely to burn out easily or need someone else to push, maybe this isn’t the best place for you.
tl;dr:
Great program that will teach you the skills and mindset to be a software engineer anywhere if you’re already motivated and willing to work for it.

Before this program, I was a chemical engineer working in a large corporation in Houston & have been trying to learn programming for the past two years. I’ve always felt that my progress has been too slow, then applied & got into AppAcademy & DevBootcamp. Ended up going to AppAcademy in the Jan 2014 Cohort, best decision ever :)
Here’s why I went with AppAcademy:
1. Students are usually have a little more experience with programming/​web work (either its SEO, experience with wordpress sites, etc).
2. Hardcore — the goal of the course is to provide you with a large amount of structured content that you can absorb, learn & apply immediately.
3. Reference check — I spoke with a number of alums and they have great jobs & are excellent developers now
4. Personally vested — I only need to pay a deposit and do not need to pay unless if I get a job. Every staff wants you to succeed because they are incentivized to do so.
Here’s how I felt during the program:
— Most students are in a sink or swim situation where they have no choice but to succeed we worked really hard together.
— The lessons are very well defined and taught me what I’ve always wanted to learn, but wasn’t clear about.
— The best way to learn is by doing & we do that everyday. We learn, we apply and we build. The TAs are very knowledgeable & always available.
— Met 40+ great friends who are doing very well now in various careers
What I got out of it:
— Fundamentals of coding, focusing in Ruby, JS & SQL & frameworks like Rails & Backbone.js. With that, learning any other languages is a whole lot easier.
— Ability to visualize the feasibility of an idea from a technical perspective and create the product if desired
— Learned lingo, algorithms & can finally speak/​understand in geek language
— Network from all AppAcademy alums
I would recommend AppAcademy to anyone looking to make a jump to an exciting world of unlimited possibilities or merely be exposed to get better at programming. App Academy has a great program, amazing instructors and awesome community.

This program is legitimate. Coming into the experience I had limited coding knowledge and uncertain job prospects. In twelve weeks I gained more useable skills than over the entirety of my undergraduate career. App Academy assumes you are already a well-​rounded person coming in (their selection process makes sure of it), so they don’t waste time on anything other than teaching you what you need to know to get a specific type of in-​demand job.
My classmates and teachers were inspiring and part of a positive learning environment. I got a great job as a result of the program. If you’re passionate about getting into coding professionally definitely apply!

If you’re interested in a shift into web development, App Academy is the way to go. I was looking at various developer bootcamps, and the thing that sold me on AA was their pricing structure. As someone who didn’t have any programming experience, finding a job after my bootcamp days was a major concern. It’s great that you don’t have to pay AA UNTIL you get a job. Which means, they don’t get paid unless you get paid. (win/​win/​win (?) situation)
App Academy has been pretty good at selecting talented students. I studied with super bright people. It’s rewarding to be intellectually stimulated by the curriculum and your peers.
But be warned that AA is not for the faint hearted. The amazing instructors and TAs will provide all the support they can, but it is ultimately up to you to keep up. It’s true that you’ll be working 80+ hours a week, but IT IS SO WORTH IT. You graduate not only with the skills to build modern web apps, but to quickly learn the constantly changing technologies of this industry. The staff is also readily available for support after you graduate.