App Academy NYC

UPDATE! My original review for App Academy is pasted below– it was lost when their address changed on Unilocal.Since the last review, I’ve moved to a new job. I’ve learned a ton, and I’m making a great salary now. App Academy helped me get out of a dead-​end career path, get out of my parent’s house, and get a marketable skill (which I’m hugely passionate about now) in just a few months. Can’t recommend it enough.
I was a student in the September 2014 cohort. Before App Academy, I was looking for work as a teacher, carrying around a useless diploma and debt from four years of college. After a while, I realized that teaching wasn’t for me, a decision that was made easier by the shortage of well-​paying jobs for new teachers. I decided to go into programming, but I knew that going back to college for a computer science degree was not an option. I decided to pursue one of the many coding bootcamps that have popped up in the past five years or so, and applied to a handful of them. I was accepted to a few schools, but App Academy’s payment model won me over. App Academy doesn’t collect any tuition from you unless you find work. Some of these other schools ask for upwards of $ 10−15k upfront, an unrealistic option for most people looking a career change.
App Academy was one of the most rewarding and transformative experiences of my life. The daily routine involved a short lecture in the morning, covering yesterday’s work and a discussion of the previous night’s readings. The lectures are very free-​form, and we were always encouraged to ask as many questions as we wanted. The rest of the day was entirely spent pair programming, except for a handful of solo days here and there. Every student worked with every other student at least once, and you very quickly learn how to work as part of a team. During my time at App Academy, the curriculum moved from Ruby to Ruby on Rails, before we dove into JavaScript and Backbone.js.
After the three month curriculum was up, we were able to stay with the program for as long as we needed, as they helped us find work and finish up solo projects. Every student comes out with a pretty wide portfolio, with a single capstone final project that we design from start to finish. Their ‘job search curriculum’ is extremely helpful, and I ended up applying to dozens and dozens of companies smoothly. Former App Academy students became connections in companies around the country, and I went on a number of interviews at very different companies. About a month and a half after the graduation date, I was happy to be given an offer at a great web design firm.
Less than a year ago, I was looking for underpaid work in a field that had very few open positions. Now, I’m a crucial part of a development team, making a salary that I am very, very happy with. If you’re considering making the jump to a career in programming, I definitely recommend App Academy. Be prepared, because it’s going to be three of the most work-​intensive months of your life, but the payoff is absolutely worth it.

Just finished App Academy and I signed an offer letter for an amazing job less than 1 week of graduating! Don’t be fooled: the course itself is INTENSE and will leave you with 0 free time (if you’re doing it right and you want to get the most out of it). Study hard and listen to the teachers and it will be the best investment of your time/​money that you could possibly make. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would do it again in a heartbeat.

I started at AppAcademy in September and graduated in December. I just accepted a job at nearly double my previous salary, so I would say the system works. If you can complete AppAcademy you will almost certainly be able to get a good job.
AppAcademy really seems to specialize in motivating people. The assessment structure keeps you constantly terrified of losing your spot, which for me was what it took to get me to spend every available hour studying. I think that without that pressure I would not have had nearly the success I did.
AppAcademy is not easy. I didn’t actually believe them when they said it would take up ~80 hours per week, but it does. I can honestly say it was more work in a short period than any school I have attended or job I have had. I also learned more in that time than any other time before. Be prepared to bust your hump to make it through, even if programming comes naturally to you.

Sounds too good to be true, but it gets the job done. You could probably learn everything you learn here on your own, but it’d take a helluva lot longer than 3 months. Definitely a worthwhile investment in your career if you’d like to make the move to software development.

My days at App Academy were some them most intellectually stimulating, blissful experiences of my previous year. If you’ve googled the program enough, you may have encountered the analogy to drinking from a firehouse. But when you’re thirsty for this knowledge, it’s the most refreshing thing ever. Hydrated, educated, prepared, you’re ready to take on any development job this ever changing world has to offer.
Since attending, I’ve worked at a start-​up and Apple doing Python dev. (Oh wait, the curriculum was Ruby, but you can grok ANYTHING following this). And more frequently than is comfortable, I’ve run into flaw after flaw in codebases that the App Academy devs are gung-​ho to get you to avoid. Whereas most devs running around these days are comfortable cargo-​culting solutions from Stack Overflow, you’re trained to build applications from the bottom up with every good practice in play, while knowing WHY THEY WORK. That’s not something you get in the average CS undergrad curriculum, and it’s not something you can gleen from a MOOC. You have well trained developers at your disposal to show you the RIGHT WAY, or at least the most logical, least oh-​well-​this-​just-​worked way.
Bottom line is… If you want to be a developer, and self-​instruction isn’t cutting it, or you really want to learn from pros, this should not be discounted. Take the assessment. Do it. If you can get that far, and I’m assuming if you’ve read this far, you can (even if you think you can’t).
The future is written by software, and there needs to be better developers out there, coming from every background (you read that, subtle doubter, every background). This is the vehicle for their production. I reiterate: Do it.

App Academy sounds too good to be true, but it is as good as it sounds. Any student with the aptitude and motivation to make it through the rigorous 3 months of training WILL GET A HIGH PAYING JOB. Most people I know out of App Academy love their jobs as well. I certainly do.
Beyond just job placement, as a Software Engineer I can confidently say that App Academy gave me the skills crucial to doing my job effectively and with a high degree of quality. There’s a lot of things schools don’t teach that most software engineers just have to figure out on the job. App Academy teaches a lot of them.
The mark of any good Software Engineer is the constant will to learn and pursue new projects. App Academy will take anyone (with the willpower) with minimal knowledge of software engineering, and get them to the point where they can learn by doing. A wide range of independent projects become possible after App Academy, so even after the program while your looking for a job, you can continue the learning process you started at App Academy. I cant recommend App Academy enough to anyone looking to pursue a career in web development.

I went to App Academy because I thought that their model would attract the best students. I believe I was right. From the first day I felt as though I was behind the rest of the class. I had come in expecting to be ahead of the crowd, having built a website and developed an iOS app before. I had no idea that the talent of my fellow classmates would far exceed my own.
I think there is a perception that students who attend bootcamps learn the tools they need on the surface to become an app or web developer and I think for certain bootcamps this is true. At App Academy, I was learning algorithms from the first day. If you finished the assignments before the rest of the class you could write an algorithm to do a basic form of artificial intelligence to solve a maze — through breadth first search. My partner and I couldn’t solve it. By the end of the week we had tackled recursion, studied tree logic, created hangman games that could play themselves, and rewritten many functions that make life in Ruby so simple.
For the remainder of our time there, we would study a different subject for a week or two to really master it, digging into the internals of how that thing worked and solving complicated projects that demonstrated why it was important to know. After 2 weeks of digging into the details of the Ruby language, we spent a few days mastering SQL — being expected to read half a textbook on SQL over a weekend so we really had 5 days with it. After SQL, we moved onto Rails and spent about 2 and a half weeks with it. In Rails, we recreated two of the most important libraries that make it up. We spent a week learning Javascript and by that point it felt like we only needed a week to really understand a topic.
I couldn’t recommend App Academy enough. You will learn why things work, not just how to make them. App Academy is a great balance of theory and practice with excellent teachers and the brightest students.

I graduated from the June 2013 cohort, found a job a couple weeks later, and have been working as a web developer ever since. App Academy is a really great launchpad for a career in web development, especially for people who don’t have a background in computer science. From speaking with my friends who went to other bootcamps, I think one thing that really distinguishes App Academy from the rest is the «hiring bootcamp» which prepares you for the job search. They really prepared us for the application process, coding challenges, and interviews, and made the whole job search a less daunting process. I’d wholeheartedly recommend App Academy to anyone who’s looking for a career change.

[Repost: Before App Academy moved]
September ’14 Batch:
I was part of the September 2014 batch when a/​A was still at Astor pl.
App Academy is much more than a college course in web development. It’s much more than a seminar or a workshop hosted on a weeknight.
a/​A provides you all the standard resources you would see in an educational course: a syllabus, readings, guidance from instructors, and lectures. Everything that’s described in the advertisement is what you get.
The time spent at a/​A is much more than just the resources they give you, however.
The best things I can say about a/​A revolves around my experience. The great pairing sessions, nights burning into the late hours on the next day’s material, coming in on a weekend to have a relaxing, yet, productive study session. a/​A is more similar to a hackathon or an incubator than most traditional courses. The collaborative experience is quite possibly the best part.
I was challenged in more ways then one. App Academy essentially throws you into the deep end and gives you the tools to survive. I remember around my third week I started feeling overwhelmed and felt like an impostor amongst my cohort. I made it known in my progress report that I wasn’t feeling competent, and the next day was quickly pulled aside to be reassured that I was doing great. It really meant a lot to me that the instructors are looking out for you and reading your progress reports.
It was a tough challenge, and a motivating one at that. You either pass the weekly assessments or you become at risk of being kicked out. We all wanted to see each other succeed. We all supported each other by sharing elegant solutions and fresh perspectives. In the end, as cliché as it sounds, we really were like a family. We stayed around for gaming nights, Halloween celebrations, and hung out with each other on off-​days.
The bottom line is: if you make it past the 12 weeks, you will have the necessary traits to become a solid developer. Most of my cohort, including me have found positions in the field. Everything from the workload to the collaboration, adds to the experience at a/​A. If you’re still unsure after reading about a/​A online, you should definitely reach out to the instructors or alumni.
You’ll touch upon core CS concepts involving algorithms, design practices, time complexity /​big O, and data structures. The curriculum is curated by instructors who know what they’re talking about and will always deliver with quality.
One of the key things that a/​A taught us is: the learning never ends. a/​A teaches you how to do your own research, how to implement quickly and effectively, and not to be afraid to ask questions.

EDIT: Reposting here, because the App Academy page has moved.
Just about exactly one year ago, I was a final-​year undergrad at Oxford avoiding finals prep in every conceivable way. One of my more insidious procrastination techniques involved running through whatever programming tutorials and online courses I could get my hands on – Codecademy, Treehouse, you name it – and convincing myself that I was being productive.
But I knew that I wasn’t really being productive. I knew that programming was fun, and I enjoyed learning new skills, but I wasn’t actually producing anything new, beyond the interesting but impractical projects I built while following tutorials. I believed, at that point, that I’d missed the boat, that because I hadn’t grown up hacking through my teenage years or majored in Computer Science, that I had simply missed out on developing some creative part of my brain that connects the simple tools of if/​else and variables into beautiful, response web pages.
One year later, I don’t think that way anymore, and I don’t think anyone else should either. After completing the App Academy course four months ago, I’m now in my third month as a software engineer at a very well-​capitalized tech company on the verge of going public, working 40 hours a week on a big, hairy open-​source project to build the next big cloud computing platform (and writing iPhone apps in my spare time), and pulling down a six-​figure salary. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be anywhere near as happy a place as I am today without App Academy New York.
The curriculum is fast-​paced. You get what you put in. But because the work is so collaborative, and the application process so selective, it’s nearly impossible not to learn far faster than you would by hacking away on your own. There’s no hand-​holding here; no one’s teaching you how to use a tool without explaining how it works. And that’s its greatest strength: when you come out the other end of the program, you will have (at least in my experience) a *leg-​up* over recent Computer Science grads when it comes to web app development. I repeat, with three months of App Academy under your belt, you will have a *better understanding* of web app development than most recent 4-​year Computer Science college graduates, and a solid foundation on which to build expertise for more complicated software engineering problems, too.
From where I’m standing right now, it definitely feels like going to App Academy was the best decision I have ever made. So if you’re thinking about it, then apply, and if you get accepted, then take it. You won’t regret it.

App Academy is an incredible experience that will transform your life!
(A review by a British App Academy grad)
I heard about App Academy through a friend while I was living in London. At the time I was in a painfully dull job and was just looking for something interesting to do. I’d done a little recreational programming at university so I thought I would apply and see what happened. Now I’m a developer at a fantastic company with a great salary and an extremely exciting career ahead of me.
Moving to New York for the course was surprisingly straightforward. Because the course is only 84 days it can be done on an ESTA as long as you’re careful to site that it is a «recreational» vocational course with no qualifications.
To say that the course is demanding is something of an understatement. They really aren’t kidding when they say you should expect to spend the vast majority of your time coding for the duration of the course. However, the material is engaging and like many of my cohort I was so addicted that I found myself building code on the side.
The methodology that they teach at app academy sets you apart from other bootcamp graduates and indeed from other applicants for any job that you will apply for. The enforced pair programming not only serves as a way to get to know your cohort, but will stand you in excellent stead for joining some of the most exciting companies in the industry.
What really gives App Academy its colossal advantage over the other options is the quality of both students and instructors. Jonathan, Tommy and Constance are all exceptional teachers. I really can’t express the extent to which these three heroes make App Academy the powerhouse that it is. They will help you navigate the stresses of working at such a fast pace, infect you with their genuine passion for the web and make you feel like you belong in the world of tech. They are an absolute joy to learn from. My cohort was also full of exceptional people, many of whom I hope to keep in touch with for a long time to come. Being surrounded by such an incredible bunch of people really does make you feel a part of something special.
I should say that as a foreign student I was asked to pay the full cost of the course upfront, which is not mentioned in any of the FAQs. I consider it the best investment I have ever made by a significant margin, but I can understand your frustration if you can’t pull that sort of sum together. I only managed it through a friend.
If you’re thinking of applying, stop reading reviews and do it now. Right this instant.
If you are a British applicant and thinking of applying but are worried about the upheaval of moving, stop reading reviews and just do it already! It really will be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Graduate — September ’14 Cohort
Of all the institutions I’ve been a part of through my education and career, App Academy is probably the one I feel the most connection to and loyalty towards.
Unlike some of the boot camps springing up that seem to springing up to capture some quick profit, App Academy is building something awesome. With its highly selective admissions process and no-​tuition business model, App Academy is bringing innovation to the badly broken higher education system.
During my time at a/​A, I was surrounded by some of the the smartest, most driven people I have ever known. This environment lent itself to some seriously accelerated learning: a few months before I applied, I didn’t know the first thing about computer programming, and especially not about the arcana of web development. But by graduation day, I had landed a job at an awesome startup and have been impressing my superiors since (which is apparently normal for App Academy grads).
Some people took quite a bit longer to find jobs, but I don’t know anywhere from my cohort who has not yet found a good web dev job. And if you have even an iota of charisma (I think I do) or have a strong STEM background (I don’t), you can expect to find a job in no time.
So basically if you want to learn a ton from smart people with other smart people and then get paid money to keep doing that when you finish, do a/​A.
9.9÷10 Would do again.

Imagine being a level 1 Magikarp then — BAM! — you’re suddenly a HUMONGOUS FRICKEN GYRADOS.
That’s a precise description of how App Academy transformed me.
A+++++ would attend again

From dabbling with programming to actually working as a professional software developer is something I could not have done without App Academy. The curriculum helped me build a strong foundation in programming, build up a portfolio, and taught me the best practices and tools of the trade so I could hit the ground running in my new career. The instructors are top notch, and once you get on the job hunt, there’s a lot of resources and support to help land a great job, and continue learning.
I was also really impressed by the rest of my cohort. App Academy does a great job selecting smart and talented people making it a great environment to learn. If you’re serious about going into software development, this is the way to do it!

Here’s App Academy:
The cream of the crop (ivy league alumni, mathematic masters/​phds, garage hackers, etc.), shoved together in one room, study collectively for 80hrs a week for 3 – 4 months to learn fullstack software development, its current, best practices (pairing + tdd) and interviewing skills. Students breathe, eat and sleep development. App Academy’s greatest asset, its selection process, builds an incredible learning environment for future devs that want the right first step. That along with its living curriculum that is constantly being improved by each successive cohort of students leads to the insane 98% alumni to dev career rate that the program boasts.
I was a part of NY’s second cohort in the summer of 2013, I’ve since been a software dev for two years and am currently working for Groupon. I’ve referred both my brother and close college friend to the program as well and both are now professional devs. More than a handful of fellow a/​A alums have been coworkers of mine over the last 2 years.
As an interviewer for software devs at my previous employer, I can say that a/​A alums are held with a different regard when compared with alums from other bootcamps.
a/A’s tuition program is the key differentiating factor from other programs; it is literally invested in it’s students’ success.
I recommend to employers and prospective students both to make use of this wonderful program.

I would highly recommend App Academy. If you’re interested in becoming a software developer and are willing to work hard, this is the best way to do it. In just three months, I went from knowing only a little about coding to being employed as a full-​time software engineer at a major Bay Area tech company. The results from App Academy wildly exceeded my expectations, and I can’t wait to pursue a career in software. None of it would have been possible without App Academy.
Without going into too much detail, I’d say «believe the hype.» Right now there is a huge imbalance in the software market — demand for software developers is massively outstripping supply, and App Academy’s training will put you in position to get one of those highly coveted software jobs.
If you’d like to learn more about App Academy, check out the other reviews and navigate to the App Academy website to see some of the existing students’ blogs. Learning how to program at App Academy is an incredible experience, and if you’re on the fence about, remember this… leaving your current career may feel risky, but if you think you’d love programming then App Academy is totally worth it.

Some of the amazing benefits:
— It changes your life in 3 months
— You can make real friends who you’ll be in touch with for years and learn so much from
— You never feel like you’re learning something useless
— Only 2 months out and most of my classmates and I already have jobs (along with significant salary increases!)
Word to the wise:
The material is not always easy to grasp at first and the class moves so quickly that you must practice, practice, practice in your down time. There are weekly evaluations to make sure you are up to speed. I’d say i was spending 60 – 70 hours per week working. You cannot change your career without putting work and extra effort in, so you have to be willing to do that at App Academy. You will enjoy your new career, and App Academy gives you the fastest way of getting there.
Finally, the fantastic teachers make the hard work completely worth it. I had Jonathan, Tommy, and Constance. Jonathan was the main teacher, and he cared so much that we understood the material. Tommy made crucial edits to my resume, helping me to land a job I really enjoy. Constance, the TA, has an insane amount of knowledge, and answered every questions I had and every bug I encountered within seconds.

I have no reservations about recommending App Academy to anyone who is motivated to start a career as a software developer. I’ve now been working as a software engineer for over a year, and App Academy gave me the skills I have needed to be successful.
I found the curriculum to be highly effective — by making you work through everything yourself in the projects, you really absorb the skills at a very quick rate and in addition, they emphasized the principles behind the tools, so that you can continue to grow as an engineer on your own after the program.
The NYC instructor Jonathan is fantastic — he really cares about his students, is great at explaining concepts to people with a variety of backgrounds, and loves to share his enthusiasm with the whole class.

I graduated from a/​A NYC as a part of the March 2014 cohort. I was a business student at NYU at the time and wanted to learn how to program in order to prototype my own ideas. I made the decision to drop my minor, graduate a semester early and attend App Academy in lieu of my spring semester.
I knew very little about programming other than small but ultimately futile attempts to self teach. I found that it was difficult to ascertain what languages to learn, how to learn them, and ultimately how all they all fit together. App Academy provided the structure and guidance I needed to steadily learn and build my skills without falling into the traps I encountered while self teaching.
That being said, it proved to be very rigorous and required a great deal of dedication. This only better prepared me for landing a job as a software engineer. After being hired and seeing prospective employees from other bootcamps it became clear to me that App Academy is in the top tier of programming bootcamps. Overall an invaluable experience.

It is because of App Academy that I am a software engineer today. I was a mechanical engineer looking to transition to software development in the most efficient way possible. App Academy was exactly what I needed. Their intensive curriculum covers everything one would need to start out in the world of web development, from the basics to the bleeding edge. After 3 months I was building the front and back end of web applications using some of the newest tools and methodologies out there in this field.
This program is for the passionate and motivated. If you’re serious about transitioning into the world of software development, then do yourself a favor and apply.

My path to becoming a professional software engineer was rather roundabout.
I earned a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland way back in 2002, but changed paths immediately upon graduation and ended up working in Real Estate for more than a decade. Last year I decided to return to my software roots and even generated some interest and meager entry-​level offers from employers due to my degree. However, I knew that I could be more valuable if I refreshed and updated my skills.
After a bit online research, I came upon App Academy. Their statistics were impressive and their unique contingent tuition payment was very appealing. I applied, attended the November ’14 class, graduated, and am now employed with a much better salary than was possible before a/​A.
Going into the class I expected it to be a breeze due to my background. I was mistaken. It wasn’t that the material itself was incredibly difficult…
If you are one of the few accepted into a/​A, then you will be perfectly capable of mastering the material. My former classmates are some of the brightest people I’ve ever met…
It was that we learned an incredible amount in a relatively short period of time. It was an intense experience that required all of my discipline and dedication. Also, the languages, frameworks, and real-​world programming techniques that we learned, which are all in high demand with employers, are not taught in traditional colleges and universities.
After completing the technical materials, there was a curriculum on the job search. It helped me to greatly improve my résumé and online presence. It also covered various techniques for interviews that helped me feel confident in mine.
Finally, I must say that the professor and teaching assistants were fantastic. They are passionate about programming, helpful to those who need it, and even carry a good sense of humor!

I originally wrote this review 02/​21/​2015 but I saw they changed their page. It’s 09/​11/​2015 and I still hold it highly. :)
If you are serious about programming, you should consider App Academy. I’ve made some great friends throughout the program and it represents one of the major turning points of my life.
You will learn the modern libraries, tools and technologies so well it’ll stun those friends you have with CS backgrounds.
But you don’t just learn technologies here; you learn how to problem solve in computer science. You will implement recursion, breadth-​first-​search, trees, within the first week. You will learn how to bug-​chase. The curriculum at the end has intensive algorithmic training.
Yet, the most valuable part about the program that differentiates it over bootcamps is that by the end you become a developer with these traits:
Speed. We learned JavaScript in a week. I don’t think I need to say more.
Technique. Source control and awareness of conventions and CS/​Web Dev culture. You learn the sources, and shortcuts. You learn to be thorough and to leave projects better than they were before you touched them.
Communication. In pair programming for the majority of the exercises, you get to gain the invaluable skill of how to communicate technically with another developer.
Work-​ethic. All I need to say is that even those with CS backgrounds were overwhelmed.
By the 9^th week you can make an application. A styled professional project you will be so proud of. From the database schema, to the back-​end API, to the front-​end framework. It’s your baby!
And, of course, that’s not enough. At App Academy pace, you are trained for the job hunt. You learn how to hustle and play the game. You get advice on difficult topics like negotiation and you practice interview problems. This alone is worth the cost of the program.
I need to emphasize that a/​A isn’t just a cold-​blooded employment agency. They actually care. When I needed to calm down before a phone screen, my teachers were there for me. When I told them I felt overwhelmed and frustrated the first week, my TAs sent me a pages-​long response telling me I could do it. They care much more than they should just to take their pay cut. They continually improve the curriculum, and welcome feedback from the course.
Now, my story: I’m absolutely not the natural in my cohort. I failed the first assessment. The averages, BTW are nearly 100% on those unit tests every week. I have never taken a formal CS class. I had to work my ass off and at times I didn’t think I was going to make it. But I learned, and I produced, aided by all of those around me. The good thing about having smart people around you is that you can count on them to help you!
And it paid off. Instead of writing this post, I should be preparing for further interviews at Facebook and Google. I cried when I made it past the first round at Google, one of the toughest processes in the CS industry. This is for a Software Engineer position — the job that CS grads go for. I have offers with other companies I found really exciting too.
4 months ago being a programmer was just a dream and now it’s who I am. I am by no means the exception, I am one of many. The first person in my cohort to be hired has no CS background. People without college degrees, people with PhDs, people that are older — all of them have had success. I know because each and every colleague is also my friend.
If this sounds dramatic, it’s because it is. It’s dramatic that months ago I had no idea what any of this really was and I wanted to change my career so badly. Now I’m coding up implementations for complex data structures (I like the CS theory a little too much…) and I have the privilege, solely based on my technical ability, to prove myself before the companies that inspire me.
The only flaw about the program is that the office has (had?) really weird temperature issues. It’s the price you pay for having tall windows facing east on beautiful Soho. Bring a sweater.

This program was one of the best single pieces of education I have received. I did a lot of shopping around before choosing App Academy. I looked at tons of other software development bootcamps. One of the reasons I chose a/​A in New York is because of the instructor Jonathan. I had heard great things about him when he taught in SF, and now he is running the show in NY.
Jonathan is one of the best teachers /​professors I have ever had. He truly cared about each student, took time to present information in a way that was easy for everyone to digest, and then took the one-​on-​one time that was necessary to ensure that everyone understood (at a fundamental level) each concept that was presented.
The class is fast paced, so don’t think it’s easy. It will be challenging, and it will be grueling, and it will be WORTH IT.
I think software development is a skill everyone should invest some time in learning. It doesn’t really matter what industry you’re in, software is a part of it now. So do yourself a favor, sign up for App Academy, and spend two and a half months of your life giving yourself some knowledge and a skill that you surely won’t regret having.

I was in the March-​May 2014 NYC cohort of App Academy.
I thought App Academy was one of the best learning experiences I’ve ever had. It was really demanding (11 – 14 hour workdays + weekend work), but also incredibly rewarding. I really thought the course was extremely densely packed with information, and I also thought they taught it very effectively by having such a high percentage of class time (80−100%) be working through coding projects.
I got a web developer job one month after graduating at a company I’m really passionate, and, coming from an Economics major with zero professional programming experience, I think it would have been nearly impossible without App Academy.
Finally, from what I’ve gathered, it really does compare very well with other Bootcamps (e.g. General Assembly, Dev Bootcamp). App Academy grads I’ve met almost uniformly are quite competent at the fundamentals of building web applications.
As long as you can keep up with the work, you’re probably find it extremely valuable, as I did.