Fullstack Academy

II was a part of WDF Fullstack Academy Bootcamp for a period of almost 6 months and when I look back at my journey it still feels unreal sometimes because the growth I have achieved and the amount of knowledge I have gained in such a short period is something I had been aspiring to achieve for a long time. 

I found my interest for programming during my undergrad and I knew I wanted to pursue it as my career but I faced a lot of hurdles along the way and could not pave a path by myself through online courses and self study. My husband told me about bootcamps and how they provide you with the skillset needed in the job market today in a short interval of time. During my search for bootcamps, I stumbled across many options, all promising to offer the best learning experience and future career goals and i was over whelmed by the number of options I had. I decided to reach out to alums of various programs and ask them how their experience had been first hand during their time at various bootcamps. After hearing back from a number of people praising Fullstack Academy's teaching methods and how their curriculum taught frontend and backend in the same language (Javascript), I was convinced on joining this program.

The next hurdle I faced was to figure out how to pay my tuition for the program and the two options I came across on Fullstack Academy's web-page were:

1) Web Development Fellowship NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Program (free of cost sponsored by the state)

2) Their all female (Grace Hopper) deferred tuition payment program

I applied for the WDF program and gave the Grace Hopper as my second option( in-case i don't make it through to the program i really wanted to join). I was asked to take an online assessment and after a one month long wait time (the longest wait of my life), I was told I have not made it thorough directly to the program and that I have to attend an on-campus Bootcamp Prep Course and if i pass that, i would be officially accepted into the WDF program. How could i say no and honestly it was the best opportunity for me because i like working under pressure. 

Bootcamp Prep was a fast paced one month long course where we were on-campus for 3 hours on weekdays (evening) and were first given a lecture on the topic and then a workshop to be completed in pairs. (Yes pair programming was one of the things we were being tested on in order to qualify for the program) The instructors who taught us during this course (Sean and Corey) were the best I could have asked for. They were very experienced in the course material they were teaching and had a solid grasp on the concepts being taught. They kept us all on our feet and made the lectures were interactive and energetic. In this course, we took 2 exams and their accumulated score along with an individuals attendance and collaboration during pair programming were taken under consideration to decide who would be considered for the interview phase of the program. I was selected and after an online live coding challenge, I was given the news of making it successfully to the WDF program. 

Next came the Foundation phase, this is where all the pure Javascript core features were taught to us via online recorded videos and workshops( for WDF students, it was mandatory to be on-campus for this phase). We had instructors there to guide us and teaching fellows helping us along the way if we got stuck at anything. This phase involved taking a 3 hour long test every week to make sure each student was on track and if not, was provided with full guidance and help to keep up with the curriculum. The end of this phase was marked with a grand test passing which put me through onto the next phase; the Junior Phase. This is where all the major technology and softwares were taught and was the core portion of learning in this bootcamp. We started off with backend first and then moved onto to front end in the later weeks. In this phase, we were given a lecture every morning (sometimes twice a day) by our instructors (Corey and Dan) who by the way brought so much energy every morning that I found it hard to not pay attention to what was being taught and Dan with is funny jokes made sure to keep his audience awake and upbeat. Following the lecture we had to complete a workshop (pair program) based on the topic taught to us. Pair programming provided me with the opportunity to look at problems from another persons perspective which comes in very handy later on when finding jobs because you would be asked to solve questions in many different ways during interview process. The curriculum that was taught and the way it was planned to be taught was something I really found helpful because implementing a topic right after learning about it, really helped me understand it well and once i wrote the code myself, it helped me memorize the syntax as well. This phase also involved weekly tests to check the progress of each student and to provide them with any help needed. Study Saturdays were also implemented to help the individuals who were lagging and to keep them up to pace of the program. 

The last phase is the Senior Phase which revolves around projects and prepping for the job search related material. We had to complete a total of 3 projects during this time and they became a part of my portfolio once i graduated. This phase really hits it home because you actually build and deploy apps and web pages that others can access using the tech taught during the bootcamp and learning and implementing new tech along the way. Career advisers helped me along the way to formulate a resume, update linkedIn profile and  with other career related stuff. This phase is a little hectic with longer working hours but it really pays off since the things that I created during this time were the ones I talked about during many of my job interviews.

All in all, Fullstack Academy really changed my life because it gave me the proper skill set and knowledge that is currently a requirement of the job market and not only that, it also prepared me so that if i want to learn things on my own, I am more than capable of doing it now. The confidence I achieved during this program is huge and I was honored to be a part of an environment where everyone supported each other, no one was left behind and where no question was left un-answered. 

I recommend this program to anyone who is looking to make a career change and just as I took the word of alums who experienced this first hand, take my word for it and you would not be disappointed.

TLDR
- Amazing life changing experience
- You get out of this program what you put in, so give it your all!
- Hired fast and increased my salary

My time at Fullstack Academy (FSA) was amazing.  I left my job 12/2017 that I felt trapped in, I was unhappy with, and I was not making much for the dissatisfaction. I completed the program at the Chicago Campus and became a teaching fellow (a position you apply for as a senior during the program). I received a Job offer one week after completing the fellowship nearly doubling my previous salary. 
One week and those kinds of gains are NOT typical of the program. I had a low paying job before, and I was very lucky that a company wanted to hire me after Launch day (the event at the end of Fullstack's program where you have a number of 10-minute interviews with companies that are hiring developers). 
Many people that have gone through FSA have had a transformative experience. I am one of those people. My confidence has been restored. I have confirmed my passion for programming and expect a long and fulfilling career in development. I spoke to a previous student at Launch Day (actually a member of the team that hired me) and we both talked about how we almost didn't trust the reviews and testimonials because they seemed too good. I am perpetuating the cycle of people gushing way to hard.
 
I believe my linked in will be on this post, so if you are mulling over going and want to talk someone who did it and does not work for the school feel free to reach out.  

I was part of the first WDF cohort. We spent almost 5 months on the NYC campus going first through the foundational materials and later through the main curriculum. Fullstack gave me a very solid understanding of software engineering principles, and most importantly, taught me how to be self sufficient. 

The instructors and the stuff were excellent. I was never bored but was continuosly challenged. The level of students at FS is very high, yet everybody was always super supportive.

I accepted a job offer at arguably one of the toughest companies to get in after about 4 months after graduation. 

If you are thinking about becoming a professional developer, I can't recommend Fullstack enough. With that being said, I want to empisize that your results will be directly proportionate to the effort you put in (during the program and especially during the job search).

I recently graduated from the FSA program in NYC. Before joining fullstack, I have no experience in coding. I wrote my first line of code in June 2017 while I was taking online prep course to get ready for FSA's interview. 

The program at FSA is amazing, awesome, full of fun, and a lot of hard work. I would like to give a shout out to the instructors - Geoff and Omri. They are both very knowledgeable in the course curriculum and are extremely supportive and thorough to explain concepts to us. I have taken numerous online tutorials and I don't think any tutors that I had online can compare to these two dedicated instructors. That really sets apart Fullstack from any other bootcamps. Once you go Geoff and Omri, you can never go back!!

Towards the end of the program, there is a huge emphasis on career coaching. We were being mentored by a one-on-one career coach as well as the support from the entire career success team. At the end of the program, there is a Lunch Day where companies come on campus. I was really impressed by the Lunch Day and quite a few individuals from my cohort get recruited that way. However, I didn't get recruit through the hiring day and instead stumbled upon this role on LinkedIn. If I were to tell you getting a job is easy, I would be lying to you. If requires a lot of hard work and I did apply to hundreds of jobs online. However, what keeps me motivated throughout this process is Jackie - my career counselor. She really did take the time to keep us on track on a weekly basis, and helps us stay positive. I wouldn't have done it without all the pouring love and support from FSA. 

If anyone is considering a bootcamp, definitely Fullstack. Because not only you learn to be an excellent programmer, you also make friends that would last for a lifetime, and the impacts that each individual who works at Fullstack on me in insurmountable. I love FSA!

I graduated from the Grace Hopper program in 2018 and 2 months after graduation, I received an offer from my current company, who I came into initial contact with during Fullstack's Hiring Day. Prior to the program, I had no experience in Computer Science or Software Engineering, and Fullstack took me from having never touched a line of code to landing a full time software engineering role in a matter of months. I highly recommend this program for anyone interested in making a career change. Rather than paying to return to college, paying to attend an immersive program to learn a highly marketable skill is the way to go. The instructors at Fullstack are extremely knowledgeable and invested in the students' work and success. The career success emphasis helped greatly in preparing me for my job search and the practical knowledge I gained in such a short amount of time made the overall experience incredibly worth it!

So the big question, is it worth it? Definitely. 100%. I was actually a bit nervous because it's a lot of money to put into a for-profit school. But as someone who holds a CS degree, what you get from Fullstack Academy is far more than a piece of paper.

The first thing I want to say is I think bootcamps are underrated. In general, many of the things taught in Computer Science tend to be too theoretical and divorced from what actually happens in the industry. That is not to say that a CS degree is useless. But Fullstack Academy keeps up with the industry and teaches technologies that employers are looking for. It's like an alumni that came to campus to speak who does actual hiring said. Bootcamp graduates hit the ground running.

The second thing is that the community is just amazing. I've met so many amazing people through the program. As someone else in my cohort said, I'm just amazed at the people I've met. We've had so many fun times together and created some cool projects along the way. And we'll continue to help each other in the future. I feel like these bonds will last a lifetime. And it's also because of the community that I've come so far. When I first attended Fullstack, I would say I was a super social recluse. But everyone accepted me for who I am, and through my experience here with them, I became a bit more social and better at communicating my thoughts.

And the instructors (and the teaching fellows) really care about the students. I want to give a shoutout to Geoff Bass, Omri Bernstein and Corey Greenwald. One of the things you will have to do by the end of Senior Phase is make a Portfolio Enrichment Piece about a technical topic. I wrote mine during Review Week, which is the gap between Junior Phase and Senior Phase. And Geoff gave me a lot of good comments on how to improve my PEP, which was a blog post on Medium. He told me how like I was underselling myself because it was obvious I put a lot of work into researching my topic. By the way, listen to career services and your instructors when they say to do it during Review Week because a million things happen during Senior Phase (I am 100% glad I did it during Review Week). When I did a mock technical interview with Omri, he pointed out what I could do better (like eye contact and telling the interviewer that I'm thinking) and that helped me a lot in interviews. As far as I know, the instructors like Corey help alumni with mock interviews all day even after graduation.

I could write a lot more, but to restate what I said in the beginning, I'd definitely recommend Fullstack Academy 100% to anyone looking to get into Software Development. When I had graduated from college, it was really hard looking for a job. I was on my own, and I didn't have any side projects and I was not that great at communicating. But coming to Fullstack, I gained a portfolio of side projects, along with friends for life, along with better communication skills, along with full stack web development skills (which I connect together with the skills from my CS degree). And now I have an offer that I have accepted.

And the career success team is really awesome as well. They help you with your Resume, your LinkedIn, Follow-Ups, Meetups, etc. They're always there helping you 100% to get that software engineering job. It's very very personal compared to college in my opinion. I wanted to also give a shoutout to our career success counselors, Jackie Ore, Rachel Fogel and Natalie Giuliano, because they worked really hard (and continue to do so) to help us throughout the process to get that job.

I am a graduate from Fullstack's Immersive Course in NYC, and I don't think I can fully explain how thankful I am for Fullstack's guidance, from the instructors to the fellows to the student experience specialists to the career counselors. I had so much support every step of the way, from the moment Foundations started and never ceases to end.

There isn't enough gratitude in the world to explain how much the staff at Fullstack cares about their students, and how much effort they put in to maximize our results as developers. My instructors during my time as a student and fellow were Omri Bernstein, Cassio Zen, Corey Greenwald, and Geoff Bass. They were all instrumental in my growth as a developer, answering my questions both with ease and with excitement. They were also crucial for the very stressful times, as the course is extremely intensive, during my senior phase and my time as a fellow.

You know the whole "10/10 would do it again" spiel? Yeah, I'm on that train.

I recently graduated Fullstack Academy, the full-time immersive cohort in NYC. I highly reommend this program to anyone who is interested. Below are my thoughts.

A quick background, I was a finance major who felt like software engineering was an important skill to understand to stay relevant and valuable in the job search. However, I was skeptical of bootcamps - can I really learn to code in 3 months?? Will an employer ever actually hire someone with 3 months of coding knowledge? Seemed too good to be true.

However, when I got to FSA, I was impressed at the skill level of the instructors. I went to a good high-school and college, yet the instructors at FSA were by far the best instructors of any educational institution I had ever learned at. They take incredibly complex concepts and make them totally digestable. When you're confused, they take time with you, one on one, to uncover the confusing parts of the course and teach it to you at another angle. Behind the scenes, FSA keeps track of every single student's progress to ensure they are ready to move on and forward. 

So when you're choosing your bootcamp, ask about the teachers. They are the mentors you will learn from day in and day out and if they aren't talented, you will have a harder time getting hired. At FSA, the questions I asked at the beginning: "can I really learn to code in 3 months?? Will an employer ever actually hire someone with 3 months of coding knowledge?" have been answered. Yes, you can learn to code in 3 months (and at a skill level much higher than some of the other devs out in the working world). It's hard work, but totally worth it. 

I graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and knew that I needed another practical skill to make me more marketable.  I lacked any internship experience from college since I had switched majors. I had heard about software engineering bootcamps that would be beneficial for people who were interested in code and a career in technology.  I knew how to code through some of my coursework but I hadn't done any real development so I knew I needed to get ready for a coding exam (such as the Fullstack entrance exam).

I spent a month learning JS through free resources I found online including some free bootcamp prep sites. I applied to a few bootcamps and decided on Fullstack from the reviews I read and the experience I had during the coding interview. I can definitively say I made the right decision for me. I felt it would take my analytical thinking style and give me something tangible, and through studying for the entrance exam I found a real love for coding.

The program itself is intense and very fast paced. Theres a foundational period where you learn basics and more advanced topics, in general programming. It's a very valuable experience and something I go back to this day. The instructors are phenomenal.

The onsite immersive part of the bootcamp is another beast, but its easily the best part. For me pair programming and spending time with others is the best and learning from such skilled instructors only made the experience better. Imposter syndrome can set in because you are surrounded by such talented and smart people, but theres a real sense of community and feeling that everyone wants you to succeed. Its very hands on and gives you real practical knowledge and experience to take forward into your career.

The career services and post Fullstack experience were equally amazing. They care and prepare you well for what lies ahead.  They know what goes into interviewing and landing jobs at top tech firms and prepare you very well. They set in stone habits that make you not only a good programmer, but a good engineer.

I cannot say enough good things about Fullstack. The friends I've made, the skills I've learned, and the vast network of skilled engineers who are always available to help is well worth the time and money spent.

I graduated from college with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and then spent the next 5 years as an officer in the Navy running nuclear reactors. I decided that I did not want to spend the rest of my life deploying for 9 months at a time so I was going to leave the military once my commitment was complete. I started playing around with coding a bit and I fell in love with it. I would think I was working on a problem for 30 minutes and actually, several hours had gone by.

I started to research the logistics of acquiring a masters degree in CS, but I quickly learned that it was going to take me around 2 years to complete the necessary coursework. So, I decided on attending a coding bootcamp. After looking through all of the available options, I decided on Fullstack. 

The reason that I chose Fullstack is simply that they teach you how to learn to be a programmer. Many of the boot camps that exist today are teaching some boilerplate code template, and as soon as you deviate from that one bit, you are lost. Fullstack does not do this, they truly teach you the fundamentals of coding and you learn how to build full web applications. After attending Fullstack, I had no issues picking up and using other technologies or languages because the foundations were put in place.

The program itself is a fast-paced fully immersive program where you will spend your days learning at a rate that you likely have not experienced before. At first, it is very tough, but your mind just needs a bit of time to adjust to the pace. After about a week, the speed at which the information is coming at you is no longer an issue.

The approach that Fullstack takes of learning by doing was by far my favorite part of the program. I personally despise being PowerPoint-ed to death, and the program tries very hard to minimize the amount of time you are in a lecture compared to the amount of time you are actively building a project. 

I also can't say enough about the staff and students at Fullstack. Some of my best friends in the Chicago area are from the people that I attended the program with. It was awesome getting to spend 3 months working with like-minded individuals who actually were interested in learning the material, not people who were in class because they were expected to be there. 

Fullstack also does a very good job of preparing you for the job search. During the senior phase of the program you spend time each morning doing technical interview type questions on a whiteboard. These problems really set me up for success during my job hunt, and I was able to do very well in my technical interviews. Because of what I learned at Fullstack I ended up getting and accepting an offer at very good company 2 weeks after I graduated. 

I can't recommend Fullstack enough and if you do decide to attend, Ben N. Ben W., Collin, Finn, Brett, Priti, and Holley will make sure it is an absolutely amazing experience.

The Summer of Code (SOC) program was an excellent option for a (then) soon-to-be graduating student like me. I've done my best to briefly describe the reasons why - 

0. 'How' to learn Comp. Sci. concepts -

One of the skills which I use every day as a software engineer is the ability to learn new computer science concepts/material/technologies quickly, and then implement them. Full stack's immersive is designed to teach you 'how to learn' along with 'what to learn'.

1. Curriculum & staff - 

One of the things which struck me about the curriculum was that how well detailed and thorough it was. The instructors have perfected the curriculum over time. Additionally, the 'career success' team are very helpful in getting you ready for interviews.

2. Practical coding skills - 

Most computer science students will relate to this: you know what a database, server & web page is on paper, but how do you implement them together, seamlessly? Building 2 live websites/apps in teams, using Git, was when I realized - now, I'm a software engineer who can make things.

3. Strong network & colleagues -

My colleagues were highly determined and bright students. It was great to work & get to know them - and then go on to be part of the Full stack alumni network. 

The Summer of Code program is perfectly scheduled during the summer break between semesters and I highly recommend it to any soon-to-be graduating student!

I graduated from college with a degree in theoretical math and I had no idea what to do next. Luckily I had a friend who was a year above me with the same major who went on to attend a bootcamp and land a great job quickly. So I began to teach myself to code during the summer while looking into bootcamps.

Fullstack Academy was at the top of every list for bootcamps and it has a Chicago location, which was important to me. I decided to attend Fullstack's bootcamp prep in order to progress my JavaScript skills, to make sure coding was right for me and also to experience Fullstack’s culture. I highly recommend bootcamp prep because it reassured me that this huge commitment I was about to make was right for me, I got a lot of questions answered and felt very prepared to take the assessment and interview for Fullstack which has a rigorous admission process.

I personally believe the immersive portion of Fullstack is so great because:

1. They teach you more in six weeks than you can probably teach yourself and having great instructors, fellows and classmates makes this easier because there are people who can answer questions, remind you to stay motivated and push you even further. I believe great people come through the program and make it even more exceptional than it already is. This is portion of the program though was the hardest for me, I felt overwhelmed a lot of days and wasn't sure I was picking up the material fast enough because the pace of the program is quick, but I just kept moving forward and it all came together.

2. The second part of the bootcamp is all project based which leads to having things to put on your resume. I really solidified my knowledge during this part of the program and gained confidence that I could work a job in this field. I also loved that Fullstack emphasizes a git workflow and agile methodology for teams since this is often found in the real world. My advice for this portion of the program is to figure out what you love and how to incorporate your background somehow with coding. It will make for a seamless transition to finding a job if you work on projects that you truly care about and are in areas you want to get a job in.

3. Fullstack also has a great career success team. To be honest I was pretty skeptical about this since I think getting a job is hard and I didn’t believe there was honestly that much they can do. But I was wrong because by doing whiteboard problems every morning in the second half, I was prepared for those during interviews. There are also practice technical and behavioral interviews which truly helped me prepare for those questions since I was given great feedback. I also got a lot of resume feedback and honesty it is just a great place to make connections. Go to meetups, reach out to other Fullstack grads and use your own connections and I believe you will be successful because Fullstack prepares you to be. I received 3 offers 3 weeks after finishing and I felt that Fullstack prepared me for the interview process.

Just remember the point isn’t to finish the bootcamp but to become an excellent coder. Fullstack is an absolutely wonderful resource to achieve this but it requires a lot of commitment from the student to push themselves and ask questions when necessary. You might remember being told to go to office hours all the time in college and similarly go to office hours with instructors and fellows during the program because they are there to help you and can only do that if you make it clear to them that you want and need help. 

And finally just remember to always question why you are using a technology/library/framework, what are the benefits, the downsides and what would you do if you didn't use that specific one. I think it's easy to just be told we are using React and not think about why and other considerations. This truly was my experience at Fullstack and I hope this helped. Good luck if you are applying!