How to Launch a Software Engineer Career with App Academy

Businesses worldwide use software applications to drive better customer experience and make more sales. According to eMarketer, the global market for e-commerce software was about $6.2 billion in 2019 and is predicted to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3 percent through 2027. Translation: expect a greater demand for software engineers.

Aside from the impressive growth and employment forecasts, the software engineering career path can also be financially rewarding. The average annual salary for an entry-level software engineer in the United States is $77,427.

Despite the several opportunities available in the field, experts still lament the shortage of software engineers and its impacts on business which include low innovation and reduced growth.

Coding bootcamps like App Academy help bridge the skills gap by providing quality software engineering training to people with or without tech backgrounds. Within a few months, students can level up from novice to expert software engineers.

How to Become a Software Engineer with App Academy

App Academy has several software engineering programs designed to fit students with varying commitments and needs. Each program differs in duration, but the quality of training and additional support is kept uniform. The school offers the following programs:

1. Campus Software Engineering Program

This program is the fastest track to becoming a software engineer with App Academy. You will learn the fundamentals of JavaScript, Git, React, Redux, HTML, CSS, and several other languages.

You will also build a multi-app portfolio to successfully start your software development career. The curriculum includes Ruby on Rails, which is in high demand among several San Francisco, New York, and Silicon Valley companies.

More so, the program aims to promote an intimate classroom experience. It admits about 50 students per cohort with a student-instructor ratio of about 8:1. The first two weeks of the program are offered online while the remaining modules are in person at App Academy’s New York and San Francisco campuses.

The upfront tuition for the program is $17,000.

2. Online Software Engineering Program – Full Time

This is another variant of App Academy’s full-time program. Like the above, it also requires students to dedicate at least nine hours to learning from Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm PST daily. 

This program runs at a slower pace compared to the earlier program. This allows students to take their time to fully grasp programming topics and reduces the rigors that naturally come with learning programming. Students can redo a week at no extra cost if they do not fully understand the topics they were taught.

Curriculum-wise, the program is similar to the Campus Software Engineering program except that it teaches Python in place of Ruby. Python is a high-demand language and a must-have for many automation and big data platforms. Students will also learn the fundamentals of JavaScript, React, Redux, CSS, and several other languages.

The upfront tuition cost is $20,000. Students may also sign an Income Share Agreement, an income-tied loan that allows you to learn without paying the bulk of your tuition up front in exchange for a fraction of your future income over a set number of months. 

3. Online Software Engineering Program – Part Time

The Online Software Engineering Program – Part Time runs for around 48 weeks, on average. The modules comprise interactive lessons and hands-on exercises using Python, JavaScript, HTML, and other programming languages. Students at this bootcamp will also get access to other benefits that the full-time program offers like live pair programming, live lectures, access to career coaches, and many more.

The program is designed for working professionals who wish to get software engineering training without quitting their day job. The classes are held from Monday to Thursday, 7pm to 10 pm PST for those on the West Coast and 6pm to 9pm for those on the East Coast. On Saturdays, both cohorts come together from 9am to 3.30pm PST to conclude the lessons for the week.

The Online Software Engineering Program – Part Time program costs $22,000 when paid in full. App Academy also offers the Income Share Agreement in this program.

Is the App Academy Software Engineering Program Worth It?

Expect a Robust Support System

For newcomers in tech, learning to code may be challenging. App Academy provides extensive support to students—from the get-go until they get a job. With the admissions team’s guidance, students explore all program and payment options available to them before choosing what fits them best. The team also guides students through the entire application process.

The instructors and teaching assistants lead interactive classroom and practical sessions and assist students who may have any difficulty in learning. Students also have access to a mentor who helps to provide the necessary motivation and insights needed to succeed in the bootcamp and the actual workforce.

The support culture in App Academy also goes beyond the staff-student relationship. Students get a lot of help from one another and the vast network of App Academy alumni. Additionally, they have access to workshops and seminars that expose them to the tech industry and prepare them for the job search.

Virginia Chen, an App Academy graduate, speaks of the training as a life-changing experience: “I like how intense the training was and I liked having a whole classroom of people to go through it with. You spend so much time in the classroom with these people and the TAs, so that is really helpful.”

The career team is another significant stakeholder that helps students achieve their dreams of getting a tech job. They help students develop compelling cover letters and resumes, assist them through job search, and prepare them for interviews.

Gain Access to Industry-Relevant Training

To begin with, App Academy’s programs typically start with teaching programming fundamentals where students will be introduced to HTML, CSS, Git, Github, Boolean Logic, JavaScript, Node, and Command line.

Next, students extend their skills by learning effective methods for storing data and developing algorithms. They delve into object-oriented programming, algorithms sorting, and testing. After that, the curriculum focuses on teaching full stack web development fundamentals and their operating principles.

Once those backgrounds are established, students learn backend development and engineering principles. They learn how to create and maintain the server-side of web applications by using SQL, Express, and object-relational mappers. Moving on, they create front end frameworks to create single-page applications for the web using React, Hooks, and Redux.

According to two App Academy alumni, the online software engineering programs are worth it as they teach crucial skills that can unlock life-changing opportunities.

Daniel Fletcher, an alumnus, said, “App Academy was a full-time thing [for me] and I am amazed this all worked out. Now at my new job, I feel motivated and energized in the same way as when I started App Academy because I have a ton of opportunities to learn.”

Another alumnus, Zhyliana Garcia had this to say: “App Academy is simply top-notch. It presents really complicated topics and breaks them down to what you need to know. In the last three weeks of the bootcamp, I learned how to be a job-ready software engineer. I learned how to build resumes, prepare for interviews, and negotiate salaries. That [salary negotiation] is something I would have never done, if not for the big push I got.”

How to Pay for App Academy

Accessibility and inclusion are some of the fundamental philosophies that drive App Academy’s operations. In that light, the coding bootcamp ensures that there are several ways to pay for any program you choose.

Upfront Payment

Students can pay the entire tuition fee before their cohort’s start date. For example, a student that signed up for the Campus Software Engineering can pay $17,000 up front before starting the program. 

Hybrid Payment

The hybrid plan is only available for the Campus Software Engineering program. It allows students to pay a large part of the tuition up front and complete the payment when they get a job. Students who opt for this plan will pay $9,000 before the cohort starts and then $14,000 only if and when they get a job.

Deferred Payment Plan

The deferred payment plan is available to students of all programs who reside in California. If you enroll in the Campus Software Engineering program and opt for the deferred payment plan, you’ll have to pay a $3,000 deposit.

The tuition payment will only kick off after they get a qualifying job. Then, they will pay $25,000 in installments over nine to 13 months. Note that these terms are unique to the Campus Software Engineering program and show some variance for the other programs.

Income Share Agreement

The Income Share Agreement plan is an income-tied loan available to students in the online Full-Time and Part-Time programs. The payment plan allows them to attend the training with zero-dollar upfront payment, or with a $3,000 deposit if the student is enrolled in the Part-Time Online program.

In exchange, they will be required to pay 15 percent of their future gross monthly salary if they get a job paying at least $50,000. The repayment process will continue for three years or until the payment cap is reached.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Adding to those, App Academy also provides several other financial aids to assist students who cannot afford the tuition and others who are from underrepresented communities in tech. They include the Deposit Assistant Programs and the Access Scholarship.

Through the Access Scholarship, App Academy aims to advance a more diverse and inclusive tech community. It gives $5,000 to qualifying students to subsidize their tuition. The scholarship is available for all App Academy programs and to both local and international students.

Launch Your Career with App Academy

The path to becoming a software engineer is filled with many hurdles. That’s why App Academy provides the resources—a well-structured curriculum, seasoned instructors, and strong career support—to help you start a career in software engineering. With nearly a decade in operation, App Academy has trained over 4,500 students to become full stack engineers and helped them get jobs.

With programs offering varying modes of delivery and duration, learning to code at App Academy can easily fit into anyone’s schedule. Download App Academy’s Student’s Experience Packet today for more in-depth details about the coding bootcamp and its programs.