Fullstack Academy - Chicago, Illinois

Yaodi H.

I had a great experience during my time at Fullstack Academy Chicago, and the people there really foster an awesome environment for learning. The instructors are very knowledgeable, friendly, and accessible. The fellows are always there to help someone through a bug or a difficult concept. The students are committed to learning and helping each other out. The career success lead Holly did a great job helping me transition to my first software developer role, even months after I graduated. Fullstack really built an incredible community with good people, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone trying to break into the software development field.

Alex G.

Attending Fullstack Academy was one of the best decisions of my life. It took me in less than six months (including prep courses before the bootcamp itself) from being completely unfamiliar with code to having enough skills to make projects of my own. On top of that, the fellowship program gave me work experience that let me prove myself to future employers. Because of fullstack, i was able to land a job right out of the gate and am able to start a promising career in tech development. A great choice for anyone out of college trying to find a path!

Helen L.

I found my love for programming very late in college, and as a result was unable to pursue it very far while I was still in school. I weighed the option of a masters vs. a boot camp, and ultimately decided that a boot camp made more sense for me both professionally and financially. When it came to choosing which boot camp I wanted to do, I didn’t shop around much. I figured that if I was going to invest so much time and money, I was going to do it at the best boot camp.

Coming out of Fullstack, I can confidently say that enrolling here as a student was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself. The program offers high quality instruction, and the staff and instructors are dedicated to creating the best possible experience for students. My fellow cohort-mates as well as the alumni I’ve met have also all been incredibly supportive. I’m now gearing up to start my new job, and couldn’t be more excited for my future!

Hong P. L.

Fullstack Academy has developed a challenging and exhaustive curriculum that will definitely keep you busy past 5pm. Fullstack is a great program for people who want balance (i.e. maintain a social life, have families) and for independent learners who have plenty of time to become immersed in the curriculum 24/7. If you're not sure if you can handle a 10+ hour day at another program or if you can manage studying on your own outside normal class hours, then Fullstack is for you. (Also, it's very likely that no one is going to plan out your entire day for you on the job, so get used to being self-sufficient.)

The staff and teaching fellows are incredibly understanding and assess each situation on a case-by-case basis if something comes up. They will give you more, if you ask. But you have to ask, but I have never been hesitant since they are all so welcoming. As far as social culture goes, it is what you make of it. Fullstack is a educative environment first and foremost, so I've found that your social experience will depend more on students taking the initiative to hang out and organize events. Also, once you graduate, you get to utilize a large and supportive network of Fullstack grads--I got my first dev job thanks to one of those connections. I highly recommend attending Fullstack especially if convenience matters to you and you plan to work in the same city. Many schools advertise the big tech companies where students have been hired but don't let that be the only factor in your decision--especially if you're not 100% sure if you even want to work at large companies. While Fullstack gives you all the tools you need to land your dream dev job, wherever that may be. It's up the students to put in the work to get them.

Matti B.

When I first heard about the phenomenon of coding bootcamps, I was incredibly skeptical. However, after completing Fullstack Academy's Software Engineering Immersive, I am a true believer that a good bootcamp can change your life (and career 😉).

Initially I chose to attend Fullstack for two reasons:
1. By requiring students come in with a baseline of knowledge, you are able to move more quickly and spend the limited time of the bootcamp covering more advanced topics (side note: I took the Bootcamp Prep course and was more than ready for to apply for the immersive by the end).
2. The idea of focusing on only one language/stackalso leaves more time for honing skills and going deeper into concepts instead of learning different syntax for essentially the same things.

After completing the program, I still agree with both of those statements. However, they are only the beginning of what sets Fullstack apart...

Before attending Fullstack, I was a middle school math and science teacher. Coming from a background in education, I was very impressed with the curriculum and overall educational experience Fullstack provides for a variety of reasons, including:
• Each lecture is followed by a workshop in which students get to actually practice using the new information.
• The curriculum builds incrementally on itself, introducing concepts in a logical order.
• Fullstack has found a good balance between explaining the most important ideas, while still requiring students to figure out how to implement them on their own.
• It feels like the staff really cares about each student and their success.
• Fullstack purposefully crafts a supportive, collaborative environment by explicitly teaching in the first week such topics as why pair programming is important and how to do it well, how to combat implicit biases, and how to give clear, helpful feedback.
• The instructors elicit and actually respond to feedback!
• On the topic of instructors: each of the instructors is extremely knowledgeable and brings examples from their own experience to highlight what they are teaching.

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I particularly took advantage of the Career Success team. During the bootcamp, I appreciated the guidance on such topics as creating a technical resume or harnessing LinkedIn. Then, during my job search I consistently refered back to the materials they provided us. But most importantly, I felt like I could always reach out to Holly, our Career Success counselor, for answers to even the most inane questions! She was beyond helpful in my search for that first job out of bootcamp, which I can't wait to start next week!

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TL;DR Fullstack Academy provides a well-designed curriculum, supportive and knowledgeable instructors, and personalized career support. I couldn't recommend it more!

Nikko E.

When I decided to switch careers to software engineering, I didn't look much beyond Fullstack Academy as a starting place. Their reputation and proven numbers were stellar and it didn't hurt their onsite immersive in Chicago was easily accessible to me. Chicago has other options, though, but Fullstack won out on quantitative results. Of course, none of that stopped me from being nervous about the program. With limited background in coding, I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it. Their tried and tested system, patient instructors, and dedication to their students quickly helped me understand why they have the reputation as one of, if not the, premier coding bootcamps in the country. Don't get me wrong. It was difficult and stressful at times, but, that's why they call them bootcamps, and in the end I came out prepared to enter the job market and succeeded in landing a job in the industry in three months. To anyone considering making this leap, I can't recommend Fullstack Academy enough. And make sure you take advantage of their bootcamp prep course before applying.

Alexandra ?. G. P.

I always thought coding seemed cool, so I thought I'd pay the super reasonable fee take Bootcamp Prep on-campus and just see what happens... 8 months later I am nearing the end of my fellowship, having accepted a life-changing job offer, and I can now officially define myself a software engineer. This is not the way I ever imagined my life would go, considering I graduated college with a creative writing degree, but I've truly never been happier or ever felt this proud of myself.

The curriculum, the staff, and the other students are all incredibly dedicated and hardworking. I feel as though I have gained lifelong friends and mentors.

If you're considering a coding bootcamp, no matter if you're considering Fullstack or a lesser camp, take Fullstack's Bootcamp Prep to experience the deeply supportive culture and supreme curriculum. Who knows, maybe 8 months later you'll be crushing it as a software developer at a major international company just like me!

Julia P.

Great instruction and curriculum by Priti, Ben W., Collin, and Finn. With only a few technologies, FSA spends more time teaching what is harder to learn on your own, teaching high-level concepts, ideas about not only what but how to program, with practical application. FSA also teaches more than what most people could learn on their own in the same amount of time--it is really fantastic guidance, steering students away from rabbit holes that would only serve to confuse a new programmer. Excellent career support by Holly who does not make unrealistic promises or do any of the work for you: it is support in the perfect sense. Career support shows you how to have the most efficient and effective job search possible and makes sure it is towards your goals, not just those that might make the program look better, i.e. not only towards software engineering positions if a student discovers over the course of the program that they do not want to be (directly) in programming after all, an honest gesture I really appreciated. As importantly, Fullstack staff did everything they could to try to help me lower my own mental/emotional barriers to becoming a software engineer. Assuming they continue to staff, design, and adapt their program well, I would recommend it to anyone wishing for a more sure-fire path to the programming field.