I'm an App Academy graduate from the January 2014 class.
To answer your questions:
I enjoyed the experience. This is by far the easiest question. I had zero prior experience in software engineering or computer science, but I've always been a puzzle-solving sort of person. To go from a life of dishwashing / retail to all-day high-speed learning was absolutely a positive experience.
Is it worth saving money, and just learning on your own? Maybe. In order to get the same result as I would have at a/A, I would have spent a lot more time hunting down answers to questions online, googling naive things like "what does this error mean? why is it still here, I solved the problem!" I also would have needed the self-discipline and insight to understand what exercises would best teach me core concepts, and pad my github with visible work. Finally, I doubt I could have stuck to the timeline. Ruby in two weeks was hard, I don't think I could have done it 100% on my own. For me, it was worth it.
*Did it work? I got two offers in the 85k-90k range. If I'd wanted to look longer, I could have gone higher.
To answer your questions:
I enjoyed the experience. This is by far the easiest question. I had zero prior experience in software engineering or computer science, but I've always been a puzzle-solving sort of person. To go from a life of dishwashing / retail to all-day high-speed learning was absolutely a positive experience.
Is it worth saving money, and just learning on your own? Maybe. In order to get the same result as I would have at a/A, I would have spent a lot more time hunting down answers to questions online, googling naive things like "what does this error mean? why is it still here, I solved the problem!" I also would have needed the self-discipline and insight to understand what exercises would best teach me core concepts, and pad my github with visible work. Finally, I doubt I could have stuck to the timeline. Ruby in two weeks was hard, I don't think I could have done it 100% on my own. For me, it was worth it.
*Did it work? I got two offers in the 85k-90k range. If I'd wanted to look longer, I could have gone higher.