Apply To App Academy

In case you haven’t heard, App Academy is the super low-risk way to get a baller job in SF right now. I know several effective altruists who have escaped grad school and become well-paid programmers in a matter of months. All they did was:

Apply to App Academy.
Relocate to the Bay Area (if not already here).
Study for 3 months.
Do 4-5 interviews — select the best of 3 offers.
Begin making $100k+/yr as a programmer.

For more details, see Buck Shlegeris’ interview with 80,000 hours about his recent experience doing exactly this.

Author Description

Louie Helm is a Machine Learning Engineer

18 Responses to “Apply To App Academy”

May 3
Sunny Crowley

What the heck is a baller? I am old I guess…hahah.
May 3
Drew Summitt

As the person who wrote the “do super awesome things in Austraila b/c low cost of living” post, what kind of standard of living does 100k support in the Bay? Can you own a home on that salary? Live
without roommates? Travel to other cities a few times a year? etc. etc.
May 3
Carrie Eclectic

Sigh, Americans have so many more opportunities in general. Days like this I’m frustrated about being Canadian.
May 3
Julian Pulgarin

Drew Summitt You cannot own a home with that salary. You can live without roommates but you would be spending a large percentage of your salary on rent. Travelling to other cities for sure.
May 3
Ethan Dickinson

Former a/A student, current baller here. I’m living without roommates with a 30 minute commute, and I have plenty left over for travel and entertainment. Not sure about buying a house, since retail prices are crazy out here.
May 3
Nickolai Leschov

Like Hack Reactor, but you only pay if you find a job?
- May 3
  Buck Shlegeris
  
  Exactly. Also, App Academy has more people in it who wouldn’t be able to afford Hack Reactor.
May 3
Drew Summitt

In your own opinion, would an introvert programmer who isn’t passionate about food, music or nightlife be better off not living in the Bay Area or does the benefits of the Bay extend beyond the types of things that people who live in big cities rave about? If I did App academy and lived in the Bay I would rarely go to a bar, frequent just a few restaurants and cafe’s and mostly keep to a tight circle of friends, and almost never see musical acts. I’d probably frequent parks, and go to a museum maybe once every few months at most. I’d attend lectures and book clubs frequently.

Is such a lifestyle cost effective in the Bay Area or would another city be more suited for such a temperament?
May 3
Ethan Dickinson

I am very much of that temperament. For me, the Bay Area isn’t more exciting or fun to live in than Tucson, Arizona or Fort Collins, Colorado, because wherever I have friends and the internet, I’m good.

Getting a remote job from a company here, which let you live somewhere with a much lower cost of living, would be a good way to maximize the utility of your money. Jobs with that arrangement are harder to get for new hires and people without much experience, I think.
May 3
Tim Suetens

I have zero skills in computing or programming, do I stand a chance? Or should I get some basic skills first?
May 3
Louie Helm

You stand a chance if you’re smart and interested in learning. Maybe you should look at the application and see if you think you could do well on it?
May 3
Nancy Lebovitz

A baller is someone who’s very good at something. I suppose a baller job is a job where high skills are used and rewarded.

http://fistfuloftalent.com/2012/05/what-is-a-baller.html
May 3
Richard Barton

I often interview graduates of App Academy and other bootcamps, and I’m generally impressed with them.
May 4
Tim Suetens

What I’ve noticed is that they assume I have some kind of college degree, or prior experience with programming. I do not… I’m willing to learn though, and would like to believe I’m not stupid.
May 4
Ryan Del Mundo

Are there any of these BootCamps in tropical locations like Thailand or Bali?
May 4
Naureen Nayyar

I should start an academy here! Louie Helm 😀
May 5
James Cook

I was accepted to App Academy last year but couldn’t attend because of the $3000 deposit. Is anybody out there interested in making a loan? (E.g. $1000 in exchange for $2000 later — as one person has already offered.)
May 6
Tim Suetens

$3000 deposit? Auch. And how do they expect you to “simply’ travel to the US for that long? Quit your job? What if you fail? Life : over?