Ada Developers Academy
Ada Developers Academy Bootcamp Reviews and Complete Guide
Ada Developers Academy is a free software engineering bootcamp for women and gender-expansive adults. There are no hidden charges, but only the most ambitious students are admitted into the program.
The bootcamp is based in Seattle, and coding courses run for about 52 weeks. In this Ada Developers Academy review, you will learn more about what to expect from the bootcamp and if it’s the right option for you.
What Is Ada Developers Academy?
| Ada Developers Academy Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Cost | Free |
| Start Dates | September 2021, March 2022 |
| Locations | Seattle, Online |
| Courses | Full Stack Web Development |
| Available Programs | Full-time, Online, In-person |
Ada Developers Academy is one of the best coding bootcamps in the industry and was founded particularly to bridge the gender gap in technology. It is a non-profit organization that provides full stack software engineering training for women in tech. The school was named after a 19th-century mathematician, Augusta Ada Lovelace.
Ada Developers Academy doesn’t just equip students with knowledge. It also gives them an opportunity to join an ever-growing network of women and non-gender-conforming individuals in tech. Ada alumni work in world-class tech firms like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and GoDaddy. Many graduates have found placements in the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Seattle Washington.
Is Ada Developers Academy Worth It?
Yes, Ada Developers Academy is worth it as a viable alternative to a college degree. It is a good option for anyone who wants to chase a degree in full stack web development. You will get over 2,000 hours of coding experience from Ada, which is equivalent to a four-year computer science degree. The program is extensive and covers all the modern and in-demand technologies required for landing a high-paying job in the tech industry.
While Ada Developers Academy is great for web development, it doesn’t offer other important subjects like data science or cybersecurity. If you want to explore other subjects, you should consider bootcamps like General Assembly, Thinkful, Tech Talent South, and Kenzie Academy.
Ada Developers Academy Job Placement
About 90 percent of Ada graduates find in-field jobs after the first six months of graduation. This is all thanks to the career services put in place to make sure that every student has a fighting chance after graduation. Each student is assigned a mentor who helps them with things like interview prep and resume building.
Apart from the technical and non-technical training during the program, you will also be placed in a partner company for on-the-job experience. Having experience working in the field, even if it is just an internship, makes it easier to get a full-time job in the tech industry after graduation. During the five-month mandatory internship, you will get a minimum of $14 per hour, according to Study Data Science.
Does Ada Developers Academy Offer a Job Guarantee?
No, Ada Developers Academy doesn’t offer a job guarantee because there is no tuition or fee attached. Typically, job guarantees mean that you will get a tuition refund if you don’t get a job within a predetermined period.
How Much Does Ada Developers Academy Cost?
Ada Developers Academy doesn’t cost anything. Anyone who meets the eligibility criteria will be admitted or shortlisted without paying a dime on tuition and fees.
How to Pay for Ada Developers Academy
You don’t need to pay for Ada Developers Academy because it is 100 percent tuition-free. Ada doesn’t just offer free education. It also facilitates flexible loans and offers stipends to students during the program.
The loans are funded by Craft3, Ada’s foremost lending partner. Since it is a full-time program that requires a significant time commitment, students can’t hold on to full-time jobs while they study, so the loans and stipends come in handy.
If Ada doesn’t charge and even offers money to students, how is it funded?
Anyone interested can donate funds to support the initiative. Some big names like Amazon, Uber, Nordstrom, Remitly, and Moz are regular contributors to Ada Developers Academy.
Ada Developers Academy Locations
Ada Developers Academy is located in Seattle, Washington, but enrolled students can opt for some online classes.
You will enjoy the same curriculum and career services whether you’re attending classes online or in person.
Ada Developers Academy Courses
Ada Developers Academy is strictly for full stack development. This means that all the classes you will take focus on web development to offer a well-rounded education.
The program is competitive, so it helps to take a few prep courses ahead of the program. Prep courses can be taken online or in person.
Ada Developers Academy Prep Courses
The Ada Build curriculum covers all the introductory courses you need for bootcamp prep. It was designed specifically to prepare students for the more advanced curriculum. The Ada Build program is mandatory for first-timers who don’t know anything about coding.
- Ada Programming Languages – This online course covers the core programming languages and frameworks for beginners. It doesn’t just list and define each language. It also helps you to understand how to combine different programming languages during a single web development project.
- Effective Internet Searching – This course teaches you how to use the Internet effectively. You will learn how to weed out irrelevant information and evaluate a source during research. You will also learn how to narrow each Internet search for better results.
- Problem Solving – This prep course is an introduction to algorithms. You will learn the basics of algorithms and create them during your projects. You will also learn how to test, refine, and evaluate algorithms.
- Introduction to Python AKA Hello World – This free course teaches you how to write Python code with Google Colab notebooks. You will learn how to use the print function as well as replicate and debug when necessary.
- Ada Practice Test – When you complete Ada Build, you move on to the last stage of preparation: taking the Ada practice test. You can take the practice test online and see whether Ada is the right option for you.
Full Stack Web Development
The entire program at Ada Developers Academy is targeted at aspiring full stack developers. It is divided into two major sections: writing code and software engineering. After the technical studies, the career readiness and advocacy programs start.
The section for writing code takes a deep dive into the major programming languages and concepts for web development. You will learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python to create web applications. You will also learn computer science fundamentals as well as how to use Flask, React, Web APIs, and SQL.
The second part is dedicated to other aspects of full stack software engineering. The core areas of this section are test-driven development, pair programming, and Agile best practices. After completing both sections, students can handle every aspect of software development, from the inception of an idea to the launch of the final product and everything in between.
Ada’s one goal is to change the face of tech through diversity and inclusion. Accordingly, all students are mandated to participate in diversity and inclusion training and learn how to identify microaggressions. You will also have to do some advocacy work after your allyship, racial, and leadership training.
What Is the Ada Developers Academy Schedule?
Ada Developers Academy only offers one type of schedule: full-time. This is because the only way students can get the immersive training they need to master full stack development is by committing to the program full-time.
Full Time
The entire course work is full-time, and you will need to commit a minimum of 50 hours per week for the first seven months of the program. You will spend this time on coursework and assignments. The last five months are set aside for career readiness and internships. Showing up for class regularly and completing an internship are vital for graduation.
How to Get Accepted Into Ada Developers Academy
Ada Developers Academy has a rigorous admissions process. The acceptance rate is on the low side. While all women and non-binary individuals are welcomed, special consideration is given to women of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
According to Ada Developer Academy’s official website, about 72 percent of all students are people of color. Out of this number, 43 percent are from underrepresented communities. Even if you fall into these categories, you need to show exceptional potential and dedication if you want to be admitted.
Ada Developers Academy Acceptance Rate
Ada Developers Academy has an 8 percent acceptance rate per cohort.
Application Process
The application starts online on the official Ada Developers Academy website. Every request is considered manually by a diligent admissions team.
- Visit the admissions page on the official Ada Developers Academy website and start the first stage of the application process. Keep in mind that this page is only available a few weeks before the upcoming start date. For the next cohort, the application process will open in September 2021.
- Submit your resume and an essay on why you believe that you are a good fit for the school. The essay should be between 200 and 250 words. There are some datasets on this page that you’ll need to analyze before submitting your essay and resume.
- At this stage, you will have to participate in a boxed coding challenge designed by Ada’s admissions team. It’s a basic challenge that you should pass with ease if you have some basic coding knowledge. You need to pass this stage to proceed to the next.
- You will be required to participate in an online interview with a representative of the school. The interview will run for 30 minutes.
- If you pass the online interview, you can proceed to the main in-person interview on the school premises. During this interview, the representative of the school will weigh your non-technical skills and see how passionate you are about web development. If you succeed, you will hear the final decision shortly after. For the upcoming cohort, a decision about admissions will be made in December 2021.
Interview Questions
You should prepare to answer basic bootcamp interview questions. During the first interview, you will be asked technical questions. During the in-person interview, the questions will test your problem-solving, critical thinking, and leadership skills. The interviewer will also want to find out how determined you are to start and complete the program. Some questions you should expect are listed below.
- Why do you think Ada is the right option for you?
- Are you willing and able to commit 52 weeks to this program?
- What are your plans after graduation?
- How do you think attending Ada Developers Academy would change your life?
Is Ada Developers Academy Right for You?
Yes, Ada Developers Academy is right for everyone eligible to apply. For starters, it is one of the few free bootcamps that offers a complete program that includes training, career services, mentorship, and internship opportunities. If you’ve always wanted to learn tech but never had the funds to pursue a formal education, Ada Developers Academy might be a good fit.
Ada Developers Academy doesn’t just teach you how to code and send you off. It helps you to build your portfolio through in-class practicals and internships. By the end of the program, you will have over 2,000 hours of coding experience to add to your portfolio. To make things even more interesting, you will be paid during the coding internship, which is more than many other bootcamps can claim.
Securing a permanent junior developer position in a prestigious tech firm will be less challenging if you’ve attended a program from Ada. Since 2015, Ada Developers Academy has helped several determined women and gender-expansive adults find their place in the tech industry.
Ada Developers Academy does not offer data science or any other tech discipline apart from software development. However, it is an ideal option for prospective full stack web developers who want to change the face of tech.
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Anonymous
Here are a few ways Ada sets itself apart from other programs:
1. It’s a nonprofit with a mission.
Ada fully lives its mission to address the gender and diversity gap in tech. Not only do students and staff undergo trainings related to unconscious bias and social justice, but Ada also requires sponsoring companies and managers to go through similar training. Ada understands that in order to address and solve problems that can be solved through tech, there needs to be more perspectives and ideas brought to the table.
2. It’s free (not to mention student get a guaranteed paid internship for 5 months).
As a non-profit, Ada sustains itself through company sponsorship and private donations. It’s free for students throughout the in-class portion and then students get paid for the internship portion. This allows Ada to attract the most qualified students, not just students who can afford a bootcamp. Having said that, Ada is highly competitive, sometimes with cohort acceptance rates as low as 8%.
3. Students are taught CS fundamentals.
Students receive education on data structures and algorithms throughout the in-class portion and once a week during the internship portion.
4. Ada is highly respected and trusted in the Seattle tech community.
Arguably Ada’s greatest strength is its reputation of producing top notch developers. Sponsoring companies (Amazon, Groupon, Google, Moz, Rover… to name a few) continue to sponsor and companies that hire Ada grads end up becoming sponsors. Almost all Ada students have job offers before graduation.
June 14, 2020
Anonymous
Ada Developers Academy ( ADA ) delivers what it says it does. You will receive a top notch education in programming, computer science fundamentals, and preparation for whiteboard style interviewing. You will not be charged tuition and you will receive a stipend at the end of each month of your internship that is the equivalent of 35 hours a week at $15 an hour. Taxes will not be taken out of your check as your role is that of a contractor. Most of your class will have job offers before the cohort ends , but not all, often for reasons not under ADA’s ( or the Adies’ ) control. You will graduate ready to enter the job market as a junior developer. You will think that you should feel more skilled and experienced once you reach that point but you won’t ( what you hope to feel like usually takes 5 years of experience and work to achieve ). You will have a strong network of graduates to lean on and the support of ADA during future job searches and dealing with the challenges that the tech industry brings. Teaching will usually be spot on, but there will be missteps and errors along the way. You will be doing more independent study than you anticipate. Your instructors ( 2 per 24 students, 1 floating instructor, 1 Jumpstart instructor, a dedicated Computer Science Fundamentals instructor, and an outstanding student counselor ) are supportive, committed to the mission of ADA, and eager for you to succeed, but they are human. Things more very fast and you have to advocate for yourself and your classmates. Sometimes tutoring is available, sometimes not. If you start to fall behind you need to recognize it quickly and get assistance immediately. You may have to go outside of ADA to do that. You will receive education and training about social justice, including the concerns and challenges of women of color and non-binary individuals. You will be personally be challenged. You will learn things you didn’t know about yourself, and didn’t necessarily want to know. You will learn that there is difference between ADA and the Adies alumnix. It was the alumnix who made the commitment to “no woman left behind”. Students have been expelled from ADA. Not all of us got in on our first try. Some were admitted on their 5th try. There is some Redshirting. You will form some of the strongest friendships of your life, but you won’t like everyone. Lateral aggression is minimal, bullying almost non-existent. ADA was worth it, the Adies especially so. But it is hard. The process hurts. It hurts alot. But it was worth it. Eyes open, keep your expectations in check, and it will be amazing. You will be amazing. Apply.
August 5, 2020
Anonymous
A year ago I was making $40,000 working in the administrative field and decided that I wanted to make a career change to become a software developer. I chose Ada Developer Academy as I wanted an environment that is supportive for women/gender diverse people pursuing careers in tech. I now make over $100,000 and am in a field that I find fascinating and challenging.
Pros:
Ada is tuition-free and oftentimes offers loans to students that need financial assistance
The class sizes are small (mine was 24 students) and have passionate instructors and a supportive environment
Ada offers an industry mentor, an Ada mentor (usually a past student), and if students need additional help there are TA’s and tutors available
Students receive a 5-month internship which in my opinion, was as valuable as the classroom portion
The Ada community is amazing – throughout my time at Ada the alumni were quick to answer any questions I had/to offer advice. Also, Ada is becoming well-known in the Seattle area and has developed connections to many large companies.
Cons
It’s a challenging, time-intensive program. During the classroom portion you’re often learning and applying concepts at a rapid pace and are expected to reach out for help if needed. After going to school for the day you often have homework to work on once you get home/projects to work on over the weekend.
During the internship period it can be difficult balancing internship while learning computer science concepts/preparing for technical interviews.
Sometimes internships don’t go well, there’s rarely a way to tell ahead of time which internships will not go well as it’s more dependent on what team your on rather than what company you’re hired for.
I highly recommend this program. It will be a year of chaos but during the chaos you’re pushing yourself towards your dreams and by the time it’s over you’ll be surprised at how fast time flew by/how far you’ve come.
August 12, 2020
Anonymous
It’s hard to imagine where I would be right now if I hadn’t been lucky enough to be accepted to and subsequently complete Ada. The year in the program could be brutal, particularly the classroom period, although the internship certainly came with its own challenges too. But the payoff has been huge in so many ways—intellectually (the job I have now is 1000x more interesting and enjoyable to me than any past job I’ve had, hands down), financially (I make in the low 90s—not a figure I think I would’ve ever come close to reaching in my pre-Ada field), and community (the women I met through Ada are some of the smartest, most interesting women I’ve met and they’re a wonderful network to have, both friendship and career-wise). And all of that for $0 tuition, and a chance to get a foot in the door interning with some big names in Seattle tech.
Getting to this point wasn’t always smooth sailing, and Ada is an imperfect organization. The staff is very small, while the undertaking of what Ada is trying to do is absolutely enormous and always growing. Things fall through the cracks, and sometimes I think they bite off more than they can chew. They’ve shown themselves to be open to feedback and the curriculum and program is ever evolving based on that. Sometimes it’s amazing to recall just how young the organization is—only about 2.5 years old.
At the end of the day, I would do it all over again without even the slightest bit of hesitation. I can’t say the year was exactly “fun” (it had its moments), but it was so, so very worth it. Which is why if you get accepted (acceptance rates have been around 8% but I think they’re working on trying to ease that at least a little) and can possibly swing it, DO IT. The year will be hard, draining, and stressful (technologically and emotionally), but you will amaze yourself with the things you learn while changing your life’s trajectory utterly and completely.
September 12, 2020
Anonymous
I agree with “Anonymous” Software Engineer’s review (01/2016) about the “opaque admissions process”, especially the part about educational level and age. However, I would add employment history in there as well.
They don’t give women already in technology a chance.
Just something to keep in mind for those already working in tech or have worked within tech in a non-programming role that would NOT qualify them to be employable as a developer. BUT whom one would want to become employable as a developer in the future
Also, note the applicants they take in despite their “everyone is welcome” philosophy in encouraging women of all ages to apply.
November 20, 2020
Anonymous
High marks for curriculum and execution. It’s a wonderful program. One thing to keep in mind however, when listening to the Cinderella story that I know they genuinely wish they could provide, it is my experience that the administration is not transparent about their selection process. They are bound to a degree, by corporate sponsorship and employee retraining. Though they vigilantly encourage women of every age, socio-economic background and education level to apply, if you take a look at the actual student body and the jobs they hold prior to enrollment, it tells a different story.
December 5, 2020
Anonymous
Wow, what a game changer! I went from doing shitty office work to now being actively engaged, challenged, and stimulated at work. Ada was hard, no doubt, but the payoff is insane if you bust your ass. I nearly tripled my income in one year, going from making under 35k as an admin/translator to accepting my first software development role at 95k!
One of the challenges is that Ada is still very new, so they are figuring out how to run the program as you are going through it. In a few years, it’ll stabilize even more. It’s great for those who can work with ambiguity, who are willing to learn whatever it takes & who are self-driven, which (not coincidentally) are the exact qualities that people look for in developers. Since I was part of the first cohort, they still needed to figure out the holes in the curriculum. Now I look at what the new classes are learning and get a little bit of that older-sibling jealously that they have it so much better, haha! It can also be an emotional challenge to work so intimately with the same people for so long, especially because you feel like you don’t know anything when you start. For most high achieving women, it feels like a big vulnerability to be so bad at something, but that shared experience also birthed a really strong connection among students and a network that will last much longer than Ada.
My internship was a rough experience because of the toxic environment the men that I worked with created and directed at me, but Ada was there to support me and back me up when I needed help. In the end though, having that real on the job experience is what separates Ada from other bootcamps and I was able to find jobs with people at companies that value women and diversity. I ended up with five job offers, ranging from startups to mega-corporations. Now I work at a woman-owned, woman-led startup with great people and have never been more professionally satisfied! I have gained a lot of confidence and through Ada I have gotten the peer support network, education, & mentorship that I need to kick ass no matter what I do.
December 10, 2020