Launch School

I found Launch School from a random Reddit thread and I'm so glad I did. I was considering whether to join a traditional 3-9 month bootcamp, go back to college, or self-teach. Launch School stood out to me for a few reasons:

- Rigorous curriculum & assessments: As a 30ish year old career transitioner with an existing college degree, I wanted to get serious about learning, have external accountability, and a clear path forward. Launch School gave me all of these.
- Cost & Flexibility: I wasn't ready to commit $15k to 25k+ for a bootcamp or the cost of another college degree. I dabbled in learning programming before starting Launch School prep but was still evaluating whether this was the right career move for me. Being able to pay $200 per month and pause anytime without penalty was a huge benefit. I never paused my Launch School subscription and I ended up paying roughly $4,000 for 21 months of Core which was the best money I have ever spent on education.
- Learn at your own pace: I talked to a few people who had gone through full time 3-month bootcamps. The long hours and aggressive schedule (where you miss a few days and you are out, with no refund) was not an option for me. I loved being able to set my own schedule with Launch School. It ensured that I had ample time to learn deeply and spend extra time when I needed it.
- Low hype: I was looking for a program with history of results and realistic expectations for success without the VC funded over-hype. Launch School's website, online reputation, and results spoke volumes about the quality and gave me clear expectations going in. Those expectations were met and exceeded.

What I didn't realize when joining was how robust and welcoming the student and alumni community would be. I got to meet and study with interesting and smart people from all over the world who gently pushed me to be a better student. I made lifelong friends who I have visited and worked with since graduating. The community of studious learners is a huge advantage.

The Core program was thorough and challenging. I knew where to get support when I needed it. I spent a lot of time studying on my own, one-on-one with fellow students, and in small study groups. Assessments were stressful because I wanted to do well for myself and they were extremely useful as a tangible measure of progress and feedback on my learning. The Core program was laid out linearly so I always knew what to work on next. This was extremely helpful after after my prior experience jumping from tutorial to tutorial without learning or applying much knowledge. When I finished Core I felt like I'd mastered programming fundamentals and could take on harder challenges. I also gained a confidence in my ability to learn new things deeply which continues to support my curiousity today.

The Capstone program was a shift in learning style, equally rigorous and rewarding. I learned so much in a short period of time and got to build actual software with a group of teammates. We learned, discussed topics and practiced techniques that helped my land my initial job and that I anticipate using for years to come. The job support after Capstone was thoughtful and incredibly helpful. Getting a software job is its own skill and Capstone helped me learn, apply, and iterate my own job search framework which I can carry forward to the future. I landed my first software job offer within a month of graduating and accepted an offer 3 months after graduating despite a tough job market.

During the job, I realized how much my experience in Core and Capstone had prepared me. I was able to become productive within a week, submit code and shape features within the first month at a fast paced startup. Within a few months I was reviewing code of more junior engineers and leading small development projects. I worked with many new technologies and tools I did not learn at Launch School and was able to pick them up quickly thanks to my experience in Core and Capstone.

Launch School's teaching style works great for self-motivated students who are ready to take their learning and career into their own hands. I got rigorous curriculum, a clear path forward, great feedback, and a solid community for $200 a month (Core). It was the best educational experience I've had so far and I'm grateful for it. If I were starting over in my software journey, I'd do it all again the same way at Launch School.

The challenges I observed as a Launch School student (None of these detracted from my experience, but I think they are helpful to know for students who may be in a different situation than me):
- The student and alumni community is large, friendly, and accessible. Launch School staff and teaching assistants are also friendly, supportive, and readily available. However, you must be proactive in engaging with the community and asking for help when you need it. Less outgoing, introverted students may need to get out of their comfort zone to engage with the community which is entirely online.
- Launch School is not a shortcut to a guaranteed high paying job. It takes serious study and time to learn software engineering fundamentals deeply. That's what I was looking for and the time I spent was worth it. I was lucky to have financial support during the time so I could focus on studying and I know many people who worked and studied part time, which they couldn't have done with other programs.
- Learning on my own (setting my own schedule, study habits, staying focused, etc) was challenging but extremely rewarding. I had periods where I lost focus and studied less but I kept on the path and grew my study skills over time. I came out of Core in the best "study" shape of my life.

My recommendations for students considering Launch School:
- Read all you can online about the program from the official website, subreddit, YouTube, Launch School blog + podcast, etc. There is so much information there that will help you decide if it is the right program for your needs and situation. Launch School has done a great job of laying out the key factors to consider when evaluating them vs other learning paths (many of which are applicable regardless of the path you choose). Many common questions have been answered by Launch School staff and others in blog posts and comments.
- Try the prep course. It is free and well worth your time even if you decide Launch School isn't the right fit for you. You will also get access to the community and can ask questions there from a host of helpful folks and staff.

 Launch School drilled the fundamentals of software engineering into me. I work on a software development team and can now converse well with software engineers about technical topics I used to struggle with before signing up to Launch School. 


Learning the fundamentals so thoroughly has also left me much more confident about, and able to, quickly pick up back-end and front-end frameworks, as well as understanding how fully-fledged web applications work internally. 

The biggest takeaway for me was learning how to learn. I am now confident that I'll be able to learn whatever I want to in the future. The assessment feedback I received was detailed and thorough, and gave me lots of information that I used to improve my learning and technical skills.


All in all, I know I can work through a number of interesting yet difficult technical books and not feel the need to give up. That knowledge and confidence is priceless - and what mastery-based learning leaves you with. I have the Core Curriculum to thank for that (particularly the assessments I failed!).


Launch School has certainly changed the course of my career in tech and has left me empowered. I can take that all the way to retirement (and beyond!) 

It's been a few years since I graduated from this program, and I've only got good things to say.

A few years in the industry, and my subsequent job experience has given me context on the way the program is taught. As others have mentioned, the core curriculum is a self-paced part of the program, and this has been designed to ensure success for everyone willing to put in the hard-work -- not just the geniuses! New topics are not introduced until you have mastery of pre-requisites (it's literally not made accessible, and I think that's a genius pedagogical move). Even within courses, the material is broken down into absorbable, well-written text. There's a lot of early emphasis on learning how to learn, and developing a habit of asking good questions.

There is TA support, and lots of avenues for asking clarifying doubts. The assessments for each course are fairly demanding, but once you're done with them, you walk away with confidence that you've really learned the topic.

Once you've finished the Core Curriculum, if you choose to do Capstone, that flips the script into going to synchronous, discussion-heavy coverage of topics like DS/Algos, System Design and modern full-stack app development. Having a peer group of hard-working, technically sound people facilitates high quality conversations, and their guidance on Capstone projects is remarkably well-geared to what's in demand in the job market.

As a neurodivergent person, the structure and organisation of the program set me up for success in a way that I hadn't yet found, despite attending well-regarded conventional institutions. If you're willing to work hard, this is the best way to learn to code, and then become a professional software engineer.

When I completed the Launch School and Capstone program in 2023, I faced a challenging job market in the tech industry. Despite this, I can confidently say that this experience was instrumental in my successful transition into the field. The program's bottom-up approach, emphasizing core programming concepts, was not only crucial for excelling in interviews but also invaluable in my daily role as a software engineer. This strong foundation enabled me to quickly understand and excel in complex, integrated concepts at work, marking a significant departure from my previous career.

The Capstone program played a vital role in bridging the gap between academic knowledge and practical skills. Having been employed as a software engineer for the past year, I realize the program was akin to an introduction to the realities of a software engineering job. Engaging in tangible projects and producing concrete results, I not only developed technical expertise but also gained confidence. This experience significantly enhanced my resume, making me a more attractive candidate to future employers.

A distinctive aspect of my educational journey was the project work I undertook with my team, which provided real-world team experience and taught me valuable lessons I continue to apply. The Capstone program stands out from other bootcamps because it allowed me to discuss challenges I faced while working with an engineering team. The team experience at Capstone effectively simulates the environment of a startup, developing and delivering a unique product.

Transitioning to a significant role in the tech industry, I can vouch for the life-changing impact of the Launch School and Capstone program. This wasn't just a job shift, but a substantial career leap, facilitated by a meticulously crafted curriculum and a supportive network. In my current role and in any future positions, I would confidently recommend Capstone graduates for any role in my company, knowing well the comprehensive preparation and skills they bring. Launch School and Capstone didn't just teach me how to code; they paved the way for a transformative career journey.

I am extremely grateful I stumbled across Launch School's website while I was ten pages deep into a random Reddit thread reviewing coding programs.
Launch School has changed my life, and I don't want anyone else to miss the opportunity.
TLDR;1 . Launch School is not easy, but you have a great community of staff and students who want you to succeed.2. Launch School, for me, was a lifestyle. I dedicated ~20+ hrs a week to my studies.   3. Launch School is an investment. You will be paying ~$200/month
Despite all of this, it was 100% worth it. I increased my salary 6x going through the Capstone program. I have savings. I have disposable income. I found my thing.
If you are a motivated, self disciplined person, you can land a role in tech.The Core Curriculum is a great place to start, and many folks can get jobs upon completing this stage. 
I would encourage people to seriously consider the Capstone program as well. You will get an amazing "on-the-job" simulaiton that will prepare you for those coveted mid/senior level roles.

The combination of the Core curriculum and Capstone is a very thoughtfully designed system, and one of the most fun and rewarding journeys I’ve been on as a student. The focus on fundamentals in Core provides an effective set of tools to define and solve problems, while also helping you gain a high degree of familiarity with programming languages and their unique characteristics. There is plenty of practice, a great community and TA sessions to help you overcome any difficulties, and the self-paced nature offers a lot of flexibility and freedom so that you can genuinely enjoy the process of learning. The rigorous approach offers a deeper look at what you are learning and why - for example, learning the fundamentals of a language before using complex tooling and libraries, or properly understanding databases before jumping into using an ORM.
To supplement this, Capstone offers a thorough transition into exploring and dealing with industry-standard software engineering problems. Working together with a team for months on a challenging issue exposes you to many different aspects of software engineering work such as debugging, estimations, and picking up relevant knowledge very quickly. It also gives you the opportunity to understand and deal with uncertainty, vaguely defined problems, and teamwork issues - these are important skills that will set you apart from many other engineers. The exploratory process of the program allows you to come in contact with a wide variety of tools, architectures, and patterns that are commonly used in both small and large software companies and teams. Due to its constant updates and real world feedback, you can trust that you are learning about highly relevant concepts.
It is rare to find a place where you can team up with people who possess a shared sense of commitment, timelines, and expectations, along with a competency in software engineering that can enable you to tackle and solve meaningful problems. 6 months into my job as a software engineer on a platform team, I’m able to grasp and contribute to architecture discussions, systems design decisions, and implementation details. Additionally, Launch School’s focus on the clarity and precision of language pays dividends when communicating with teams and engineers across an organization, or writing effective documentation. 
Most importantly, Launch School has introduced me to great engineers who are also great people, and helped me gain the skills and temperament to be a capable and reliable software engineer. After you land a job, you also get to join a very experienced and engaged alumni network! Launch School is the best option available for anyone looking to transition into the field, and your trust will be rewarded not just with tangible results, but a great community and a memorable experience.

As someone making a mid-life career transition, Launch School gave me the tools to do what I thought would have been impossible a few years ago: land a mid-level software engineering role with a six-figure salary, while having no prior experience in a tech-related field or even a related degree. For me the stakes were pretty high coming into this career transition: I have two kids and was coming from a career where the pay was already high, so I really needed to be able to skip the entry-level junior roles to make the transition to software engineering worthwhile. And that's exactly what Capstone and the entire Launch School experience prepared me for.

What I love about Launch School is that the approach doesn't focus just on getting a job but rather on launching a rewarding, long-term career in software engineering. And that to me is probably the most significant difference between Launch School and a traditional bootcamp where the bar is simply to get the proverbial foot in the door: as a Capstone graduate you are truly positioned to compete for mid- to senior-level roles if you put in the work and that's what you want.

But make no mistake: it's a long, difficult (yet highly rewarding) journey to get through Capstone and the Core Curriculum that comes before it. It took me 3 years (including a 7-month break) from first enrolling into Core to securing a job after completing Capstone. Could I have gotten a job 1-2 years earlier had I gone to a traditional bootcamp instead? Possibly. Would it have been worth it? Absolutely not. Capstone put me in a position to start my career 3-5 years ahead of where I would have landed had I attended a traditional bootcamp, with a salary $50K+ higher. So while the path to a career in software engineering took longer through Launch School, my starting point is higher with way more upside potential— and not just because of the higher salary, but because of the knowledge, skills and experience acquired along the way that enabled me to land that job in the first place.

So all in all, I am incredibly grateful to Launch School: for the high quality curriculum, for the low-risk cost structure, for every staff member invested in my success along the way, and for putting me on a path to a life-changing career. For anyone who is serious about making the transition to a career in software engineering and has the time and resources to do it, I would recommend Launch School without hesitation.

I ran across Launch School after about a year of trying to teach myself coding with low-cost
online resources. I was working full-time, and my efforts up to that point had not been too
successful. But the moment I started reading Launch School materials was the moment my
studies started building towards something bigger. “This process will take longer than you
want it to, but if you take your time and do things the right way, it will be worth it.” It was a
message I didn’t really want to hear after I had already put a year into the effort, but a
message I knew that I needed to hear anyway. No other course I had tried was stating this
truth so clearly and honestly. I knew up front that the first two or three months of Launch
School would cover material that I already knew well, and I would feel a bit frustrated at
first about “starting over”. Nevertheless, I jumped in right away, with the realistic
expectation that it might take another two years or more before I could accept a job offer.

Friends and family were incredulous when I shared my excitement about this program, but
there was no reason for me not to be hopeful. The pedagogy–starting from the ground up,
building mastery of fundamentals, verifying the knowledge of students before allowing
them to continue, and slowly building confidence through that verification–made all the
sense in the world to me. And Launch School had the results to back up their claims, not only
with numbers, but with real people. Engineers with credentials, people who had been
through the process and were now working for amazing companies, were hanging around
in the chat channels, answering questions and talking about their work. I trusted the
process from the beginning because I was convinced that everything about Launch School 
was genuine.

To make a long story short, the process worked. The Core Curriculum taught me the
fundamental concepts I needed, and at my own part-time pace. Capstone extended and
integrated that knowledge by cultivating it in a dedicated, full-time, team-based
environment. Working every day with other students, and with program graduates as
mentors, I was able to learn interviewing skills and contribute to the development of an
amazing product. I began to feel proficient. Capstone prepared me so well for the hiring
process that, once I finally started interviewing, I was full of confidence, and there were no
surprises. I knew I belonged in those hiring pools because Capstone had given me the
preparation I needed.

After finishing Capstone, I secured a job as a Senior Software Engineer within six weeks,
with essentially the Capstone average salary–a higher salary that I had originally hoped for.
Now it’s been a year since I graduated. I’m at a company where I love to work, and I’m able
to jump into any task or project that interests me and find my way thanks to my strong 
background in the fundamentals. I work at a company that supports continuing education,
gives me a voice in what projects I work on, and has a clear path to promotion and career
development. My family is able to buy a new house. And honestly, this is all thanks to Launch
School. I was nowhere close to making this kind of progress after a year of self-study. But
after less than two years in Launch School, I had everything that I needed to get a great job 
as an engineer and build a lifelong career. The same has been true for many others, and I 
would recommend Launch School, the Core Curriculum and Capstone, as an excellent 
choice for anyone who is interested in starting a career in software engineering.

TL:DR; Launch School takes a lot of time and effort but absolutely prepares you to be a software engineer for a living, both in terms of programming knowledge and mindset. 

I spent a little over 11 months doing the LS Core Curriculum. Probably could have taken less time- part of this whole learning experience for me was learning how to budget my time and focus effectively without any supervision. If you have no trouble with that it may take less time for you. Prior to LS, I had worked at an academic research lab where I coded in Matlab- most of my knowledge was gained through basically flailing at stuff until it worked, which is to say I had some practical experience but didn't have a ton of knowledge of what I was actually doing. LS gives you all the info you need, but in a way that's agnostic to language- you learn about the concept itself, and the concept is illustrated through code. This makes it way easier down the line to apply these concepts to different languages, and I have personal experience with this- I did the Javascript path but my first contract work I got while doing the program was TypeScript, and my job now is the ASP.NET framework, so primarily C#. I haven't written a single line of vanilla JS professionally, and that hasn't been an issue. 

A big point of emphasis at LS is mentality and committing to the process- you will need to take this to heart if you want to do this program. It takes a long time to complete and it's pretty much entirely self-driven. The flipside of that is now that I have a software engineering job where I get paid twice as much as my previous work and I actually enjoy what I do (and I have a boss giving me assignments), I have no shortage of motivation to get up and go to work. One thing they emphasize is that you will spend your entire career learning, learning, learning- that definitely seems to be the consensus among professional software engineers that I've worked with thus far, and keeping the mentality of a forever learner has helped me a lot with picking up new info and staying humble. Software engineering is a field that is constantly evolving with new languages, new features, etc- get used to being humble (learner's mentality) and taking time to learn new stuff. You will never know everything. "The only thing I know is that I know nothing at all." (When you get a job after finishing the program, this is not the quote to give your boss if you cause a production outage.)

Additionally, the LS community is awesome- generally, everyone is humble and looking to get better. It's very easy to get help/get a study partner/practice interview questions/find someone to do a project with/whatever else. Instructors answer questions helpfully and quickly, and give useful feedback on assignments you complete throughout the course. You're not going to be spoonfed, but I would not hesitate to say I really enjoyed learning from LS instructors when I asked them questions. 

I would definitely recommend this program to anyone looking to become a software engineer and willing to put in the time and effort. (Also, as of the writing of this review, it's $200/month- I spent $2400 to completely pivot careers. Compared to what I was making at my old job, I'll make that back in 2~ pay periods. Not bad)

I have been working as a Full Stack Developer for a couple of months now, and so far feel that Launch School more than prepared me for the realities of working in the industry. I spent about 2 years working through the Core curriculum after discovering excellent reviews and realizing I needed to make a longer term commitment in order to guarantee success. I was transitioning from 7 years working in hospitality in fairly menial and low-paying jobs. This was after a period of mental ill health in my late-teens & early twenties which meant I had to leave university without a degree. I was actually travelling, manually setting up a travel blog, when I realized that I enjoyed the coding aspect and started to look for a learning course.
After trying the free introductory material and enjoying the no-frills but comprehensive approach, I was inspired to continue - although slightly apprehensive  at the thought of  building a new career in my 30s. I spent the next 3.5 years travelling around New Zealand, working sometimes in my camper van, sometimes in libraries, co-working spaces or rented accommodation. I had to stop several times to save more money for studies, mostly working in cafes. I studied mostly part time but did manage period of full time study, crucially for the first month or two when I was able to establish good habits that stuck with me.
After a year of study I started to realize I was becoming very competent and didn't really have any doubt (just a bit of impatience) that I would be able to find work. Following the example of some other students who had got jobs after Core without doing Capstone (something I could not easily due to time-zone/location), I decided to focus on making one standout project to display my skills. This involved learning many new libraries and a couple of new frameworks but the process was relatively straight-forward with my new powers of just-in-time learning.
A few months before my temporary visa in New Zealand expired, I landed a job at a small software engineering firm. The firm pays above average for my experience level and location here in NZ. They are now helping me get a longer term visa. The combination of these things will be very life-changing and it truly does feel just in time! I have already noticed that my skills are enough to execute my position competently and I am also able to help out/answer questions from more experienced developers. For a slower but more guaranteed route to success in software I don't hesitate to recommend Launch School to others"

 Before Launch School, I got part-way through The Odin Project and Free Code Camp, and was frustrated that things just weren't clicking for me. I now realize that I wasn't learning in the best way, and part of what makes Launch School's curriculum so great is that they have an emphasis on improving your learning process. In addition, they teach the fundamentals from the ground up so you don't feel lost. Each part of the curriculum builds things up slowly so you have a full understanding of how things work and how to fix bugs in your code.        Another thing that Launch School does that is missing in other classes is teaching you how to figure things out for yourself. Anyone can follow a tutorial, but employers are looking for people who can look at a problem and figure out what they need to learn in order to solve it. Launch School gives you the tools to do that, while providing a supportive community of classmates and teachers who are there to answer questions when you need help. I also liked the exam format, which was challenging but gave me confidence that I really understood the material.       Finally, the goal is to get a job after this and I found that the Core Curriculum gave me the foundation to do so. I built a couple of projects and a personal portfolio website with the knowledge and skills I gained from Core Curriculum, and was able to get a job within 6 weeks of starting to apply. I even had a few recruiters reach out to me based on the quality of my projects! I have been in my current position for 3 months now and have gotten excellent feedback from my manager and fellow developers. I have been given some assignments that required me to learn new things quickly, and I felt confident in my ability to do so because of what I learned at Launch School. If you want to have a good career as a software developer, I highly recommend enrolling in Launch School!

Completing Launch School's Core Curriculum and Capstone program was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Launch School helped me build strong programming fundamentals, and Capstone taught me essential software engineering skills. Those two things allowed me to land an excellent software engineering position at Mozilla working on the Firefox browser.

The fundamentals Launch School teaches are table stakes for interviews for good engineering roles. You need to be able to break a problem down in a PEDAC-like way and clearly explain your approach. And you'll need to do this within a time limit and under pressure. In my job hunt, I encountered many interviews that were remarkably similar to Launch School live-coding assessments. There's no way I would have been as successful in real-life interviews if it weren't for those Launch School assessments.

In Capstone, you pivot from just programming to the larger world of software engineering. It's a big jump, but you'll definitely get the structure and support you need to pull it off. Capstone is heavily optimized to help you land the best software engineering role you possibly can - that's its only goal. So the curriculum is constantly being updated to reflect what students are seeing in their job hunts. (The two times I shared experiences from my job search, within a day, a Capstone staff member had updated the curriculum to incorporate those experiences.) You'll also have access to a large collection of real coding challenges students have gotten in recent interviews. 

And then the Capstone project! This is a large-scale, technically challenging project that you'll complete as part of a fully remote team. For me, the benefit was two-fold: 1) I grew tremendously as a software engineer by working on this project, and 2) the project played really well in interviews. It showed my interviewers I was able to understand a problem domain, have deep technical discussions and consider engineering tradeoffs. I also drew heavily from my project to answer behavioral questions and to prove I had solid experience working as part of a remote team. 

I could go on for days about Launch School. But I'll just say that, if you put in the work, Launch School absolutely delivers on its promise of a career-launching software engineering job.