Student Experience

Being an online program means that it's difficult to describe the feeling or ambiance of our school. There are no desks or computers to show you and there are no smells or wall art to draw you in. In lieu of a physical space, we've built a vibrant community and you'll see below how our students experience a uniquely rigorous learning curriculum that's 100% online.

Student Articles

As students work through Launch School, many write articles to help them both retain technical information as well as process the learning journey. Reading these articles can help you understand what it takes to succeed at Launch School.

You can find articles on our Success Stories (below) or on our Launch School Medium publication.

Launch School Podcast

The Launch School Podcast is where you can listen to previous students talk about their learning journeys and get an idea of what it takes to be successful at Launch School. You can consume the Launch School Podcast in a variety of ways:

Google play Android devices
Apple podcasts iOS devices
Our Podcast Page Listen from browser

Community

Being a 100% online program, our community is also 100% online. If you register (free), you'll have access to:

  • our Community Forum, which is where Launch School students share studying tips, create study groups, help each other with problems, and everything else you'd expect from a dedicated school. It's also where we make many of our announcements.
  • once you sign up, you are enrolled in our "Weekly Summary" notifications (you can turn this off, too). This is a bi-weekly email that summarizes all recent activity in the Launch School community.
  • a monthly meetup-style webinar series that we call "Tech Talks". This is where members of the Launch School community, from staff to students, pick an interesting topic to share with everyone in a live webinar. Just pay attention to announcements in the Community Forum or the Weekly Summary for upcoming sessions.
  • finally, you'll get access to our Slack-powered chatroom, where many other students and staff hangout throughout the day.

All of the above are completely free, and accessible as soon as your register (free).

Success Stories

These are students who have completed the entire Launch School curriculum, from the Core Curriculum through Capstone. The entire process typically lasts from 1-2+ years. Read their stories to get a feel for their journey and transformation.

  • I can't speak highly enough of the support of both the staff and student community fostered at Launch School. Those who commit to the Launch School path will find themselves surrounded by dedicated and encouraging fellow students and staff who will then comprise a strong network of top-notch Software Engineers.

    READ MORE
    Melissa Manousos

  • Even after accepting a lead instructor position with a notable bootcamp, I was unsatisfied with my career trajectory. It was only once I joined Capstone that I saw the true power of "just-in-time" learning. I refined my understanding of higher level concepts, designed and built an amazing project with a distributed team, and landed an engineering role with a world-class organization led by a legendary tech entrepreneur.

    READ MORE
    Derick Gross

  • I had a mountain of student loan debt that I’d taken on to get an undergraduate and then graduate degree, and knew I’d never be able to pay off. I completed the core curriculum and joined Capstone which then got me a six-figure salary as a Software Engineer within 4 weeks of starting the job hunt.

    READ MORE
    Wendy Kuhn

  • I didn’t just want a job, I wanted a rewarding career where I could meaningfully contribute and grow for years to come. With the baseline knowledge and habits established in the core curriculum and the intensity of the Capstone program, I feel well prepared to stay relevant across an ever-changing industry.

    READ MORE
    William Mills

  • I had been working for ten years in a different industry and was ready for a career change. I was at the point where I needed something beyond self-study to prepare me for a career as a developer. Luckily, I found Launch School.

    READ MORE
    Jason Overby

  • It’s hard to overestimate the role Launch School’s Capstone and the Core Curriculum programs played in me getting my first full time tech job. My first full time tech job far exceeded my expectations in terms of salary and seniority level.

    READ MORE
    Daniel Rote

  • I believe that the Capstone program gave me the rare opportunity to get serious mentorship and team experience that would have taken years to receive on the job.

    READ MORE
    Jacob Coker-Dukowitz

  • Experts always return to fundamentals because they are the foundation on which everything else is built. Launch School’s core program embodies this principle by emphasizing mastery of fundamentals through purposeful individual study.

    READ MORE
    Sienna Wood
    Denver

  • I would not hesitate to say that Launch School was the most well-structured and effective learning experience I’ve ever had the pleasure of participating in.

    READ MORE
    Nick Miller

  • I eventually landed an offer with DigitialOcean - which is beyond my imagination!

    READ MORE
    Ying Chyi Gooi
    Denver

  • Anyone who aspires to push themselves to be the best that they can be should consider Capstone. Capstone really is a fantastic career-launching step.

    READ MORE
    Josh Nelson

  • The core curriculum provides a solid platform and jumping off point to go learn almost anything you could want to in programming

    READ MORE
    Max Appleton

  • Within two weeks of sending out my first application, I was getting contacted so often that I had to start turning away opportunities for interviews. I had the freedom to choose where I would work and I ended up accepting an incredible offer for a Software Engineer II position from a tech startup in Manhattan.

    READ MORE
    Tannr Allard

  • I never thought I’d be making 6 figures in my twenties but I just landed my number 1 choice company and in a mid-level Software Engineering role just two weeks after completing Capstone.

    READ MORE
    Steven Shen

  • And the end result? I’ve landed my dream job at DigitalOcean as a Software Engineer II for the Network Services team, skipping an entry level role and working on projects & technologies that I thought out of my reach just 2 years ago. And more than doubling my salary from my previous job!

    READ MORE
    Julius Zerwick

  • Your ultimate goal should be to get one of the top jobs out there. And trust me, the Launch School team and their curriculum are more than capable of helping you to achieve that.

    READ MORE
    Konstantin Minevskiy

  • Was it all worth it in the end? Without a doubt, my answer is a resounding yes! After 10 weeks on the job hunt, I accepted an offer for a position where I’ll be making more than $100k/year.

    READ MORE
    Tiffany Han
    San Francisco Bay Area

  • Within 10 weeks of my first application, I had accepted a large salary and a small bonus at a company whose mission I was genuinely excited about.

    READ MORE
    Elise Olivares
    San Francisco

  • From the first glance, it was apparent that Launch School had been founded by industry veterans. I have never encountered a curriculum more in-depth and rigorous

    READ MORE
    Sunny Beatteay
    New York City

  • I often thought about making a career change into software development, but it wasn’t until I found Launch School that I felt confident that I could make that ambition a reality.

    READ MORE
    Walid Wahed
    New York City

  • Had it not been for Launch School and Capstone, I would still be working a dead-end job with no real ambitions. Now that I am on the hiring side, I would not hesitate to hire Capstone graduates from Launch School, especially from personal experience that Capstone is the real deal.

    READ MORE
    Timmy Lee

  • Capstone - If I could sum it up in one phrase it’d be this: you will blow yourself away. Your foundational investment will payoff as you build something truly awesome.

    READ MORE
    Lukas Nimmo

  • I was able to join a company in a new domain with a new tech stack because Launch School doesn't focus on the hot topic of the day but the more important underlying ideas and concepts

    READ MORE
    Michael Mentele
    San Francisco

  • I can say with confidence that there is simply no better way to launch a career in software engineering than with Launch School

    READ MORE
    Tyler Guillen

  • Thanks to Launch School's guidance, philosophy, curriculum and Capstone Program, I am now a Software Engineer working a job in NYC and earning well over $100k/year

    READ MORE
    Antoine LeClercq

  • I have not once regretted my decision to join Launch School and its Capstone program

    READ MORE
    Vincent DeVendra
    Boston, MA, USA

  • The fact of the matter is that I simply would not have been provided the top quality job opportunity that I ultimately accepted if it wasn’t for the process that we followed and the mentoring that we were given.

    READ MORE
    Perry Carbone
    New York, NY, USA

These stories are from students who did not participate in the Capstone Program, and either completed the Core Curriculum or stopped Launch School before completing the entire Core Curriculum. Despite not completing Capstone, many still landed great opportunities and there's a common theme of learning with patience. If you look carefully, you'll notice that many of these non-Capstone students also spent years at Launch School.

  • If you cannot do Capstone for whatever reasons, let me assure you that the Core Curriculum is more than enough to prepare you for a successful entry into the software engineering world.

    READ MORE
    Markus Unger

  • This could be the program for you if you're looking for something that's more on the hardcore end of the spectrum

    READ MORE
    Ryan Gilbert

  • The biggest take away that I got from Launch School was confidence. I solve software engineering problems for a living and every day I reach back to the patterns that I learned here.

    READ MORE
    Tommy Caruso

  • Suffice to say, I'm excelling at my job and it's all thanks to a tremendous amount of hard work, dedication, and Launch School.

    READ MORE
    Alex Henegar

  • Aside from being a good resource for beginners, Launch School has proven transformational to me as a prior startup founder with a few years of programming experiences and a MS in Software Engineering

    READ MORE
    Sonia Lin

  • Launch School has given me the belief that I can accomplish anything that I put my mind to; perhaps the most valuable lesson of all

    READ MORE
    Adrian Carroll

  • I've gained the attitude of constantly looking for better ways to do things, understanding my tools more deeply and working to become a better developer

    READ MORE
    Conrad Beach

  • It is clear that the Launch School team really cares about offering the best program they can

    READ MORE
    Kristen Wilde

  • I even believe I've learned how to learn better, and I've become a better problem-solver in general throughout the coursework

    READ MORE
    Patrick Brennan

  • I got a different role making significantly more than twice what I had been making as a 'web specialist', putting me firmly in six-figure

    READ MORE
    Steve Kolock
    New York

  • There was never a moment when I felt as though I was glossing over a key detail and that aspect of the program gave me the confidence to tackle increasingly difficult problems as the months went by

    READ MORE
    Chris Theodoridis

  • It was the best investment of my time that I made. Even better than going to university!

    READ MORE
    Cristian Rennella

  • Launch School has already given me not only the ability to create full stack web applications from scratch - it's also given me the confidence to get a new job writing code and solving problems

    READ MORE
    Alex Dzwonchyk

  • Launch School gave me all of the core tools I needed to start building meaningful, useful software applications

    READ MORE
    Charlie Reese

  • Launch School truly prepares you to be an asset on day one of a real job in the industry.

    READ MORE
    Jevon Hayter

  • Launch School doesn’t just teach you the fundamentals of programming and web development, but it also gives you the tools and context to learn anything you want to learn on your own

    READ MORE
    Hsuancheng Chen

  • I'd like to share my experience with new Launch Schoolers, don't doubt, trust Launch School, follow the syllabus, make your efforts, your decision is 100% correct

    READ MORE
    Jamie Wen

  • I've been working as a Rails developer for almost 2 years now. It's quite likely that I wouldn't have made it if I hadn't chosen Launch School.

    READ MORE
    Roy Huang

  • This programme opened possibilities for me that would have taken me years to reach

    READ MORE
    Letladi Sebesho
    Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Taking this program is one of the best decisions that I have ever made.

    READ MORE
    Yufei Chen
    Melbourne, Australia

  • I landed what I consider being the perfect junior ruby developer job before even finishing the program

    READ MORE
    David Besserman
    Paris, France

  • In the end I landed a great job after I completed my study at Launch School

    READ MORE
    Peter Karth
    Rocky Mount, NC, USA

  • In the end I truly believe that Launch School changed my life

    READ MORE
    Daniel Schonfeld
    Los Angeles, California, USA

  • Signing up for Launch School was a life-defining moment for me

    READ MORE
    Liam Brady
    Edinburgh, United Kingdom

  • I still can't believe that I went from a job that was basically shuffling papers to a job that lets me build an app for Olympic games

    READ MORE
    Toni Cesarek
    Ljubljana, Slovenia

  • Bottom line, complete this program and you will have all the skills you need to land a job or build your own products

    READ MORE
    Jeffrey Knox
    Edinburgh, United Kingdom

  • After only 3 weeks of finishing the program I was working full time as a Jr Developer in an amazing company in downtown Toronto

    READ MORE
    Eduardo Poleo
    Toronto, Canada

  • This is the course to go for to get a concrete foundation on programming

    READ MORE
    Sheng Yeong
    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • It's probably the best investment (time and money) I did for myself in a long time

    READ MORE
    Arjun Rajkumar
    Bengaluru, India

  • This program is by far the most advanced, cost effective way of learning how to be a real programmer and get paid like one

    READ MORE
    Gus Pares
    Miami Beach, FL, USA

  • I highly recommend Launch School's program for anyone who wants to learn how to code and land a job as a software engineer

    READ MORE
    Robert Jewell
    New York, New York, USA

  • The ones that I had on my short list were Bloc.io, Thinkful, General Assembly, and Launch School. I chose Launch School because it was the only one that was forcused on building students a robust foundation and because its model allowed me to work through the courses at my own pace

    READ MORE
    Dito Hartoto
    Melbourne, Australia

  • If you are considering doing a bootcamp or any sort of online course to become a web developer, you have found the one - Launch School

    READ MORE
    Yvette Gonzalez
    Chicago, Illinois, USA

  • The true value of this course is actually learning how to think like a developer, how to approach your problems, and how to seek out the answers

    READ MORE
    Patrick Ng
    Brooklyn, New York, USA

  • If you're really considering becoming a Web developer from scratch, this is the right place for you

    READ MORE
    Roy Zinn
    Tel Aviv, Israel

  • I highly recommend Launch School for beginners to web development or programming in general

    READ MORE
    Anthony Licari
    Queens, New York, USA

  • In just 2 months after completing the last course and submersing myself into the local Rails community, I got an offer as a Rails developer from a Fortune 100 company

    READ MORE
    Robin Paul
    Austin, Texas, USA

These are articles that current students are writing about while working through Launch School. Topics range from technical explanations to reflections on learning to mastery. Great results are obvious when the curriculum is rigorous enough, but if you really want to get an idea of what it feels like while on the journey to mastery, read these reflections.