Completing Launch School's Core Curriculum and Capstone program was one of the best decisions I've made in my life.
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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.
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.
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:
Being a 100% online program, our community is also 100% online. If you register (free), you'll have access to:
All of the above are completely free, and accessible as soon as you register (free).
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.
Completing Launch School's Core Curriculum and Capstone program was one of the best decisions I've made in my life.
READ MORELaunch School helped me switch careers and changed my life! After spending 1 year and 7 months going through the Core and Capstone program, I am now making more than 3 times my previous salary while working completely from home with tons of flexibility.
READ MORELaunch School’s Core and Capstone programs are life-changing experiences. It’s difficult to overstate how much they already have and will continue to improve my life for the rest of my working years. Everyone has that dream of making six figures, but Launch School helped me achieve it.
READ MOREI’m 100% certain that absent Launch School, I never would have gotten from there, to here. Meaning a zombie GitHub account and no real knowledge or skill to a well-compensated engineer at exactly the type of company that an engineer wants to be at.
READ MORELaunch School is incredible. It's hard to overstate how effective it is at preparing you for a professional career as a software engineer.
READ MOREI ended up accepting an offer in just under 6 weeks for a position I am overjoyed with, making a previously unbelievable-to-me salary, and having technical conversations daily that would've sounded like gibberish to me a year ago. I will never stop talking about LS to anyone who will listen!!
READ MOREI unfortunately found the options for my specific field of study limited, so I’ve spent the past 15 years of my professional life in a series of stable but largely unfulfilling jobs. Because of Launch School, I am now in a field that truly interests me, and I’m on an income trajectory that will allow me to give back, provide a stable base for my family, and accomplish many of the things that make life enjoyable to me.
READ MOREI had never seen a line of code in my life before Launch School, but the job I got out of the process came with an outrageously high salary (especially for Arizona), and I got the job in under two months after hitting the job market. Capstone was key to get the results I got, but I think Core was where the magic happened.
READ MOREI decided to enroll in Capstone because I wanted to take on a larger engineering project. I ended up getting a job as an SDE II with a great salary and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Launch School to anyone interested in software development as a career. It has been truly life changing.
READ MOREFor the past two years I've been singing Launch School's praises as a coding school. I knew I was learning valuable skills, but I had to trust the process and hope that my efforts would eventually pay off. Now that they have, I can recommend Launch School as a life-changing opportunity.
READ MOREFinding Launch School has been life changing. I got an amazing six-figure job offer that was above and beyond what I ever dreamed was possible.
READ MOREIn my job hunt, which lasted exactly two weeks, there was never an interview that I walked into where I wasn't confident. This confidence and drive instilled in me by Launch School allowed me to go to multiple interviews, succeed in various interview formats, and join a company that I love as a senior engineer.
READ MORECapstone has helped me secure, and perform strongly on, a Level 2 Software Engineer role, with no prior experience.
READ MOREI 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 MOREEven 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 MOREI 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 MOREI 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 MOREI 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 MOREIt’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 MOREI 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 MOREExperts 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 MOREI 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 MOREI eventually landed an offer with DigitialOcean - which is beyond my imagination!
READ MOREAnyone 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 MOREThe core curriculum provides a solid platform and jumping off point to go learn almost anything you could want to in programming
READ MOREWithin 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 MOREI 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 MOREAnd 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 MOREYour 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 MOREWas 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 MOREWithin 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 MOREFrom 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 MOREI 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 MOREHad 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 MORECapstone - 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 MOREI 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 MOREI can say with confidence that there is simply no better way to launch a career in software engineering than with Launch School
READ MOREThanks 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 MOREI have not once regretted my decision to join Launch School and its Capstone program
READ MOREThe 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 MOREThese 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.
After completing the curriculum, I now find myself able to dive into open-source code, even in languages that weren't on the curriculum. The level of focused, methodical thinking required to make it through Launch School makes learning code bases and languages just a matter of setting aside a couple weeks' time.
READ MOREWithin just one year of part-time study, I went from "I have no idea what I'm doing" to "with enough time, I can build anything with code". That confidence boost alone is enough evidence for me to say that Launch School's learning model is by far the best I have ever experienced.
READ MOREI landed a 6 figure job, which was much more than I expected. Prior to accepting the offer, I was telling recruiters/employers I was looking for $75-80k/yr. After a couple of weeks of interviewing, I was turning down offers at that dollar amount. During my interviews, I was complimented several times on my Problem Solving abilities using the techniques provided by Launch School. The coding challenges were actually much easier than the problem sets Launch School provides.
READ MOREAfter completing the back-end curriculum, I applied to one dream job, and I got it!
READ MOREThough I was skeptical at first, trusting the process and basing my knowledge on problem-solving and fundamental skills has paid dividends. The problem-solving skills I picked up while attending Launch School have made me not only a more competent web developer but also a more competent person.
READ MOREThe thing with Launch School is once you are done, you will realize just how fundamentally necessary everything is. Suffice to say, I have finished the core curriculum and was promoted to a DevOps engineer at my current company.
READ MOREI realized that Launch School sees learning software development as a lifelong journey of mastering a craft, not learning to code in three months in order to land a job. Launch School is honest and transparent with what they offer.
READ MOREIf 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 MOREThis could be the program for you if you're looking for something that's more on the hardcore end of the spectrum
READ MOREThe 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 MORESuffice 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 MOREAside 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 MORELaunch 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 MOREI'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 MOREIt is clear that the Launch School team really cares about offering the best program they can
READ MOREI even believe I've learned how to learn better, and I've become a better problem-solver in general throughout the coursework
READ MOREI 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 MOREThere 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 MOREIt was the best investment of my time that I made. Even better than going to university!
READ MORELaunch 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 MORELaunch School gave me all of the core tools I needed to start building meaningful, useful software applications
READ MORELaunch School truly prepares you to be an asset on day one of a real job in the industry.
READ MORELaunch 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 MOREI'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 MOREI'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 MOREThis programme opened possibilities for me that would have taken me years to reach
READ MORETaking this program is one of the best decisions that I have ever made.
READ MOREI landed what I consider being the perfect junior ruby developer job before even finishing the program
READ MOREIn the end I landed a great job after I completed my study at Launch School
READ MOREIn the end I truly believe that Launch School changed my life
READ MORESigning up for Launch School was a life-defining moment for me
READ MOREI 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 MOREBottom line, complete this program and you will have all the skills you need to land a job or build your own products
READ MOREAfter only 3 weeks of finishing the program I was working full time as a Jr Developer in an amazing company in downtown Toronto
READ MOREThis is the course to go for to get a concrete foundation on programming
READ MOREIt's probably the best investment (time and money) I did for myself in a long time
READ MOREThis program is by far the most advanced, cost effective way of learning how to be a real programmer and get paid like one
READ MOREI highly recommend Launch School's program for anyone who wants to learn how to code and land a job as a software engineer
READ MOREThe 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 MOREIf 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 MOREThe 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 MOREIf you're really considering becoming a Web developer from scratch, this is the right place for you
READ MOREI highly recommend Launch School for beginners to web development or programming in general
READ MOREIn 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
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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.
Launch School Podcast S4E3 is out!
How I became a software developer in 4 years
The Curse of Knowledge
Launch School Podcast S4E2 is out!
"Floating" in Rubies
Video Series: The Lifecycle of an HTTP Message
Podcast S4E1: Welcome to Season 4!
Understanding Nested Iteration: a Key to Success in RB101
Bash Plumbing
Mastery-Based Learning vs. Factory-Based Education Model: A Review of Launch School’s Documentation
A Visual Guide to Variables as Pointers and Object Passing, in Ruby
Best Practices: RB101 through RB139
Lessons From the First Half of Core
Part 2: The JavaScript Pseudo-Classical Pattern Explained (with pictures)
Part 1: The JavaScript OLOO Pattern Explained (with pictures)
We are Made of Stories
Variable Scope and Access in Ruby: The Important Parts
Behind the Curtain of JavaScript Classes
How does the internet work?
Debug that thing A debugging checklist/toolbox for my future self.
A Nightmare on Bug Street - How to deal with bugs during a coding interview - or better - how to not get them at all.
Lessons from Being a TA
What is THIS? Understanding execution context in JavaScript
Need a refresher on functions in JavaScript? Here is a quick overview
Which evaluation strategy does Ruby use!
Finishing my first @launchschool quiz, and I’m thrilled to say that while it’s hard, it isn’t hard because it’s tricky. If a question only has one answer you cannot select two answers. The test doesn’t allow that. 😀
Podcast S3E10: Season Finale
Podcast S3E9: Getting to know Pete
What helped me get through the LS181 Assessment
A Mental Model for Understanding Encapsulation in Ruby
How I Stopped Procrastinating and Started Working on Coding Side-Projects
How to Make Assumptions (When Learning to Program)
The Importance of Time and Stress Management for Launch School Interviews
When Can I Make Something Real?
Thankful and a Podcast Episode of Gratitude
How to get back into a study routine after a break
The Importance of Time and Stress Management For Launch School Interviews
How the Internet Works OR There and Back Again - An Ode to the Request/Response Cycle
JavaScript [[Prototype]] vs .prototype
Understanding prototypes, constructors, and prototype objects in JavaScript (walk-through using examples)
LS Podcast S3E7: Bytes -- Life Stages
Accelerating the Slow Path to Mastery
What Not To Do On the RB109 Written Assessment
📢 Our 2021 February cohort salary results! - 24 entered Capstone - 24 completed - 24 landed jobs 💰Salaries - mean: $126,398 - median: $120,200 📅 Duration to Accepted Offer - mean: 6.74 weeks - median: 6 weeks Other - 67% roles were remote - 100% roles are core SE
Are You Listening to This? Execution context in JavaScript and jQuery event listeners
I Think I Can't.
Grokking GROUP BY - Understanding the SQL GROUP BY Clause and Aggregate Functions
Podcast S3E6: Getting to know Srdjan
The perilous journey of an HTTP Request
Like Riding a Bike (What I learned about learning by teaching my daughter to ride)
How I Prepared for the Launch School RB129 Written Assessment
Podcast S3E5: Women Who Code at Launch School
I Surrender, Launch School...
Group Study for Launch School’s RB129 Assessment
5 Benefits of using the JavaScript ES6 class syntax in lieu of constructor functions
Coping with the Slow Path to Mastery - Part 1 - Staying on the Path. This one is for all of the snail's out there. Enjoy!
JavaScript Closures: A Mental Model
Why you should be using Git Branches in LS 101
Podcast S3E4: John and Adam Isom - Skipping College, CS Degree vs Launch School, and Making Six Figures Together
What Launch School Represents
How I transitioned from Analytics to Software Engineering with Launch School's Core curriculum
Why doing projects is not the best way to learn to program
The Dangers of Hack & Slash Coding
The this keyword in JavaScript made simple.
What is duck typing in JavaScript?
Podcast S3E3: Bytes -- Why Did You Choose Launch School?
JavaScript OOP Exploration Video Series
Where's All the Support After 109?
Where's All the Support After 109?
Let’s X-plore JavaScript’s Object Creation Patterns
A simplified overview of JavaScript prototypes and prototypical inheritance.
What I’ve learned during my first month at Launch School.
Podcast S3E2: Gabe, Ben, and Arthur Part 2!
The brief tale about the evolution of database systems
Peer-led Seminars are Online + Archived Courses
A quickish take on Blocks in Ruby
Why Don't We Get Negative Reviews?
Checklist for Launch in 3…2…1…
Launch School Podcast S3E1: Interview with Dr. Barbara Oakley
Promotion 3 months into job. "It's so clear that Capstone really set me up for this."
Programming Gave Me My Best Friends
Capstone Reflection Week 1
Capstone Reflection Week 3
I Failed Programming 101 Three Times
Some Advice to Those at the Beginning of Launch School
Info-session recording about Launch School, DPP, 2020 Salaries, etc.
Changing Careers 2 Years After College
LS Live Assessments: The Untold Story
Getting ready for the RB129 assessments
Same Same but Different: JavaScript Null and Undefined Data Types
2020 Capstone Salaries
I've Accomplished in 2 Years What Some Students Have in 2 Months
Coping with Time-Related Stress at Launch School
Why the forEach JS method might not always be the best choice
Spinning Your Wheels: The Fear of Missing Out
Avoiding the Career Transition Trap
Not Yet
An intro to Expressions and Statements in JavaScript
Finally Finished Launch School JS109, Here’s the Story.
The dreaded "not yet"
Programming Concepts: How to Make Them Stick
Breaking the MagiJSian's Code: JavaScript Object Creation Patterns, Revealed!
Comic: A Very Basic Explanation of How the Internet Works
Announcing Capstone Project Mentors
Podcast S2E10: Study Habits Conference and The Social Network with Liz, Jesse, and Katarina
JS101: Understanding Return Values for Method Chaining
What helped me get ready for Launch School’s RB 109 live assessment
Do you need to be good at math to become a programmer?
How the Internet Works, Part I - The Internet Infrastructure
This article is about prototypes and prototypal inheritance. Mainly trying to explain confusing terms around this topic. As this was one of the most challenging concepts in OOP, I hope seeing another perspective on the topic will be beneficial for other students.
Why Launch School is better than a bootcamp/college/mooc
Recap 2020
RubyConf 2020 -- Launch School Retrospective
Sailing Through PEDAC: the Left & Right Brain Approach
Preparing for my first live coding assessment: Launch School’s RB109 Interview
Thankful, 2020
Stay On the Path Thoughts on learning to code as a father of two young kids
After the Core Curriculum