LaunchCode
LaunchCode Reviews and Complete Guide
While many coding bootcamps emphasize the ways program graduates can take advantage of new skills to land a job in tech, few can do it like LaunchCode. One of LaunchCode’s major goals is to teach disciplines like web development and help students start careers in tech.
Let’s see what sets LaunchCode apart from many other coding bootcamps.
What Do You Need to Know about LaunchCode?
LaunchCode is a coding bootcamp that specializes in web development. Unlike many other coding bootcamps, LaunchCode is a nonprofit that offers free programs varying in length.
The trade-off for taking advantage of free courses can be a level of complexity you may not encounter in paid-for versions. Make no mistake, LaunchCode doesn’t hold your hand. However, you will see that putting the hard work in can lead to a career in tech.
Here are some quick facts about LaunchCode.
| Locations | St. Louis, Kansas City, Miami |
| Tuition | N/A |
| Financing Options | N/A |
| Start Dates | N/A |
| Program Types | Full-Time, Part-Time, Self-Paced, Online |
| Courses | Web Development |
Where Are LaunchCode’s Campuses Located?
LaunchCode has locations in various cities in the United States. While you have your choice of city, the St. Louis campus offers more courses, like the CoderGirl.
- St. Louis
- Kansas City
- Miami
- Online
All campus locations offer the same courses. Each location has a highly successful job placement rate, and most graduates find positions with a high starting salary.
How Much Is Tuition At LaunchCode?
LaunchCode doesn’t cost anything. It is a nonprofit dedicated to teaching students about web development, software engineering, and other valuable tech knowledge. If you like what LaunchCode is doing, they have a donate page to help you show support.
How Can You Pay LaunchCode Tuition?
LaunchCode is free, but we think it is useful to familiarize yourself with some practical ways to pay for other coding bootcamps.
LaunchCode Scholarships
While applying to coding bootcamp scholarships is a good and helpful way to pay your way through coursework, LaunchCode does not require students to apply for or use scholarships to fund their coursework.
ISAs
One of the most common financial policies available at coding bootcamps is income share agreements or ISAs. This policy allows for students to defer tuition payments until a student lands a job in tech. Afterward, a portion of the graduate’s income goes towards paying off the coding bootcamp tuition.
However, as LaunchCode is free of charge, students don’t need to concern themselves with this popular payment plan.
Loan Financing
LaunchCode doesn’t require loans or loan financing.
Installments
LaunchCode does not require students to pay in installments.
Can You Use the GI Bill at LaunchCode?
No, you cannot use the benefits of the G.I. Bill for LaunchCode’s courses. Veterans and the family members of veterans don’t need to worry about paying for tuition at all.
Which Courses Does LaunchCode Offer?
LaunchCode offers a few unique courses that make up the bootcamp’s curriculum. Let’s see which main courses you should consider.
CoderGirl – In-Person
LaunchCode offers a truly unique course called CoderGirl. This is a web-development program dedicated to teaching web-development skills to women in tech. Students sign up for a 24-week long or 40-week long course, for full-time or part-time options respectively.
In this specialization track, women of all skill levels are free to learn valuable technical and coding skills to make a difference in the workplace.
Some of the concepts learned in the CoderGirl track include:
- Java
- C#/.NET
- Front End Web Development
- SQL Server & Databases
- Data Analysis
- UX/UI
- Data Science (requires additional HackerRank coding test for entry)
- Salesforce
Applicants still have a decent chance for enrollment, even if they don’t do well on the application test. Students will receive periodical Career Modules during this program to help them further prepare for a career upon graduation.
LaunchCode started CoderGirl to directly address the gender imbalance in the tech field.
Keep in mind, CoderGirl is only available in St. Louis, at LaunchCode’s main headquarters.
Immersive CodeCamp – In-Person
LaunchCode’s immersive CodeCamp is the flagship coding course. This immersive, intensive, and all-encompassing coding bootcamp teaches students everything they need to know about web development and software engineering.
It is here that coding bootcamp students learn specifics like JavaScript and other popular programming languages.
More forensically, the program splits into two units: Unit 1: JavaScript and Unit 2: Skill Track. Students learn how to utilize JavaScript to create dynamic web pages, mobile apps, and other valuable web-design projects in the first unit.
The skill track takes these fundamentals learned in the first unit and applies them to the workforce. How will program graduates use these web-development skills in the real world?
LaunchCode aims to answer that question by helping students with job assistance, apprenticeship programs, and an intensive portfolio project. This is where students take all of the tech knowledge learned in the CodeCamp and build a comprehensive, attractive portfolio for their future job searches.
Keep in mind, the portfolio project is nearly a full-time job. You will be spending a good eight hours a day on your education.
LC101 Course – Online
The LC101 course is for students not quite ready to dedicate all of the skills and time towards learning web development. This is the perfect option for those who are somewhat or not at all familiar with web development or software engineering basics. This is also a great way to prepare yourself for one of the more complicated specialization tracks offered in the CodeCamp and CoderGirl programs.
The LC101 course requirements are simply to have a laptop or desktop computer and be able to dedicate 20 hours of your week to weekly readings, problem practice, and assignments.
How to Get Accepted at LaunchCode
Anyone can get accepted at LaunchCode. We recommend already having a basic tech background to make the learning process more comfortable and more fluid. However, it isn’t impossible.
LaunchCode Acceptance Rate
As of right now, LaunchCode has not published its acceptance rate. It’s hard to determine how many people get accepted, as it varies by skill level.
LaunchCode Application Process
The LaunchCode application process is simple, split up into a few different steps.
- First, you fill out the written application. Unlike other applications, this one could take up to two hours. The application contains a questionnaire (necessary information like date of birth, address), and reasons for seeking education at LaunchCode. Next is a technical assessment to gauge your skills and background knowledge of the material.
- After completing the written application, potential bootcamp students must undergo an interview. This hour-long interview is the time to really sell yourself and communicate to those who work at LaunchCode how passionate you are about a job in tech. LaunchCode allows you to take part in these interviews virtually to accommodate your needs.
- If the interview goes well, future students then get to work on pre-work, lasting around 10 hours. This is essentially the introduction of core concepts covered by the coding bootcamp.
- After completing the course pre-work, you will receive a cohort invite via email.
LaunchCode Interview Questions
An hour is a long time for an interview. What can you expect to cover with the interviewer over the course of that time? Below are a few key pointers for your coding bootcamp interview.
- Your passion level towards learning
- What you want to do with your tech education
- Your coding background
- Determining which program is best for you.
How Can You Prepare for LaunchCode?
So now that you have secured a spot at LaunchCode, how can you prepare for your coding bootcamp experience?
- The Prep-work – The prep-work included in the application process is perhaps one of the most helpful ways to prepare for your time at LaunchCode. This prep-work focuses on what you will eventually learn, introducing you to fundamentals and key concepts.
- Get familiar with coding – While LaunchCode will provide a solid pre-work regimen, you will need to have a little more experience with web design, coding, and software development. You don’t need to be an expert by any means, but it’s useful to have a tech background, along with a grasp of skills such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Practice – A fantastic way to better prepare yourself for future coursework, you should practice with the necessary coding knowledge that you have. Try building games, websites, or even simply changing your website’s look and feel to hone your skills.
- The LC101 Course – If inexperience or other reasons mean you don’t get accepted to the full, immersive program at LaunchCode, you can opt to take the LC101 course. This is an entirely free web-development course that helps you prepare for more complicated concepts.Unlike the coding bootcamp itself, the LC101 course is for those with zero tech experience. As of right now, the LC101 course, LC101 WebDev JavaScript, is a 20-week course covering basics and intermediate levels of web development.
Is LaunchCode Worth It?
So, is this coding bootcamp worth it? It depends. If you are short on funds but want to learn the skills needed to land a job in tech, LaunchCode could be a great way to break into the tech scene. As you will see, the job placement programs, job assistance, and apprenticeship programs are fantastic ways to start your career in technology.
While the free coursework is attractive, bear in mind that LaunchCode offers some more intermediate and advanced classes and concepts to its students. Just because it’s free does not mean it’s easy. Let’s explore some of the job placement and job assistance programs LaunchCode offers.
With smaller class sizes, no price tag, and excellent job assistance, LaunchCode could very well be worth your time.
LaunchCode Job Placement
LaunchCode goes above and beyond to help program graduates land a job in tech. Many LaunchCode alumni even receive tech jobs without possessing a computer science degree.
LaunchCode’s job assistance and apprenticeship programs ensure that those taking part in the program will not only land a job in the tech industry but be able to thrive at that job.
Placement figures provided by LaunchCode claim that 86 percent of their graduates successfully start a career in technology. The leading tech fields that LaunchCode focuses on are:
- Software Development
- Front End Web Development
- Back End Web Development
- Mobile App Development
- Data Science and Data Analytics
- Business Intelligence
- Information Technology
- Quality Assurance
Furthermore, the apprenticeship program sets LaunchCode apart from other coding bootcamps. Upon program completion, LaunchCode will place students in a paid apprenticeship. These tech apprenticeships consist of 40-hour working weeks to better introduce graduates to a job in tech.
Keep in mind that these paid apprenticeships are only available in LaunchCode’s hub cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Miami.
Huge companies like Boeing, Edward Jones, Spectrum, and Mastercard regularly hire LaunchCode graduates.
Does LaunchCode Offer a Job Guarantee?
No, LaunchCode does not offer a job guarantee. That’s because job guarantees allow for students to receive their tuition back if they don’t land a job in tech within an allotted time period. Since LaunchCode doesn’t cost a thing, a job guarantee is null and void.
Should You Apply to LaunchCode?
If you want to drastically increase your chances of landing a job in tech, applying to LaunchCode can give you an invaluable leg-up. Another positive to the coding bootcamp is that it is entirely free.
However, this doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. Instead, you need to double down and put a lot of hard work into the intensive bootcamp courses.
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Anonymous
I was a Massage Therapist. I found an editors list of the top 10 coding bootcamps from around the country. I did some online work for the number one rated, but ultimately chose LaunchCode, ninth rated, because it is completely free to students and it was local to me (Saint Louis.)
LC101, the introduction class, was HARD and you get out of it what you put in. If you don’t study enough and keep up you will get dropped, only about 70% of my class graduated.
Graduating doesn’t mean job placement, you have to take the skills you have learned and prove you can code projects to completion on your own. They recently added Liftoff (8 weeks), to help with that process, I am taking it and in week 3.
Additionally, once you apply and get into the Apprenticeship Program, you have to be able to prove to companies that your project and your communication skills are good enough to do whatever job they need you to do in the real world. I am the over-achieving type, I coded a project to completion while between Units 2 and 3 and applied to the apprenticeship program with it. Because there are so many people who got into the apprenticeship program before me that they are trying to place, it took them about 7 weeks to get back to me with my first: would you like us to send your resume to company X? email. Then it is up to company X if they want to interview you.
I, apparently, impressed my first company interviewer, but wasn’t offered a job. My second interviewer did offer me a job, and my third interviewer (within days of the second) seems to want to meet with other candidates. Additionally, I graduated on a Thursday, and I started to TA the following LC101 class the next Monday, at the time of writing this, that class is 3 of 20 weeks into their program. Yesterday, I decided to accept the offer from the second interview, I spent part of today doing the onboarding.
In general, the community and atmosphere at LaunchCode is amazing and they are super supportive and helpful, they have an online chatroom that is always busy answering questions, offering support, or just trying to make you laugh: Today in the chatroom: person 1: what if the cheese was shredded? person 2: then the answer would be grate!
The student to TA ratio is about 11 to 1, but the class size is generally somewhere in the 250-350 range, meaning that: if your TA or members of your TA group can’t answer the question, bounce it off one of the other 23 or more TA’s or post it in general chat seen by all. Someone gets back to you fast.
June 3, 2020
Anonymous
I’d considered getting into computer programming for a number of years, but couldn’t afford to go back to college for another degree that may or may not lead to a job, and I had a hard time staying focused when trying free, self-guided programs online. One of my partner’s former co-workers went through LaunchCode’s learning program and was ultimately placed in an apprenticeship, and recommended it highly to her when she mentioned that I’d been interested in programming. Initially I was pretty skeptical. How can a program offer free, no-strings-attached education to hundreds of students a year and be any good?
I realized later that the only way to do that is if your learning program is actually EXTREMELY good. My LaunchCode experience was filled with excited students, talented teachers, and supportive staff. They taught me everything I needed to know to become a web developer, provided resume and job interview support, and introduced me to a community of learners and developers who could serve as support in my job search. I and several of my friends (as well as many of the people I’ve met through LaunchCode) have gotten new careers in technology as a result of LaunchCode’s entirely free programs.
The thing I’ve realized most through my interactions with LaunchCode is that they’re not some for-profit bootcamp or recruiting firm who is just looking to make some quick money or only help the best of the best. Everyone I’ve met who works at LaunchCode is working there because they really care about the organization’s mission and are determined to help anyone and everyone who is willing to put in the effort get their first programming job.
LaunchCode absolutely changed the lives of me and some of the most important people to me, and I cannot possibly recommend them enough.
August 3, 2020
Anonymous
I started LaunchCode in the summer of 2017, I was working a dead end food service job at the time and looking for a way out. LaunchCode’s LC101 course is one of the best I’ve seen, it’s in person, interactive, and most of all it is FREE! That being said I had to work hard in order to succeed and land a job. Everyone at LaunchCode is supportive and wants to succeed but it’s up to you to put in the effort.
I went from knowing only a little bit of HTML to a fully functioning application in Java in just a few months.
Since graduating LaunchCode I have worked for two companies as a software developer and doubled my salary. I am forever grateful for the free education and support that LaunchCode has provided me.
October 16, 2020