About Launchcode
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LaunchCode is a national nonprofit creating pathways for driven people seeking careers in technology by providing accessible education, training and paid apprenticeship job placement. LaunchCode matches students with one of their 500 employer partners... Read More
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Courses
WebDev Javascript + C#, STL, Women+
WebDev Javascript + Java, STL, Women+
Launchcode Reviews
Average Ratings (All Programs)
Anonymous
Web Development Student | Graduated: 202410/9/2024
Course
WebDev Javascript + Java, STL, Women+
"Waste of time and misleading"
I graduated from Launchcode in 2024, and went through the Java Dev course. The information and learning itself was pretty good as well as the instructors, however they constantly say that they help 80% of their graduates find jobs after completing the... Read More
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Anonymous
Graduated: 20236/30/2023
Course
WebDev Javascript + C#, STL, Women+
"Waste of time"
I recently completed a course at LaunchCode, and I must say that my experience was deeply disappointing. While the main selling point of the program is the promise of an apprenticeship afterwards, it became evident that LaunchCode lacks the necessary... Read More
Anonymous
Graduated: 20226/29/2023
Course
WebDev Javascript + Java, STL, Women+
"Excellent program!"
I completed LaunchCode in 2022 and enjoyed my experience as a learner and was benefited by the skills I learned. It’s a hard program, and it’s best for someone who is self motived and has the time required in their schedules to succeed in the program.... Read More
Anonymous
Graduated: 20235/21/2023
Course
WebDev Javascript + Java, STL, Women+
"waste of time"
Resembles a MLM organization. There's more emphasis on deception then actually learning skills. You will see amazing resumes written about AI and software engineering, but it's all style and no substance. Yes, a few people benefit from this program, but... Read More
Anonymous
Graduated: 20219/24/2021
"So far not so good"
I was accepted into the program and given a deadline for pre work...the quiz is posted but the lesson/content is not. When I contacted them they asked me to provide them with screenshots and asked what links I tried. I tried every link on every tab several... Read More
Anonymous
Freelance Web Developer | Graduated: 20208/7/2020
"Very poorly run, incredibly disappointing"
I attended the Java Web Development CoderGirl course in 2019-2020. There are three modules, Javascript, Java, and Career Readiness. I don't know how I survived the JavaScript module. My TA had graduated from the program 3 months before she started teaching... Read More
The curriculum was very poorly written. The TAs usually couldn't help the students understand how to solve the problems. For example, there was a graded assignment regarding test driven development that not a single student could finish. After the due date, that assignment was thrown out without explanation and we were expected to just continue with the curriculum.
I dropped out between the Java and Career Readiness modules because the TA told me, verbatim, that I was an idiot and I would never be able to write good code. I worked for two weeks to turn in a working program for a graded assignment, but I was given a 0 because she didn't like how it was written. No constructive criticism or ideas to improve. After I stopped showing up to class, no one from LaunchCode attempted to reach out to find out why. I guess they don't care about their retention rates.
I wasted my time with this program. I've attempted to find a corporate web-development job but I didn't learn enough in the program to qualify for an entry-level position. I have continued to self-study using free resources online that have prepared me much more for my development journey than LaunchCode.
Of the >200 people who started the program, ~15 survived to the point where I dropped out. I know of four graduates personally, and two have found junior level positions without the help of launchcode. I know the other two are still unemployed, three months later.
Abbey Northcutt
Graduated: 201912/19/2019
"Disorganized, But Ultimately Fulfilling"
I came into this program for the second time in 2018 (I had unfortunately not been able to keep up with the CSX50 program a couple years earlier). The pros and cons are as follows:
Pros:
The schedule (once a week for two hours with optional study groups... Read More
Cons:
Codergirl is still in its growing phase, and the curriculum for my course was highly disorganized and seemed to be constructed week by week sometimes. A lot of it was a video portion that I was required to pay a small sum for, despite the fact that the class is supposed to be entirely free. Halfway through the project track, we switched to another paid video course. The learning track class was massive at around fifty people, and eventually separated into three separate groups based on where the students were in the curriculum (we ignored the stated "deadline" that the rest of the tracks mandated). I was one of the slower workers, and did not even finish the curriculum before going into the project track. That was a double-edge sword. I was grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to stay in the class despite being behind, but felt woefully underprepared for the second half of the course. I was also extremely disappointed to find out that my mentors were being underpaid for all of the work they put in. Finally, I can't stand the name "Codergirl." It sounds like a single-word manifestation of how women are singled out and infantilized in a lot of workplaces.
All in all, I was successful and happy in the LaunchCode program despite some difficulty keeping up with the work and the lack of organization. I would recommend this for anyone who can handle a ton of challenging work and won't be bothered by a frequently hectic and rather messy experience.
Anonymous
Graduated: 201912/3/2019
"It's just a waste of time and energy."
The course is quite bad, run by instructors with not much experience, in quite a hostile environment. I have seen many stories on their greediness. Many people who thought they were not able to make it and wanted to leave during the beginning of the program... Read More
For the projects, there's no real standard for quality. I put in a lot of work to make ambitious projects with pretty web design so they would actually look good on my resume. But looking at other students' work, I saw most people just did the bare minimum to pass the project requirements. I didn't feel like there was any incentive for people to try and become "great" web developers with projects they could be proud of. It definitely seems like they care more about quantity because that's what really serves their reputation.
During the program, I had a friend who went to another intensive bootcamp (which I won't name). But she gave me access to her school's portal, and I did the majority of their workshops. Honestly, the difference in quality was staggering. Their information was much more so up-to-date and their approach to web development so much more engaging and serious.
Job Placement Numbers - While they market their job placement % numbers all over the place, the truth is that they hire a substantial number of their own graduates to be teaching fellows/assistants and instructors for their own program. What this means is that they can claim this as legitimate employment for their graduates but it doesn't really satisfy the true perception that the industry as a whole thinks about their graduates in terms of programming skills & knowledge, as much as their job placement numbers hope to lead you to believe. In reality it's a win-win for them because it allows them to report high job % placement numbers as well as hire relatively cheap teaching staff for their program. And even the lucky few who get into the apprenticeship program, they usually end up working hard for peanuts with no guarantee after completing their apprenticeship which often turns out to be just a cheaply-compensated internship.
Anonymous
Webmaster | Graduated: 20189/24/2018
"Don't Waste Your Time!"
I have been a hobbyist programmer since I was in high school. I don't have a college degree. I do have a lot of on-the-job programming experience. I read about LaunchCode in the newspaper in 2017. It sounded too good to be true, but I applied for their... Read More
Anonymous
software developer | Graduated: 20178/16/2018
"LaunchCode literally changed my life"
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... Read More