I’m over a year past graduation and onto my second job and I still receive invaluable support and encouragement from Capstone staff and the alumni community. If I had to start over today, I would absolutely pick Launch School Core + Capstone again.

I feel so lucky to have found Launch School from a random Reddit thread in 2020. I was considering whether to join a 3-9 month bootcamp, go back to college, or go the self-taught route. I tried the self-taught route and went in circles for months - jumping from tutorial to tutorial without progress. I wanted structure, feedback, and a supportive environment that would push me to learn deeply. Launch School's unique approach was exactly what I was looking for and delivered so much more value than I expected (and I had high expectations)!

The Core program was transformative. It provided me with a rock-solid foundation in software principles that I continue to rely on daily. The rigorous assessments, while challenging, served as invaluable checkpoints on my learning journey. I truly learned how to learn which has been an incredibly rewarding byproduct of switching careers.

Capstone marked a significant shift in my learning, propelling me from mastering fundamentals to applying them in complex, real-world scenarios. The interview prep helped me feel confident in my ability to communicate my skills and solve technical challenges in front of others. The engineering topics we covered allowed me to participate in technical research and decisions at my job. Working on a substantial project with a team mirrored the collaborative nature of professional software development. I left Capstone feeling prepared for the challenges of a working software engineer.

The job support I received in Capstone was instrumental in navigating the competitive tech job market. Getting a software job is its own skill and Capstone staff and mentors helped me learn, apply, and iterate my own job search framework which I can carry forward to the future. Despite a challenging job market, after three months and multiple offers I secured my first software engineering role at a fast-paced early stage computer vision AI startup working on the core product.

The true value of Core + Capstone became evident once I started my new job. My team and I were both a bit shocked at how quickly I was able to contribute meaningfully to the product. Feedback from the team was positive and I exceeded their expectations and was contributing new features within a few weeks. After a few months I was reviewing code, mentoring more junior engineers, and leading new projects. The deep understanding of fundamentals I gained in Core allowed me to quickly adapt to new technologies and tools I needed at work that we did not cover in the curriculum. The hands-on experience across a wide range of technology in Capstone prepared me for breaking down new, complex challenges at work and contributing to a team.

Launch School was the best educational program I’ve experienced. The unique mix of quality, rigor, and support provided me with the tools to succeed as a student and as a software engineer. I’m over a year past graduation and onto my second job and I still receive invaluable support and encouragement from Capstone staff and the alumni community. If I had to start over today, I would absolutely pick Launch School Core + Capstone again.