Launch School gave me the tools to do what I thought would have been impossible a few years ago: land a mid-level software engineering role with a six-figure salary, while having no prior experience in a tech-related field or even a related degree. Capstone put me in a position to start my career 3-5 years ahead of where I would have landed had I attended a traditional bootcamp, with a salary $50K+ higher.

As someone making a mid-life career transition, Launch School gave me the tools to do what I thought would have been impossible a few years ago: land a mid-level software engineering role with a six-figure salary, while having no prior experience in a tech-related field or even a related degree. For me the stakes were pretty high coming into this career transition: I have two kids and was coming from a career where the pay was already high, so I really needed to be able to skip the entry-level junior roles to make the transition to software engineering worthwhile. And that's exactly what Capstone and the entire Launch School experience prepared me for.

What I love about Launch School is that the approach doesn't focus just on getting a job but rather on launching a rewarding, long-term career in software engineering. And that to me is probably the most significant difference between Launch School and a traditional bootcamp where the bar is simply to get the proverbial foot in the door: as a Capstone graduate you are truly positioned to compete for mid- to senior-level roles if you put in the work and that's what you want.

But make no mistake: it's a long, difficult (yet highly rewarding) journey to get through Capstone and the Core Curriculum that comes before it. It took me 3 years (including a 7-month break) from first enrolling into Core to securing a job after completing Capstone. Could I have gotten a job 1-2 years earlier had I gone to a traditional bootcamp instead? Possibly. Would it have been worth it? Absolutely not. Capstone put me in a position to start my career 3-5 years ahead of where I would have landed had I attended a traditional bootcamp, with a salary $50K+ higher. So while the path to a career in software engineering took longer through Launch School, my starting point is higher with way more upside potential— and not just because of the higher salary, but because of the knowledge, skills and experience acquired along the way that enabled me to land that job in the first place.

So all in all, I am incredibly grateful to Launch School: for the high quality curriculum, for the low-risk cost structure, for every staff member invested in my success along the way, and for putting me on a path to a life-changing career. For anyone who is serious about making the transition to a career in software engineering and has the time and resources to do it, I would recommend Launch School without hesitation.