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About Launch Academy

Location: Boston

Launch Academy is an 18-week immersive JavaScript coding bootcamp offering only four selective on-campus programs in Boston each year.

Launch Academy's web development course equips aspiring software developers with what they need to succeed as professionals... Read More

Launch Academy believes that deliberate practice is the most effective way to learn software development. That means the course is entirely structured around a learn-by-doing approach. Students graduate the program with a portfolio of projects, experiences, and code examples which will help set them apart in the job market.

The program is broken into two phases and provides structured lifetime alumni support. Phase I of the program features an 8-week part -time, virtual 'ignition' phase, which you complete with your fellow cohort students and your full-time engineering instructors. Instructors are available via live chat throughout the ignition process, and students are connected to classmates in the cohort.

Phase II features a 10-week, full-time on-campus phase which culminates in the recruiting event. Once students have established strong programming foundations in Ignition, it's time to take your learning to the professional level. Post graduation, students receive 4 weeks of structured support, as well as lifetime alumni support which includes access to career services and technical support as well as access to the Launch Academy space after 2pm for use to work on projects, continuous curriculum updates as they occur quarterly.

Courses

18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Cost: $17,500
Duration: 18 weeks
Locations: Boston
In-person Only
Course Description:

Graduates of this course will be able to:

-> Architect object oriented systems using Ruby and modern JavaScript
-> Develop full-stack web applications using Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and ReactJS
-> Design, model, and populate relational database schema with PostgreSQL and Structured Query Language (SQL)
-> Incorporate Application Programming Interfaces (API)’s into their applications
-> Incorporate Open Source Software (OSS) into their applications
-> Implement automated acceptance and unit tests on both the client and server side with a Test Driven Development (TDD) methodology
-> Deploy web applications to cloud-based hosts like Heroku
-> Collaborate as a participant of a software engineering team through:
-> Empathic and consistent communication
-> Pair Programming
-> GitHub Pull Request Workflow
-> Continuous Integration
-> Release management

The program is split into two phases: Ignition and the On Campus Immersive:

[Phase 1: Ignition]
8 Weeks, Part-time, Virtual
Eight weeks before the On Campus learning experience begins, you’ll be assigned weekly articles, videos, and challenges that we’ve written and produced. They will walk you through developing strong foundations in Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

Unlike other programs, you aren’t expected to complete this prerequisite program alone! Instructors will be available via live chat throughout the Ignition process if you get stuck. You’ll also be connected to everyone else in the cohort, allowing you to get help virtually any time. If you get stuck, your fellow students are only a message away. We also hold regular, virtual clinics, to reinforce the concepts you’re learning. These will be recorded and available to you throughout your coursework in the event you aren’t able to make the live sessions.

[Phase 2: On Campus Immersive]
10 Weeks, Full time+, On Campus
Once you’ve established strong programming foundations in Ignition, it’s time to take your learning to the professional level. During your 10 weeks on campus, you’ll eat, sleep, and breathe code. Most students devote somewhere between 60 and 80 hours per week to the program. It’s a grueling pace, but once you don the Green Shirt awarded at graduation, you’re ready to take on a career in web development.

Subjects:
CSS, Git, HTML, jQuery, PostgreSQL, Sinatra, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, SQL, Algorithms, JavaScript

Launch Academy Reviews

Average Ratings (All Programs)

Launch Academy logo

4.48/5 (65 reviews)

Anonymous
Graduated: 2022

4/20/2023

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Read before attending***"

They largely overstate their 'hiring network' many companies which are listed are not actually associated with the program in any formal way but are just places past graduates might have worked for any duration. I find this out during my post-grad job... Read More

Anonymous
Software Engineer | Graduated: 2022

3/31/2022

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Great experience"

After deciding I wanted to pursue a career in software engineering, I was stuck on what to learn and in what order. I found everything about technology to be foreign and intimidating. Launch really helped break it all down for me into bite sized pieces.... Read More

Brian Dinh
Solutions Consultant | Graduated: 2021

3/23/2021

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Great Experience"

My thoughts about my time at Launch Academy. I thought the experience was great overall. This course was taken during the pandemic so it was mostly done online. There was an option to go in the classroom but it was the middle of winter and leaving the... Read More

Anonymous
Graduated: 2020

3/26/2020

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"I'd go again in a heartbeat"

Launch Academy is absolutely fantastic! I would absolutely recommend this program to anyone, but you just have to be ready for it. When they say it will take you 60-80 hours a week they mean it. It's a kiln where they melt you down and reforge your mind... Read More

Casey Whittaker
Graduated: 2019

12/3/2019

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Fantastic Experience"

I went in to Launch Academy a little hesitant. I didn't think a short 18 weeks would give me enough time to learn what I needed to land a web developer role. Turns out I was pretty wrong.

The first few months of ignition totally helped me get over those... Read More

The on campus experience is much, much tougher than ignition and quite different. I would say the on campus portion was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. If you are considering Launch Academy, just know that the amount of work is no joke - you may even wish to consider somewhere else if you aren't going to dedicate at least 60-70 hours of work per week for 10 weeks straight. With that said, the instructors were almost always available to assist in our learning experience even when they technically weren't on the clock. And my cohort was a fantastic group of people, so I really, really enjoyed going in to the space every single day. I didn't miss a single day.

When on campus, you'll learn a lot more practical skills, like moreso the relationships between the things you learned in ignition and various frameworks that people use to make working with those languages more streamlined. You'll also learn how databases work, specifically how information is stored in and access from them, and how they communicate with a Rails backend and React front end. You'll of course learn React.js, Ruby on Rails, and how you can build a full stack application by the final two weeks of your cohort.

If all of this sounds promising and realistic to you, I say go for it! Attending Launch Academy has been one of the greatest descisions I've ever made and would do it 1000 times over.

Just a few weeks after graduation, I am happy to have landed a role at a small company in Boston with good pay, good benefits, and a similar code stack to what I learned at Launch. I couldn't have done it without the amazing team at Launch Academy and my fellow launchers!

Special shoutouts to Dan, Nick, Pat, Cassie, Brianna, AmyLynn, Alex, and Corinne for making it all possible!!

Charles Colfer
Graduated: 2019

12/2/2019

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Launch Academy: Boston's Best Web Development Bootcamp"

From my first inquiries to graduation day, every single staff member of Launch has been dedicated, consistently professional and personable and most of all human. For most of us, or any bootcamp attendee for that matter, we put our lives on hold. We left... Read More

Tyler Hui Mingalone
Graduated: 2019

12/2/2019

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Launch Academy was a great experience"

Launch Academy was a wonderful experience where I was able to gain valuable skills that allowed me to change into a career as a developer. I graduated in the fall of 2019 and my cohort learned Ruby on Rails and React.js. We spent eight weeks part time... Read More

The instructors were all able to clearly communicate new concepts and were invested in my success. Their lessons were well thought out and they are constantly updating their curriculum as the technology changes. Additionally, there are two full time staff members who make up their career services department and work very hard to get you a job post-graduation. They help you review your resume and Linkedin, as well as help facilitate interviews with companies that are hiring junior developers.

Amy Lieberman
Graduated: 2019

11/25/2019

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Great Place to Start a Career in Web Development!"

I had a great experience at Launch Academy and certainly learned a lot! The curriculum is consistently updated to keep up with version updates and industry popularity. The program is impeccably well run and I learned multiple new things every single day.... Read More

I chose to apply to Launch Academy for the following reasons and they ring true:
- 10 weeks in-person: Nothing can quite replace the face-to-face technical support, emotional support, and community you build at Launch. Plus, your classmates are your future colleagues in the Boston tech scene.
- Rigor: The program is rigorous yet structured to support both individuals who are new to coding and those with some background. I entered the program with little to no experience and wanted to make the most of my time there. Out of the bootcamps that I looked into, I felt that Launch provided me with the greatest growth potential.
- Career Support and Alumni Community: Launch’s alumni community of over 1000 graduates is one of its greatest assets. Their community is not just a number but rather active and present in the current cohort’s Launch experience. The alumni come in to Launch to mentor, answer career questions, and support current Launchers every single week of the program. As someone without any (non-Launch) friends who are software engineers, this was critical to my vision of what I was looking for and where my career was eventually headed. The career support is extensive and begins Week 1.

Who should learn at Launch? Anyone who is driven, a curious learner, and self advocates. It requires a lot of hard work and long hours (all of which is genuinely enjoyable thanks to your awesome cohort learning alongside you). If you enter with the right mindset — “I have a lot to learn and I’m eager to put in the hard work” — I’m confident you have a lot to gain from the program.

If I could change anything about the program, I wish it were longer so that we could get more in-depth into some topics and better understand how to do more config on our own.

As I look back on my time at Launch Academy, what stands out to me the most is the community, consistently updated curriculum, and the immense amount that I learned. We’re all a team that celebrates each other’s successes and help each other get there.

Shani Fox
Graduated: 2019

11/21/2019

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Best decision for a new career!"

I had a fantastic experience at Launch Academy in Boston. The instructors were really knowledgeable and the curriculum was both organized and presented well. Launch works hard to keep their curriculum current, so we learned some really "hot off the presses"... Read More

Susan Ma
Graduated: 2019

11/20/2019

Course
18-Week On-Campus JavaScript Immersive Bootcamp

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Best Decision for a Real Future"

Pros:
- Full support from staff throughout admissions, during the program itself, and post-graduation
- Informative staff with relevant industry experience and passion with many professional connections
- Small class size (~23 students)
- Budget friendly... Read More

I looked at other boot camps and felt that Launch Academy had the most human-friendly approach. They have created a boot camp that teaches the technical and problem-solving skills needed in a high-demand industry, yet have pinpointed the importance of collaboration, teamwork, and taking care of yourself with concerns of mental and physical health. As someone who came from a non-technical background, it felt daunting to come into a completely new world with completely new people. The staff at Launch Academy welcomed all of us with open arms and embraced us as individuals, while tailoring guidance to ensure that we are successful. Some of us needed more time than others, more support than others, and the staff took no hesitation to ensure that we understood the material.

Cons:
- Intensive material in a short period of time

This is very important for anyone who's coming into a program like this: Boot camps like Launch Academy are designed to be short so there's A LOT of information being taught. This may be particularly difficult for students who are new to programming in general, unfamiliar with time management and/or their own work style, and those who are not serious about finding a job in the industry post-graduation. This is not a program meant for the casual learner, but for someone who's looking more for a career change. Due to the rigorous nature and short time, it's also important to note that asking for help is CRITICAL. (This part in general isn't a con about the program - More like a recommendation for those who are on the fence about programming boot camps.)

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