SwitchUp Best Bootcamp Award

We're honored to have won the SwitchUp Best Bootcamps Award.  

Thanks to our 1,000+ alumni for entrusting us with your professional future over the years!

"I completed Launch Academy last summer, and it was hands down the best decision I have ever made for my career. I had no experience with software engineering, and I managed to double my salary from my pre-launch job within a year and a half post-completion of launch." -Mia Buckland"I was impressed by the amount of time spent planning team-building exercises and lessons. Launch Academy has had seventeen revisions of its curriculum and has change to market demand. During the ten weeks [on campus], I was working hard and overwhelmed since I had to work on my organizational and communication skills that in the end made me a better presenter as well as programmer. Overall, I am really glad I enrolled. By the end, I had a great amount of resources to continue studying and a community to reach out to for questions." -Sean Brooks "I first read about Launch Academy in a local newspaper. At the time I was working 4 service jobs at approximately 70 hours/week. Even though I had a degree in science I was having difficulty finding the time to look for a job that I could use my degree in; I also felt that I was under-qualified for most positions that would actually utilize my degree. Having always had an affinity for puzzles and also an interest in computers I decided to take the risk of applying for, and attending Launch Academies first cohort in Philadelphia. The experience was stellar. I had only taken one computer science class in school but by the time I finished ignition and was prepared to go to Launch's Philadelphia campus I felt completely prepared to write small programs and began to focus on my career trajectory. The staff was very, very supportive and over the course of their 10 week on-campus experience, they took my minimal experience in computer science and shaped me into a web developer. I built 2 applications- one movie theater review site with a group of fellow students, and one solo application that reminded users to water their plants. Career kickoff was a great success. The first hand that I shook was that of my future Director. I was immediately placed with the company that I have been at for 7 months now. I am extremely happy, have moved into a full-time position as a Solutions Architect, and now consider myself a young professional. Launch Academy changed my life and I am beyond satisfied with the level of follow-through that the company provided. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to launch their web-development career.  Launch Academy overwhelmingly fulfills all expectations."  -Evianne Keeney "Launch Academy was an amazing experience. Before entering the program I focused for on marketing and business management, although I always has a solid technical background with computers(excluding coding). Launch Academy primarily focuses on Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Javascript, ReactJS, and HTML/CSS. Ruby is an excellent language to learn for beginners. Its really easy to understand and is written in a simple way, almost like you are speaking. Other languages like C#, C++, etc. involve a lot of extra characters and generally are harder to understand for a beginner. They also teach ReactJS which is an amazing frontend framework that a ton of companies are looking for right now! The one thing I really enjoyed about Launch Academy is it taught me how to learn on my own. After completing this course you'll be able to learn anything you put your mind too! Launch Academy provides a great foundation!"  -Samuel Lauricella "Where was this option 5 years ago?"  TL;DR : I went to a 4-yr public college and got a pretty solid education, but Launch Academy convinced me twice over that the bootcamp model is indeed a successful way to learn and apply practical skills. But note: you have to want it. The longer version Launch Academy turned my opinion of higher education on its head. I have a degree in a STEM discipline, but struggled to find a job. Though I had just graduated, my skills were too nebulous and outdated; employers were also looking for advanced degrees for their entry-level jobs. For the first year out of school, I could count the number of interviews I managed to wrangle on one hand. One month after finishing Launch Academy, however, I need my fingers _and_ my toes--and I got a job offer to boot. That's how effective this program was in providing skills that employers wanted--and, bonus, skills that were (in my opinion) interesting to learn and apply. This is something (again, in my opinion) that not many college degrees can provide anymore with the current educational model they follow. How to know, however, if this is right for you? It's difficult to say, but there are some traits you should probably possess: (1) You love learning and you love learning quickly. Launch Academy is called a bootcamp for a reason. You have 8 weeks on your own and 10 weeks on campus to get as much information into your noggin as possible. You have a fantastic set of EEs (experience engineers) to help you learn and process this new information, but do know that the onus is on you to go further. The further you push yourself in this short time span, the more you'll notice an improvement in your coding skills--which leads to #2: (2) You are independently driven. The EEs want you to succeed, but it's up to you to go the distance. I'm not saying that you won't struggle and feel like you're not up-to-par (you will get a talk about the imposter syndrome and how to notice it in yourself and your peers), but you need to push past that and put your nose to the grindstone. What you put in at this program directly affects the choices you will have in the job market. Not to mention, if you come here to coast, you not only hurt yourself: you also put strain on your peers. Your peers in this program not only become like family, but they also will be your link to networking in the future (*this is key*)." -Anon