Hi, I’m Brian, a former senior software engineer and now software engineering mentor at Pathrise. I have worked with hundreds of job-seekers to optimize their job search and get results like 3x more responses to their applications, 2x higher interview scores, and 10-20% increases in compensation through negotiation alone. Check out this article where I compare Launch Academy vs General Assembly.
- Similarities and differences between Launch Academy vs General Assembly
- Courses offered on Launch Academy vs General Assembly
- Prices for Launch Academy vs General Assembly
- Ratings and reviews of Launch Academy vs General Assembly
- Alternatives to Launch Academy vs General Assembly
- How do Launch Academy and General Assembly compare to Pathrise?
Similarities and differences between Launch Academy and General Assembly
Launch Academy and General Assembly are both bootcamps that offer software engineering courses. However, General Assembly also has full-time and part-time courses in UX design, data science, digital marketing, product management, and more topics.
Similarities
- Both programs have campuses in Boston.
- Students in both programs get 1-on-1 support from mentors and career coaches, participating in portfolio reviews, mock interviews, and other job search workshops.
- Students participate in networking events with hundreds of hiring partners.
- Both claim job placement rates above 86%.
Differences
- General Assembly teaches a wider variety of tech topics including digital marketing, data science, and UX design.
- In addition, General Assembly offers full-time, part-time, and self-paced programs, plus 60-hour and 1-day courses. Launch Academy only has 1 flagship full-time bootcamp.
- Students in General Assembly courses can finance their tuition with an income share agreement (ISA), so they pay with 10% of their income after they land a tech job.
- Launch Academy students continue to get job support up to 6 months after graduation and retain access to course materials.
Courses offered by Launch Academy and General Assembly
Both Launch Academy and General Assembly offer courses in software engineering.
However, General Assembly teaches a wider variety of courses, including:
- Digital marketing
- UX design
- Data science
- Product management
- Content strategy
- Tableau
- Agile & Scrum
- Python
Prices for Launch Academy and General Assembly
Tuition for Launch Academy’s flagship bootcamp is $17,500. A $500 scholarship is available for military veterans and students from underrepresented groups in tech. Students can also pay with loans, although they are still required to put down a $1,000 deposit. Not only do students graduate with a professional project portfolio to impress employers, but they continue to get support from career coaches for up to 6 months after graduation.
Full tuition for General Assembly’s full-time bootcamps is $16,450. Students who pay upfront get a $450 bootcamp. Part-time courses cost $4,050 and students can choose to pay this upfront (with a $250 discount) or with loans. Discounts and scholarships are also available. Through our partnership with general assembly, you can get access to a series of exclusive program offerings, including $1500 off any of their bootcamps or short-courses. If you’re interested in launching a career in tech, schedule a call with the GA Admissions team and ask them for the free workshops, events and discounts.
General Assembly offers a wide variety of payment options. Probably their highest profile option is the “income share loan” (ISL) — this option allows full-time bootcamp students to pay once they land a job. Made possible via Edaid, students pay only $500 upfront. Then they pay nothing until they land a job paying at least $40,000.
A simpler option might be paying installments. General Assembly allows students to divide tuition into two, three, or four easy payments while in the program. Interest free loans are available as well via Climb. Students can choose to start paying immediately (over 18 or 24 months), or pay 12 months later over 36 months with $500 down payment. Students can also take out interest loans through Ascent, Climb, or Meritize. Students who pay via loans can choose to repay immediately, defer payments, or choose an interest-only option. Interest rates range from 6.5-15%, with terms from 3-5 years. While Launch Academy invites some of their hundred hiring partners to free networking events, General Assembly connects students with 19,000+ hiring partners including top tech companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google.
Ratings and reviews of Launch Academy and General Assembly
Launch Academy has received mostly positive reviews. They hold a 4.5/5 star rating on Switchup and a 4.6/5 star review on Course Report. In addition, they have been on the top 48 coding bootcamps list for over 3 years.
A top review praised the supportive online environment, impressed that “Mentors are generally available during the day via Slack.” However, they were frustrated by the demanding pace, having to “hammer away at challenges for periods longer than 2-4 hours with greatly diminishing returns”. They also felt constant “pressure to keep at it.” Another student also valued the supportive online community, convinced that “the staff is attentive and cares about the students and their success post-graduation.” However, this student agreed that the pace can be overwhelming with lots of “hard work” and “long, exhausting hours.”
A grad on Switchup appreciated that “the cohort and teachers are very nice and collaborative” and that the curriculum is “truly full-stack.” However, some others were disappointed in the networking events, warning that there were “too few potential employers at career day” and that career services “does not place that many students with its hiring partners.” Others felt 60-80 hours of work for 10 weeks was overwhelming. On the whole though, grads appreciated Launch Academy’s intensive and hands-on curriculum.
General Assembly has received similarly positive reviews. They hold a 4.28/5 star rating on Course Report and 4.27/5 star rating on Switchup, where grads rave about the project-based curriculum and job support. Although some grads described the pace as “intense” and “pretty breakneck”, the personal support from instructors and mentors kept most students from falling behind. Although one data analytics grad enjoyed the engaging lectures and the curriculum hands-on style, they still felt “you have to be a total beginner” to really benefit from the curriculum. They were also annoyed that students had to “beg for feedback” instead of getting regular reviews. However, grads on Reddit still valued the weekly 1-on-1 mentoring calls with their mentors and took advantage of message boards to collaborate with peers. Overall, most students seem satisfied with the fast pace, extensive career services, and fairly impressive job placement rates.
Alternatives to Launch Academy and General Assembly
If you decide not to enroll in General Assembly or Launch Academy, you might consider one of the alternatives listed below instead:
- Another popular and hands-on tech bootcamp, BrainStation has tracks in web development, web design, data science, marketing, and product management. Like both Launch Academy and General Assembly courses, BrainStation has a project-based curriculum and a high job placement rate above 90%.
- Similarly, the online tech bootcamp Thinkful is hands-on and includes 1-on-1 mentoring. They have tracks in software engineering, data science, and other tech fields. Students graduate with polished portfolio projects that they can show off to employers.
- Aspiring UX designers and software engineers can look into Kenzie Academy, a tech bootcamp that offers in-person and online courses. Like Launch Academy, their program is full-time and fast-paced. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
- Students seeking a more flexible, self-paced bootcamp can look into CodeX Academy They teach software engineering and web development basics with a hands-on curriculum and mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
- Like General Assembly, the software bootcamps Lambda School and Holberton School both offer income share agreements (ISA) so students pay nothing until they land a tech job.
- Students seeking an online program with a job guarantee can also look into Springboard. If grads don’t land a job after 6 months, they get a full refund. Students in their career tracks get 1-on-1 mentoring as they build 14 portfolio projects. Learn more about Springboard in our review.
- Other well-known software engineering bootcamps include Rithm School, Hack Reactor, The Software Guild, and Codesmith.
- The massive online learning platform Udacity hosts free and paid courses on a wide variety of tech topics, including software engineering, data science, and UX design. Many of their courses come from top tech companies like IBM or Google. Students in their nanodegree programs get 1-on-1 mentoring with career coaches and technical mentors as they build portfolio projects. Read more about Udacity in our review.
- Aspiring UX designers can also look into Designlab, an online bootcamp that teaches the necessary skills to land an entry level UX design job. Like General Assembly’s UX course, their program is hands-on and includes 1-on-1 mentoring. Find out if Designlab fits your goals in our program review.
- Like General Assembly, DesignerUp has both instructor-led and self-paced UX courses. They host 70+ video lessons with quizzes, worksheets, portfolio building opportunities, and even portfolio reviews. Learn more about DesignerUp in our review.
- Bloc is another online web design and development bootcamp that features a hands-on curriculum and weekly mentoring meetings.
- The remote, self-paced data science program Data Science Dream Job offers flexible courses to aspiring data scientists and data analysts. In addition to learning hard data science skills, students learn to polish their portfolios, brand themselves, write strong resumes, ace interviews, and even negotiate their salary.
- Students with some data experience can consider Metis. Like both Launch Academy and General Assembly, they offer an immersive, hands-on program that gives students the opportunity to build a portfolio. Learn more about Metis in our review.
- People seeking a fast-paced program with 1-on-1 mentoring can look into GrowthX Academy. They offer 8+ week bootcamps covering digital marketing, sales, and UX design. Read more about GrowthX Academy in our program review.
- Udemy is an online learning platform that hosts 100k+ courses on both tech and humanities subjects. Courses are flexible, self-paced, and come with lifetime access, though the curriculum mostly consists of video lectures.
- The massive online learning platform edX offers over 3,000 courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Their program is flexible and self-paced. Read more about edX in our review.
- Similarly, Coursera hosts 3,900+ tech courses taught by professors from accredited universities, covering topics like software engineering, data analytics, UX design, and more. Their curriculum includes hands-on assignments, video lectures, and community discussions.
How do Launch Academy and General Assembly compare to Pathrise?
Launch Academy and General Assembly are bootcamps that can help students launch a new career in software engineering. However, General Assembly also teaches courses on digital marketing, data science, UX design, product management, and specific software skills like Python. Both programs are designed for people with no prior tech experience. At Pathrise, fellows should already have some background in their chosen field of interest to get the most out of our technical curriculum. We have tracks in software engineering, product design, data science, digital marketing, plus product, strategy & ops.
A full service organization, Pathrise helps students and professionals land their dream job. Our experienced mentors work 1-on-1 with Pathrise fellows on resume writing, crafting a LinkedIn profile, portfolio optimization, reverse recruiting and cold emailing, behavioral and technical interview prep, salary negotiation, and much more. Our program is also flexible. There are only 4 hours of group sessions per week and fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions as needed. With our tips and guidance, fellows in our program can see their interview scores and their application responses triple.
Launch Academy students have to pay upfront or with loans s. While General Assembly has an income share agreement (ISA) available, students have to pay 10% of their income for 4 years to pay off tuition. Pathrise’s income share agreement is only 9% of the first year’s salary. We never require any deposits or upfront payments.
While we require fellows to have technical skills, we don’t necessarily require them to have job experience. You may benefit from completing a program like General Assembly first, then joining Pathrise to get placed at a job. To help you get the skills you need to join our program, we offer $1500 off any General Assembly bootcamps or short-courses, as well as other exclusive offerings to get you up to speed. Schedule a call with the GA Admissions team and ask them for the free workshops, events and discounts.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentoring. Our mentors have already helped 700+ people land great tech jobs, usually in only 3-5 months. If you are interested in working with any of our mentors to land your dream job faster, become a Pathrise fellow.
Apply today.
