Should I Go to Flatiron School or Take Learn Instead?: A Guide

Since Learn's Full Stack Web Development Program launched in November, we've gotten a lot of similar questions from students: Should I attend Flatiron School's immersive, or do the online course instead? That depends on a few different factors, but the most fundamental factor is YOU. What’s your learning style? Where are you in life right now? What kind of experience are you looking for? Here's a short guide that may help you make the right decision. Do you want a rigid schedule or to learn at your own pace? Do you do better in a quiet environment or surrounded by people? Do you want to focus on this full time or not? Read on to get a feel for what will fit you best.

Learn the admissions process

Flatiron School’s admissions process is highly competitive and rolling. Currently, we only accept around 5% of applicants, and people who apply early may take priority for the next class. You can read more about that here. For those who advance to the next step after their application, they will continue on to a 30-minute interview and then be presented with a code challenge. Applicants for the Learn-Verified Full Stack program take a slightly different path. In order to apply for the Learn-Verified program, applicants must first complete about 30 hours of work in a qualifying track. That track is staffed with instructors, and we want to see not only how students work through the material, but how they interact with the community.

It's all about location

Do you live in New York City or are you willing to move there? Flatiron School students spend three months of intensive work on our Manhattan campus, whereas Learn-Verified students can learn any place with a solid internet connection. Note that in order to be eligible for both Flatiron School’s and Learn-Verified’s job placement services, you must be 18 or older and legally able to work in the USA.

Find your pace

Do you prefer to immerse yourself in a flood of information, or take things at your own pace? The in-person immersive progresses very quickly, though with robust pre-work and plenty of resources to help you along the way. With Learn-Verified, you can go as fast or slow as you want, and adjust your payments for the program accordingly. You can also decide whether it’s worth your time to quit your job and pursue these studies full-time.

Determine your budget

Learn-Verified can be a lot cheaper — or a lot more expensive — than the immersive program. It all depends on how you approach it. Flatiron School’s web immersive students pay $15,000 in tuition for three months, including pre-work beforehand. With Learn-Verified, the cost is $1,000/month. If you take a little over a year to complete the program, it may end up costing more than the immersive.

Hone in on the end goal

Both programs are focused on job placement and use Flatiron School’s job placements team. Although the immersive is based in New York City, both programs offer placements all over the United States. When it comes down to it, it’s all about what’s the best fit for you! Feel free to learn more details of each program here and here. If you have questions, you can reach out to admissions@learn.co or admissions@flatironschool.com for help. We wish you luck!This post originally appeared on Quora.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is current as of January 8, 2016. Current policies, offerings, procedures, and programs may differ.