FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions

Flatiron School is an accelerated adult-education tech school that teaches you the skills you need to become a software engineer, data scientist, cybersecurity analyst, or cybersecurity engineer. We publish annual Jobs Reports and provide comprehensive Career Services so you know you're getting a top-notch opportunity to change your career and your future.

Flatiron School was founded in 2012. Learn more about our origins on our About Us page.

Our corporate office is based in the Flatiron district in Manhattan, but we have locations nationwide to teach students across the country the skills they need to change their careers.

We currently offer On-Campus courses at our locations in

• Austin: 1400 Lavaca Street, Austin, TX 78701, ph: (888) 958-0569

• Chicago: 515 N State Street, Chicago, IL 60654, ph: (312) 500-4049

• Denver: 2228 Blake St, Ste 100, Denver, CO 80205, ph: (888) 958-0569

• Houston: 708 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002, ph: (832) 384-8065

• New York: 11 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, ph: (646) 693-4977

• San Francisco: 1460 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103, ph: (888) 958-0569

• Seattle: 100 King St, Suite 100, # 721 Seattle, WA 98104, ph: (888) 958-0569

• Washington, D.C.: 1440 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, ph: (202) 350-0061

You can meet our staff and students at events throughout the year. Additional information about our on-campus and online events can be found on our events page. 

Our corporate offices are based in the Flatiron district in Manhattan.

All of Flatiron School’s policies can be found in our catalog.

Yes, you need a computer to participate in all of our programs. If you don’t have one already, we can provide you with a list of suggested vendors from which you may lease or buy a computer. Computer requirements vary by program; you can find out more information on our Computer Requirements page.

Your fellow students will come from a wide variety of backgrounds. We believe a lawyer, journalist, and pro-athlete will do more interesting things together than three people of any one background. You’ll expand your network with students of varied experiences who share the same passion to launch a career they love.

Live students typically graduate in 12-15 weeks. Flex students can graduate anywhere from 20 to 60 weeks, depending on the program you choose.

Students receive a Certificate of Completion upon graduation of our program.

(Due to regulatory requirements, Florida residents will be granted a Diploma.)

We are continuously evaluating our curriculum across all programs to ensure that it is current and relevant for today’s job marketplace.

It is mandatory for students to be logged on Monday – Friday from 9 AM – 6 PM or 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM (depending on your cohort, including lunch and breaks). During these hours, students attend lectures, work on projects and assignments. In addition to the required hours, most students will need to spend additional time on nights and weekends to complete the work and fully understand the material. Students should expect to devote at least 20 hours a week outside of their classroom commitment to the program - including online hours and additional work at home. Students find it extremely difficult to have any other commitments during their studies, such as a part-time job.

Live Program:

You'll interact with your instructors, participate in group work with instructor help, join paired programming sessions, and be able to attend office hours with instructional staff and community hours with your classmates.

Flex Program:

You'll have access to twenty 1:1 sessions with your instructor as well as access to your instructor throughout the day via Slack.

That depends on a few important factors. What’s your learning style? Where are you in life right now? What kind of experience are you looking for?

Here are a few other factors to consider:

• Pace: Do you prefer to immerse yourself in a flood of information, or take things at your own pace? Our  Live programs progress very quickly. With our Flex programs, you can move at a pace that works for you and around your schedule. You will also need to decide whether you can quit your job and pursue these studies full-time or if you would prefer to fit your studies around your job.

Live programs have around 20–30 hours of homework per week on top of the Monday-Friday 9am–6pm or 8:30am–5:30pm daily school schedule. 

For our Flex programs, think of your weekly responsibilities as at least 25 hours per week up to 40 hours per week depending on your schedule.

When choosing a pacing option, you should consider two things  — how much time you can devote to the program each week, and what kind of learning environment you want. 

Our Live and Flex programs have assigned cohorts, and students should seriously consider how much time they will be able to dedicate to their studies each week when choosing a pace. Live students should be able to dedicate at least 40 hours to their studies each week, and Flex students should be able to dedicate at least 10-25 hours each week. Some students want this type of structure and accountability and are ready to commit that amount of time. 

The Flex program is also a good choice for students with a bit of background in code who can guide themselves through the coursework. 

Our Live cohorts typically have a ~25:1 student to teacher ratio, and Flex cohorts are ~30:1. 

Please note that all online programs teach the same core competencies, regardless of pace.

We share a class Slack channel with you before you start classes, and encourage you to participate in the questions and activities to get to know your classmates ahead of time and to get to know one another. In addition to scheduled face-to-face interactions in group projects utilized in our Live programs, we have found that the most successful students use Slack to reach out to fellow students throughout the day. Many also schedule Zoom time with fellow students to mimic that face-to-face time they’d have in person. We also host panel discussions, project showcases and even graduations — all online.

On-Campus courses feature ~25:1 student:faculty ratio.

Online Full-Time cohorts typically have a ~35:1 student to teacher ratio.

There is usually 1 hour each day allotted to lunch.

You can check out our currently available initiatives on our Scholarships and Diversity Initiatives page.

Once you have been accepted into the program, you may apply for financing. You can find all of our available tuition payment methods on our Tuition & Financing page. 

The tuition for our courses varies by location and discipline. For details on total tuition for each program, please visit that course's program detail page. You can find those pages using the Our Courses page.

You have a few options in terms of financing your enrollment in one of Flatiron School's courses. See all of your options on our Tuition & Financing page.

The first step is to fill out a written application. Once you submit your application, you will hear back from our Admissions team regarding next steps. If your application moves forward, you will be invited to schedule a video call with a member of the Admissions team to better understand your learning needs, career goals, and whether the program is the right fit for you. Students may be required to complete an assessment as a part of the admissions process. After a technical interview, you will receive an Admissions decision within a few business days.

Students are accepted on a rolling basis so there is no deadline to apply, but the sooner you submit your application, the more likely you are to secure a spot for your preferred start date. Our cohorts fill up well in advance of their start dates, so we recommend applying at least 8 weeks before your desired start date. This allows 2–3 weeks for you to make it through the application process and accounts for time needed to complete any required pre-work.

Absolutely! Simply schedule an appointment with someone from the Admissions team.

Flatiron School’s application process is rigorous and sometimes students who are not accepted the first time around are able to ‘study up’ and are accepted the second time around. Applicants are advised to use that time building their skills (both professional and technical) and to submit a new application that is materially different from the first one, showcasing their hard work and improvements over that time.

We do not require you to have prior experience to apply for any of our programs. Our admissions requirements are being at least 18 years old, having a high school diploma or a GED,  having a native or bilingual fluency in English, passing the admission interview(s), and completing any required pre-work.

No. Coding bootcamps care more about attitude and potential more than a piece of paper. If you have a high school diploma or a GED, you have what it takes to get into a coding bootcamp — and to get a job after graduation.

There is no maximum age limit for attending Flatiron School, but you must be at least 18 years old to enroll in our courses.

Our flagship Software Engineering program has one goal: to teach you the skills you need to become a professional software engineer. It is offered both full-time and with a flexible schedule, so you can learn to become a software engineer at a pace that makes sense for you.

Our phased structure means you’ll know that you’re gaining the competencies needed to become a software engineer. Because our curriculum builds cumulatively, instructors assess students with formative assessments throughout the phase as well as the end of each phase to ensure students have a strong understanding of the concepts before moving forward to the next. Reviews and check-ins occur throughout the program to ensure students have touchpoints with instructors and can ask questions in a one-to-one setting. You will be given two opportunities to pass the end-of-phase assessment. If you don’t pass the assessment on the second attempt you will be dismissed from the program. If you are dismissed from the program, you may be eligible for a refund. Refunds are issued based on the applicable refund policy as outlined in our catalog.

Our Software Engineering program is held on the following courses:

• Austin Software Engineering: 1400 Lavaca St, Austin, TX 78701, ph: (888) 958-0569

• Chicago Software Engineering: 515 N State Street, Chicago, IL 60654, ph: (312) 500-4049

• Denver Software Engineering: 3601 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, ph: (720) 526-0570

• New York Software Engineering: 11 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, ph: (646) 693-4977

• Houston Software Engineering: 708 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002, (888) 958-0569

• San Francisco Software Engineering: 1460 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103, ph: (888) 958-0569

• Seattle Software Engineering: 1411 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101, ph: (888) 958–0569

• Washington D.C. Software Engineering: 1440 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, ph: (202) 350-0061

While there are no required prerequisites to apply to our data science program and we welcome beginners, we do recommend students explore our free data science workshops before applying, as this program can be very difficult for beginners. It’s important for two key reasons:

1. The easiest way to determine if you want to pursue a career in data science is to see if you like coding.

2. We want to fill our community with people who see data science as a passion and who want to launch lifelong careers as data scientists. It’s much easier to show that you’re passionate and dedicated by taking the initiative to get started first. Even if you’ve only worked through a few lessons, showing a little effort and curiosity about data science speaks volumes in your application.

Our modular structure means you’ll know that you’re gaining the competencies needed to become a data scientist. Because our curriculum builds cumulatively, instructors have the opportunity to assess students at the end of each module to ensure students have a strong understanding of the concepts before moving forward to the next module. Reviews and check-ins occur throughout the program to ensure students have touchpoints with instructors and can ask questions in a one-to-one setting. If you don’t pass an end-of-module project or assessment on the second try, you may have the opportunity to repeat the full module at no extra cost. You can repeat a module once; if you don’t pass the second time through, you will be dismissed from the program. If you are dismissed from the program, you may be eligible for a refund. Refunds are issued based on the applicable refund policy as outlined in our catalog. 

• How to retrieve data from outside sources and organize data using Python

• Create beautiful visualizations to present key findings

• Explore data and write down multiple hypotheses for further analysis of the data

• How to perform A/B tests

• Build machine learning API that outputs results of an analysis

• Apply and use Big Data

• Learn Presentation techniques to better share conclusions about approach and analysis to key stakeholder

You can attend our Data Science program on the following campuses:

• Chicago Data Science: 515 N State Street, Chicago, IL 60654, ph: (312) 500-4049

• New York Data Science: 11 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, ph: (646) 693-4977

• San Francisco Data Science: 1460 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103, ph: (888) 958-0569

• Seattle Data Science: 1411 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101, ph: (888) 958–0569

• Washington, D.C. Data Science: 1440 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, ph: (202) 350-0061

We offer two data science courses, one in person and one online.

• Our in-person Data Science program is a 15-week program that teaches you all the skills you need to get a job in data science. Because of COVID-19, this course is currently being offered online.

• Our Online Data Science program is offered full-time, part-time, and self-paced, and offers you the same curriculum as our in-person course. It has the same goal — to prepare you for a career as a data scientist.

Read more about how to get into our data science courses.

Cybersecurity is the protection of computer systems from theft or damage to their hardware, software, or electronic data. Our students are taught to be “ethical” hackers. They protect organizations against threat actors or bad hackers.

Great question! We have a whole page dedicated to identifying the difference between our two courses.

Our Cybersecurity Analytics program teaches people with little to no technical experience the skills to succeed in roles such as entry-level cybersecurity analyst, threat intel analyst, SOC analyst, compliance analyst, and cybersecurity consultant.

Strong candidates for the Cybersecurity Analytics program are curious self-starters with sharp critical-thinking skills and a knack for problem-solving. Transferable skills that will be helpful in this program include research, analysis, project management, interpersonal communication, and a strong work ethic. Candidates need basic computer skills — programming skills are a plus — and must have a high school diploma or equivalent.

• New York Cybersecurity Engineering:  11 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, ph: (646) 693-4977

• Washington, D.C. Cybersecurity Engineering: 1440 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, ph: (202) 350-0061

We offer two cybersecurity courses:

• Our Cybersecurity Analytics program prepares you for a career in cyber analysis.

• Our Cybersecurity Engineering program is a more technical cybersecurity program that prepares you for a career in cyber engineering.

Our sister school, SecureSet Academy, also offers cybersecurity courses at campuses in Colorado Springs and Denver.

While engaging with our free curriculum is the best way to strengthen your application to our Software Engineering programs, finishing free coding workshops are not necessary. 

Our Admissions team primarily wants to see consistency in how you’re preparing. As soon as you feel ready to commit your time and energy to a full-time program, you’re encouraged to apply to our Software Engineering programs.  (Note: It’s important to remember that your initial application and interview is just a way for us to get to know you and for you to get to know us, and includes no technical questions.)

Similar to our software engineering programs, engaging with our free curriculum is a great way to strengthen your application, but is not required to apply.

You are not required to accept any offers you receive. If you do not wish to accept a particular job offer, you will still have access to your career coach and can continue your job search.

To advocate for & enable a talent pipeline between employers and Flatiron graduates.

Your Career Coach is your dedicated, 1-on-1 partner through every step in your job search. Behind-the-scenes, the Employer Partnerships team is working to build partnerships that present career-launching job opportunities for our students.

When an employer contacts us to fill a role, the first step the Employer Partnerships team takes is to understand the ideal candidate for the employer based on the company’s tech stack, team structure, values, and any professional backgrounds that may be relevant. Think of the Employer Partnerships team as a matchmaker. They share “resume books” with employers based on these ideal candidate characteristics, and the employer then selects who they would like to interview.

By presenting right-fit candidates to these employers and providing seamless hiring processes, the Employer Partnerships team creates loyal employers who come back to hire from Flatiron again and again.

Interviews Whenever an employer selects a graduate from the resume book to move forward in their interview process, the Employer Partnerships team will facilitate an introduction between the candidate and the employer.

Events The Employer Partnerships team also invites employers to participate in or present at various events, including webinars or Lunch & Learns, informal networking events, office field trips, or Graduation Showcases where students present their capstone projects. Events vary city-to-city and may change based on time of year.

The real question is: How can students distinguish themselves for employers! Ultimately, employers select which graduates to move forward in interview processes — the Employer Partnerships team can make the match, but it’s up to our graduates to close the deal.

This varies by cohort, discipline, and market. What is true across all markets is that students drive their own job searches with the support of their career coaches. While our employer network is robust, our most successful job-seekers are active job-seekers – working hard to make their own connections and creating opportunities for themselves.

All types of companies, ranging from small start-ups to large organizations, and spanning across industries.

Job titles may vary, but the Employer Partnerships team vets opportunities that align with the skills that our students learn in their program — whether software engineering, data science, or cybersecurity. The Employer Partnerships team identifies full-time paid opportunities, which may include salaried roles, contract roles, or paid internships or apprenticeships.

1. Master the technical skills taught in the program.

2. Keep learning & honing their technical skills even after the program (including completing the Post-work curriculum!).

3. Be kind, communicative, open-minded, & positive.

4. Be a great citizen of the Flatiron community by responding promptly & politely to employers, Employer Partnerships team members, and Career Coaches.