You are absolutely right. In France CS is often learned in "engineering schools" which are generally almost free but are also very selective (you generally have

You are absolutely right. In France CS is often learned in "engineering schools" which are generally almost free but are also very selective (you generally have to pass one of the hard preparatory school competitive exams). The main difference 42 school has is that they are much less selective (if at all?) and of course the level at the end is much more random than an engineering school [1]. Btw I am not sure how it works in other countries, but in France they are not allowed to deliver "engineer titles" (I believe they actually do not deliver any real degree at all) which make it very clear that when you hire someone from 42, you are hiring a coder, not an engineer. That said, that might be exactly what you want, and I believe 42 was born precisely because of the lack of coders. We have also had very pleasant surprises and some of our hires from 42 are actually very good. [1]source: hiring / interviews