From your first Python script to your first pull request — the LEAP CS chapter gets you real projects, real mentors, and real users, then helps you give those skills back.
Every LEAP chapter runs on the same four pillars — here's what they look like in Computer Science.
Local and remote internships where high schoolers ship real features.
Small paid or portfolio projects for local businesses — with chapter support.
Guided first contributions to real open-source projects that live on your GitHub.
Placements in university CS and AI labs for members ready for research.
Engineers at startups and big tech review your code and your plans.
Get your projects, README files, and profile up to internship standard.
Not just SWE — mentors in data, product, and design too.
Practice real interview problems with people who give them.
Members and guests present projects, tools, and deep dives.
Team up for competitive programming, CTFs, and game jams.
Industry guests give live feedback on member projects.
Ship something each semester and show it to the whole chapter.
Run intro coding sessions for younger students through LEAP Tutoring — verified hours.
Build and maintain websites for local nonprofits and small businesses at no cost.
Help community members with devices, accounts, and digital safety.
Build tools your own school actually uses — sign-ups, trackers, dashboards.
The events and projects we're building the founding year around. (These illustration slots become real photos as soon as we host them — of you, maybe.)
Chapters are student-run. Founding officers build this from day one, which is exactly the kind of leadership colleges and employers notice.
Owns the vision, runs meetings, and represents the chapter to the school and to LEAP national.
Interviews and welcomes new members, and keeps the roster and member records clean.
Plans networking events, tours, and competitions from idea to day-of logistics.
Builds relationships with local firms and sponsors that fund events and open internship doors.
Organizes volunteering projects and syncs member hours with LEAP Tutoring.
Recruits professional mentors and matches them with members through the year.
Fill out the interest form below — takes under a minute.
A short, friendly conversation with the onboarding lead about what you want out of the chapter.
Get your member kit, pick your first event, and log your first volunteer hours.
No. The chapter exists to build your experience, not to gatekeep it. If you're curious about Computer Science, you're qualified.
Nothing. Every LEAP program is 100% free for students — that's the entire point of the organization.
Plan on one chapter meeting per week or two, plus the events and volunteering you opt into. Founding officers put in more — and get more out of it.
Yes — founding members from every grade. Starting early means more years of internships, mentorship, and leadership on your record.
Then you might be its founder. Head to LEAP Home and request the chapter starter kit.
A new challenge every week. Explain your approach in plain English — no copy-pasting required.
Eight events ranging from local college hacks to national competitions. Most are free to attend.
One of the most prestigious college hackathons — hosted by MIT, open to all. Great projects, great networking.
Stanford's flagship hackathon — 36 hours to build something you're proud of, with top sponsors and mentors.
Georgia Tech's massive annual hackathon — 1,000+ hackers, multiple tracks, and excellent beginner support.
America's first college hackathon — held at UPenn, with a long tradition of producing real startups and tools.
UC Berkeley's annual hackathon drawing over 2,000 participants — one of the largest on the West Coast.
UC Davis's social-good hackathon — projects must benefit the community. Great for purpose-driven builders.
Annual global hackathon by WiCS — for women and non-binary coders. Strong community, inclusive culture.
Official US House of Representatives coding challenge — winners present their apps to Congress.
Post here and find your hackathon crew.
Ten tools every CS student should claim — most require a .edu email or a GitHub account.
100+ free developer tools — domains, cloud credits, Copilot Pro, and IDEs. The most valuable bundle in existence for students.
Free Figma Professional for students and educators — unlimited projects, team collaboration, and Dev Mode.
Free Notion Plus plan with your .edu email — unlimited blocks, pages, and databases for notes, projects, and portfolios.
Free cloud computing credits plus structured learning paths covering EC2, S3, Lambda, and more.
Free IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, and every other JetBrains IDE — renewed annually as long as you're a student.
Free online IDE with instant hosting and multiplayer coding — no setup, runs in the browser, great for quick projects.
Free Jupyter notebooks with T4 GPU access in the cloud — perfect for ML experiments, data analysis, and Python practice.
$100 in Azure credits plus free access to 25+ services — no credit card required for students.
$200 in cloud credits via the GitHub Student Pack — spin up droplets, databases, and Kubernetes clusters.
Free Pro hosting for frontend projects — deploy from GitHub in seconds, custom domains, analytics, and edge functions.
Click "Mark as current" to track where you are. Each stage builds on the last — but you can start anywhere.
Six beginner-friendly issues across popular repos. Your first PR is closer than you think.
Tell the chapter what you shipped. Even a typo fix counts.
Post weekly updates or add your project to the gallery. No project too small.
6-week competitive programming prep targeting USACO Bronze — free, structured, and tied to a real competition.
Monthly video calls with college CS students and software engineers — recorded and archived for all members.
24-hour virtual hackathon for all LEAP CS members — judged by real engineers. Build something, learn everything.
The people who join first shape everything — the events, the culture, the opportunities. Put your name in.
Request to join →