You’re about to take your first steps into our Piscine, and while it might feel a bit chilly at first, don’t worry—we’re here to offer some guidance to make your initial dive with us as smooth and enjoyable as possible.
This page provides a glimpse into the experience that awaits you. While we can’t cover everything there is to know about the Piscine—because part of the excitement lies in discovering it for yourself—we’re happy to share some key information that will be especially helpful as you begin your journey
The piscine is a 4-week marathon, so take your time to ease into it. It may seem daunting or difficult at first, but once you’re warmed up, it will be much easier to face coding challenges of increasing difficulty..
The piscine is not a race to see who is the last one standing, and there is no competition for places. What’s most important is to Work hard, Progress and Collaborate.
You will find our most vital tools at your fingertips: 42 intra for resources, Slack for communication, and Notion for organisation. Embrace the challenges, lean on the community, and together with your peers you will excel..
If ever you need an extra helping hand, our 🐻 Grizzlies 🐻 – a team of students dedicated to making your journey smoother – and Staff members are here to guide and assist.
Our campus is located at Harzer Str. 42. Only Pisciners, students, staff, cleaners, security, or registered visitors are allowed on site. Guests must be signed in at the front desk and are permitted only from 09:00 to 18:00.
Cafe, Auditorium, Kitchen, Nap room and Entertainment Rooms: Workdays from 08:30 to 18:30
Morning Activities: May include coffee sessions, meetups, or challenges.
Afternoon Events: Themed meetups (Women+, LGBTQIA+, community talks, etc.).
Evening Activities: Additional project work, games like Mario Kart, or career-related sessions.
Exams: There are 4 exams in total
First 3 Fridays: from 14:00 until 18:00
Final Friday: from 10:00 until 18:00
Rushes: Group projects, there are 3 of them in total
When? from Friday 18:42 until Sunday 23:42
Rushes are intensive, 48-hour coding projects designed to test your skills under pressure. They emphasise teamwork, problem-solving, and writing clean, efficient code. You’ll face real-world challenges, manage tight deadlines, and improve through peer reviews, making Rushes a crucial part of your growth as a programmer.
We know life outside the Piscine goes on and you may have other responsibilities during this time. You are not expected to be on campus 100% of the time. However, we encourage you to be on site as much as you can as this will significantly enrich your experience and help you learn faster.
No, you can choose which events you want to take part in and skip those you don’t. The Exams and the Rushes are also not mandatory, but they are significant in regards to evaluating your progress during Piscine; try to do all of them or make sure to inform Staff if you are unable to attend.
As mentioned above, life goes on and unexpected things happen. It is important however that you communicate it to a Staff member as soon as you know that you might miss an Exam or a Rush so that we understand why you are not present.
Apart from the Exams and Rushes, you will have 16 projects to work on. These will be your guideline to learning programming in C. Each project builds on the previous one, progressively increasing in complexity.
No. You do not need to have completed all projects to be offered a place to study at 42 Berlin. However, progress through the projects is great for your own sense of achievement, for your learning and – of course – for fun.
We advise against using AI as a learning tool when learning how to code as it may hinder your ability to come up with your own solutions. Imagine trying to learn a new language using google translate instead of working it out yourself first.
However, tools can.be helpful in the hands of curious individuals, eager to learn how these tools can help them without depending on them.
Copy-pasting or any form of plagiarism is, of course, strictly forbidden and may result in expulsion.
On Intra you will have an overview of all the events, on Slack you can post and reach out for help and will see the latest news unravel and on Notion you will have access to all 42 Berlin related topics (house rules, exam rules, resources)
Nope, we do not currently have any restrictions on our intake of students. The Piscine is a space for collaboration rather than competition.
This is very subjective. We do not advise you to spend 12+ hours on campus and burn yourself out, but we do advise you to practice consistency and regularity to help keep on flexing those learning muscles.
The Piscine should be treated like a full-time commitment. During the piscine you will find out what works for you; don’t compare yourself to others and trust your rhythm.
As mentioned above, you are free to organise your time and schedule. Nevertheless, it is strongly advised to put your focus fully on the Piscine during these 4 weeks, as you’ll soon discover that it takes as much energy and time as a full-time job.
We recommend taking holidays, asking those around you for extra support and freeing up as much time as possible for the piscine.
If you can’t make it to a certain event, don’t worry. All we ask is that you send an email to pedago@42berlin.de to explain why you can’t make it so we can take that into account. We urge you to try your best to make it to the Final Exam.
You sure can, we have a child-friendly room on the ground floor. Speak to the operations team beforehand to ensure there will be enough space for everyone who needs it.
Friendly, well-behaved and clean dogs are allowed inside the campus. If you want to bring your dog with you, please read the House Rules on Notion.
We have a nap room, which is located on the first floor. You are welcome to use it. Nevertheless, we do also have some House Rules on Notion, please read them.
First of all, Don’t Panic! This is your first experience in peer-to-peer learning, so feel free to ask your peers as they may already know the solution. If you’re unsure, you can always ask our students who will be helping you during such events – Grizzlies! They may be bears, but fear not – they don’t bite. They will be happy to provide insight into the 42 Berlin experience, however they’re not there to help you with your code! Finally, our Campus Life Manager will be your go to person if you’re facing challenges, need someone to talk to, or have a rant with. He is there and available to support you through the highs and lows of the Piscine.
After the final exam you’re going to have an amazing afterparty. We will contact everyone by mail with the selection results within 2 weeks.
Otherwise our code might be buggy.
Please feel free to reach out to us at contact@42berlin.de with any questions. However, we kindly ask that you read this page in full before doing so. We look forward to seeing you on our campus for a coding challenge you will never forget 
42 Berlin 2023
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