Forge
Cloud - Amazon Web Services Course
In our newest course, learn about the different technologies AWS has to offer, how they work and interact with the cloud and how to use them.
1) Course Overview
Discover what you'll learn in Cloud. Learn more ↓
2) Meet Your Instructors
Get to know your new aws guides. Learn more ↓
3) Extra Perks
Explore Forge student perks. Learn more ↓
4) All the Details
Learn about dates, deadlines, & tuition. Learn more ↓
Course Overview
Tackle brand strategy in the digital world
Convert is a 9-week introduction to digital marketing that equips students with core marketing principles, skills, and tools. You'll learn about paid and organic social media, search engine and website optimization, email marketing tools, how to build successful pitch decks, and the basics of design.

Through several real-world marketing projects, you'll learn how to create a marketing strategy and master the tools you need to bring it to life. Projects include creating an email publication for a specific target audience, writing BuzzFeed and Medium articles, and acting as a marketing consultant for well-known brands.

This course is designed for students of all levels, with no prerequisites or prior experience required.
Skills You'll Learn
Search Engine Optimization
Copywriting
Google Analytics
Brand Strategy
Explore the past, present, and future of marketing
We'll look at traditional marketing tactics and how they compare to today's latest tools. As the digital world grows and becomes increasingly relevant for day-to-day business operations, companies need more employees than ever to be versed in digital marketing. Convert is a great jumping off point for students looking to explore digital marketing as an interest or as a career path.


Projects You'll Complete
Project 1: Teach a Topic
In this course-long project, students will create and present a slide deck focusing on one topic they find interesting in marketing.

Project 2: Social Justice Marketing
Students will pick a company and choose a social justice / current issue that they think would be valuable for the company to focus on. Examples would include the environment, social justice reform, equitable vaccine rollout, etc. The goal is to come up with a strategy and vision for how the company will become a voice for the issue chosen. Suggested strategy will be compiled into a well organized written report with assets attached.

Project 3: Buzzfeed Challenge
First, students will pick an audience to target by looking at Buzzfeed Community for inspiration. Then, they will write an audience-specific quiz or listicle in a Google doc, and eventually post to see who's article or quick can gain the most views.

Project 4: Side Hustle Branding
Develop a marketing strategy for a side hustle you could start while still in school. Outline what it's all about by creating 8-10 deliverables (emails, posts, landing page, etc.) along with a 4-8 slide deck (pitch & marketing strategy), a logo, and your outline to present for the class.


Meet Your Instructor
Khushi Chawla
Khushi will be your guide in learning AWS cloud services this fall. Khushi has PLed for two courses previously: Node, our data science course, and Quantify, our financial data analytics course.

Our student teaching model means our courses are constantly changing and improving, enabling you to learn skills that are more up-to-date than what you might learn in a typical classroom.

It also means we can be better mentors and guides for you. We know where you might get stuck and how to guide you through those challenges because we've been in your shoes before. And we know what makes a lesson fun (or extremely boring), so we always design programs that we'd want to participate in ourselves.
Joining the Forge Community
At Forge, we give our people the skills they need to realize their big ideas and a community they can call home. Our courses are a great place to get to know our community, make new friends, and prepare for your future. All of our students get access to exclusive perks and opportunities beyond whatever course they're taking:
Free access to all of our member events
Exclusive community events and jobs
Opportunities for (sometimes paid!) projects to practice your new skills
Priority applications for Launch summer internship program
Explore more about the Forge community experience.
Dates, Deadlines, and Tuition
Spring 2022 Workshop Schedule
Convert meets in our clubhouse in Charlottesville, every Sunday from 5pm-6:30pm.

This course starts the week of Sept 18th and continues for 8 weeks.
Time Commitment
Courses expect a 2 hour/week commitment. Outside of the 1.5 hours in your online workshop meeting time, you will be expected to review course content to keep up with the pace of workshops.
Application Process and Deadlines
Fall 2022 applications are open now.

$125 Course Fee
This is less than a twelfth of the average cost of a college course*. We also offer reduced payment options on a needs-basis, no questions asked. See below for more information on our financial aid.

*EducationData.org
Do you offer financial aid?
We are committed to making our courses accessible to all. We reduce or eliminate the program fee to all students who need it, no questions asked. Our aim is to enable everyone who wants to learn and join the Forge community. This is made possible by $20,000 in generous donations from our alumni network each year.

15% of students receive financial aid from Forge. 54% of aid goes to first-generation college students, and 80% of aid goes to people of color.
What's your refund policy?
We think you'll love Forge, but if you decide you need to drop, you may request a refund within 10 days of your course's first workshop meeting time. You'll receive a full refund, less a $20 operations fee. Beyond this date, no refunds will be given.
What are your online courses like?
We know how to do online teaching right. Our Skills Courses will be all-online for the foreseeable future to protect the health of our students and instructors. Teaching online is not new for us - we know how to make online courses fun, engaging, and interactive. We know you can't just film a traditional lecture and hope for the best!

Since we've moved our courses online, our student satisfaction ratings haven't changed -- 95% of students would still recommend their course to a friend.
Do I need to have any background experience to apply?
No, you don't! This course is designed for people with little-to-no background experience.
What's your climate impact?
We donate 1% of all course tuition to carbon removal initiatives around the world. We also power our clubhouse with 100% clean wind and solar power. Learn more.
I have a question that wasn't answered here.
No problem! Reach out to hello@joinforge.co, and/or come to our online Open House to talk to our team and learn more.
"I'm excited to help my students gain skills that are super applicable to the current tech job market. So many companies use Amazon's cloud services and having the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification can increase their opportunities significantly."

- Khushi, Cloud Program Lead
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