FAQs for RGSoC Applicants

We have gathered together some of the most popular questions asked during the application stage. Please check through these first before contacting project mentors.

Please help me to get started/guide me

We see a lot of applicants asking this in the comments section of projects. Please do not ask mentors how to get started, but you are welcome to contact them with more specific questions about their project.

All the information on how to get started (i.e. apply to RGSoC) is at https://railsgirlssummerofcode.org/students.

RGSoC officially starts on 01 July. Making contributions isn't necessary until you are accepted to the program (unless the project mentor recommends otherwise).

Why am I getting a 404 error when confirming my email ID?

The 'page is missing' error usually occurs because one or more of the following pieces of information is missing from a profile:

  • email address
  • country
  • city
To avoid the error, please ensure you enter these details when creating your profile. If you do encounter the error, please send the details above and a link to your profile page to contact@rgsoc.org

Contributing before July

RGSoC is all about community. Students develop as coders with the support of a network (mentor, coaches, supervisor, etc.). Many RGSoC applicants will only have the opportunity to contribute during the planned 3 month period (July-September) when awarded a scholarship.

Some project mentors may give you a chance to contribute early to get a sense of the codebase, or to provide a coding challenge for your application. However, unlike other coding programs, early contributions are not a requirement for RGSoC. In fact, most mentors actually prefer to wait until a team is assigned to their project before assigning tasks.

Before asking a mentor about contributing early, please check if they have already given details or answered a question about it in the project details or comments section in the Teams App.

Can "boys" take part?

We relish diversity and strive to build and nurture an inclusive community. However, RGSoC scholarships exclusively support female and non-binary coders. We offer these scholarships to provide opportunities for people underrepresented in tech to gain valuable experience and develop associated skills.

People who identify as male are not accepted on the program as students.

However, there is no such restriction for other roles, including mentors, coaches, supervisors, and the organizer team. Anyone identifying as male is positively encouraged to be part of RGSoC in roles other than as a student. All the information for these different roles can be found on our Roles page.

Can you give me some info about the projects?

All the current projects and the languages they are using can be seen on our Projects page.

Can teammates work remotely?

Ideally, teammates work in the same physical location. This is beneficial to co-working - a valuable part of the RGSoC experience.

However, we review all applications equally and fairly and understand it isn't always possible for students to be in the same working space, especially if living in smaller and remoter communities.

What is most important is that mentors are happy to support students working from 2 different locations. Please contact the mentor for the projects that interest you before applying to seek their approval.

Can students be coaches?

Students on RGSoC cannot also be coaches on the program in the same year. Both roles are a big commitment, including for part-time teams.

However, students are welcome to participate as coaches in future years. In fact, we encourage it 🙌

Do we have to fill in the form together or separately?

Both student applicants will need to fill in the 'About Yourself' section separately. Please do the rest of the application together if you can.

If you write any of it separately, please do so at a different time to your teammate to ensure you don't lose any data. Applications can be saved in draft form and continued at any time.

Do teams need to find mentors?

To apply to RGSoC, you will need a teammate and at least 2 coaches.

You do not need to find a mentor. In RGSoC terms, this is the maintainer who submitted their project for the program. This mentor will be part of the team guiding you during the program.

What are the coding requirements?

RGSoC is aimed at experienced beginner-level coders. Our guide to eligibility provides some information about the level of coding you require, including "at least a year’s experience of continuous learning".

We will look for how code examples provided in your application correlate to the level you say you are at, and how this relates to the level of programming skills required to work on the project(s) of your choice.

Project mentors sometimes ask applicants to complete a coding challenge. If they do, please include a link to this.