AI + Fullstack Engineering

I chose Actualize because they emphasized long-term learning over teaching too many technologies in the short term. I'm leaving the bootcamp with strong foundational knowledge I can use to learn new technologies independently. I found that to be a lot more valuable than getting exposed to too many things and not understanding how to continue learning independently post-bootcamp. Our instructor also took the time to gauge how we were feeling about certain topics and would spend an extra day diving a little deeper if we needed. Our feedback, confusion, and questions were taken seriously, and he took the time to thoroughly explains things to us or change up the schedule a little to fit our needs.During the bootcamp, I experienced varying levels of doubt/imposter syndrome in myself and the work I was completing. The best choice I made was to voice these concerns with my instructor, teaching assistants, and career advisor. No matter how many times I reached out, they were incredibly supportive and encouraging. They really helped with putting my fears into perspective so I could grow past them. Although it's not an easy process, I felt as though I had the right people in my corner to bolster me up when needed, and I'm incredibly thankful for that. I would recommend Actualize to anyone who wants to enter a bootcamp with a strong support system of instructors, teaching assistants, and career advisors to foster long-term success. 

I had a fantastic experience with Actualize. I came into the course with next to zero coding knowledge and learned far more than I expected, every day. It became so much fun to learn new languages and algorithms I genuinely didn't want to stop at the end of each day. By the end of the course I was more than confident I could take on professional roles and pickup new methods and systems with relative ease. The capstone project was so much fun! The teacher (who absolutely loved to make the worst jokes possible - but usually the good worst jokes) always reminded us of how far we'd come in such a short time, and created a environment of comfort where we could talk to him, the TAs, and the other students without feeling judged. We were all in the same boat, even if we all felt like others were light years ahead (they weren't). In addition to the massive amount of coding I learned, the entire cohort itself was a wonderful learning experience. The career advisors are extremely helpful, you can really see how much they want you to succeed as an individual, I'm so glad I ended up choosing Actualize over the other several dozen bootcamps I checked out.

This course was great. I took another course similar to this course, and I think it is beyond great. The teachers are very friendly, have tons of variety of knowledge, and the class material was very thoughtful.I can implement more complicated functions than ever.

I chose Actualize because of the emphasis on supporting graduates trying to find a job. It was definitely the best education experience I have had and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to become a software developer without getting a CS degree. 

This Actualize Bootcamp is a great way to get your foot into the door for web developing jobs. I took the class with very little experience, and with the help of my teacher and career advisor, I am more confident than ever in this field and companies are noticing me more than ever. 

Learned a ton in this time that I would have never been able to learn on my own during the same timeframe. Excellent, engaging, and attentive instruction and good job tools.

For anyone on the fence - let this be the sign that you should do it. It is amazing how much you can accomplish in a few short months. I thought about attending a bootcamp for a few years, and over that time considered a number of bootcamps that operate in Chicago. Going in, my criteria were:- Able to attend in person- Full time- Focus on a single stack of technologies due to the short duration of a bootcampQuite a few bootcamps met these criteria. COVID restrictions meant that no programs were offering in-person, so I went for their live virtual classes and was happy with the experience. What set Actualize apart for me was their focus on education. Their website states that they are educators first. While I can't compare with other bootcamps having only attended Actualize, I can attest that the instructors are excellent at communicating and reinforcing complex topics to people from a wide range of backgrounds. Our cohort had teenagers and people with grandchildren, people with CS backgrounds and folks who had never coded before joining. The instructors are engaging, passionate, knowledgable, and have plenty of real-world experience to share.The curriculum is well designed for newcomers to writing software: - Ruby is a great choice for first-time coders as it is not burdened by verbose syntax - this focuses students on picking up fundamentals like conditionals, arrays, hashes, loops, etc. rather than debugging where they missed a closing punctuation. It is a language designed to read like english, which is super approachable and fun to code in. This gets you started, and further into class you can explore other languages more easily.- The program focuses on a small set of languages and reinforces fundamentals through repetition, building your knowledge up until you are proficient with a stack. Some other bootcamps promise to teach you many different popular languages, rather than going deep into a few. Actualize equips you with the ability to pick up other languages as needed (aka when you are getting paid at a job). - Each week there is "job hacking" - dedicated career advisors coach you through the steps needed to get a job and succeed after bootcamp ends. Resume writing, personal websites, interviewing, types of employers, etc. are all things they help you with.- Post bootcamp, graduates continue to attend a course dedicated to practicing data structures and algorithms and preparing you for your interviews.Culture wise, Actualize is a very welcoming, accommodating, and honest place to learn. There were many times that folks from my cohort considered leaving, but the supportive atmosphere and encouragement from teachers and peers kept 100% of my cohort mates through to graduation. It is a small company and the folks who work there all seem like a tight-knit family - they take care of their people, which permeates through to them taking care of their students and alumni. Alumni who have moved on to full-time positions frequently popped into class to say hello and offer their perspective, experiences, and advice. From reviewing other bootcamps there seem to be a few that are patched together to get as many students through so they can get paid - Actualize feels like the opposite of this, that their instructors would do this even if money was no object to them, they love to teach and to see their students succeed.Actualize doesn't prepare you just to get a job, they set you up to have a career. They teach you to be curious and explore, to be excited to code each day, and to work on whatever you might be interested in. Like pulling the cord to start an engine, you may have tried before this to learn on your own through classes or books, but yet you still haven't found success. Actualize was the pull that got the engines going for me and so many others. You can do it too!

When I decided to attend Actualize the cohort was about to begin in a week. The people at Actualize were very helpful with setting me up in a short amount of time I had, being on top of E-mails and making sure I have everything I needed. The class portion was amazing. I learned so much and built confidence with working on code. A very stress free and supportive environment made my learning experience relaxing but informative. The instructor was amazing, very clear and made sure what we learned made sense, and stuck it in our minds to THINK like a coder and that I AM a developer. I came into the cohort very nervous and anxious, and I am leaving the cohort confident and skilled.

For me, where I am in my life (career pivot, woman, parent, eager to learn and grow), this was absolutely the right decision--no question. And no question that this was the right place to do it. They have their shit together, they are not a scam, and it's a great place to go through a hard, huge thing. For me, this was more than just learning coding. It was learning how I learn, and fighting back against some shitty, mean-ass voices inside my own head that have lived there for too long. Because there are so many variables going into whether or not it's the right decision for you, I am hesitant to recommend the bootcamp model blindly. If you've got specific questions (like I did when I came to CourseReport to read reviews about Actualize) I would be happy to give more detail or answer questions. Find me on LinkedIn and let's chat (unless you're weird or pervy, in which case, please don't).One specific thing I will say: for women, or anybody who may feel like they don't belong in the dev community, listen up. Get yourself a teacher who looks at you like Amanda. She won't do the work for you, but she'll light a loving fire under your ass to see your own potential and give yourself credit for what you can do.  I am very, very grateful for this experience and proud of myself for taking the leap.  

I chose this bootcamp because they were the only bootcamp that I found that had live instruction. This made a huge difference because I learn better when I have someone demonstrating things to me instead of just following instructions or doing just assignments. I like having that feedback, especially when I learn something completely new. I thought it was a great experience, I liked that we actually got to code with our instructor as she was demoing. I would recommend this bootcamp to people who need an actual instructor present to be able to learn. They are a small company, which was a big plus for me especially because bigger companies usually just want your money. The big companies don't really seem like they care about your outcomes but at Actualize you really feel like they care about your success. After graduation, they don't leave you hanging which is great. I'm writing this on my last day of the cohort and I'm planning on extensively using the job hacking resources they provide.

After a long bootcamp search, I reached the ultimate destination when I chose Actualize. While I could go on and on about the strong instruction, thoughtful curriculum and powerful collaboration, the most impressive thing about Actualize is they are exactly who they say they are. Check out their website-- everything you read is true! Do it, take the leap-- they will catch you and walk you straight into the rest of your life!

I was referred to this Bootcamp by two former Actualize alumni and the only thing I regret was not joining sooner! My experience and the curriculum were superb! I couldn't imagine learning this much in such a short time. All the instructors were phenomenal, Kevin in prework, Katherine as the lead instructor, and the TAs.All were always more than willing to help and go over anything you were stuck on. It doesn't stop there, Lisa in career services has been super helpful in my job search. I recommend enrolling if you're looking to get into web development!

Actualize was an amazing experience where you learn so much in such a short period of time. The program starts with a month of pre-work where you learn the fundamentals of coding syntax and data types, then from there you start the 3 months of live instruction where you learn to create full stack applications. They do a great job teaching you lots of complex concepts, in their entirety, quickly and effectively. The curriculum is excellent and my instructor was a really great teacher as well. If you are looking for a bootcamp to launch your career in tech, I couldn't think of a better place.

I had a great experience at Actualize. I feel I have learned a lot from a fabulous instructor and TA's. The resources and assistance provided exceeds expectations and really helps lead to success, both in the program and after completion. I would and have recommended Actualize to anyone looking to get into software development. I started with practically no knowledge or experience in coding and finished feeling like I am capable to continue improving over time.

I choose Actualize because I have a relative who attended and was successful in find a wonderful software developer job. It was a great experience and really challenged me. I recommend this bootcamp to anyone who is willing to devote their time and energies to it. 

Overall it was a great experience, the online course was fantastic. Originally i had an expectation that the online course would be half baked and feel a bit experimental but that was not the case at all. Its hard not to recommend this bootcamp to anybody who i know that would be interested in a career as a software developer! 

I came to Actualize after reading many, many course reviews. A friend of mine is an Actualize Alum, and he recommended it highly. I will say if you're looking for something to help you start a new career in software development, this is definitely worth the money and the time. Knowledgable staff, and so helpful with learning to learn to code, and figuring out what comes next.

Awesome network.. Awesome instructors.. They truly care about your growth. Would recommend to anyone of all skill sets.

Actualize enabled me to learn an incredible amount in a relatively short amount of time. Before Actualize I was learning as much as I could through self study. I was able to learn about algorithms and other puzzle-solving style coding problems, but I wasn't learning much at all about practical programming and how to BUILD things with a computer! This is where Actualize excels, and I don't think I could have learned how to build a full stack web application in even 1/10th of the time on my own. Actualize gives you the tools you need to transition into a career in web development with actual skills beyond just theoretical computer science knowledge. There's also a great job hacking program where you're guided by career counselors, and there's an extremely supportive network of people who want to see you succeed. If you're like me and are burnt out from a career that doesn't value your skills as highly as you feel you deserve, I can't recommend Actualize highly enough.  

I picked this bootcamp based off of reviews on this site, the schedule they had available, and conversations with friends. I didn't do as much research beforehand as I probably should have, and I feel lucky that I had made a good decision. Actualize's teaching philosophy is teaching us how to learn. They won't go over every possible technology simply because it isn't necessary. Instead, we dived deep into developing an understanding of how our code is interpreted by the system, how the mechanisms work beneath the surface, and best conventions to use. I feel confident that I can apply what I learned in this class to any coding environment going forward, whether it's backend or frontend technologies, or even if it's in a language I know or not.I'd recommend Actualize to anyone who is serious about pursuing a career in software development.