Actualize

Actualize is an incredible education experience. Starting from pre-work, the instructors were incredibly helpful and gave us tremendous support in getting through the first four weeks, which are all home-based. We watched short, instructional (and funny) videos that taught us the fundamentals of programming, and completed exercises, and were graded on our work.

Class was an enjoyable experience; it was a pleasure getting to know my fellow classmates and we became like a close-knit family. The instructor would teach a concept, demo it, give us the opportunity to solve an exercise using the information we were just taught, and them immediately go over the exercise so we could see how to properly go about it (and generally he would show us a shortcut, after ensuring we understood why i...

Overall I really enjoyed the Bootcamp and was something to me to look forward to after school. I feel more prepared than I was at the start and feel like I could take on way more with this new experience of life.

This has helped me with my coding skills and giving me abilities that I never thought I would have so soon.

I spent most of 2016 debating whether or not I should quit my job to pursue a bootcamp. My interest in changing careers was strong, but the financial commitment and the extended loss of full-time income I would have had to undertake held me back for a long time. I was excited to learn about Actualize in summer 2016 because it allows applicants to keep a M-F day job, since classes are all day Sundays and 6-9:30 M-Th. This schedule allowed me to keep working and pursue development. I started in fall 2016 and finished in late January 2017. Then I started the apprenticeship portion in February 2017 and completed it in June 2017. I had a job offer in development in early June 2017, and I was able to talk about my experience in the apprenticeship during the interview for that job. All in all,...

Thanks to Actualize, I'm now a software engineer.
And I'm not the only one. Everyone in my cohort who went for a new job got one. And that is pretty much the case in every cohort before and after mine as well.
I have so many good things to say about the bootcamp and the company as a whole, that I don't know where to start. I'll explain my background and how I found/decided on Actualize, and then break my review down into four categories: Instructors, Curriculum, career support, and community.

My background:
Before attending Actualize, I had a varied educational background. I got my undergraduate in Psychology and was in a masters program for Speech Language Pathology. During grad school, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in software engineering instead of Speech therap...

Attending Actualize literally changed my life. I had been stuck in a dead end job for years and was just going through the motions. I was searching for a change and a family member in the tech industry suggested that coding may be something that would interest me. I took some online courses and found that I really enjoyed it! The only problem was that I could only take myself so far and felt I needed some hands on instruction. My research led me to coding bootcamps but I was discouraged because they were all full-time programs and I was not in a position to quit my job. One day while researching bootcamps I came across Actualize. I was immediately intrigued because I saw it was a part-time camp that would allow me to keep my job. I did have some doubts because I did not know how they co...

Actualize bootcamp was the start of the change of my career. Not only was it perfect for me as I was not in a position to leave my job, but the support and teachers there were undeniably the best I could have asked for. I had been previously to another part-time bootcamp where the teachers were knowledgeable, but had trouble actually teaching. Not here! All the teachers are former educators who also have a deep breadth of coding knowledge. I can't rave about this enough!

I had been tinkering around for months between different online programs. I knew I wanted to become some type of engineer and this program and the people involved have utterly changed my existence. Not only has this school's legitimacy proven to help me gain my first dream job, but the continuation of our community is now a daily part of my life. I've gone from student to teachers assistant to software engineer to tech lead and I'm currently in control of my own destiny in a way that I've never been able to brag about before. Because of Jay, Peter, and Josh and a handful of others, I've been able to reestablish my future and finally figure out my path. I'm not bullshitting. This was completely life-changing.

I absolutely 100% endorse Actualize and the opportunities they afford potential future programmers.

The two things that initially drew me to Acutalize were the fact that I didn't have to quit my regular job and the apprenticeship program.

The bootcamp runs monday thru thursdays 6:00 - 9:30 and Sundays 9-5. This fits in perfectly with my work schedule.

I definitely enjoyed my experience and learned a lot. It's a 12 week course, so the early part we covered HTML/CSS but the focus is mostly Ruby on Rails. You cover some additional things like Javascript and Angular although more of just an introduction to the latter. It can be fairly quick or extremely difficult for graduates to find work after graduation, I've seen both with classmates from my cohort (it seems like there is a lot of luck of the draw, honestly). Since graduating there have been a few different job-placement people who are helpful and informative, but it is hard to develop a relationship when it keeps changing.

Attending Actualize was the best career decision I ever made.

Prior to the boot camp, I was unhappy with my job and felt stuck. I've always wanted to be a developer, but my coding experience was extremely limited and I wasn't sure I'd have what it takes. Actualize gave me the technical foundation to successfully pivot into a fulfilling career in development. I'm now working as a developer with a bright future and getting doing what I love.

PROS -
Attending Actualize means joining a great community. The CEO and instructors are truly invested in the success of the students and there's great camaraderie among fellow students and alumni.
Actualize is an ethical company with good people that genuinely want to help people change their lives.
The Actualize curriculum is extensive ...

I had dabbled in web development since I was a kid and enjoyed it, but I always thought that you needed a computer science degree to become a developer. When I heard about coding bootcamps, I was initially skeptical. My main hesitation before deciding to attend a bootcamp was whether an instructor could effectively impart enough knowledge for someone to change careers and become a developer in only a few months. My worries were alleviated after I learned about how Actualize specifically chooses instructors who have a background in teaching.

Josh turned out to be a wonderful instructor. He was able to explain complex concepts in a manner that was easy for everyone to understand while keeping a laid-back atmosphere in the classroom but also pushing everyone to do more than what we thou...

What was your background before coming to Actualize? (Include college/past career)
In college, I studied Psychology and Spanish in San Diego State University, and I was on track for a career as a social service professional. I also have a knack for implementing new ideas, and startups fascinated me during that time. I didn't pay attention to it much as I was busy pursuing my degrees then. I held a Public Relations Manager position at a startup during my last semester in college, but left because I was moving back to San Francisco Bay Area.
After moving back, I was blessed with the opportunity to work as a Behavioral Therapist for children who had autism and developmental disabilities. It was a greatly rewarding job and this is where I nurtured my passion to helping others.
In additio...

Great school and great Instructors that are very inclusive. An environment that I really enjoyed,
it was great having great people around me working to achieve one goal.

Actualize is a part-time bootcamp that will let you keep your job and learn to code! Cool right?
PROS:
- Lots of help (even help with interviews)
- The instructor tailors the class to how the class is doing so sometimes we "fell behind" to clarify concepts we were not getting, but always caught up
- Good projects to work on
- TAs are always available to help troubleshoot

CONS:
- While homework and quizzes were not given, you really need to put in effort outside of class to make the most out of it

I was a newspaper designer. I had studied journalism and in grad school focused on the design aspect of journalism. During college, however, I started learning HTML and CSS by taking an intro class and ended up designing sites as a hobby, so I had some experience coding and learning things by myself.

Actualize (or Anyone Can Learn to Code, as it was called -- I attended from Feb to May 2016), allowed me to change my career for the better. There is no way I would have been able to learn all I did at ACLTC on my own and get a job in this field. I also developed (see what I did there?) some wonderful friendships.
I had done a lot of research into what bootcamp I would go to (including considering online bootcamps).
The fact that the instructors were programmers but also had a backgr...

Pros:
-Part-time format allowed me to keep my job, so I could actually still have income. Some people might be able to afford taking three to six months off of work, I just did not want to take the hit with my savings.
-Instructors and TAs were super helpful and responsive to the needs of the cohort.
-Expectations were communicated clearly and all instruction was filmed. I still can view the videos from a year ago to get a refresher on a concept.
-The Location in 1871 is a great place to learn and get a feel for the tech scene in Chicago.
-Great intentional curriculum that really focused on communicating complex concepts clearly.

Cons:
-Working and keeping up with everything was super tough. People who didn't work definitely had an advantage. Even though they bill themsel...

I was a newspaper designer. I had studied journalism and in grad school focused on the design aspect of journalism. During college, however, I started learning HTML and CSS by taking an intro class and ended up designing sites as a hobby. So, I did have some coding experience.

However, Actualize (or Anyone Can Learn to Code, as it was called), allowed me to change my career for the better. There is no way I would have been able to learn all I did at ACLTC on my own and get a job in this field. I also developed (see what I did there?) some wonderful friendships.

Having the apprenticeship (I think the format changed since I graduated -- I forget what it's like now) was really useful, too, and enabled me to apply my skills in a work-like setting. There was someone to work with us on ...

I went to college at Indiana University for a double major in Telecommunications and Communications & Culture (basically film and media studies). After graduating, I got hired at GP Strategies, a learning solutions provider. They make training materials for other companies. I was a Content Developer, which involved a lot of proofreading and organizing content from clients into specific templates and formats. I started teaching myself to code through online tutorials about a year before the first day of Actualize.

When considering joining Actualize, the biggest hesitations were money and location - I moved up to Chicago to take the class. I chose Actualize over other bootcamps because it gave me the ability to attend and while still keeping my day job.

I loved the way the classes ...

What was your background before coming to Actualize? (Include college/past career)

I graduated college with a degree in Computer Science and worked temp jobs in IT and call centers while searching for development position.

What hesitations would have prevented you from joining Actualize?

My main hesitations were if the bootcamp was going to be worth the time and money. I had a Computer Science degree and didn’t manage to get anything development related. So I was a little skeptical.

What impact did Actualize have on your life?

I would say it had a huge impact on my life. Actualize has provided me with the experience necessary to move forward to a development position.

What specific feature did you like most about Actualize?

The appr...

What was your background before coming to Actualize? (Include college/past career)

Went to college at SIU and graduated with a degree in Mass Communications/Media Arts, specializing in Music Business and Audio Engineering. I have an informal background of internet marketing and SEO, working for a family business about 5 years before coming to Actualize.

What hesitations would have prevented you from joining Actualize?

Mainly cost and location.

What impact did Actualize have on your life?

It has paved the way for the career change I had been looking for. My work/programming life was much more confined and personal than it is today. The biggest impact is that I now have a network of like-minded individuals that I socialize with, work with and go out of my way for as an ...

PROs: The instructors and part-time schedule was key. It was important for me that the teachers were not only experts in their field, but that they had the best teaching skills around (shout out to Josh!). I also needed to work during the day to be able to pay off my loans. The Apprenticeship and Job Placement program directly after bootcamp was also important to me. Attending a bootcamp was the most rewarding challenge I ever took. And while I'm still learning about the many languages a programmer can study and what path I really want to take from here, Actualize gave me the supportive community and healthy learning environment I needed. I made friends with my peers, and together I learned so much more than I could ever accomplish alone. I didn't feel alone, and had lots of opportuniti...

I was able to work full-time as a teacher and still see my family (though admittedly less than usual) while completing this bootcamp. I learned immense amounts of information through the direct teach and time to practice. Though I did learn about lots of programming languages and build multiple websites, I think the most important skill I learned was how to always keep learning. I recommend this bootcamp to anyone interested in pursuing the dream of learning to code!

Attending Actualize was a truly life changing experience... in all the right ways! After a good amount of research, I realized that Actualize was the right bootcamp for me, moved cross-country to attend, and haven't looked back since. Before joining the coding world, I imagined programmers to be quiet, introverted, and the types of people who only worked alone.. oh, how wrong I was! Right from the first day of class collaboration was not only allowed, but encouraged. I enjoyed the classroom setting, where "lectures" truly felt more like a conversation between students and instructor. The in-class exercises were a stellar reinforcement of the material taught, and the weekly blogs, capstone project, as well as apprenticeship helped me stand out to employers (interviews are much easier...

1. I have a degree in acting and my only experience in coding was SQL for a job.
2. The cost for sure and the time.
3. I felt like a learned a lot and met and worked with great people.
4. I really enjoyed working on my own project for the capstone.
5. It was part time with an apprenticeship.
6. Yes absolutely. I would say that if you want to get into this field it is a great tool to help you.
7. !Strange is the best cohort.

What was your background before coming to Actualize? (Include college/past career)
I had worked in Web Traffic Management right out of High School for a few years. I then went to Art School for Video Game Design, but I realized I wasn't actually interested in making video games, just playing them, so I never actually completed my degree. I then moved to working in Email Marketing and Design which pushed me into Basic Website Maintenance (HTML and a little CSS).

What hesitations would have prevented you from joining Actualize?
My only hesitation was would I be able to comprehend and keep up with so much information coming at me all at once.

What impact did Actualize have on your life?
It made me realize that I can listen and retain a lot of information at once. I didn't alwa...

Actualize helped me out tremendously! I was able to secure a role at a small company and feel much more fulfilled with the work that I am doing. I always enjoyed lego's as a child, so building web applications has a very satisfying and similar feeling for me. I get to actually build something and see that idea come to life, which is super cool.
I enjoyed the individual expertise and help that was always available in the classroom. There were times where a student could fall behind, but it was nice to know someone was readily available to help when you had questions.

Before Actualize (then known as Anyone Can Learn to Code) I was working as a retail banker/teller supervisor. I had limited knowledge of programming except for some codecademy courses and some tutoring from a friend.

The hesitations that would have stopped me was if the price was too high, and if there weren't such good reviews. I also would have hesitated if the main focus was on front end languages as I had spent almost a year learning ruby (that's a subjective anecdote, though)

Actualize changed my life completely. I learned valuable skills, got a new job, and made amazing friends. Actualize taught me the skills to be self-sufficient as well as put me on a new career path, I was pretty tired of my job at that point so in the end it was worth it. I loved the Actualize communit...

The program is amazing! The course covers everything you need to know to build a complete web app using front end and back end technologies as well as how to work with databases. The instructors are very knowledgeable and do a great job of conveying the information. The owner is fully committed to helping you change careers. After you complete the cohort, they provide you with career classes to assist with your job search and place you in an apprenticeship where you can start gaining real world experience. Would definitely recommend this bootcamp to anyone looking to become a developer!

Anyone Can Learn To Code was a great experience for me. I found a software engineering job almost immediately after graduating.

The structure of the course, at the moment, is a few week period of pre-work with video lectures, office hours, and remote work. The remainder of the course is in person at nights. This was very helpful for me, as it allowed me to continue my day job. At the end of the program, there is a showcase for the personal capstone projects that we started work on in the middle of the course. Following the program, there is a multiple week apprenticeship program.

I came from an unrelated work background, but had taken some Computer Science courses in College. I ended up learning a lot from the course. The teaching staff was excellent and knowledgable and are direc...

The course is tough, the pace is grueling, and the material...well if you are a newbie like I was, its all gibberish. The team at ACLTC realize this, and they do their best to make everything digestible. Mark Richardson and most of the other staff are teachers first, developers second, which sounds backwards but is very important.

These folks describe difficult concepts in ways that make sense, and their skills are only getting more honed with each class. I loved the TA's, Jay is the coolest CEO ever, and Mark, can't say enough about him. The people made this course, and I would not have wanted to go anywhere else for my coding experience. I got a job 2 weeks after the course ended, so it works! Its all about what you put into it, and this program is great for the flexibility and th...