Actualize

Hello all, recent grad of Actualize here. I was looking for a bootcamp to learn software development as I wanted to enter the tech world. After searching around online I found these exact reviews about Actualize. The positive reviews seemed too good to... Read More be true lol. A quick look on reddit told me they were not kidding and that this is one of the best bootcamps around. I reached out to the intake staff and immediately was struck by the personal attention of the staff! I had at least a 30 min conversation with the intake advisor who patiently answered all my question and tried to help me make an informed decision. She even offered to connect me to the teaching staff and past alums! After starting the program, I felt taken care of by the entire Actualize staff. My class instructor, Amanda, is a rockstar teacher and went above and beyond to impart all the things we need to know to get a job in the tech world. She turned our cohort into a close group where we were all growing together. There is so much more to switching careers and learning software development than the hard technical skills. And that is where Actualize really shined! They were quick to support us in all ways besides actual code. Their job-hacking team, with Lisa and Sarah, helped us prepare for the tech world by training us on interviews, resumes, and networking/LinkedIn. The bootcamp also prepared us for whiteboarding and solving complex coding problems. At other bootcamps you might be thrown into a class with 100s of people and then have TAs do the rest of the work or you will be stuck with an instructor who might be a great developer but a lousy teacher. At Actualize, instructors are developers who develop developers. Also, you will be in a more intimate cohort and really grow and gain together. Lastly, the journey does not end upon completion of the bootcamp. It continues past that with constant reinforcement and training for both development and job-searching. There is a follow up course that is included that goes deeper into the problem solving and computer science. When in doubt choose Actualize.

I chose Actualize after a friend recommended it and after reading about the emphasis that Actualize puts on EDUCATION and putting understanding first. I wanted a personal touch and what I got was just that. My class was small and I got to talk 1 on 1... Read More with career coaches, my instructor, my classmates, and even the dean of students, who personally called me when I was having second thoughts. Something I was really impressed by was the FORMAT of the class. We had several daily routines, lectures followed by exercises, and weekly job hacking sessions which really put me ahead when beginning to apply for jobs. We also had 2 Teaching Assistants, which meant office hours twice a week (super helpful and consistent) and at least one of them in class to help with questions every day. You begin with a month of pre-work which is at your own pace with a class once a week to go over that weeks assignments. It prepares you well for when you begin class full-time. My instructor Amanda cares about her students and even went out of her way one day to spend a full hour talking to me about her experience as a woman coming up in the industry. I was extremely grateful to have her as a role model both as a software engineer and as a woman in tech. I'm on my last day to class now, and I've accumulated: a great portfolio via GitHub, a personal website that I created myself, a fully loaded LinkedIn with over 600 connections, a professional resume, tons of resources, and a completed capstone project. Also the understanding of what those things even mean. I've already applied to 20 jobs and have 2 interviews lined up.

Extremely happy I chose Actualize. Not only does it provide great instructors but the staff genuinely cares about their students and their growth. There was a strong sense of community and we all quickly became comfortable with one another and trusted... Read More one another in the learning process. I've built long lasting friendships and will forever keep this experience near and dear to my heart. Im so proud of myself and my cohort. Congratulations team, we did it!!!

I came across Actualize as I was making a career change from sales. I had a few friends who had previously graduated from the program, and raved about it. I began with little to no prior coding experience, and feel as though I can teach myself any language... Read More needed now. The program is set up, with 5 weeks of pre-work. This consists of providing you a dozen of exercises/problems each week, a video explaining how to solve the problem, and then a section for you to solve the problem. You get feedback on whether the problem is correct or not, and if you have any issues you have instructors who are willing to meet with you and clear up questions. You also have weekly office hours to go over problems. After this, you have the live portion of the class for 13 weeks. You begin from the basics, and build on what you learn each day. The course is set up to learn new topics each week, and you get plenty of practice in class and in homework assignments. The course breaks down everything extremely well, and can address any questions that arise.

The course itself teaches you everything you need to know to become a full-stack web developer. The classes are fun and enjoyable but are packed with a lot of information. My instructor was absolutely amazing with previous teaching experience making the... Read More course feel like a very natural classroom setting even over Zoom. The career advisors, as well as the instructor, will help you build up your Linkedin, resume, as well as interviewing skills to prepare you for the job search. I am currently at the start of my job search and I am excited to see what the future holds.

I think the most important thing to me about Actualize is that you learn a lot but maintain great mental and work-life balance. A lot of code bootcamps have crazy hours per day but Actualize was consistently 11 am - 4 pm every day with an hour or two... Read More of homework per day--very manageable. As someone who struggles with mental health challenges, this was crucial to me. Amanda was a fantastic instructor and explained things well but also encouraged me to take breaks when I needed them. We learned primarily Ruby on Rails and VueJS, which I feel is a good foundation for full stack web dev.

I personally came from a zero coding background and wanted to be able to start from the ground up. After tons of research I decided on Actualize because of the great curriculum and awesome staff. Everything here was a joy to work through. (and make sure... Read More to ask for Amanda, she is the best!)

I had an awesome time at Actualize. Amanda has been an amazing instructor. We covered both back-end and front-end development and complete really cool projects. The big deciding factor for me was the job-hacking or job assistance aspect of the bootcamp.... Read More You can tell they really want their students to succeed and provide ample resources (in perpetuity!) for finding work after the class is complete.

I came to actualize looking to transition careers from a chemistry background to something in Web Development (I had no prior coding experience). I decided to go with actualize because I was able to still work full time and take their night class online.... Read More In 12 weeks I was able to learn how to build both a front end and back end for web apps. It takes a lot of work and you need to come to class wanting to learn. I had Brian as my instructor and he was amazing. I would recommend his to anyone he was the best.

I was directed to this Bootcamp from a friend who graduated here. He had nothing but good things to say about the instructors and curriculum. This made it easy for me to pick Actualize when I decided to make a career switch. I would highly recommend Actualize... Read More Coding Bootcamp! Their staff is very knowledgeable, helpful and want to see you succeed. The course is in depth and teaches you not only how to code from the ground up but also integrates ways to find a job when the course is over.