Actualize

After getting my degree in marketing and spending the first five years in sales roles that never felt fulfilling, I needed to make a change in my career to something that would give me more flexibility, better upward mobility, and overall happiness.

I had completed a few Codecademy courses in the past, but needed something that would supply me with a bit more structure. So after seeing Actualize's great reviews, especially for their in-class Chicago campus, I applied and was accepted to the July 2018 cohort. 

Over the next few months, I learned more than I ever could have possibly imagined. The course is fast-paced and challenging, but once things start to stick, by the end you have a strong foundation and jumping off point for your future career in development. I met some amazing classmates during my time here, and my lead instructor Josh and all the TA's were fantastic, patient, knowledgeable and overall great people.

I couldn't recommend Actualize more to anyone who is curious about programming but doesn't know where to start their career. It doesn't get much better than this.

I considered attending a bootcamp for for 2-3 years before finally making the decision to go through with it. I can honestly and personally say that it was the best thing I've ever done for myself. After researching and reading through other reviews online for other bootcamps, I chose Actualize due to the small independent feel when compared to other bootcamps, the apprenticeship/job hacking program after classes end, but most importantly the teaching experience/acuity of the instructors, especially Peter Jang. He's absolutely the best teacher I've ever had in all my years of structured education. He's extremely intelligent, insightful, experienced, and funny. It's obvious he loves coding and teaching others.

Without a doubt, the material is difficult but their approach does not cultivate a high stress environment. This is especially true if you find yourself to enjoy web development; to which you should put in the extra time and work if you enjoy it. To anyone out there who may be researching coding bootcamps, you will not go wrong with Actualize. I can't speak for other bootcamps but I'm happy to have attended Actualize. I now feel confident in my ability to take the next step towards a career in tech.

Thank you to everyone at Actualize who helped me. I will miss attending classes.

*I also wrote a similar review on Switchup.org

Before I joined Actualize I probably read every single review written about them. This review might seem similar becuase Actualize is truly amazing and joining was the best decision I made! I would do it all over again. I chose this bootcamp in particular because the instuctors have software engineering experience and teaching experience and I can honestly tell you that they set you up for success. My Instuctor was Peter Jang and I cannot say enough good things about him. I really feel that I could not have asked for better elsewhere. Their teaching philosophy and approach to programming is very effective. After completing the program I feel very confindent that I have the both the technical skills and the job hunting skills to land a software developer position.

Like most people reading this, I had no programming experience prior to attending Actualize. While working through Codecademy exercises,  I began researching bootcamps and was nervous to take the plunge. Without question, Actualize is an incredible educational experience suitable for all backgrounds. Cohorts are small, allowing for more instructor attention. The instructors (who are FANTASTIC!!) have backgrounds in both software development and education. They really take the time to make sure you understand the material. You can ask for help and actually get an answer that makes sense. Most bootcamps are not like this.

In addition to modern web development tools, Actualize shows you how to not only build full-stack web applications (Ruby, Rails, VueJS), but feel comfortable reading documentation, learn new technologies, and take on your first developer job. Attending Actualize is without question one of the best decisions I have ever made and my only regret is not signing up earlier. If you're someone looking to learn to code and pursue a software developer career, Actualize will get you there. Go get it!

I chose actualize because their emphasis on teaching. There are many bootcamps available who do not stress this enough. I would recommend Actualize to anyone who is willing to put forth the effort to learn how to code. While they do teach you, you must put in the work if you want to succeed.  I would also recommend exhausting free online exercises before enrolling in the class because it does move quickly, and having a base to build off is something to help cement your understanding.

And just as a side note, Peter led my cohort, and I would gladly recommend his teaching style and general demeanor regarding learning to program to anyone who is considering the course. 

**Job assistance rating is left as NA as I am a recent graduate at the time of this review, and have not attended any job assistance meetings at this time.

Cannot begin to describe how worthwhile this whole process has been.

Having just completed the curriculum I feel very confident about jumping into the industry of web development and landing my first job in a field I thought previously I had no shot at. The curriculum is definitley no walk in the park but it was very fun to overcome the challenges and obstacles that you face when you jump headfirst into learning something as complicated as web development. Although you're technically in a class, it doesn't really ever feel like a school and the small size of the cohorts allows you to have a lot of one on one interaction with the instructors and TA's which is very beneficial when you run into small problems, and is one of the reasons I chose Actualize over a bigger bootcamp. Since Josh, the lead instructor, also attended a bootcamp he knew exactly the types of problems and pitfalls students like us with no CS degree would face, and helped us circumnavigate those as much as possible while still allowing us to fail lightly in order to really learn (which I believe is very neccesary). And despite being relativley self-taught himself he was insanely knowedgeable on the topics and technologies and did an excellent job explaining complex things in the simplest way possible.

 If I could do it all over again the only thing I would change is to do it sooner.

(have not started the job hacking portion yet, will update this after completing) 

I came in knowing minamal HTML, and CSS, but came out learning so much.  I had a great time, all the teachers and students were great.  I honestly didn't expect to learn so much in such a short period of time.  Really exceeded my expectations and I'm glad I came here. Another plus was that they help after the main course, they don't just throw you out and say good luck finding a job.  We have a job counselor to help us prepare our resumes, go in prepared to our interviews etc.  If you're on the line of coming here don't be you'll learn a lot and be able to move forward in your coding journey. 

This was an intense curriculum that is designed to prepare you into the real world of coding.  It was an intense challenging  and sometimes brutal experience, but you will learn how to operate as a coder.  It does become a skill, just like any other one, but much more precious.  After graduating there was a great apprenticeship where the Jay (CEO) is a fundamental part of, helps you prepare for job hacking / interviews that proved extremely valuable to get me the job in the field I wanted.  I have friends who have C.S. degrees, who where shocked as to the level of knowledge I was able to acquire in a short period.