Actualize

I chose Actualize because their program was the one that best fit my schedule. They offer classes that cater to both day and night time schedules. This led me to pick the night time cohort because this allowed me to work during the day and attend classes at night. Also the Chicago location for their school is close to the Loop and is readily accessible via public transportation which made it convenient for me to attend.

The greatest strength of Actualize is that its technical staff is composed of teachers that happen to know coding. This might seem like a minor detail but this is what distinguishes Actualize from other coding schools. A programmer might be able to repeat information to a potential student but that does not mean that they can teach. Becuase of the teacher first emphasis that the founder uses to develop the course curriculum, key concepts are not simply memorized but synthesized for later lessons.

I recommend Actualize to people who want to have fun while they learn. I never felt like the staff were administrators that assigned my coursework but rather they were more like friends and family to me. Also, while Actualize places a heavy focus on teaching Ruby don't be concerned that its not on the list of programming languages that are "hot" right now. Ruby is a solid foundation to learn the fundamentals of coding and a good springboard for a student to be able to learn future languages.

I was in the online cohort ending September and now have a full time job in technology project management. Actualize was a top notch education and ones trajectory to code from scratch to application building is guaranteed with diligent participation. Actualize makes you enjoy coding and the practice provided, along with group work, is an ideal and perfect education. Brian, the instructor, and Lisa, the job coach, are amazing in their guidance and instruction. Make sure to attend post bootcamp events because it is extremely helpful in securing a job and in continuing to develop coding skills. Lisa and Actualize provided me with the greatest advice in looking for work and communicating with employers. At the end of the day, you become an adept coder and a tremendously more skilled individual. 

After spending about a year not making much progress with books and tutorials, I was in need of a real teacher and mentor who could personally guide and teach me how to code. Actualize was a bootcamp that stood out the most, because of its teaching expertise. Once the bootcamp began I was constantly surprised how everything was already prepared and laid out in every step of the way conquer any challenge that I might face. All the concerns that I had before starting the bootcamp was already thought out and solved in advance by the designer of the curriculum. Also by the help of the amazing job hacking program, I am now interviewing for jobs that I could only dream about before. I truly thank Actrualize for opening the door to an exciting career in software engineering. 

When I was deciding on a coding bootcamp to enroll in I really wanted to make sure that the online course I pick was personable and at a pace that I could handle. The reviews for Actualize really emphasized how it was a small group where there is a lot of one on one interaction with the instructor and TAs. Overall I definitely loved the pace and when I needed more clarification or help the instructor and TAs were phenomenal at making sure I grasp and understand the concept in a way that I could understand coding. I highly recommend taking this course if you are a frist time coder like me. 

I was attracted to Actualize because of the great reviews that were left by the students. It was facinating to hear about the amazing experiencing and learning opportunities that received by the staff. I have never been challenged as much as Actualize has challenged me in my life. Peter, the instructor taught me how to believe in myself and pushed me beyond my limits. He taught me how to look at problem solving at whole different level. Actualize not only teaches you how to code, but they also teach you how to do well in job interviews. They really take the time to prepare you for the tech interviews. Because of this I was able to get my first offer as a Software Engineer on the date of graduation. I would highly recommend actualize to anyone who is ready to be challenged and is open to learn at a whole different level.

Found this place after extensive searching for Chicago area bootcamps. The curriculum seemed aggressive and a challenge in terms of scope and time, which is my preference. The course was an excellent introduction to full-stack development and you will definitely pick up the skills needed to fully build a web app from scratch, with all of the usual features such as user authentication, database building and querying, front-end and back-end communication, etc. And perhaps more importantly, the foundation this course lays provides an excellent springboard to learn other web development and mobile app development frameworks.

I had an amazing experience with Actualize. the lead instructor, Brian, was incredibly knowledgable, quick to help, and was excellent at leading the way to the solution without giving it away. Our TA's Cory and Josh, also recent Actualize grads were outstanding and a tremondous resources for all of us. Lisa, was able to provide us with awesome career advice as to how to obtain a job after graduation and provided us with tons of resources to help us be successful. Lastly, our pre-work instruction, Kevin, did an excellent job laying the ground work for us before we hit the ground running for the next four months. 

All in all it was a great experience and I feel as though I am prepared to take the next step and even made a few friends. I started receiving interviews with a month left in class and have no doubt my next adventure is around the corner.