Actualize

I heard about Actualize through google and sites like this one. Really wonderful experience! Great pace, really responsive staff, always ready to help you through any questions you have. At the end, you'll have a project you have built that you can add to your portfolio, as well as skills to start the inevitable job hunt. The main course focus is on programming fundamentals using Ruby, back-end API development using Ruby on Rails, front end with Vue.js as well as some quick detours here and there. Not sure what any of that means? No problem! Through the course pre-work and first couple weeks of the camp, Actualize will get you up to speed. You'll leave with skills to help you feel confident as you enter the workforce. They teach you the building blocks of coding, as well as how to apply those building blocks to new languages, which is invaluable. I would recommend Actualize to coding newbies and intermediate coders. I will say, if you're advanced (in web-development) and looking to brush up or learn a new language in a structured environment, you will certainly be able to do that here, it will just be at a pace that is slower than what you'd probably want.

Before enrolling into Actualize, I researched so many different coding bootcamps, but Actualize was the one that stood out the most to me. I had no prior coding experience, though it was tough, I gained so much insight and made my very own app! Everyone here is great, supportive, and understandable. That's something I truly enjoyed the most, that they understood this isn't going to be easy, but made sure I pulled through. I highly recommend Actualize to anyone who's experienced or not. Great way to take the first step into Software Development.

I heard about Actualize through some developers at the company I work for. They had started their careers here and have been quite successful. That was enough of a testimonial for me to commit.

The overall experience was what I was looking for which was a wholeistic approach to software engineering.  No bootcamp is going to turn you into a master coder but it will show you the fundamentals and give you a solid foundation to build off of. You will get out of this course what you put into it.

Actualize is a good chocie for someone who has an idea of what they want. I believe having clear goals in mind prior to starting bootcamp is important. I did the night cohort which meant long days but in the end was very much worth it.  At the end of bootcamp I was able to make an internal transition to the development team at my company.

I chose Actualize based on the night program that allowed me to keep my job during the day. Also the location was great as I already worked downtown. The experience was great I learned a TON. I really needed a classroom setting with an instructor to take the next step in my development and Actualize provided just that. I would recommend this Bootcamp to anyone interested in web development or looking to sharpen their skills as a web developer. It is a great place to learn no matter what your background is. The instructors and everyone involved were awesome. 

I chose Actualize among all the other bootcamp alternatives because they seemed to focus a lot on pedagogy, the process of teaching and learning. I knew that technical expertise wouldn't mean much if the instructors didn't know how to convey that expertise in a way that helped students grow. And boy, did Actualize deliver. Every step of the way, I felt challenged but always supported. I was given the gift of learning *how to be a programmer*, not how to memorize a specific syntax. I know, going forward, that I can fill in the gaps of what I don't know, and continue to grow as a developer becuase of the skills I learned here. It's the best decision I've ever made from a professional/education standpoint, and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who is seeking to become a programmer.

Let's see... to start I was a bit skeptical as I'm sure you will be also starting something new. I knew what it was I wanted to do (learn to develop my own websites so I could stop paying thousands of dollars for a finished project nothing as I wanted) but wasn't sure which would be the best avenue to pursue. I thought about attending a JC and obtaining a CS degree but quickly found out how much I can't stand an instructor who is as dry (no pun intended) as boiled sand and speaks like Bill Stein.
 I needed something that was in line with my character and learning style. I checked out a few bootcamps, which all claimed to be the best (marketing tool), yet the only beacon in the dark was Actualize. The emphasized teaching over learning to code and how their instructors were educators of some form or another so I gave it a shot. The pre-work was pretty easy as I had just completed a pre-bootcamp course prior. Also, it gave me a chance to compare the teaching styles of the two different bootcamps. Actualize immediately stood out as the place I wanted to be. Although my cohort mates were from all walks of life and backgrounds, we seemed to mesh almost instantly like a family. It could have been the common desire of wanting to learn code, but whatever it was, it made life so much easier. My experience learning with another bootcamp also yielded high learning in a short amount of time, but the stress factor was through the roof. Knowing if I failed a few tests I'd be kicked out of the bootcamp is something I did not want looming over my head while trying to learn something completely new. 
All in all, my experience with Actualize is one I will always remember and can look back on in a few years and say that's where I got my start at and that's the reason this great site I built exists today.

I can't stress enough how much one-on-one access you have with your instructor and ta's. It is a bootcamp and things come at you hard and fast. You'll get some things, not get others, and that one-on-one time will be invaluable. This will be the basis from where you'll begin your journey to learn other languages and decide where to focus as you move forward. You'll get out as much as you put in, and you'll be amazed at what you can build.

Start practicing your algorithms now..you'll thank me!

Good luck!

Really amazing course that covers everything you'll need to know to form a foundation for software engineering. Almost all of the prework and the first half of the course is spent doing backend work, which I think is the best way to learn coding and train yourself how to solve problems like a programmer. The course covers multiple languages and frameworks, but it doesn't overload you by trying to have you learn too many at once. The instructor and the TAs are extremely knowledgeable as well as flexible with their time. Definitely recommend - it's worth the cost!

My expectations were high and Actualize still managed to exceed them by a long shot.

When I was originally doing research to find a bootcamp that met my needs, Actualize stood out compared to other cohorts such as Fullstack. The only thing that was kind of spooky to me was how unanimously positive almost all of the reviews for Actualize were. An average of 4.1 out of 5 almost always feels more genuine than a 5 out of 5. Actualize is a massive exception to that rule. I'm not sure what it's average rating is, but it must be close to a perfect 5/5. Until I went through this, I really didn't believe it could be THAT good.  
What can I say that hasn't been said in any of the previous reviews? I was part of the first full-time cohort (as opposed to the part-time night cohorts that were previously the only option) and as a result, got to pour my entire life into it. 5 weeks of remote prework followed by 12 weeks of intense, non-stop learning and application. I won't sugar coat it, it's hard as hell, if you don't cry at least once, you're either already way too advanced to be considering the program or you're not paying attention. In spite of how difficult it can be, there is so much support here from all the staff. There's a palpable sense of emotional intelligence that takes into consideration the stress one goes through when learning as much as you do in such a short amount of time while unemployed and living off of savings for 4 months. It's scary, but so incredibly gratifying by the time you make it through. Out of the 14 members of my cohort, every single one of us finished even when almost all of us, at one point or another, felt like quitting from the pressure. If there is another bootcamp out there that does what Actualize does, I've yet to hear about it. 
I hope my review helps to sway anyone on the fence or currently in the process of doing research towards a bootcamp experience.