Actualize

Before any of this coding business happened in my life, I was not a tech-savvy person, much less a coder. I graduated from college with a degree in Business Management and had a huge passion for interior design. I was the least expected person out of my circle of friends to become a programmer because let's face it - it's a skillset I never touched upon and rumor has it if you didn't come out of college with a degree in computer science, you'll never be good enough to compete.

That all changed when I learned about Actualize. I took a ride with my sister to Chicago from Des Moines, Iowa to an info session on design/coding bootcamps located in Chicago's 1871. There were four bootcamps that presented at the time: Evolve, Designation, Fullstack, and Anyone Can Learn To Code (Actualize). This was the link: https://public.1871.com/event/E617103747. My first impressions were so:

• Evolve Security: Cyber security seemed a bit out of my league from where I stand in coding (which is ground zero) so I ruled out Evolve.
• Designation: My sister attended Designation and there were hopes I could too, but seeing that they focused more on just UX design and no code, I crossed it off my list.
• Fullstack Academy: From a first impression, Fullstack coding bootcamp is full time and very intensive. They have strict guidelines and tests you must pass, and having just come out of college, I didn't want to learn in an environment where I'm all about the test score.
• Actualize (Anyone Can Learn To Code): Then there was Actualize. Jay Wengrow, the founder, gave a speech about how the company truly believes anyone can learn to code, and that it's just a matter of how hard you're willing to try and persist. Jay goes on to explaining that unlike other coding bootcamps, Actualize is a mentorship where instructors with excellent educational and coding background guide you along and there is an optional apprenticeship experience. Not only did Jay seem passionate about the bootcamp, but he also believes in his students. Diving into coding unknown is horrifying, but that all changes when someone walks you through each step of the way. 

So I decided that Actualize was for me. Jay gave some of us a tour of the classrooms and students in apprenticeship, and on that same day, I had an interview with Nick the admissions counselor, which consisted mostly of getting to know more about me and whether I'd be a good fit for the cohort (it's not intimidating don't worry). It really stuck with me how much Actualize really cares about the peers their students work with.

Fast-Forward: I went back to Iowa, and was accepted at Actualize; however as much as I wanted to attend the program, I learned that certain circumstances prevented me from attending Actualize in person. Jay and Peter still kept in touch with me in case my situation changes, but at that point the future was hard to tell. One day, Jay reached out to me and said they were opening their very first online course, exactly like the in-class, but live online. I was thrilled! This changed everything. I could actually learn coding through Actualize in the comfort of my own home. I grabbed the opportunity and started class June 2017. 

FF x2: I graduated as part of the very first Actualize Online cohort and simply put: I can code now. I can legitimately say that I am a web developer who knows the fundamentals of coding and how to make apps from scratch, and I can apply my skills anywhere, be it learning Python, or a new Javascript framework like React. I can say to an interviewer at a job that I've worked in a peer-programming environment and I know all about git. I can also put on my resume that I know how to work with apps using postgresql database and integrating APIs using jbuilder. But most importantly, I can say to anyone who questions our curriculum why we start out with Ruby and not Javascript, or why Vue and not React, that it is through these specific language and framework I managed to build a solid understanding in fundamental coding, and I am now a ball of clay, ready to be moulded. That, I think, is the true purpose of taking coding bootcamps in general. 

I will be starting apprenticeship in a week or so, and hopefully afterwards I can give you an update on how that goes and job hunt as well.

The coding world is always changing, and it's changing fast. Actualize has taught me that I came out this bootcamp knowing I can learn anything as long as I persist and work hard. It's not a bootcamp where you focus on the most popular language or framework; it's a practical one that handpicked the language and framework that is easiest to understand and build a solid foundation in. It is giving you the key to unlock the door to many more skills to come. 

I highly recommend Actualize if you have no background in coding or computer science and would like to pursuit a career in it.

Actualize is an incredible, fast-paced 12 week bootcamp. I have never experienced such an elite educational experience. 

From the pre-work throughout the in-person classes in Chicago, the instructores supported and guided us and were always available to come early or stay late to answer questions. Actualize has a unique education model that teaches, demoes, gives us the chance to try our hand at an exercise, and then goes over it again to ensure we are doing it correctly.

This was so incredibly effective; I never left class feelling unsure about the material, I always felt that I had a good grasp on what we had learned that day. Honestly, I would say the teaching here was better than my high school and college experience (and I had some pretty good professors in college!)

Programming can be extremely overwhelming and there is always more to learn but the Actualize curriculum fed us in bite sized chunks which made the learning experience a smooth and enjoyable one.

The part-time classes were incredible and allowed me to work during the day and learn at night; no mandatory homework kept my schedule from getting too overwhelming.

If you are interested in learning quickly and from the best, Actualize is definitely a great choice, I would recommend it without hesitation.

Prepare for your brain to get crunched, because it's a lot, but they will hold your hand the entire way. 

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, Actualize allowed me to develop skills that led me to my new career, without having to go without the security of my full-time job. 

After my IT career started to plateau, I started looking around for resources that might help me get my carreer to the next level. I came into Actualize to learn how to create web-apps and to learn Rails, but came out with much, much more!

One of the most important takeaways was importance of planning for a project before putting down the first line of code. I may not have understood why I was doing that when I was planning my capstone, but it all came together in the end. Having a solid foundation to my app allowed me to experiment to it towards the end without having to worry about breaking it.

I agree what other reviewers say, this program gives you back as much as you put into it. Although this program is part time, to get the most of it you must be able to spend some considerable time outside of class to review class content (which is recorded). This is specially true if you feel like you are falling behind. 

Speaking of, the course at times felt like it was going at a neckbreaking speed. There were several occasions where I made a mistake and fell behind during class, but reviewing the class material at my pace always helped. Just be ready to invest that time.

Overall, if you are able to spend a bit of extra time outside of class to catch up, you should be ok. I highty recommend it!

Going into this program, I only had about a month of coding experince so I wasn't sure how well I was going to perform. The 4 weeks of pre-work definetly helped me get into ruby and it made me feel more prepared to start learning the more complex aspects of ruby. The 12 weeks of in-class learning were great, I learned so much more than I thought and at the end of the program I was able to build a full web app. I would definetly recoomend this program to people who want to get into a career in computer programming.

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 therapy, and by chance, I heard about programming bootcamps from a friend of a friend. I researched a few different bootcamps that I found on Switchup.org's website and applied to a few of them.  The process of applying to Actualize was great - the CEO, Jay Wengrow, interviewed me himself and invited me to tour the space. I observed Josh, one of the two lead instructors, and knew right away that I wanted to attend Actualize (then known as Anyone Can Learn to Code). I went to one of their showcases and talked to the other lead instructor, Peter, their admissions advisor, and some alumni that were there. I knew in my heart that Actualize had the highest quality education and best value of all the bootcamps I looked into in Chicago. And I was right. It was the best decision I've ever made.

 

Instructors:

The instructors at Actualize bootcamp are the absolute best. I had Peter as an instructor, but also worked a lot with Josh after graduating. They're both really funny and are great teachers. They had teaching experience before Actualize, and are both brilliant coders. Josh regularly stays very late after class to help his students to understand the material because he's highly dedicated to his students' learning. They're both very responsive to messages and make themselves available for office hours.

 

Curriculum:

The way the bootcamp is structured is: about one month of online prework, three months of in-class instruction, a showcase where you show your capstone project to potential employers, and at least one month of apprenticeship, as well as white-boarding, lessons on computer-science fundamentals, and job-training. Class takes place in the evenings and on Sunday all day so that you can keep your full-time job, and the apprenticeship is where you work with actual clients to build their apps and websites. NO other bootcamp in Chicago does this. It's what makes Actualize so unique. Your capstone is individual, unlike some other bootcamps which have group capstone projects. Individual capstone projects are awesome because potential employers know that everything in your project was built by you.

 

We learned Ruby on rails, Javascript, AngularJS, git, jquery, HTML/CSS,  SQL, API integration, and more. The curriculum is always evolving and improving, though;  for example, current cohorts are learning VueJS .

We learned how to make apps from scratch and add features to them. And we were constantly reminded to push our apps to github as we developed them, so when I graduated, I already had a large amount of work on github to show employers.

Actualize teaches programming fundamentals that can be applied to any language. Many of my classmates and also previous alumni got jobs coding in languages we never used in class, such as Swift and Java. That's because Actualize does an amazing job of preparing you to be an actual developer. You're taught how to get unstuck when you get errors in your code, and you're taught how to learn new technologies on your own. For example, we learned how to read documentation.

 

Career support:

And you're not just left on your own after graduation. They have a dedicated career-management director, Taylor Dorsett, who has the #1 most-viewed profile in Chicago; he was one of the best recruiters in the country, so Actualize hired him to ensure that Actualize graduates are able to find jobs right out of bootcamp. After graduation, you'll get weekly trainings from him and Jay Wengrow, the CEO, to learn how to network, ace interviews, do whiteboarding exercises, and pass coding challenges. The value you will get from all of this training is worth the tuition in itself. Actually, the increase in my salary from finding a job in software engineering has already paid for my tuition.

 

Community:

I have made friends for life because of the awesome people I met at Actualize. They are now the people I spend the most time with.  We grill together, have game nights all the time, and still participate in Actualize events and attend all of the showcases. It's a wonderful community of like-minded people who are all contributing positively to the tech community in Chicago. We attend meetups and continue to learn new technologies, either through our new jobs, or for our side projects. The network that Actualize provides is unbeatable. It not only changed my life, but it's changed my future. I would recommend Actualize to anyone interested in a career in tech. You will not regret it.

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 could train me to become a web developer in such a short time while only being a part-time program. I decided to push those doubts aside and I went for it. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made. We were given hands on instruction and my teacher was/is awesome. We were given lectures followed by exercises to put in practice what we just learned. I learned so much and if I ever needed help someone from Actualize was always there to help push me along. It was not easy, but the road to success usually isn't an easy one. The staff is so supportive and they were always available to us (even the CEO!). Not only did I have a great experience learning, I also made some life long friends along the way. I would highly recommend Actualize. I now have a great job at a startup and the opportunities to continue learning and growing are endless.

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'd always wanted to be a developer, but my coding experience was extremely limited and I wasn't sure I would have what it takes. Actualize gave me the technical foundation to successfully pivot into a fulfilling career in development.   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.     The Actualize curriculum is extensive and fast paced, but the instructors know how to break the material down into digestible portions. My instructor was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic.   The Apprenticeship program was invaluable. It cemented the concepts I learned in the boot camp and exposed me to industry best practices. Working on real projects for real clients gave me a portfolio of tangible work to show to potential employers. The techniques taught at the career placement seminars helped me network and get interviews.   The boot camp isn't easy, you're exposed to a huge volume of material in a short period of time, but you're given every opportunity to succeed. I'm now working as a developer for a great company doing what I love. As cliche as it sounds, my only regret is not attending sooner.

ACTLC (Actualize) is a great program. I enrolled looking to make a career change, and I was able to make a financially lateral move to an entry level tech position from a field where I had more than 10 years experience. I chose ACLTC because of its friendly reputation and the ability for me to maintain a full time job. It wasn't easy, but but it was fun. The teacher of my cohort was great, but it's really the extended family of ACLTC the made the difference. There were always lots of alumni around as, currently employed in tech positions, that were eager to help and convincingly interested in my success. I enjoyed the apprenticeship part of the program, and I really believe that it gave me the added confidence and knowledge to land my first job.

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 thought we were capable of. The TAs were knowledgeable and always on hand to help. I was also very lucky to have been in a cohort where everyone was supportive of each other.

Another factor that drew me to Actualize was the apprenticeship program. After completing the bootcamp, you get the chance to work on real projects and learn how to deal with real clients with the help of experienced and enthusiastic mentors. No, you're not going to know everything there is to know about web development by the end of the bootcamp or even by the end of the apprenticeship, but that's not the goal of Actualize. You will leave with a solid foundation and the tools to keep learning. It’s up to you to utilize those tools.

Actualize also offers excellent job search and interview training. You won’t be automatically handed a job after the bootcamp and the job search process was often frustrating, but you won’t be completely abandoned. Taylor was an amazing resource and was instrumental in helping me find my current job. With his help, I received two great offers after a month and a half of searching. While I've never attended any other bootcamps, I believe what sets Actualize apart is that Jay, who is the founder, and all the people at Actualize actually care about the students even after we are no longer technically their students.

Only a little over a year ago, I was feeling stuck in a job I didn't enjoy and now I'm in my dream career doing what I've always wanted to do. Actualize was the best decision I’ve ever made. Actualize will be the best decision you’ll ever make if you are willing to put in the time and work to pursue a career as a developer.