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Actualize

Average Rating4.93
594 Reviews
1 Course

Actualize is an online software engineering bootcamp based in Chicago that offers part-time and full-time bootcamp options. Instructors with professional educational experience teach students full stack web development including Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, VueJS, SQL, and Git. The Online Live classes are conducted in real time with video conferencing. Actualize has a deeply integrated “Job Hacking” curriculum focused on the personal branding and networking skills necessary to land a new job, which Actualize feels is just as important as learning to code.

To apply, students can submit an application via the website, then go through a series of two interviews with an admissions advisor. There are no coding challenges, but students must complete 4 weeks of prework before the program starts.

After the program, students have the option to join its unique Career Support program, which contains additional training for Job Hacking, a job accountability group, and team projects to add to one’s portfolio.

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594 Actualize Reviews

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  • Daisy
    Daisy
    Student
    Verified by GitHub
    Sep 09, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Amazing Program

    My instructor, Katherine, was amazing. She is incredibly kind and helps with literally everything. The TAs, DJ and Matt were also the coolest. All the instructors were so willing to help and always made themselves available for anything that we needed. This program is truly student-focused. The instructors are perfect examples of that. 
    It was very challenging, of course, but the experience is very rewarding. I am confident that this is the best decision I've ever made. 
    I would de...
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  • Casey Behrendt
    Casey Behrendt
    Student • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    Sep 08, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Awesome Experience

    I chose Actualize after several weeks of researching coding bootcamps. After narrowing my search down to 4 schools, I settled on Actualize. Throughout the reviews, one theme remained the same about Actualize…Student Focus. Student after student kept commenting about the instructors genuinely cared about the growth and development of the students. And I can say I experienced that personally. My experience at Actualize was phenomenal. The program is not easy by any me...
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  • Joyce
    Joyce
    Operations Engineer • Student • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    Sep 08, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Student first, thorough, joy-filled

    Katherine Evans, my professor, was a literal angel. She led with confidence and had a very kind and funny demeanor. DJ and Matt, former graduates, were theee best TA's anyone could ask for. My class, the evening cohort, was full of unique, creative, determined individuals looking for a change. This was one of the best experiences of my life and I would recommend it to anyone. You can do this. 
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  • Kevin
    Kevin
    Verified by GitHub
    Jul 15, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Candid Foundation Building

    Out of the myriad bootcamps currently out there, many of which advertise themselves through implausible guarantees, Actualize stands out by being upfront about the reality of the market, and the bootcamp format itself; there are no guarantees, and it's impossible to curate any curriculum, within a 12-week constraint, that is a universal golden bullet for the job hunt ahead. 

    Instead, Actualize abandons the dogma and focuses and foundation building instead - to learn how to learn, ...
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  • Brad
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Verified by LinkedIn
    Jul 15, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Loved this bootcamp

    I just completed the 12-week full time daytime program. I had an excellent experience and I am so happy that I chose Actualize. The live online instruction is the way to go. I did not have any coding background so I was nervous that I would need a lot of personal attention and help to be able to keep up. The curriculum never seemed overwhelming and I felt like I had all the support that I needed. I had access to my instructor and two TAs every day. They created an environment where I was...
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  • Mason Capps
    Mason Capps
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    Jul 15, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Greatest Decision I've Made!

    Choosing to take the Actualize Web Development course was easily the best choice I've made. In 4 months I went from not even knowing basic operators to being able to fully develop a full stack web application. The instructor was by far the greatest teacher I've ever had, friendly, entertaining, and extremely helpful in every way possible. The teaching assistants were also extremely helpful and provided great insight to their own personal experiences. I would 100% recommend this course to...
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  • Brian
    Brian
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    Jul 15, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    This is a big decision. I hope this helps.

    I am writing as the oldest member of my cohort, and I'm pivoting away from a 20 year career in entertainment.
    The pandemic left my industry closed for 18 months, and I discovered an interest in programming. I was determined to become a programmer by myself, self-taught, and that should be enough to maybe get an entry-level job, so I joined Codecademy.
    For the next 8 months, I spent 6 days a week, 1.5 hours a day, not trying to just complete the courses, but to digest them and take ...
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  • Caitlyn
    Caitlyn
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    Jul 15, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Amazing program & instructors

    I absolutely loved my time at Actualize. All of the instructors are knowledgable and extremely willing to help. I chose to attend Actualize because it seemed to be a bootcamp that focused more on teaching you how to learn code rather than teaching you code. I feel like even though I've just started, I already know infinitely more than I did 12 weeks ago. I'm excited to continue learning and pursuing this career!  
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  • Evan
    Evan
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    May 20, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Here to Support Your Success

    Actualize is one bootcamp among many with ostensibly comparable curricula. The course currently focuses on Ruby on Rails for backend and Vue.js (Vue 3) for frontend development, though they're always making tweaks and updates to stay current. It's organized very rationally into three sections: pre-work, live instruction, and the job search. Live instruction is typically the 'meat' of what people are looking for in coding bootcamp, often giving less consideration to incoming skill level o...
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  • Brittney
    Brittney
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    May 20, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Software Development Student

    I chose Actualize because they emphasized long-term learning over teaching too many technologies in the short term. I'm leaving the bootcamp with strong foundational knowledge I can use to learn new technologies independently. I found that to be a lot more valuable than getting exposed to too many things and not understanding how to continue learning independently post-bootcamp. Our instructor also took the time to gauge how we were feeling about certain topics and would spend an extra d...
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  • Davis Peck
    Davis Peck
    Software Engineer • Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Verified by GitHub
    May 20, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Great Experience

    This Actualize Bootcamp is a great way to get your foot into the door for web developing jobs. I took the class with very little experience, and with the help of my teacher and career advisor, I am more confident than ever in this field and companies are noticing me more than ever. 
    Report
  • Brandon Lin
    Graduate • Web Development • Chicago
    Verified by LinkedIn
    May 20, 2022
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Post-graduation review

    For anyone on the fence - let this be the sign that you should do it. It is amazing how much you can accomplish in a few short months. 

    I thought about attending a bootcamp for a few years, and over that time considered a number of bootcamps that operate in Chicago. Going in, my criteria were:
    - Able to attend in person
    - Full time
    - Focus on a single stack of technologies due to the short duration of a bootcamp

    Quite a few bootcamps met these criteria. COVID restr...
    Report

Actualize Alumni Outcomes

Recent Actualize News

Jess Feldman
Jess Feldman
Updated November 05, 2024
As a response to the COVID pandemic in 2020, most in-person bootcamps quickly transitioned to online or remote classrooms. In 2024, hybrid classrooms and immersive online learning continue to be popular, but in-person bootcamp options are available again. If you’ve been waiting for an in-person classroom to start your career change, then here are the 30 in-person coding bootcamps with campuse...
Jess Feldman
Jess Feldman
Updated October 03, 2024
Oh Summer, one of the best seasons of the year! While it’s a time to relax, bask in the sun, and plan trips with family and friends, summer is also an awesome time to learn. If you’re a current student, teacher, or professional looking to learn to code, a summer bootcamp is a great opportunity to learn to code in a short time frame. Various coding bootcamps offer summer courses to help you la...
Liz Eggleston
Liz Eggleston
Updated September 30, 2024
The landscape of online coding bootcamps is vast – ranging from $30/month subscriptions to full-time bootcamps that cost around $20,000. And many online coding programs now offer Income Share Agreements (ISA), which adds another layer of complexity when comparing online coding bootcamp costs. In addition to flexibility, remote code bootcamps cost less than in-person bootcamps – the average on...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated November 30, 2018
This November has been super busy in the immersive coding education world, and at Course Report! We read about how Amazon’s new headquarters will impact the coding bootcamps in New York City, we celebrated successful coding bootcamp grads, we were sad to hear that a school is closing, we heard advice for being successful at bootcamp, and found out about new initiatives to improve diversit...
Lauren Stewart
Lauren Stewart
Updated October 21, 2020
Jay Wengrow founded part-time web development bootcamp and apprenticeship program Actualize in Chicago in 2014 to make learning to code efficient and accessible. Now the coding bootcamp has campuses in New York and San Francisco, and in June 2017 they are launching their new online part-time program to further reduce barriers to entry into tech. We asked Jay about the format of the new on...
Imogen Crispe
Imogen Crispe
Updated March 23, 2017
  How do you get a job after coding bootcamp if you have no relevant, real-world work experience? Only 1.4% of bootcampers have worked as developers in the past, but most career-changers have little – if any– client experience when they start looking for a developer job. Some bootcamps help students overcome this hurdle by offering opportunities to work for the bootcamp itself, or with rea...
Imogen Crispe
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Updated March 31, 2016
Luke was ready to make the transition from chemical engineer to software engineer, but wasn’t ready to quit his full-time job. He found part-time coding bootcamp Anyone Can Learn to Code in San Francisco, learned to code while working full-time, then got real-world experience in his apprenticeship with The Difference Engine- an opportunity that ACLTC guarantees all its grads. Luke tells us ...
Kassia Shishkoff
Kassia Shishkoff
Updated October 21, 2020
If you’re determined to learn to code, there are a lot of factors you should consider when deciding how to accomplish your goal. What sort of budget do you have for the tools you might need? How much free time do you have, or are you willing to make? Do you want to quit your job and learn full-time? Another factor to consider is your own style of learning. Kassia Shishkoff of Anyone Can L...
Liz Eggleston
Liz Eggleston
Updated February 03, 2016
Thinking about applying to Anyone Can Learn to Code? The part-time Chicago programming bootcamp just opened a new campus in San Francisco and is a great option for career-oriented bootcampers who can't quit their day jobs quite yet.  But not everyone is accepted into Anyone Can Learn to Code, so what can you do to ace the interview? We're covering the Anyone Can Learn to Code interview and ...
Nick Toscano
Nick Toscano
Updated April 30, 2019
Chicago is currently home to a growing lot of coding bootcamp and web immersion programs tasked with preparing students for a lucrative career in web development. Courses providers in Chicago have something for everyone with intensive programs in JavaScript, Ruby and Rails, Java and .NET.  There is a healthy selection of full-time courses as well as part-time bootcamps, workshops, and nig...
Harry Hantel
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Updated May 05, 2015
Welcome to the April News Roundup, your monthly news digest full of the most interesting articles and announcements in the bootcamp space. Want your bootcamp's news to be included in the next News Roundup? Submit announcements of new courses, scholarships, or open jobs at your school! 9 Bootcamp Headlines​ Coding bootcamps find homes at accredited universities. Could This Hybr...
Harry Hantel
Harry Hantel
Updated May 15, 2024
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Actualize Alumni Reviews Summary

Overall Experience
4.9
Instructors
5.0
Curriculum
4.9
Job Assistance
4.8
Write A Review
More Information
Guarantees Job
Job Assistance
Includes Housing
Offers Corporate Training
Accepts GI Bill
Licensing
No
FAQs

How much does Actualize cost?

Actualize costs around $16,900.

What courses does Actualize teach?

Actualize offers courses like Web Development.

Where does Actualize have campuses?

Actualize has in-person campuses in Chicago. Actualize also has a remote classroom so students can learn online.

Is Actualize worth it?

Actualize hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 594 Actualize alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Actualize on Course Report - you should start there!

Is Actualize legit?

We let alumni answer that question. 594 Actualize alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Actualize and rate their overall experience a 4.93 out of 5.

Does Actualize offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?

Right now, it doesn't look like Actualize offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.

Can I read Actualize reviews?

You can read 594 reviews of Actualize on Course Report! Actualize alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Actualize and rate their overall experience a 4.93 out of 5.

Is Actualize accredited?

No

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