The Best Chicago Coding Bootcamps Of 2023

I am super happy I chose Actualize my instructor Amanda was top-notch along with her TA's all very hands on and helpful. I chose Actualize because of their values to what is needed to succeed in Software Development with teaching you how to learn so that you can teach yourself any language or concept in the future. They keep their Cohorts small so they can give you the attention you want from the instructor and TA's. I highly recommend choosing Actualize I started out with knowing basically nothing and can now build a full-stack web app!

I had a great experience with Evolve. They provide a great learning environment for both total beginners in the tech space and people with experience. It prepares you for you career with plenty of career coaching and one-on-one time with the instructors. There is a focus on getting hands-on experience with many of the tools you will use throughout a cybersecurity career.

My initial reasoning for choosing Code Platoon was because they were approved for DoD Skillbridge, and I'm 100% glad I went with them. Not only did I learn a very robust set of skills from an experienced team of instructors, they also allowed me the flexibility to handle my personal life while still being active in the course. It's clear that the primary focus of the organization is to help people LEARN new skills, and they didn't leave a single student on the sidelines to struggle on their own. Friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and the support structure with their partnerships and guest speakers is above and beyond what I anticipated. 10/10 recommend for anyone trying to start in the Tech Industry. 

The data analytics program is blessed with great TAs and a fantastic professor who does his best to make the class entertaining despite the material being challenging. With the support from the teaching staff a student will succeed if they put in the effort to learn and keep up with the coursework. After being in a beginner analytics role and finding this program through Google's algorithms, I cannot overstate how happy I am to have started on this journey and how useful the knowledge has been.

My experience at Techtorial has was great! I started in May of last year and ended somewhere in October. I got my job offer about 4 or 5 days after I finished the course thanks to Techtorial. The instructors and mentors are patient and explain the curriculum very well. I definitely recommend everyone to join one of their courses.  

I recently finished up the Coding Temple Part-Time online 12-week Bootcamp and had an absolutely fantastic experience with it.  Right off the bat, major credit has to go to my instructor, Christian, for his stellar job of communicating clearly and plainly for a coding newbie like myself.  From day one there was a very fun tone set for our class that took most of the traditional dry/boring-ness of traditional education completely out of the equation.  Don't let that fool you however, it was a very intense 12 weeks and requires a great deal of dedication, time, discipline, and research on your own time to truly get the most out of this course.  It's very much a "you get out what you put in" scenario so if you're taking the plunge I highly suggest going in 100% and not half-assing it.  

The structure of the course is well thought out and makes logical sense as you built a strong foundation of coding knowledge early on in the classroom and through daily challenges, homework, and projects.  If there were ever any students that weren't sure of how something worked or if there was ever any confusion on a topic, Christian was to-notch at figuring out a different approach to explaining it to us to make sure that we all stayed together on the learning journey and that no one was left behind.

Overall I will say it was the right choice for me to go with Coding Temple for several personal reasons.  Scheduling, timeline, availability of instructors/tutors, budget, and reputation were all very important in my decision to choose this bootcamp over the numerous other ones I looked into.  Enough about that though... if you're serious about trying to switch careers into software development you should go ahead and apply now!  console.log('Thanks for reading my review!  Best of luck out there!')

I am very glad that I made a decision to join DevX, it was probably one of the best things, where I could invest my time and the money! What I loved about the school the most is that everything was very organized, the instructors were very professional, and most important - they were patient, never regretted the time to stay an extra 30-40 minutes after class to explain additional questions, etc., and the material that was given to us was up to date. Also, there is a family atmosphere, which definitely helps to ease the stress!

16 weeks may seem like a daunting time commitment, but the course is so worth it! The way the Data Science Dojo crew runs their bootcamp program is very thorough. The lessons and homework flow very intuitively. The modules covered build on concepts in a way that really helps with understanding. The instructors really promote class interaction which is good for tackling these topics in such a short time, getting our engagement rather than simply lecturing at us. They also encourage participation in a class Kaggle competition, which helps with additional free-form practical application of the concepts covered in class (plus some friendly competition for motivation). Most importantly, the instructors are very interactive, hands on, and passionate. They want to see every cohort succeed in their learning and you can see the labor of love that goes into teaching us, providing quality content both in the sessions and via the course site. This really sets them apart from other bootcamps, especially those provided online.

The course covers all the hot topics in the Data Science field, grounding in the perspective that the bootcamp is looking to prepare students with a broad range of experiences. I appreciate the context they provide and the thought that went into exposing us to a little bit of everything and the skills to jump in. 

Tech Elevator gave me the instruction and career support needed to make a switch into the tech field. I'm not sure what else to say, I was skeptical at first about it since it is a large life choice, but I met many friends, mentors, and connections that I will always cherish--from my new position! 

This is a long review, but I know how intense this process can be for those of you looking at attending a bootcamp. It has now been about a year since I decided to attend a bootcamp to change careers. I looked everywhere online when I settled on going to a bootcamp; I read every review, I watched every video on Youtube, I even messaged alumni of different bootcamps on LinkedIn, and eventually, I found my way to Codesmith. For the last 3 months since the program, I’ve considered myself lucky everyday I made the choice I did.
 
 Codesmith is without question, the best educational environment I’ve had the privilege to learn in. I’ve been lucky enough to go to good schools in the past, but I’m really proud, frankly, to say that this online bootcamp has really left them in the dust in key ways. I’ll make a note here that I was hired as a fellow by the program after my time in the immersive program, so if you need a grain of salt to start, there could be one. 
 
 - Admissions: It is worth making a comment right away that getting into Codesmith is not easy, but it is NOT an unjust process like I experienced in other programs. I speak from experience as someone who applied elsewhere, tried to go through admission processes at other places (everyone should have options), and eventually conducted the literal technical interviews for Codesmith myself, the admissions process is doing its job well. I won’t get too lost in the details, but I will say that if you can pass the Codesmith technical interview, you have what it takes to become a software engineer. They test on every quality and detail that I was tested on in a real technical interview for the job I have now. That all said, don’t rush into this process. It is possible, having seen both sides of admissions, to brute force your way through, with time. Do NOT throw $20k into something before you are ready. If you understand, for example, how to add methods to a prototype so they can be inherited by other objects, you could be ready. If you have no idea what I mean by that, do not stress even a little bit; just take your time to learn is my point (:
 
 - Curriculum: The curriculum is fantastic. You will touch all the technologies you need to get a full-stack developer position: Javascript (you’ll be a pro), React, Node.js, Git/Github, etc. However, what you come to appreciate and feel confident in by the end of the program is that you could see any tech, any framework, even any new language, and given realistic timelines / expectations by your team “in the wild” could learn what is needed to solve a problem in whatever tech stack. This is really because — Codesmith doesn’t create cookie-cutter engineers; Codesmith creates first-class problem solvers who communicate empathetically and technically like senior engineers. If you want to understand why outcomes seem so high for this program compared to others, the answer begins with these 2 qualities above all the rest.
 
 - Portfolio: Not a ton to say here, although a ton could be said. It is worth noting that you will have a better time job hunting when you have real open-source products on the resumé. And Codesmith focuses on making you build real, open-source projects before you leave. You don’t want to pay for a program that is tutorial style really, because why not just spend $2k (at most) in Udemy courses and be done with it? Codesmith makes you build in small teams of engineers (like in the real world), on projects that are technically impressive and that are REALLY challenging. You’ll hear “hard learning” thrown around a lot in and out of the program, and there is no form of better learning than solving a bug you’ve been stuck on for 6 hours with a team; this makes a good portfolio for sure.

- Hiring Support: I have so much love for the hiring support team answering every ridiculous, anxious question I ever hit them with, day or night. Codesmith really points you in a direction at the end of the program and teaches you how to carry yourself in interviews in the tech industry. Tech interviews and getting hired generally as a software engineer is honestly very formulaic. It’s almost entirely behavioral / very ceremonial, which was somewhat surprising to me. Codesmith guides you through all of these processes and really do their best to ensure you have support networks (during and after the program) to guide you through the idiosyncrasies of the tech industry. I would NOT have gotten a job as smoothly as I did if it wasn’t for their mentorship.

- Management/Team: This part could be a never-ending rant. I think what you will find, even will find just by attending the free workshops, is that Codesmith is a community of really passionate people that are putting in the work for the right reasons. I truly believe Codesmith only works because the instructors and the management of the organization are people who are passionate about seeing people change their lives. Will Sentance is the founder and owner, and not only will he give your cohort a lecture at the end, but you will get several chances to hear from him throughout the program; could not be any more apparent this person cares about fostering a space for people to change their lives. Eric Kirsten is a senior board advisor that will lead you through the hiring program. Eric is another huge element of the “secret sauce” of success at Codesmith. Takes a certain level of tailored mentorship to get an engineer to negotiate $15k in base salary after only 8-12 months of studying the industry, and Eric will take a hands-on approach to make sure you get that. Phillip Troutman, he’s the chief academic officer, is another key player you’ll hear from often. Let me tell you, part of the secret of Codesmith is convincing students every day they can do everything and anything so that they actually go out and attempt insane feats of engineering; Phillip is the key to that happening. Every program has different instructors, but in the central remote program — Katrina Villanueva and Jared Lewis are *the* reason students understand the core curriculum so well. Their compassion and attention towards student success is without question what makes the CTRI immersive so effective. For the sake of not making this piece of the review endless, I’ll stop here, but yes, there are that many incredible people in this organization.

 - School / Life Balance: There is very little balance. This is my very real, very difficult con for the program that I would not hide from anyone. You will eat, sleep, and breathe Codesmith, which at times will be a lot to handle. This program is hard. You will watch your cohort go lows and highs of imposter syndrome almost daily. It can even feel a bit cult-like, I suppose, at times. But what can I say — you get a room of intelligent people together every day who want to change careers in a (seemingly) impossible time frame into a field that is really challenging and competitive. It isn't crazy to assume that process will be hard, but if you put the work in you’ll be so glad you did it one day. It took me about 10-11 months, from start to finish, from the day I decided to attend Codesmith, to the day I got a job offer.
 
 There are other great programs out there for sure, but if I was to do this all over again, I’d be right back at Codesmith.

Product school was a great resource in helping me with my industry transfer into product management. My instructor, Toby Martin Hughes, was very informative and is definitely a very talented product management instructor. I am pleased to have attended this class, and look forward towards my career as a PM.

My experience at the Grace Hopper Program changed my life in a myriad of ways. Their curriculum is extremely thorough and as they say, "they will not let you fail." I think though, that besides teaching me their specific stack, GHP really taught me how to think like a programmer. Since graduating I've been able to teach myself so many new languages and technologies because of this experience. I chose the program because I'm a nonbinary student and wanted to go somewhere where my identity would be respected, and I absolutely felt that throughout my experience. My cohortmates, fellows, and instructors were so supportive and still are even now after I've graduated. The pair programming enabled me to learn to speak technically and work with others in this new environment, and the workshops are still useful for me to go through even now that I'm an employed software engineer. I cannot recommend the Grace Hopper Program enough for any woman or nonbinary person looking to get into the technical field.

I highly recommend First Step Coding's  "Bootcamp Prep Course " as an introduction to the curriculum, and format you'll experience in a Bootcamp.
Andy and Shlomy were great instructors.  They have both technical expertise and teaching skills. The  final “interview” with Kurt at the end of the class put me on the data science path. The material from this course gave me a good foundation to start prepping for a bootcamp.
I just graduated from Metis' Data Science Bootcamp, and it all started with the Bootcamp Prep Course.

I went to college for CS and graduated in 2020. I was applying to every single entry level developer job out there but got very few call backs for an interview. Without having industry level experience, I could not get an entry level developer job. I ended up working at a help desk and hated it. I went to college for programing, and that is what my passion was in. When I got a call from a recruiter about the JUMP program and how they will teach me exactly what companies what and have the connections to get me in front of an interview I leapt at the opportunity!! JUMP turned out better than I imagined! The instructors were amazing, they taught us from scratch how to code, build full stack apps hosted on the cloud, and practice interviews. I was finally able to get in front of interviews and knew exactly how to get the job!!

Cybertek has equiped me with skills that could have taken me a very long time to acquire, its fast paced but with persistence and had work someone who is interested can hack it.