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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.
ACLTC is fun and you learn the basics of Ruby, Rails, and JS but it does not prepare you for an entry-level software engineering position. The major appeal of the program is that it's part-time and allows you to keep your day job, but the downside is that they can only squeeze in 22 hours of instruction per week—not enough for coding novices to develop job-ready skills that will land an entry-level full-stack engineering job.A part-time program like this only has the time to teac...
ACLTC is fun and you learn the basics of Ruby, Rails, and JS but it does not prepare you for an entry-level software engineering position. The major appeal of the program is that it's part-time and allows you to keep your day job, but the downside is that they can only squeeze in 22 hours of instruction per week—not enough for coding novices to develop job-ready skills that will land an entry-level full-stack engineering job.A part-time program like this only has the time to teach the basics—programming loops, CRUD operations, how to use gems, etc.—but all of the entry-level jobs I have interviewed for included technical tests that were much, much more difficult than the ACLTC's curriculum. These tests expect candidates to have a much deeper understanding of JavaScript and even SQL, two topics that are not really covered in-depth at ACLTC because there just isn't enough time.
It's important to consider that although there are many software engineering positions that need to be filled in the U.S, the vast majority of these jobs are for Mid to Senior level engineers. Entry-level positions are truly rare by comparison and as an ACLTC graduate you are competing for these precious positions against full-time coding bootcamp graduates who have spent 60-80 hours per week studying and job-seekers with computer science degrees.
The ACLTC is run by good people and talented teachers/developers but in the end the program only provides a basic foundation for becoming a full-stack engineer. Students who did not have any background in programming prior to the course will need months of additional study after the program concludes before they are ready to pass most technical screenings.
Another disappointment was the lack of job support. Only the last day of class is dedicated to finding a job and after graduation they send you a few links to job boards and leads but that's it. ACLTC is a small organization and their efforts outside of class are directed more towards expanding into new cities (growing the business) than with helping students find jobs.
Would I attend the course today, knowing what I know now? Hard to say because I did enjoy it, but I lean towards "no" because I was expecting to be able to land a full-time entry-level position and I don't think the program prepares you for that because of its brevity. If getting a job isn't that important to you, you just like to learn new skills, and you have a few grand to spare then I think you'll probably be happy with the program.
Best decision I ever made! Well worth the money and the effort. I was able to land a job within a month of graduating.
This was awesome! I held my full time job and attended classes on nights and weekends. Jay is a fantastic teacher and know his material very well. He did not just teach us how to code, but taught us the ins-and-outs of everything in the profession. I feel very prepared to get a job. Great atmosphere too!
I attended ACLTC in hopes to make a career pivot and become a Junior Developer. The course was well structured, covered a TON of different stuff with just enough depth to be dangerous, and the teaching staff is clearly passionate about the success of their students.
By the end of the course you have tons of new skills and tools under your belt, and you spend the last few weeks of class building a capstone project to show off your new knowledge. There's a showcase for th...
I attended ACLTC in hopes to make a career pivot and become a Junior Developer. The course was well structured, covered a TON of different stuff with just enough depth to be dangerous, and the teaching staff is clearly passionate about the success of their students.
By the end of the course you have tons of new skills and tools under your belt, and you spend the last few weeks of class building a capstone project to show off your new knowledge. There's a showcase for the final projects to show them off to potential employers, which was an extremely effective way to get introduced to local companies for potential jobs and internships. The team at ACLTC works diligently to get everyone in the program into a postiiton they're happy with. I actually moved away from Chicago after attending the bootcamp and landed a Junior Developer position on my own based on my capstone project and a test exercise that I was well prepared for solely because of the quality of instruction I receieved at ACLTC.
After attending the course, you are competent for entry level developer positions, but expect to continue to learn for your entire career as a developer - it's the nature of the business!
Deciding to attend ACLTC was the best career decision I have made.
Attending this boot camp has been one of the best decisions I've made in my entire life. Here are the main reasons why this boot camp was perfect for me:
-I didn't have to quit my day job while attending this boot camp, so financially it made the most sense compared to other boot camps
-The classes taught the concepts very clearly so I was able to learn and code very quickly (I had about two months of experience coding prior to this boot camp and I learned so much so ...
Attending this boot camp has been one of the best decisions I've made in my entire life. Here are the main reasons why this boot camp was perfect for me:
-I didn't have to quit my day job while attending this boot camp, so financially it made the most sense compared to other boot camps
-The classes taught the concepts very clearly so I was able to learn and code very quickly (I had about two months of experience coding prior to this boot camp and I learned so much so fast)
-The classes are taught at a good pace and class time is split up nicely. First, you learn a new concept. Then, you apply it and practice. Also, there are knowledgeable TA's that can help you in and out of class. With smaller class sizes, this was extremely valuable. I was able to meet with my teacher and the TA's a lot and it helped so much!
-The classes are also taught with a pragmatic approach, and you learn that everything has trade-offs. I really appreciated this.
-You get seminars on interviews, landing jobs, writing resume's and cover letters, and other useful things that helped me land a job
-I got to work on a capstone project that I was passionate about, which added to my portfolio to display to potential employers
-The boot camp continues to grow its connections with companies in the area. This means during the showcase at the end of the class where you present your capstone, more and more employers will be there to see what you've built, giving you a good chance at landing an interview and a job. This is how I landed my first interview and got a job offer within two weeks of ending the course!
To summarize the pro's, the boot camp was great because it made the most financial sense, the class sizes/support/curriculum was great, I was given an incredible opportunity to show my project to many employers, and ultimately it helped me land a job!
The cons:
-Evening classes can be tough. Working a full day to learn entirely new subject matter can be difficult.
-There is greater competition to get in, so it will probably get harder to get accepted
-The reputation of boot camps are mixed. To some degree, boot camp graduates may have a chip on their shoulder compared to their CS degree counterparts. This can be overcome by showing solid code and KEEP LEARNING!
-The curriculum leans more towards the back-end than the front-end. Back-end developers are highly sought after, however as someone who enjoys the front end more, I wish the class spent more time on the front end. Still, I was able to land a job with a focus on front-end development.
I finished up the Summer 2014 cohort and it was awesome. I finally built the soccer app I've been wanting to build and feel so empowered. I had a job interview lined up right after the camp as a result of the showcase and I'm starting an internship now! This comes highly recommended!
Attending ACLTC has been one of the best decisions of my career. The instruction from Jay and the TA's have made learning web development much easier. The most applicable skills were focused on our capstone with web technologies such as HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, Ruby on Rails, javascript, AngularJS, ruby gems, and much more. The sweet bonus for me was with the great networking during ACLTC showcase where I landed my first web dev job the next following day. I highly recommend this boo...
Attending ACLTC has been one of the best decisions of my career. The instruction from Jay and the TA's have made learning web development much easier. The most applicable skills were focused on our capstone with web technologies such as HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, Ruby on Rails, javascript, AngularJS, ruby gems, and much more. The sweet bonus for me was with the great networking during ACLTC showcase where I landed my first web dev job the next following day. I highly recommend this bootcamp for anyone who has the will and desire to be a web dev, even on a part time basis.
The ACLTC boot camp is a very valuable and worthwhile opportunity to gain the confidence needed to become a full stack web developer. The instructor and assistants are patient, thorough and supportive during the entire process. I've also made a network of friends that I hope to stay in contact with for many years. This boot camp is just what one needs to boost their confidence and really go for it!
I signed up for ACLTC to completely change careers and hopefully become a web developer. ACLTC has a challenging but fun curriculum that taught me HTML, CSS, JS, Ruby, Rails and so much more. Jay the lead instructor was extremely knowledgeable about the material and so were all of the TA’s. Aside from the instruction, ACLTC also provides great job search support from helping with your resume to putting you in contact with potential employers. Because of the gr...
I signed up for ACLTC to completely change careers and hopefully become a web developer. ACLTC has a challenging but fun curriculum that taught me HTML, CSS, JS, Ruby, Rails and so much more. Jay the lead instructor was extremely knowledgeable about the material and so were all of the TA’s. Aside from the instruction, ACLTC also provides great job search support from helping with your resume to putting you in contact with potential employers. Because of the great instruction and support I was able to land a web developer position and couldn’t be happier with it. ACLTC ended up being a perfect fit for me and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to start a career in web development.
This was one of the the best decisions of my life. I was very nervous about it going in, but once I met our instructor (Peter) I felt a lot better about it. Some people came in to the bootcamp with more experience than others, and he really made an effort to leave no man behind, as well as provide some extra challenges for people who were more advanced.
ACLTC advertised that you don't need to do anything outside of class, which I think is not exactly true. Some people had full t...
This was one of the the best decisions of my life. I was very nervous about it going in, but once I met our instructor (Peter) I felt a lot better about it. Some people came in to the bootcamp with more experience than others, and he really made an effort to leave no man behind, as well as provide some extra challenges for people who were more advanced.
ACLTC advertised that you don't need to do anything outside of class, which I think is not exactly true. Some people had full time jobs while others didn't, but it quickly became obvious who was putting in work outside of class. I personally needed to study a fair amout on my own to keep up, and I think most of my classmates did as well. It moves rather quickly, and a LOT is covered.
They also have excelent support for helping you with your job search, as well as helping with your resume and interview prep. After graduating I applied myself 100% to job hunting, and was able to land a job as a software developer after 2 months. I start my job next week, and I couldn't be more happy with the entire experience!
Attending Anyone Can Learn to Code has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. The staff has developed an excellent curriculum that makes learning to develop using an MVC framework a fun and rewarding experience. The coursework is intensive and challenging but never overwhelming. When making a decision on which bootcamp to choose, ACLTC has a lot going for it:
- An excellent staff that really and truly cares about your development and growth
- The abili...
Attending Anyone Can Learn to Code has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. The staff has developed an excellent curriculum that makes learning to develop using an MVC framework a fun and rewarding experience. The coursework is intensive and challenging but never overwhelming. When making a decision on which bootcamp to choose, ACLTC has a lot going for it:
- An excellent staff that really and truly cares about your development and growth
- The ability to keep your full time job while you learn
- Job search support and guidance. They even have a full time employee dedicated to helping students get jobs after graduation
- A fun and challenging curriculum that will teach you how to build a functioning, responsive web application
As a result of ACLTC, I have now begun a new and exciting career in web development. If you are looking to make a career change into the world of development, you can do no better than Anyone Can Learn to Code. Highly recommended.
Finding a good developer to help you is easy. Finding a good developer who is also a good teacher is much, much harder. Jay (the lead instructor) takes teaching seriously, and that's where his passion lies. I think most coding schools, especially bootcamps have a sink or swim attitude, where learning is your responsibility, and they're only there to push you along.
But Jay really cares. He wants you to learn, and will put in the time to make sure not only that everyone is on...
Finding a good developer to help you is easy. Finding a good developer who is also a good teacher is much, much harder. Jay (the lead instructor) takes teaching seriously, and that's where his passion lies. I think most coding schools, especially bootcamps have a sink or swim attitude, where learning is your responsibility, and they're only there to push you along.
But Jay really cares. He wants you to learn, and will put in the time to make sure not only that everyone is on board, but that you're comfortable with what you're trying to learn.
I couldn't ask for a better instructor or program.
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. 577 Actualize alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Actualize on Course Report - you should start there!
Is Actualize legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 577 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 577 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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