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Actualize

Average Rating4.93
599 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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599 Actualize Reviews

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  • Aiden Isaia
    Aiden Isaia
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Aug 26, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Fantastic Course

    Everything was great, and I thoroughly enjoyed my cohort. The staff and instructors are very helpful and kind. You 100% will be taught how to fully develop an app and feel comfortable making one. You also learn how to learn more which is very helpful. Job assistance is great, they spend a good amount of time helping you with your resume and your job search. I feel confident in my ability with a software career and believe everyone will be too with this course.
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  • Carlos
    Carlos
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Aug 26, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Great bootcamp choice

    Actualize was a phenomenal choice and experience for coding bootcamp. The course was part time in the evenings so I was able to keep my full time job.
    What's great about Actualize is they teach how to learn and problem solve on your own which are important.
    The instructor Brian is a great educator and always stayed after class to answer questions, or answered some questions during the day. All classes are taught live by the instructor and there's always a TA to help.
    Actualize a...
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  • Adrian
    Adrian
    Student • Web Development • Chicago
    Aug 26, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Big learning experience

    i attended the 12 week online boot camp course from Actualize. This course was a tremendous help on getting my feet wet with the software development career. Teaching you the vitals of backend development and frontend. learning ruby on rails backend APi's was a learning curve but wasn't impossible. I enjoyed learning the fundamentals of creating frontend pages with Vue.js and various other frameworks and resources given to us. we moved at a quick but steady pace on learning what we did i...
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  • Mike M
    Mike M
    Student • Web Development • Chicago
    Aug 26, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Great Curriculum and Resources

    Actualize does an excellent job at teaching the fundamentals of web development. The instructors are knowledgable on the subjects taught, and plenty of optional/supplemental exercises were available. Career counseling was also a nice bonus and was well done.
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  • Shinan
    Shinan
    Web Development • Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Full-stack developer

    Just finished my coding bootcamp course. I came into this coursework with absolutely zero knowledge about coding and I feel like through this I've gained a very solid foundation of a full-stack application. The instructors are all super engaging and my daytime instructor (Dani) was extremely supportive and enthusiastic about the curriculum so it was easy to learn. I highly recommend this bootcamp! 
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  • Ben M
    Ben M
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    An amazing Experience!

    I loved the small class size, teachers who were all extremely available and willing to help, the program that was designed to teach you how to learn efficiently, and the fun projects to work on.

    It is a lot of work, but an incredibly valuable experience

    11/10 . . . would recommend to anyone looking to learn web development
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  • Will P.
    Will P.
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Excellent Curriculum, Structure, and Length of Course

    I found Actualize based on the Course Report reviews. The experience certainly met, if not exceeded, the expectations that I had upon entering. The curriculum gives you a good basis in languages that are applicable in the corporate world, but the most important aspect is on how you learn what you are learning. This focus gives you a good way to expand you base of knowledge outside of your class experience because of the emphasis on linear thinking and problem decomposit...
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  • Katie Tensfeldt
    Katie Tensfeldt
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Best Decision I Ever Made!

    This bootcamp was the best decision I ever made. After losing my job in March 2020, I tried teaching myself to code, but couldn't get past a certain point. I ended up doing serious research on different bootcamps, and ended up finding Actualize. 

    What drew me to Actualize was the fact that they had been doing remote instruction before the pandemic, so I knew there wouldn't be a lot of roadblocks during the learning process, since their curriculum was designed for that format. Also...
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  • Sophie
    Sophie
    Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Barista turned Full Stack Dev...

    A little background about me before getting into this review.... 
    I struggled with school settings all my life, I completed high school went on to study Fine Arts in College but dropped out after a year. I worked in coffee/restaurants for 10 years and have no tech background whatsoever. 
    I swear, I never thought I would be able to complete, enjoy, and retain so much in a course like this. 
    The instructors treat you like you are people. Like a person with a real life, real feelin...
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  • Rob George
    Rob George
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Wonderful Experience

    I chose Actualize based on it's glowing reviews. Those reviews were not entirely accurate. My experience with Actualize surpassed the reviews i read. 

    The smaller class size and live instruction worked so well. You can tell everyone on the Actualize team really cares about their students and the mission of teaching programming. Dani was easily in the top two or three instructors I've had in my educational career. I have learned so much in such a short time and feel well prepared f...
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  • Jamie
    Jamie
    Graduate • Web Development • Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    They Care

    Just wonderful all around. My teacher, Dani, was fantastic. They want you to succeed both in class and beyond -- you can tell. 
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  • David Simms
    David Simms
    Student • Web Development • Online
    Jul 16, 2021
    Overall Experience
    Instructors
    Curriculum
    Job Assistance

    Best Decision Ever

    Got drunk with my brother one night, and decided this bootcamp looked wonderful. Rolled the dice and we both enrolled.

    Easily one of the best decisions either of us have made.

    There were times that you would get imposter syndrome.
    There were times you would second guess if this was the right call.
    You quickly discovered you weren't alone, and your fellow classmates became a second family within a few weeks. The support system was wonderful, the grind was worth it, and...
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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
Harry Hantel
Updated May 05, 2015
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Harry Hantel
Harry Hantel
Updated May 15, 2024
While quitting your job and diving headfirst into your coding education can yield impressive results, we also understand that not everybody can commit to a full-time, 12-week programming bootcamp. Jobs, school, families - life, in general, can prevent that kind of commitment. For all the students who can’t give 40 hours a week to a code school, we’re outlining some part-time web development b...
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Actualize Alumni Reviews Summary

Overall Experience
4.9
Instructors
5.0
Curriculum
4.9
Job Assistance
4.8
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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. 599 Actualize alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Actualize on Course Report - you should start there!

Is Actualize legit?

We let alumni answer that question. 599 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 599 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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