Modeling schools as a whole are a ripoff. It is NOT necessary to attend one in order to become a working model. All one needs to do is have some headshots taken with a reputable photographer and start sending them to agencies.
I used to work for the Texas agency that licenses proprietary schools, including modeling schools. They operate legally, but their tactics are shady.
These schools hold "open calls" for models in cities around the country, usually at a ritzy hotel or shopping mall. Stage moms take their starry-eyed daughters to these calls and are delighted to learn that, yes, Princess can be a model! All she needs is some polish. Enroll her in our school and we'll get her started.
The students they enroll should be a warning for the customers. Look around at your classmates: you'll see girls who are beautiful but only five feet tall (waaayyyy too short for modeling) or have obvious physical flaws, such as scars, acne, crooked teeth, even crossed eyes. So why do the schools enroll them? THey have to. Otherwise it's discrimination.
Once enrolled, there will be other expenses: headshots, a professional modeling bag, and probably a trip to the International Modeling and Talent Convention, which can run into hundreds of dollars.
John Casablancas draws students in by promising that each and every graduate will be reviewed for a contract upon graduation. John Casablancas (the actual man) is the owner of the Elite Modeling Agency in New York.
In response to a student complaint, the Texas Education Agency - Proprietary Schools Division (now a part of the Texas Workforce Commission) conducted an investigation and found that of 33,000 graduates in 1995, only 55 students nationwide actually got a contract with Elite.
Don't waste your money. Get some headshots taken and send them to an agent. Going to a school is a waste of time and the odds are (and I'm sorry) that you do NOT have the right physique to be a working model.
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