The Westwood Trap/Scam (From beginning to end)
How does Westwood College steal money from it's students, and how are they cable of doing it legally?
Before you begin reading this letter, consider the following quote? Truth can withstand the test of investigation? If you find any of this information disturbing in the least, I suggest you do your own research and test its integrity as thoroughly a humanly possible.
1. The first step to any scam is the abiding contract or obligations. The trick here is that it is? Your? Sole obligation to read it carefully or observe cautiously before signing. No matter what the case may be, you are responsible for anything you put your signature on.
2. Obviously no person with common sense would sign such air tight, right-forfeiting, and unbalanced contracts with a sound mind. So how exactly do they accomplish this? With any type of scam, magic trick, or legerdemain. The key to success lies in sway-of-the-hand, half-truths and misdirection. You tell the person what they want to hear, and get them excited or focused on something else. Once you accomplish this, manipulating someone is easy. Especially if you know them enough and discover their personal interests, goals, and earn their trust. Such things are even discussed in basic psychology 101.
3. No school can exist without proper authorization or accreditation. So the huge fee that you pay from the door at Westwood College pays for that authorization. As long as the school meets certain? American Association of Higher Education? Standards, they are allowed to run as a legitimate organization (not exactly a school in some cases), and request federal funding. However, the method they use to do this makes all the difference in the world.
4. The next step in any scam is to make sure that? You? The victim come out on the bottom, and? Them? The scam artist comes out on top. This way you have no power or authority over your normal? Constitutional? Or human rights. How do they do it? They have to make sure all of their angles are covered before the scam can be properly executed. They study all the angles and then see what laws they can bend, and how far they can bend them without breaking them.
5. The next step is to make sure that? Them? The scam artist gets their certain amount of guaranteed money, collateral, or reward no matter how wise the victim becomes or what matters happen to intervene. It's best that the victim becomes wise a little too late, that way the payoff is even higher for the scam artist. However, if that's not that case, at least they still make a profit. Believe it or not, this is totally legal if done properly.
So how exactly does Westwood College? Trick? Their students into a so call obligation trap?
1. It's important to gather all of the facts before coming to a decisive conclusion. Making the right phone calls, checking articles, checking records, speaking to representatives, reading paperwork, reading contracts and general question asking has lead me to very reliable source of information on how Westwood operates. Their scam begins as soon as you step on Westwood campus ground.
2. Let's be fair for a moment and pretend that Westwood College is a legitimate school that has the student's best interest in mind. There are a few questions you have to ask. Let's start with the ones that are only speculation first, and then move on to the others that hold more integrality-questioning ground.
3. Question: When you first request to enter the Westwood College program for Graphic Designs and Multimedia, why are you not required to show a portfolio like other normal art schools and institutions? Does this mean that any old John Doe off the street can apply and be accepted for Graphic Design classes, and not be qualified or artistically inclined at all?
4. Question: When you first apply and are accepted to Westwood College in your freshman year, assuming the? $100 total? Entry fee was not waived, why are you required to co-sign for a loan of $45,000 even if you don't plan to stay for the entire 2-4 year program? Should not the cost vary from student to student depending upon just equipment, time-in and class charges alone? If that is the case, why the additional charge of $12,000 for? Career training? When you have already paid for the supposed entry fees, equipment costs, books, and supplies? In addition, why are there interest fees for your loans, and extra fees for dropping classes when both Sallie Mae company and the school are not losing money for your withdraw in the least? Should not the $45,000 loan paid to Westwood College cover this charge? Furthermore, why the additional fees of $25 dollars per missed payment to Westwood (including the hidden interest fees), when Sallie Mae is the only person you truly owe money too at the end of the day, disregarding APEX all together?
5. Question: If Westwood College is an accredited school, as they claim to be (not college). Why is it necessary to attempt to buy accreditation (check Westwood Campus in Arlington) if the? National Accreditation? The school has is already widely recognized? Also, if the degree, diploma, or certification we earn at Westwood is so widely accepted or recognized, why is it so difficult (or damn near impossible) to transfer credits or use them for higher education institutes in the future (See Westwood handbook pg # 19)?
6. Question: If Westwood College is such a professional and organized institution, why are? You? The student so heavily responsible for all of the procedures with job search, scholarship search, account keeping, accreditation seeking, accredited transfer seeking, and account record keeping organization (including pink slips) if there is a Financial Aid office, Social Services department, APEX Loans department, and ACCSCT accreditation system of representatives? Are these people being paid to do anything more, and is it with your money? Try asking for help with transferring of anything with any of these departments, and see what answer you get. I doubt you'll like it in the least.
7. Question: Why is it so tasking for the AACRO or the CFHEA to find Westwood College on their official accredited schools database; also recognizing that they are represented by a private organization; why are the types of accreditation from Westwood and any other colleges different. On-top-of-that, if they credits are different, what impact does that have on college credit, degree legitimacy, and certification acceptance? Have they told you? Probably not.
8. Question: Why isn't Westwood College listed in any Official 2-4year College Blue Books; especially the? Peterson's Four-year Colleges 2007 Edition (Thomson * Peterson's)? When this company publishes most of our Westwood College text-books? In addition, why is it possible to transfer credits from practically any college in the U.S. To Westwood, but the odds are not the same when reversed?
9. Answer: When judging all of these disappointing factors, only the person being victimized can truly answer the true question; which factors are speculation and which are integrality-questionable?
So why how is it that I become a victim at the end of the day, regardless of me being a Westwood College graduate or drop-out?
1. No matter how you slice it, you wind up owing a legitimate company (Sallie Mae loans) money. No matter if it was done illegally or not. APEX has absolutely no power, and no affiliation with Westwood College at all. The are simply a front/decoy company who? Services? Westwood College financial agreements, billing, etc (it almost brings in to question why a financial aid department even exists). All of the money you apply for via Sallie Mae loan is paid directly to Westwood; so are your? FAFSA grants? And? Pale-grants? None of this money ever hits your pocket or Sallie Mae's.
2. Westwood College obligates you to agree in paying them in a timely manner, regardless of your disapproval of educational standard and curriculum, civil complaint, or lack there-of. The catch here most of all lies in the fact that transferring to another school is out of the question. No matter what your dilemma is and no matter how legitimate it might be, Westwood gets your money.
3. Considering the idea of legal action is simply out of the question (or so they may think). You are also obligated to sign a waiver of legal action against Westwood College concerning some financial liberties and complaints. Read your contracts and Westwood College paperwork and handbook for more specific information. I strenuously suggest that you do research on previous lawsuits against schools and institutes of education for your own benefit.
4. What can be done about this? Talk to your Westwood College staff members and see what information they provide you with. Observe how helpful they are in assisting you, and most important of all? DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! You will be surprised to find that you have more options and powers to execute legal action then you might thing.
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