I attended this school a few years ago. I just discovered this website and since my experience there still irritates me and I'm still paying for it I will throw in my two cents. Maybe things have changed there... I doubt it. But just be very careful and research what you sign up for. If I had it to do again I would start at state or community college. Don't be intimidated. I was surprised by students I met at IADT who had never looked at a good local state university or community college because they thought they would never be accepted. I knew these people enough to know they WOULD be accepted, but they doubted themselves.
I chose IADT because it was one mile from my house... Not the brightest thing in retrospect, should have done more research. But I never imagined a school could be opened unless it passed all kinds of criteria, so I just trusted them. I didn't know what questions to ask. I know better now.
First, the teachers I met there were great, I respected them all as professionals, and all but one as a teacher... That one was constantly and unapologetically very late for class, talked excessively about her personal life, one time for 3 hours straight, she made her own ethnicity an issue in conversation in a confrontational manner that was not welcome or relevant and even on exam questions where it was completely irrelevant. But my issue with her is small compared to the larger problem.
After 3 semesters I came to realize that nobody ever got a bad grade. I could bust my ass studying and memorizing, get to the test and be on a roll, and mid-test, if the teacher realized some people were having difficulties... Suddenly the test became open-book. On all final exams and projects I never met a person to get a grade below B-. Now I graduated from a 4 year public school years before. I know how hard it is to get all A's there. I know there are always a few students who get C's D's and F's. And I know my own limitations. Not at IADT. I do not fault the teachers for this. I am sure there was a policy. This is school-as-business and students are customers... Not students. Must keep the customer happy.
After the 3rd semester I felt very uncomfortable, felt I needed to transfer ASAP, because with this dumbing-down policy I knew that my portfolio would be a joke compared to students from a state university.in fact in conversations in the lobby I heard other concerned students who knew people who had graduated and could not get a job. Their portfolios were laughed at in interviews, they were spoken to with pity by prospective employers. So I and another student decided to transfer to state uni. We spoke to a very kind Dean of Admissions who said "I am so sorry. I get you people in here all the time" (meaning IADT students) "None of your credits transfer here." Well, where do they transfer? We asked. "Nowhere." He answered... With pity. This is absolutely NOT what I was told in orientation. It was my intention to continue on with a Masters Degree a few years after graduating, I asked about transferring credits, as they did not have a Masters program, and was lied to.
So basically that was $15,000 in the trash... A few years later I am still paying the student loan. Every payment I make is like being stabbed. I believe Sallie May and Dept. Of Education Have Got to be in on it too. Sounds paranoid, but really think of the millions they make off of students who can't even imagine what questions need to be asked before entering these schools, and when they do figure it out they know the Goliath they are up against and just pay up.
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