If you are considering a career in Cosmetology, please do your research! I was taken in by a very convincing speech about why I should go the STL Academy (it has since changed it's name to Paul Mitchell The School-St. Louis, but has all of the same incompetent staff still employed.) I regret it more than anything in the world.
When I was first looking into schools in early I was immediately drawn into the glitz and glamour of going to a Paul Mitchell School. I love PM products, and thought if the school is half as good as the products, it's gonna be the best experience of my life. I was so wrong.
I was told on my tour that my $15,000 tuition would cover EVERYTHING I would need for the entire 1 year duration of the program. While it did include a mediocre kit and lackluster training dvds and books, I was still forced to buy additional training supplies on a weekly basis... Extra doll heads, scissor sharpening and razors, make-up for required make-up courses that would have to be used on several other students during classtime, combs, clips, papers, pens, dye... And a monster car park fee because there was absolutely NO free on-street parking. I had to pay on average an extra $20-50 a week on extra training materials, transportation, and clothes that would get easily worn working 35 hrs a week being splased with dye, etc.
My kit was pathetic, cheap, and virtually useless. The scissors are not good enough quality to be used in your career after school. The combs and brushes are flimsy and most are not heat resistant. The clippers' batteries only last for about ten minutes before needing a charge. On time after all of the students left for the day, the kits were raided by administrators to retrieve our capes. We were no allowed to take our kits home with us, yet admin could just raid out kits whenever they wanted? These kits, btw, cost $3,000! If we were allowed to assemble our own kits, we could have had better materials for half as much. It was just another way to gauge students for every penny they could.
The staff is dreadfully incompetent! I cannot believe how many stories I heard of our teachers being irresponsible! In the 6 short months I went to this school, guess how many staff members had either quit or been fired: 6! Six out of the less than dozen people that are employed by the school at a given time, were fired or quit in six months. Why is turnover so high here, yet some teachers are allowed to stay and continually slack off and get "chummy" with students?
Besides the teachers, be prepared to deal with a TON of student drama! The people that go here are straight up CATTY. Police have been called, fights have been started, numerous things had been stolen. One girl had her camera stolen by a girl in her own class. Even the nicest person is not immune to the name-calling and cliquey-ness. Prepare to enter high school, part 2. This school constantly promotes a book called BE NICE OR ELSE, a book that encourages students to supress negativity in their lives, not watch violent movies, and basically be fake to everybody they meet in order to get what they want, yet it's one of the meanest environments I've ever been in.
Speaking of high school, be prepared to spend a lot of time making posters with magic markers and magazine cut-outs.
I could go on, but if this isn't enough to change your mind, I don't know what will!
P.S. This school IS NOT ACCREDITED! That means no government loans or grants. The only fin. Aid available to students is a loan from Sallie Mae at a very high interest rate. This is a $15,000 program that is not accredited, when you could get thousands of dollars from the US government in grants and low-interest loans if you simply choose an accredited school!
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