The Art Institute makes a lot of claims as to the quality ofthe education that you will receive, the invaluable job placement, and thequality of its facilities. The very factthat this school is listed as a for profit college should have been a red flagfor me from the beginning. Let me juststart off by saying that I am a teacher. Im not just a disgruntled unwed mother or a sniveling pot head who feelsthat the world should be handed to him on a silver platter. I have been working in the industry that Iintended to major in for eleven years. My goal was to obtain a degree to so that I could get paid more andlearn from the instructors vast years of experience. I expected to keep a low profile, keep myhead down and learn everything that I could in the three years that I would beattending. Unfortunately, the Art Institutehas probably just done more harm to my career than if I had just stayed awayfrom it.
I do have to say that almost all of my instructors were, indeed, very good technicians and teachers. This is the one claim that AI delivered on. As someone who has a background in the field, I cannot say that my instructors were to blame for my frustrations. On the other hand, I believe that the instructorsability to teach is hindered by the corporation that they work for. You see, all of the Art Institutes operate under the same curriculum that hasbeen packaged by somebody at corporate with the help of some over paidconsultants, and the teachers really do not have the opportunity to teach totheir fullest because of this. A collegeshould be a place where knowledge is shared, enhanced, and nurtured. This particular college, in my opinion, isnot a college at all. It is an assemblyline of mediocre graduates who realize all too late that the industry either isnot for them, or get out into the workforce to discover that the skills theyacquired will not help them as much as their AI admissions rep claimed.
The very fact that AI calls these people Admissions repsconfounds me. Why would you need anadmissions rep for a school that accepts 99% of its applicants? No, these are a breed of salesman with morecunning and less scruples than a used car salesman. When I signed up for the Art Institute, I dida little research, I talked to some friends that attended, and I didnt reallycare about the cost because my employer was footing the bill. I told my admissionsrep that I knew the program that I wanted to apply for and I was ready tosubmit all the necessary paperwork. Thisis where I received my second red flag. She launched into this obviously rehearsed and almost mechanicalsounding tagline for the school. Shedrug me around the campus on a tour and fed me information that I, as a teacherand someone who works in my field, knew had to be either willful falsificationsor complete ignorance of reality. Shewas very nice though JI gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured that she didnt really get outof the office much, or she was probably new.
A school should foster learning and provide students witheducational opportunities, clean facilities, and access to the informationcontained within its walls. That is whyI no longer consider this a school. Unlike many of the other similar trade schools, AI offers little or noopportunity to extend learning or get involved in educational activates. That is, unless you are a female who showssome interest in the male instructors. Iknow that this is a strong accusation, and I wouldnt be making it if I hadntseen it happen on a number of occasions me. The school claims to have state of the art labs and resources to assistin the learning process. As I am typingthis report in the school library, I am being swarmed by ants. The labs do not contain enough equipment, andI have seen, on a number of occasions, teachers giving away school property tostudents that they have good relationships with. Im not usually one to tell someone how to dotheir job, but when we dont even have the necessary supplies for each studentto participate in a lab assignment, why would you give that scarce commodityaway so that I student can take it home and not have to pay for it?
A great education and the latest technology await you at theArt Institute. If you never stepped outsidethe walls of this institution, you would probably believe this horse squeeze. Naturally, the majority of the students that go here have not had theopportunity to see what goes on in the industry, and it is unfortunate thatthis corporate giant is exploiting and misleading them. I dont have to worry about paying for my education, but the people who do have to pay close to $100,000 for a bachelors degree aregoing to be varying upset if they decide to further their education or decideto change careers. Some of them will beeven more upset when they are told by some employers that their AI degree isnot worth the paper that it is printed on.in the majority of cases, the courses that you attend at AI will nottransfer to any other college.in fact, you will have a hard time transferring to another AI campus if you have to movefor any reason. If you want to go for aMasters degreeforget about it. Unlessyou want to go to another diploma mill, but it is my professional opinion thatyou will be compounding your problems if you do that.
I just want to end this by saying that I am not completelydisgruntled. I did learn a great dealfrom the instructors here, but if I actually had to pay for my own education, Iwould definitely look at other options first. For most of the fields of study, you will probably not earn enough inyour first ten years to cover the cost of your loans and survive. Dont even think about it if you are tryingto raise a family. I know too manypeople that find themselves in a catch 22 after a couple of quarters herebecause they dont like it, but they already have over $16,000 invested andthey cannot transfer a single to credit to another institution.
Buyer beware.
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