I’m talking about the ones that advertise a lot on radio and TV, telling you that you can become a medical assistant or whatnot in eight months or so.
I tried to get some info on one of them (Everest College, part of Corinthian), and found a number of people complaining that it costs $8-10K to get through the program, they accept anyone, graduate anyone, not all of the units are transferable, etc. Of course, there are also “testimonials” from students who rave about what a great place it is. I have no way of knowing if they are credible.
Does anyone here have any experience with such places or know someone who has gone through the program? Are they basically running clever scams, or can you actually get some gainful employment and good schooling with them?
In general, if you’re looking for an online study opportunity, you’re better off looking for online courses given by established brick-and-mortar institution. You’re way less likely to get ripped off in the process, and you’ll have a degree that means something to people reading your resume once you’re done.
Check the accreditation. If the school is not accredited by one of the regional Associations of Colleges and Schools (example: http://www.sacs.org/), stay away from it.
I suspect you’re right. I’ll probably end up trying the established community ed here and/or the college where I already work.
I thought there was something fishy when the recruiters from one of the questionable places kept calling and calling until I told them I’d changed my mind. They probably get paid per head.
I went to a reputable school here in Tucson for a 9-month medical assistant course. They may take anyone, but it’s not true that they graduate anyone- you get graded and could certainly fail out- I’ve seen it happen. Your success with it probably depends a lot on the reputation of the facility in your town- I’ve worked at places that would only hire graduates of the place I went to, so I picked the right one. And it did make my life better- before I went, I really had no marketable skills besides cashiering and waitressing; now 10 years later, I make decent money.
If you’re looking for MA type training specifically, you can try just going to any community college in your area.
Medical Assistant is the type of job that requires too little education to be a full semester’s worth of schooling, but requires enough education that a random joe blow can’t do it without some kind of training.
Which perfectly describes the kind classes a community college would offer as “adult education” or some such.
Pharmacy Technician is another one. This one I know firsthand.
Why not go to the employers to which you intend to get a job with and ask them what kind of education they would like to see on a resume and if XYZ college is adequate?
I can do that as soon as I figure out whether I want to pursue medical assisting or physical therapy or some other area, and see if I can do at least some of it via adult ed. and/or community college courses.
I was just talking about this last week with some students in my adult ed medical terminology class. Our experiences are all very similar: you contact one of these “colleges,” they pressure you to come and take a campus tour, then try to sit you down and sign up right away. It costs around ten grand or so. They tell you to get financial aid, but you will still be spending a chunk.
I did not do the campus tour, so they tried calling me twice a day or night for a couple of weeks. (It bordered on harassment.) I ended up emailing the admissions guy to tell him that I was pursuing other avenues.
