Flash Point Academy Review

I honestly wouldn't recommend going here unless you have a lot of money to put towards it. But buckle up because I have quite a bit to cover regarding my experience.

The loan company they use itself is its own nightmare giving me an almost 12% interest rate at this point and not having my cosigner be there to help fill out the information with me (someone who better understood loans). Its a nightmare that killed my credit and made it impossible to even get a refinance at a lower rate.

But as for the school itself I had quite a few problems. Some of which I admit isnt the direct fault of the school but were nevertheless inflamed by attending.

1. THE INSTRUCTORS: there were fantastic teachers there who were fun and super helpful and I appreciate everything they did. However, there were also two teachers who were rather unhelpful and honestly kind of rude. I had asked one for help because I had missed a day due to being sick and I was hoping he could at least link me to some videos or give me a brief rundown of what I had missed. What I got was "you need to ask one of your peers/someone else" which made me pretty upset because im not paying my classmates to teach me, im paying this person. Another problem I had with an instructor was that they were constantly putting students with experience and industry knowledge on a pedestal and telling the rest of the class to bemore like these students. This was to a bunch of people who are coming here with no experience at all and it was extremely disheartening to be compared to people who had previous teaching.

2. THE SCHEDULING: to be fair I was warned that the schedule was going to be fast paced so I do take responsibility for that, however I still feel like its important to give people a heads up regarding how heavy the workload is. I DO NOT recommend attending if you are dependent on a job and live anywhere outside the bounds of the CTA. I had to take the Metra in and to and from school was a 45 minute ride and the school isnt accommodating for this and needing to work. The amount of work I was given after school was impossible while working a part time job to the point where I had to quit (thankfully my parents supported me during this time). The work load combined with needing a job was so intensive that I ended up being sleep deprived and was almost admitted to a hospital if it had gotten any worse but long term had to go on medication via my primary doctor.

3. THE RESULT: im going to come out and say that I didnt graduate and my decision to leave was due to my declining health as a result of attending. Two instructors were absolute angels in helping me get through the year at least but otherwise academic accommodation wasnt helpful and some instructors didnt seem to care much for my situation and even made it worse. Im glad that I did leave as I havent seen good reviews regarding graduation to employment experiences and the debt that ive already aquired from the one year is crippling enough and my esteem about my work has taken enough of a hit from the first year alone.

This was just my experience and may be an isolated incident in all fairness with some faults falling on me as well but I wouldnt want someone to go through what I did so I wanted to share.

They rejected me for my social media presences that is so dumb.

Amazing teachers, terrible administration. Avoid the school at all costs. The loans are disproportionate to how much we earn after graduating. They changed the curriculum half way through the program and dulled it down. What we were going to learn in the 2nd year they took it away. The second year we ended up redoing everything we learned in the 1st which was not worth the money we paid. Coincidentally that same year they started the 4 year program with everything we were suppose to learn spread out. Again, great teachers, but all they want is your money.

Lay out of your his school is wonderful everything you need to make a film

This school is a For-Profit scam. Pay >$50,000 (two years) for a basic understanding of with little to no guidance. There is hardly any gauge of individual student progress due to 2/3 classes being defined by huge group projects. Making the entire process essentially Paying to work, instead of Paying for a quality education.

Don't waste your money, one would be better off taking their time going to a community college part time, working, surviving and not stressing to the point of being disenfranchised about the industry. Also their "industry Professionals" are no different than any other professors at other colleges. On multiple occasions guests have mistaken students for instructors and instructors for students. Most teachers are part time and the full timers are stretched thin.

The administration is so green they have no idea what they are doing, and often squash any negative issues by purposefully creating situations where students flunk out or just get tired of dealing with the bureaucracy. One could write a book on how TFC is the embodiment of the For-Profit schools in the USA. Their new 4 year program and online courses match right in with all the other for-profit business models that continually fail at education standards.

I'm having a great time as a student and I feel like Flashpoint will really help me forward my career

Are you serious? My son is paying over $750.00 a month for his past tuition. 750.00 PER MONTH!! A warning to ALL students of this scam. This, "school " , has VERY few success stories. I, and many more, have filed a lawsuit against this fraudulent scam. We will win. They have no defense. Stay away. Try for Columbia College. Invest in a future.

Unorganized finance department, getting emails years later that I am both paid off completely and that I still owe money to the school. Far overpriced for the lax education. Don t waste your time/money

Okay learning experience...some very great teachers, but a bit costly and not a lot of hands-on filmmaking. Be prepared to do a lot of discussing, reading, researching. If you're looking for a short enrollment for an Associate it might be right for you. Do your research.

Great instructors but horrible administration. When concerns were brought up concerning classes we were not receiving but we had initially paid for the dean and head of the department tried to cover their a-- by offering us a summer course AFTER graduation. Left with a beginner's knowledge in my field and around 60K worth of debt.

I've had the privilege of being an instructor there for a couple years. Great experience and love staying in touch with all the great people I met there.