[falconvalley]

IMO, if you're talking about big schools, you're gonna pay some big money. Where you get your money's worth is a matter of opinion. I don't personally know all these schools, but I can tell you that ATP is a crap shoot. Some of ATP's locations are staffed only by the instructors and in some cases only have 1 or 2 people there. When people are getting hired to the regionals quickly, you might find the service to be horrible at some locations. If ATP is at the top of your list, take a real good look at the specific location and ask yourself some questions:

How long have the instructors been here and will it make a difference to me if they're new and don't plan on staying.

Is the level of service up to my standards? Watch how they deal with other customers and how they handle the phone. Do they seem to get back to you quick? If you want prompt advancement in training from the availability side, some of these things will be important.

Will the money I spend, be well spent? Compare all the schools and weigh the cost of each, compare what you get for what you spend. Be somewhat objective, because rip-offs can be subjective and opinions differ and experiences definitely differ. I would say a school would be a rip off if your instructor never said anything inflight or the school took your money and you didn't get enough or any flying out of it. But do look at where the money actually goes and why you're spending more at one school and less at another.

Here are my biggest pet peeves:

Not enough staff. Your students are spending 50-70 GRAND on your school. Get a DARN secretary and some help. One instructor cannot continue to be available from 8 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week and NOT be dangerous. Bad juju.

Airplanes that are obviously not well maintained. If the nose strut is showing corrosion, don't just service it after every flight. There's a reason it's leaking!!!

Instructors that cancel alot. Comeon now, either you're overworked or WAY underworked. Nuff said.

Companies that insist on being the only school at a very busy Class C airport and use fast food bags to plug the cowl. ???

Schools that have the newest, most sophisticated fleet and claim to be THE BEST. You're not. I keep getting FOs that come from your great school. They are awesome with the technology. They can definitely do the "tube" thing, but they can't fly a raw data ILS with all the engines. I understand, in an emergency, most of us get through it, but you need to be able to hands-off an ILS without the flight director under normal circumstances. If you can't, you either had a horrible instructor or missed the point of an ILS during instrument training. I would say instruction plays a pretty big role in this. It doesn't take technology to make us safe pilots. I learned to fly without glass and here I am, an ATP. Not saying glass is dumb, just saying "more standardization in training, plz!!!" We need aviators!

Ok, I'm off my soapbox. Sorry I couldn't help you with the other schools...