One of the most disappointing and stressful programs I've ever done…read more I took the TEFL certification course with International TEFL Academy (ITA) in Barcelona, and I regret it. From the start, the experience felt disorganized and emotionally exhausting. The course didn't use a clear grading rubric--trainers graded based on vibes, not criteria. Feedback was minimal, which made it almost impossible to improve. Instead of walking away confident and prepared, I left feeling like a worse teacher than when I started. What really pushed this over the edge for me was the student visa situation. ITA heavily advertises that Americans can legally work in Spain by enrolling in their "Student Visa Program." They even imply you can teach full-time. What they don't say is that legal work under a student visa requires an extra authorization process that most schools refuse to do. I only found this out after spending thousands and being rejected by employers who said my visa wasn't valid for work. ITA's staff even admitted in writing that many graduates work "cash in hand" (aka illegally) and brushed it off like it's just how things work in Spain. For the money they charge, I expected professionalism, clarity, and legal accuracy. Instead, I got stress, vague answers, and no real path to employment. Please be careful before trusting this company with your money or your future.

I'm posting this review years after my teaching abroad experience because that is how great of an…read moreimpression this place made on me. Because of this company I got a job teaching in South Korea, a formative experience in my life. The class was definitely more expensive than other ESL certifications, but it was comprehensive and for an online class I learned a lot. More impressive however is their life long job search aid. This place won't just get you a certification, they will get you a job. They walked me through every step of the process and I know that even years later, if I were to go back to them looking to teach abroad again, they would be the reason I would find a job. This is an excellent company. I highly recommend.

This. Class. Is. Amazing (advanced TV/film class)!!! I have never felt so inspired and motivated…read morewith an acting class let alone a *Zoom* acting class! Brittani is incredible at creating a safe space. And she's also great at giving criticism in a way that is kind and really well thought through rather than harsh or coming from a selfish place of showing off. At first I was nervous about having to audition for the class but I'm so glad I did it! This ensured that everyone in the class was at a similar level and boy did my classmates blow me away and inspire me! This class gave me much-needed confidence and it made me excited to keep working, growing and pushing myself! I can't wait to take it again and I'm so grateful for Brittani and the class she created!

Brittani is a fantastic instructor, offering keen on-camera tips to Chicago actors from both an…read moreeducational acting background and top-notch Los Angeles casting experience. Chicago actors are lucky have Brittani's unique, fresh insight that further builds upon the other fine training studios we have in the city. Her Zoom class during the pandemic had me feeling inspired, challenged, accountable, and confident. Take her classes to up your on-camera game; you won't be disappointed. Lastly, as a person and instructor, Brittani is warm, considerate, approachable, and knowledgeable. I promise you're in good hands.

If you have questions about research at Northwestern University this is the place to contact. They…read moreare very helpful and knowledgable about all types of research.

I can not say enough good about Optimal Level and the wonderful folks who operate the company…read more From Linda to Scott, they are just amazing professionals who were such a great help to me and the grow of my professional career! I highly recommend the Optimal Level Programs to anyone looking to achieve their own, "optimal level."

Let me start off by saying my teacher, Don, was amazing. He's personable, knowledgable and made…read morewhat I did learn fun. I signed up for this course because I'm a single mother and what I'm making now in my other two jobs is not enough, so I thought I could add to the days/nights I have free. I made my first of two payments and started the course. I only signed up to go to the Schaumburg location because the others are too far. About a little less than halfway through the course I was sitting with the teacher and he said, "Hey, I need the other half of your tuition." ME: Well, I'm taking off work early tomorrow to come and do the classes I haven't been able to get because they don't work with my schedule. Can I just pay you tomorrow? HIM: Don't you have a credit card? Besides, the owner came in and took all my files. He never does that. At least it'll look like I did something today. (he laughs) ME: Ok (I pay him the last payment) I'll see you tomorrow around 3pm The next day I leave work early, grab some lunch, and head to the school. There's a HUGE white truck/van taking up three spots in the lot. I grab my stuff and start walking in. There's a man standing outside on the phone and as I walk past him, he says, "What do you think you're doing?" ME: I'm going to class. What do you think I'm doing. But now I'm looking around and the owners of the truck are dumping whatever they can into trash cans and taking them out past me. MAN: There's no class. They were evicted this morning. ME: WHAT?!?! The sound of the hundreds of bottles being emptied into the dumpster outside is distracting MAN: Yeah, they were thrown out. You can't come in. So I walk out and sit in my car. They JUST took my money 12 hours before. I called the school's main number and a guy named Nico told me to come to their location and we'd work something out. He said I was only twenty minutes away and he had no idea what had happened. An HOUR and twenty-five minutes later I pull up in front of this janky looking strip mall with a check cashing place and I think it was a tarot card reader. I was afraid to park my car on this busy road. I walked in and found Nico and another man sitting in what I'm assuming was the office. I told them both there's no way after working a full day that I'm going to drive over an hour to a part of town that I wouldn't want to walk out at night by myself and I would like a refund. NICO: I'm not authorized to do that. But I'll leave a message for the man who can. ME: Is it going to be the owner? Because apparently he doesn't know how to pay his bills. I want you to make sure he has all my info. (He starts to write my name and number) I was on edge, I'll admit. I'm usually not that aggressive. NICO: I don't know. The owner doesn't know what happened. ME: I'll tell you what happened. Nobody gets their sh!t thrown out on the lawn for missing one payment. He knew. That's why he came in and took the files yesterday. He KNEW. (Blank stare from Nico) ME: So can you write down the name of the guy who's going to call me and where is he? NICO: Oh, he had to run out. I don't know his name. ME: You don't know his name? You work with the guy and you don't know his name? (Now, it's the owner, I know this now. And he ran out because I called my teacher and told him the school was being emptied into a dumpster.) NICO: Uh, his name is Frank (There is no Frank. He panicked not knowing if he should tell me the owner's name) ME: Ok, I'll wait for his call. No phone call ever came. So I contacted the bank I paid with and they gave me my money back. All of it. But I wasted SO much time and have nothing to show for it. Now I have to start over and find a new school, not located anywhere near me, and pay more because all the Christmas deals are over. They handled it like a$$hats. That's all. Nobody contacted me to try to make anything right. I am positive they couldn't have forgotten I came in. Just a shame for me and the 50-something other students who hadn't taken their test or finished the classes yet.

I cannot say enough good things about my experience with the classes I took. I always wanted a…read moreprofession in bartending, but never knew where to go or how to get started. I searched on the internet and wanted to try this school since it was close to my home. I called the office and told them I was skeptical, so they encouraged me to just stop in on a class and observe. WOW, was I excited to see everyone working hands-on and with each other. I knew that this was the place I wanted to attend. The classes helped me with so many facets of bartending that I still adhere to today. While drink recipes are a major focus, the class also concentrates on pouring, cleanliness, and hardware knowledge. In fact, I think that the returning of all equipment and bottles to its original location is probably the most important thing I have learned and has pretty much become my mantra. The course was also fun and educational with stories and jokes. Don was an awesome teacher, and his experience and stories would leave you waiting to hear more. I always looked forward to attending classes and would stay until the last minute. Maybe the best about the program is the job placement service. After completing the courses, I was then worried about how I would find a job in bartending. However, the placement service they use could not have been any more easier. I took the coursework in March of 2014 and was able to have my first job the first week of April. I was looking to advance my career several months later, and again, the school provided me with a link to a position that I absolutely love working at today. Bartender American Professional Schools has changed my life by helping me to pursue a career I have always wanted and continues to guide me as I make my bartending journey. I would HIGHLY recommend this facility to anyone considering a field in bartending.

I would highly recommend you take your professional development dollars elsewhere. Here is a…read moresummary of my recent experience at the Chicago GA location. I completed the 10 week part-time digital marketing course. Of the roughly 14 students in the course, a total of 5 of us launched similar complaints to the Chicago office staff. They did very little to resolve the situation and were very patronizing. CONS & one PRO: · The breadth of the content was just not there - two hours per night twice a week to cover topics ranging from SEM, SEO to content marketing and paid search was not enough; while the instructor did a nice job of providing an overview, I feel strongly that I didn't walk away an expert in any of the topics let alone one. Mobile WAS NOT covered at all. · Access to data & a client should be provided by GA. For the first two weeks, I had no connections to a customer's analytics or owned channels, and it made learning incredibly challenging. Several students in the class did not have access to analytics or owned channels throughout the course and it made learning that much more difficult. GA certainly must be well connected in the tech/start up scene, and I imagine there are plenty of small organizations, even non-profits, that GA could build relationships with to connect students. As a full-time working professional, it was hard enough to get the coursework done...let alone try to convince an organization to give you access to their google analytics or owned media. As you are probably aware, without these key insights, it would be very hard to be successful in the classroom. · Instruction - while she is no doubt incredibly talented in her own right, I feel like this course was not her priority. There were several questions that my classmates and I asked that she could not answer. I would imagine that is due to the demanding and changing landscape of the field. Feedback was given sporadically, and the fact that we don't receive feedback from our direct professor on the final project that many of us spent so much time on is astounding. I know I spent upwards of 40 hours on my final project, and the rubric provided by judges didn't justify the amount of time or effort I put into the project. · Cost - I would have been perfectly happy with the course as an intro to digital marketing course if it were at the $1,500 or even $2,000 price point. I feel strongly that the $3,995 fee is far too much for the value of the course and key learnings provided. Again, I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn - and know that you get out of a course as much as you put into it, but I wanted to bring my main concerns to your attention. Finally, a couple overall notes that I definitely think need to be addressed for the next round of students: Our final class went over by 2 hours due to the amount of presentations that were required. It's truly a shame as one of the judges had to leave at 9 pm, so several of my classmates didn't get a full review. It's outrageous and poor planning to think you could accommodate 13 ten-minute presentations into a 120 minute course. Obviously, there would need to be time for questions, set up and breaks. Again, the content of the course was just a breeze over - I definitely think there's opportunity for an in-depth overview of digital marketing, but I feel strongly that I did not get anywhere close to an in-depth overview. The most beneficial part of the course was the opportunity to learn from my peers.

I enjoyed the free class. Nice clean area, two projectors in classroom. Even for a free class I…read morelearned a lot and I am debating going back. They offer loner laptops, but they are Mac's. I had a bit of a learning curve with the laptop in addition to the class. I was informed of needing to bring my own computer by an email sent out at 8am the day of the class. I didn't notice it till I was out the door already :( Other than the communication about the laptop I did enjoy it.

I was really impressed by the caliber of the thorough feedback on my writing. The editors had…read moreclearly read my writing carefully and gave me critical comments, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of my piece. Though my story didn't get accepted, I was still proud of the work I had done, the engaging comments the editors at Polyphony H.S. had given me, and the work I could now do to make my writing better. I'm really grateful for this opportunity for extended feedback in a time when most lit-mag feedback is in the form of form rejection letters.

My daughter loved she made new friends and she learned about her culture even more then she knew…read more My daughter was worried about ice but the teachers and security made her feel safe she loves marwen and we will come back .

For years I've passed Marwen by train or bus on my way to/from the Loop. For years I wondered what…read moreMarwen was, but was never curious enough (read too lazy) to find out. At some point I decided that Marwen must be the corporate headquarters of some outdoorsy clothing brand because the name reminded me of Erehwon, the mountain outfitter. Well, mountain outfitter it's not; this is what Marwen is all about (from their website): "Marwen was founded to provide Chicago's youth with stimulating and diverse opportunities to channel their adolescent energy into personally rewarding and developmentally appropriate outlets. Chicago is a city rich in history, architecture, art, and culture, and it is Marwen's intent to leverage these resources, providing our students with an out-of-school program that provides access to opportunity, while remaining highly relevant to their individual and collective experiences." The fabulous Kelly S told me about "Show Me Marwen" which gave me a chance to check the place out, for free to boot! The event was really cool, but a little crowded. I liked that they asked attendees to not only wear name tags, but add color-coded stickers to show how they were affiliated with Marwen (student, alumni, parent, friend, etc.), it really gave it a community feel. The alumni and student artwork on display was amazing and ranged from photographs to paintings to pottery to claymation videos. I was in awe of all of the creativity in the room. The only downside was that when I left Marwen I felt about as creative as a cucumber.