I passed my road test last week! Imran Khan was my driving instructor. He is a very patient and…read morefocused instructor. His primary focus is improving the student's road skills; everything else comes second! He provides really good guidelines about the road rules of Illinois. He would also make us feel comfortable by talking about his learning experience. The USP of this driving school is that, unlike other driving schools, Imran is focused on ensuring his students become excellent, efficient, smart and defensive drivers, no matter what their current level of expertise in driving is! He identifies the areas of improvement and the mindset shift that is needed and gives us more practice in those areas. For example, I am used to the driving attitude from a different country. I had to unlearn those guidelines and shift my mindset to tune to the driving attitude of Illinois. I am really glad I learned driving from Imran sir! Kudos to his efforts and sincerity!!

Very disappointing experience with MyDrive Academy. My younger brother contacted them because he…read morewanted driving lessons and more practice with a professional instructor. He clearly communicated that he was not comfortable taking the road test yet and only wanted classes. Instead of listening to that, their response pushed him toward scheduling the road test anyway and encouraged him to purchase additional lessons. It felt more like a sales push than actually helping the student. My brother is autistic, and driving situations can already be stressful for him. He tried to explain that he wasn't ready and just wanted more practice, but that didn't seem to be taken into consideration. We asked for a refund for the road test fee since the service was never performed and was never even scheduled, but they refused and cited a strict "no refund" policy. It's disappointing to see a company refuse to refund an unused service instead of working with the student.

Francisco is my instructor and he is amazing!! Very patient, helpful, and funny too! I passed!…read moreHighly recommend. Thank you!!

The Downers Grove location took my money in December for a class in January. They cancelled the…read moreclass and promised a refund by Feb 10th. They still haven't processed the refund and the number is now disconnected.

I would reccommend a 5 star to this Driving School. Starting from Rudy who picked up my enquiry…read morefirst and then with my teacher Kalli. Everything was great. Kalli taught me the basics of road safety and defensive driving. I had to unlearn many things to get my basics right. thanks to my teacher. Sometimes i feel, the driving schools have a special contribution in making our roads more safe. Thanks to everyone at Michael's

For me to drive again after my ordeal, the State requires me to attend a driving school…read more Strive for Independence was referred to me by my doctor, Shirley Ryan, and Northwestern Medicine. Heather, who I spoke to initially, provided me with great details about the program they offer. She was patient with my concerns and questions even after my initial phone call. Danielle, the Occupational Therapist, returned my calls with my follow-up of never-ending questions and concerns and was very kind. Check-in was a breeze. I then went through a series of cognitive, rules of the roads, and traffic signs tests before an actual road test. Danielle then accompanied me for a drive around the neighborhood. It irks me to walk around in my neighborhood and notice drivers fail to stop at the stop signs on residential streets. Therefore, I made sure I stopped completely and looked both ways before I proceeded. The drive took approximately 45 minutes before we returned to the office when she informed me of the good news. The office buildings have plenty of parking spaces available for students and visitors. The staff were professional and cordial. P. S. If you are reading my review, I pray you'll never have to go through what I went through the last few months. Here's to good health!

We had a wonderful experience for our daughter Linzhi at Strive for Independence. Anne went above…read moreand beyond for us. We are so thankful!

My son had Mark as his driving instructor. He learned a lot and grew more confident as a driver…read morethrough his driving sessions. I appreciate that Mark hold his drivers to a high standard. My son was even pointing out the many errors I make when driving ;).

My daughter came home in tears because of how rude the instructor was. She said that he's extremely…read moreegotistical and condescending. When she got her permit, she had no clue how to operate a vehicle after 10 classes. Very unprofessional, do not send your child here.

Great local driving school!…read more A close friend of mine took lessons through DRIVEx and said nothing but good things. The instructor was super calm and knew exactly how to help with road test nerves. They were based in Westmont but worked around the Chicago suburbs too -- super convenient. If you're near Downers Grove or Oak Brook and need a driving instructor who's reliable and easy to work with, definitely check them out. My friend passed their test right after finishing lessons here!

Gustavo was my behind the wheel instructor and he was amazing. Was very engaging through our 6…read moredrives and taught me everything there was to know about the road.

My experience with Excel Driving School. I registered my child for 10 driving classes. When I…read morecreated the schedule, I asked for the 10:00 a.m. time if possible for all classes. The receptionist said that the first 5 classes were available at that time, and then we would make the schedule for the remaining 5. On the first day of class, we were ready for class when the driving instructor contacted me and told me that there was a cancellation and asked if I wanted to go early. I told him no. Then when 9am came around, he sent me another text telling me that my class is at 9 a.m., not 10 a.m. and that they would not return my money because I didn't show up on time. I wanted to check the website to have proof that my time was at 10 a.m. and their website didn't even work. I told the instructor by text, and he just replied that he doesn't know when the website is going to work. I had to call the next day because the first class was on the 4th of July and the Excel Driving school office was closed. The receptionist acknowledged the confusion and rescheduled his first class. We finally went to his class, and the instructor was on the phone the entire time while my son drove. I told my son that if it happens again that the instructor is on the phone. Instead of paying attention, we would report her. The next class, the instructor, never showed up. She never replied to my texts, and I called Excel school to make the report. We wasted 1 hour waiting for her, and the school contacted me until the next day to give me another date. At that moment, I canceled the classes and asked for a refund of 9 classes since my son only took one class. They agreed, and after 6 days, they returned only the money for 8 classes. I contacted the school, and they lied, saying that my son had 2 classes. The school knows that his instructor did not make it to the second class. I have a text from the instructor who texted me 2 hours later the day she didn't arrive to class, apologizing because something had come up. I am upset because the school charged in advance, and I do not want to return the full money for the classes my son did not take.

Class and instructor were awesome. My daughter loved the class and enjoyed her teacher very much…read more The lady on the scheduling line however was one of the rudest people I've ever dealt with on a call. Hopefully the drives go well.

I just finished wrapping up my Behind the Wheel Hours with Jennifer Grammer -- 10/10 would…read morerecommend her! I came in with a few hours of driving under my belt and had the goal of being prepared for obtaining my license within a couple of weeks. Since I'm a student over 18, I'll be taking the road test with the DMV, and Jennifer was an even better instructor than I could've imagined to get me ready on such short notice. Jennifer was engaging, patient, and really showed genuine care for her students, both on the road and off of it. She really takes the time to get to know a student and what their driving goals are, and she does a great job at directing drives that prioritizes balancing what a student needs to learn and what they can do to achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Ms. Sabrina was incredibly disrespectful to me when I took the driving lessons. I had her for 7/10…read morelessons I had, and each one, I felt immensely under pressure, and every move I made was critiqued even if it was correct. she often tapped the break when I was driving fine, when I asked what was wrong, she just said I messed something up without actually telling me my mistake. all of the other instructors I had were great and incredibly informativ, except her. One of my friends recently took a driving test there with her to finally get her license she has been waiting for, for so long. but she failed her because she was barely over a yellow line when turning at an intersection. This was her only mistake. You better hope you do not receive her as a driving instructor. 2 of my other friends also had her a hefty amount, ans have horror stories of how much of a jerk she was.

All the prior reviews citing the inability to schedule behind the wheel sessions is spot on. The…read moreare SEVERELY understaffed - obviously do not have enough instructors to offer enough sessions to meet the demands of the customer load they have eagerly taken on. Sessions book up IMMEDIATELY - and you'll end up having to wait another month to get a second chance to win the lottery of getting a behind the wheel session. Additionally, you will need to pay more money to reinstate your agreement when you are unable to complete all required sessions within the time period.

Do not get manicure here. Wanted to support school and students so made appt online for manicure…read more After waiting, they assigned me to someone else than whom I was supposed to have. Their selection of polish is minimal and the color I selected had lint in it which the student had to remove several times. She put so many layers on that after I left, it got smeared so badly that I removed polish after getting home. They have no nail dryers. Also, be aware they don't accept cash and although their website says no tipping, that isn't true. No teacher came to check what student did as it says on website. Won't go back for other services after this.

Since I live only a block away, I decided to try this out for a haircut when I moved here 2 years…read moreago. The students have 400 hours before they get to work on customers and a teacher is always nearby to help. First they shampoo and condition your hair. Then in my experience it's often the teacher demonstrating through most of the cut. It takes a little longer but if you have time, I recommend them. And the price is right, only $13 as of March 2023.