If you’ve ever heard me talk about my experience with the Art Institute of Orange County, you’ll know I don’t think too kindly of them. This post will explain why. Below is a letter I’ve just written to Melinda Lester, Dean of Academic Affairs:

Melinda Lester,

My name is Alex Bellamey and I am a former Art Institute of Orange County student. I came to the Art Institute with hopes and dreams for my future, however my experience thus far has been nothing short of a nightmare. I left the Art Institute with an overabundance of fees and tuition bills. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think college was going to be free by any means. However, I do feel that I’ve been wronged, simply because I was never given the opportunity to obtain the education promised to me due to the distortion of the curriculum.

My journey with the Art Institute started with a meeting with a school recruiter.  I took with me a small portfolio of photographs that I had taken and divulged my dreams of becoming a photographer to the recruiter. In order to make my goals a reality, I was directed to enroll in the Advertising B.S. program, and that there were plenty of photography classes in that major. I blissfully agreed and optimistically enrolled.

I didn’t qualify for any financial aid because consequently my parents made just enough to disqualify me for any government support, and before I knew it I was signing paper, after paper filing for a Stafford Student Loan and a Parent Plus Loan for a total of $11,000. Once I was done signing my life away, I was able to register for classes. Since I was enrolled at mid-quarter, I only took two classes, and was encouraged to take: Computer Applications and Introduction to Photography.

I was very excited to take the photography class, but my enthusiasm was curbed drastically when I found out the class was extremely remedial as it was taught with point-and-shoot style cameras. These cameras, as you may know, are simple to use and amateur. Most of them can hardly be manually controlled beyond their fully automatic settings, which is essential to composing a good image. This class spoke nothing of aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, or ISO. These are basic topics which should be standardly covered in any introduction to photography class. Before I took this class, I had already been using a digital SLR camera which is much more advanced, and although the class was taught enjoyably, I unfortunately didn’t acquire any information that was beneficial to me.

The next quarter I was assigned a few other classes, none of which were photography related. This is when I inquired about the other photography classes in my major. I was devastated to find out that there were only two photography classes in my curriculum, and I had already taken one of them. It was at this point when I decided to stop attending the Art Institute.

I really feel the Advertising B.S. program was misrepresented to swindle money out of a teen with hopes of a creative future. My parents and I have tried several times to talk to administrators at the school, yourself included, however, all of our questions go unanswered, and our phone calls unreturned. We feel we are paying far too much money for the mere quarter and a half I attended your school. On top of that, we’ve received a bill that has gone to collections for an amount that no one at the school will take time to explain. Since I want to know, exactly, what it is I’m asked to pay for, I haven’t paid the bill, and with interest it’s amount is now over $1,700. I feel that this is simply unfair. What is it that we are being charged for that wasn’t covered by the student loans? Furthermore, is $12,700 a reasonable amount for a quarter and a half of attendance?

In closing, it’s devastating that I feel that the biggest mistake I’ve made in life was going to college. The school’s actions thus far have led me to believe that the Art Institute’s only objective is to take advantage of young and creative individuals that have open minds, and open wallets. With the mass amount of advertisements that are used on popular social networking sites, such as MySpace and FaceBook, it is noticeably evident that you’re targeting the young people of this country, and if their story is anything like mine, you’re viciously robbing them. With money being as tight as it is in the midst of our economic crisis, the school’s actions are even more dishonorable. If it is not your sole intention to beguile and thieve, please take the time to contact me. I would appreciate some answers, and I would like very much for some of these issues to be resolved.

Yours,

Alex Bellamey

What do you think?