The Art Institute of Philadelphia (Dorm Housing)

My daughter is a student at this school and she loves it. She has learned so much and is so enthusiastic. The teaching staff, for the most part, is wonderful. My daughter is enrolled in the Digital Film program and the teachers are so well informed. Many have much working experience in the Film Industry and share their knowledge with the students. BUT, beware..the administration (especially the financial aide office) is, for the most part, non-responsive. When I call I usually end up in a voice mailbox that is full (I suspect, because most have the same problems as I) and when I finally DO get to leave a message and IF my call is returned I usually have to speak with someone with an attitude. Is it so outrageous to expect these people to just do their jobs? If you are lucky enough to be able to afford to just pay the tuition consider yourself lucky, but..somewhere along the line you are going to have to deal with the administration and you WILL experience the same frustration.

I'm not sure how many stars this institution deserves. The instructors, for the most part, seem to be cool but administratively this place is the worst! No oneanswers their phone and very rarely returns calls. Perhaps it's good that you can't get anyone to answer their phone because, on the rare occasion that they do they'll give you the incorrect information anyway. On the day of orientation I was informed that my course of study was the only one that didn't provide a camera and that I would have to obtain one myself but it would only cost about $150.00...HA! I spent twice that and then found out that it didn't have all the necessary capabilities (the only description I received was that it had to be a minidv). So, I had to return the one I purchased (at a cost of 15% for restocking) and had to spend another $200.00 on top of that. They were completely unprepared for orientation and sent us to empty rooms, etc. So as I said, be prepared to be constantly misinformed and frustrated!