Art Institute Of Vancouver – AI Falls Short

The flaws above are true to some extent (okay seriously? 10 minutes to render a file? i call b.s. on that) But to put my two cents in:

The biggest con about this program are the practical exams because you can do extremely well on the tests and get good marks on your projects (which is practical since you get a weekly lab time) but if you get below 80% on these practical exams then you need to re-take the course… which works out to be 10 silly mistakes (ie forgot a pan-pot knob when zero’ing the board) which you pay the cost of the course again… which is about $900-$1000

They’re like taking a drivers test except you have to wait 3 months in order to take it again.

Other flaws include an extremely over-priced Cafe (about 5-7 bucks for a sandwich that doesn’t fill you up). equipment is Glitchy; though this is expected but when something breaks they don’t seem to fix it quickly or they fix it poorly. The administration department don’t really have their stuff together when it comes with handling sensitive information. Some of the courses in the program are irrelevant or poorly taught by people who shouldn’t be teachers (we had a course on how to work a video camera IN AN AUDIO PROGRAM and another course on how to burn DVDs) and at times it feels like the system that is in place is only interested in new students, not existing ones.

On the Plus side, the equipment they do have is quite high end my friend. The fact they have 9 Pro tools HD rigs in one room running on power macs, set with TV monitors, and external mixers/reverb units is such a huge resource. Then decked out studios which you do get 4 hours a week in, but you can also sign out more time for either side projects or finishing work. The teachers that are awesome are actually really awesome. They are friendly, knowledgeable, funny, and more importantly outside of school they actually have jobs out in the field (there’s a teacher here that worked on the post audio for the movie I Am Legend… yes the one with will smith, and another one that composes music for a TV show called Sanctuary) They attempt to get you A job with their resources department and by a portfolio you need as a requirement before you graduate. Though i have asked quite a few people (people that actually work hard and don’t sit around playing games) that the resources department haven’t been that helpful.

Overall, I’d rate the school a 7 out of 10. The most important thing i suggest is you must be 100% sure that you want to pursue audio as your career and that you want to go to this school because they will offer you the resources, but they won’t hand you EVERYTHING on a golden plate… Generally i find that majority of the students here tend to get caught up with the school’s politics and focus too much on the negatives and they don’t just concentrate on doing their own thing and carving their own way in life… heck if you’re that serious about audio just go hang out in a studio and skip school altogether. Plenty of other people have been successful without school. Though School is there just to aid you.

Wow that’s a long comment, hope this helps.

I just got back from an interview/info session at AI and over all I was impressed with what I saw. I do agree 45,000 dollars seem like wayy to much even if it is a prestiges school. Everyone I spoke with was vary friendly and I didn’t feel like they were trying to sell me on the school. I did feel like they were doing their best to in form me if this school would work for me. Unfortunately the sound studio was under construction so I did not get to see it. Fortunately it was being completely overhauled so the finished product should be kick ass(maybe thats where the 45 grand is going? ). Thanks to anon anon because I had the feeling that the above review was rather “bias”. I am going to look for a cheaper school but not ruling out AI as an option

Nimbus doesn’t have NEARLY the corporate network that AI has, and that could really work against you in the long run. There are a ton of Art Institutes in North America, and their alumni programs can keep you connected with employment opportunities in the Vancouver area and pretty much anywhere in the US. The point of a college is to not only provide you with an education but also with potential employment scenarios, and that’s where Nimbus simply falls short.

Bearing the Nimbus name alone will find you a job. That’s not the job of a school, anyway. I’d say around age 14 or 15 is when you should stop having to need someone hold your hand and wipe your ass in order for you to get something done. If you can’t find a job yourself after school, than that just insults your own intelligence, because really, if you know your stuff, it shouldn’t be hard at all. Finding a job has absolutely nothing to do with what you learn at the facility. Just don’t be lazy and work is easy to find.

Of course “Former AI Employee” would also say negative things about their former employer, what person wouldn’t.

Now, I don’t completely disagree with some of the things they are saying, especially with the ADAs and their sales tactics, but one has to ask, are you going to school to get taught by the ADAs or by the instructors?

Ai has great instructors that really care about their students, and those that don’t are quickly weeded out. Unlike other schools or universities where an instructor can get tenure and then just sit in a classroom of 300 students and pitch their book, most Ai instructors actually work in the industries in which they teach, and because it is a private school, have to actually do their job and teach students.

Sure some of the classes may not be exactly what you want, but have you been to another school? Go look at any university and tell me ALL the classes in a particular program actually help you find a job. Let alone the class sizes and the equipment that is being used. Most computer classrooms are no larger than about 25-28 computers and most are filled with fairly high end computers with all the newest software.

As for the price, sure it isn’t cheap, but the software and hardware schools like this have isn’t cheap either, and they are constantly updating it too. We get many students from the U.S., Mexico, and from overseas as well, why, because have you looked at the prices of school on those areas?

I am not saying this school doesn’t have flaws, but what school doesn’t? This is the type of school that if you put the effort in, and work hard, you will get it and much more out. So many students come here expecting to simply just do the work, they figure it should be easy because it is an “art school” and when they realize how much work is involved and how much more work we want them to do on their own, they balk saying why are we paying so much money to do all this work ourselves.

I can tell you why, that is what it is like in the real world and that is what we are training you for.

Pavi can give you a half decent foundation if you no nothing about the industry at all.

AI is good if you want to get into audio post for tv or if you want to do corporate.

Nimbus I am told has a good program but studio access is limited to late night. Another downfall of nimbus is that the night techs tend to take advantage of the lack of supervision and use their shifts to watch movies on their laptops or catch up on sleep. Although nimbus has it’s faults, there is no other school that I know of where you can benefit from learning from people that have been a part of that many record sales. It’s just too bad Richardson and ezrin don’t have the time to teach a month or so of the production class themselves because that would truly be a great expeience.

I encourage people to look around before they make their decision after all these are not inexpensive programs. They are all pretty pricey.

I think too many rely on the schools to kiss their sorry lazy asses. Any of the schools mentioned here will teach you what you need to know to evolve successfully in the audio recording industry. It’s up to the student to make his/her own best use of what’s offered. My son is currently enrolled in the AI recording program. As a former recording engineer I can tell you that my son is receiving excellent training by instructors who currently work in the industry. I’ve met and spoken with them. what is done with the training is completely up to the student.

My education was, to a certain extent received at Trebas (do they still exist???). Now THAT was a rip-off. They boasted state-of-the-art equipment but did not even have their own studio!!! They boasted an extensive audio library. It was a room about the size of a small office with a few outdated copies if ‘db Magazine’ and some pictures of the school director (?) who looks like he stuck himself into pictures where he didn’t belong. Through a good contact i got into a studio and started as an assistant engineer. THAT’S when I started to learn and how my career began.

In todays’ schools -PAVI, AI, Nimbus, etc – students have it so good. No matter where you choose to attend, you dedication to your own success depends of whether you take ownership of it. All these schools have flaws if you look for them. All these schools also have tremendous positives if you look for those too.