Complaint Review: Ultimate Medical Academy - Clearwater Florida

I am currently attending UMA and I was also lead on. I originally was seeking courses for a Pharmacy Technician and was swindled into taking up an Associates MAA course. I have been maintaining a 4.0 GPA since the beginning, I have received several academic awards, and a laptop, but I am not completely satisfied with UMA, every instructor does not care about their student's success, I only care for two out of the five advisors I've had. The finance department is clueless and dishonest. But after reading the post of one of UMA's finest, I'm no longer surprised by their lack of professionalism. If someone like that employee is representing UMA, it's already evident that we chose the wrong school. 

UMA should not teach Integrity if they don't practice it!

   Ms.WrongChoice

I am a student at UMA Online in the Associates program for Medical Billing and Coding. I first attended the courses for the diploma (certificate) course, then immediately started my gen. ed. courses to complete the program with an Associates degree. Prior to my completion of the diploma course and regularly since then, I have had contact with someone in the Career Services department at UMA. Unfortunately, I have had to turn down any jobs I am eligible for at this time due to health reasons, but they continue to include me when jobs are open in my area.

As to the 'pay levels' expected, these are available online and are averages. This is not a guarantee you will earn the amount quoted. I don't care how brilliant you are, you will never start at the average pay level, much less at the top pay level for any given position without experience. This is not good business for the company you are trying to be employed by and it was not suggested to me as fact by anyone at UMA.

If, you were paying attention in your classes and graduated with good grades, you should be capable of starting in a position that could potentially work yourself into the average pay level. How quickly you achieve this goal is dependent upon how hard you work, how well you work and if the company you are employed by feels you are worthy of the pay level and they are financially capable of paying you. This is the same with any business and is simply a fact of life.

If, you in fact, have not heard from someone in Career Services, call them again. Ask to be transferred. Take the initiative. If you truly wish to be earning the $14 - $16 an hour you feel you were promised, do what you need to do to earn it.

well to the employee to the school, i am not suprised by what you say, you work there, even if i did i would tell the truth. it just works better. i am thinking about going to this school, i have done the application, but still not sure if i really want to go there. i have been to school before, and most are like your school but you just have to have a shovel handy to keep up with what you hear. i believe you said to much as if you have lost your mind.  you went on and on about people and their personal lives which has nothing to do with you. you have no clue why these people are not in "regular college" sometimes you need to be in school for what job you want, not other stuff. the schools need to change. sometimes things in your life are not your doing remember that. and sometimes they happen to be your fault but it is how you deal with it. listen i have done both i have gone to regular college, and i have done vocational college both were no help, i am not working in either field.

well look at most people who have gone to school, they are not working in their fields, that is the way of life now. but lets just make sure we all know that the advisors say so much and promise so much when we know most of it is not true, i have heard it before. and yes the school is too high and expensive, i will not waste any more money on school and not be working in my field. so the best advise to anyone wanting to go to school please look around and find your fit.

 I attened classes online there for medical billing and coding. I too was informed that the pay rate in my area was 16.00 an hour and after a few years of experience in the field I would make 23.00-25.00 dollars per hour. Which I know is not true! They also told me several times that they have a department there that finds you a job a few weeks before you complete your course. I was told that someone from that department would contact me the first few days of attening the classes. Well it's been 4 1/2 months and NEVER once have I been contacted by anyone from that so called department. I have asked about it several times and all they say is "Really? I'm not sure why they haven't contacted you yet. That's odd they are usually pretty good at contacting every student. Let me put a note in for them to contact you." Still to this day I havent had any contact with anyone from that department. I've asked other classmates if they have, and every one of them has informed me that they haven't been contacted either and has questioned it but felt as if they was getting the run around. Basicly I think they don't even have a department that does job placements or anything of the kind. 
  So I agree, they do a lot of missleading and flat out lying to students and will say anything to get them to attend their school.

I have actually been talking with admissions in Tampa for a couple of days now and I have done research on several schools in the area, as well as online schools.

The bottom line is that no matter what school you are looking, there's always going to be someone that is not satisfied and there's always going to be someone that likes to complain when they don't get their way.  That goes for every school, not just UMA.

You think UMA is bad, you should see the list of complaints for Stratford Career Institute.  They offer a GED course, but when you get through it, your diploma is no good.

There's a lot of schools out there right now, competing for us to attend, so some will do and say anything to get us there.  You have to know the right questions to ask them and research every little detail.   They must of done a lot of tricking for you to take a class that you didn't want, to begin with.   Maybe you just aren't good at saying "NO"...

They never told me that they have a job placement program, they told me that they would assist me with my resume and interviews.  There are some that do offer career placement, but you have to pay extra for that.

But I believe that this is something that should be taken seriously by all..do your homework/research on the school or schools you are interested in and know what questions to ask, such as do they have career placement or for a particular class, if you get into it and you don't like it, do you have the option to switch classes?  This is a big step and should take a lot of research before you sign on the dotted line.

Also not every admissions counselor you speak to is going to be the same, I just happen to get one that's been honest and up front with me about everything and has an open door for me any time I need anything.

Let me just correct a bit of misinformation fed by the lady who is the employee from the school. This is exactly the kind of used-car-salesmen speak that gives vocational schools such a bad name.

She claims the reason they charge $14,000 grand for their PCT course is because a PCT is so much better than a CNA. A word of warning to the unsuspecting - in most cases a PCT just getting out of a tech school with that $14,000 debt is going to wind up working in a nursing home for $9 an hour as a CNA. In MOST cases hospitals will NOT HIRE without experience, it doesn't matter what your diploma or certificate says. And in the eyes of employers, a PCT without experience is just someone without experience who they WILL NOT hire.

You do NOT need to take out a $14,000 loan to become a PCT. You can work for a year as a CNA, apply to hospitals, and THEY will PROVIDe you with the necessary on-the-job training. Please, please, don't be suckered into the kind of lies these tech schools tell you in order to get your money.

First and foremost, let me clear the air w/ "Missa" on the PCT/MCLA programs. PCT is actually cheaper than the Medical Asst course - the Medical Asst course is $14,650 and the PCT course is $14,150. So the idea that you believe an admissions rep would try to "sell" you on the more expensive program is false. Secondly, if you were to come into any UMA school asking for nursing asst (b/c somehow you falsely believe that this is the golden paved road to the "nursing" field), I would tell you the course is only 5 weeks and there is no finanicial aid for this program (that's the gov't, not the school's doing) so start shelling out $1300 dollars and by the way, no one hires Nursing Assistants unless they're certified, so be prepared to take the $140 test afterwards and then once you are a CNA, you can look forward to working for NURSING HOMES for $9 an hour. Who wants that??? When yes, it takes more time and money to be a PCT than a Nursing Asst, but the students learn SO much more, earn more, and then can work for hospitals. And fyi - the gov't offers financial aid for PCT program. Now, for those naysayers who think UMA (which I work for the one in TAMPA, by the way) is just the worst school ever, let's look at what the admissions reps and student services employees deal with. Perhaps, then, you can understand that we do SO much more for our students than any public community college or most private trade schools. I come in contact with students who want the world - meaning, they want short programs, completely free, and they want us to then put them into a career and guarantee them that they will be successful. Yet these same students (most of them but they're are a few exceptions) couldn't handle the rigors of a traditional school with 2 years of math and English and foreign languages and sitting in a class for hours listening to a professor speak at a podium. Heck, most of these students can barely pass a GED test. These same students also don't work, have children, have FELONIES, and have a myriad of lame excuses that stop them from being successful in life (my car broke down, it's too hot outside, my baby's mama keyed my car, etc etc). And yet they want it ALL. Even students who are college educated and working FT jobs seem to believe that becuase we offer an inch of services, they should be able to stretch it into a mile. I wake up every day knowing that some of these students need a swift kick in the a*s to get going, tough love, if you will, and I am here to deliver it. In fact, I may be the only person in this student's life who cares enough to tell them that they are ridiculous if they want the Nursing Asst program to create a better life for them and their kids (b/c they wont - its pays too little) or that they better get it together and realize that college or higher education is NOT free and if you want a handout, you will never get far in life. And I don't care whose cousin/sister/auntie/neighbor told you that there is SO much help out there for single mothers who are not working - that doesnt mean schooling is going to be handed to you on a silver platter. UMA offers job placement, we can offer leaves of absence if needed, and we only have a 4 day school week, with class times that can fit into almost every schedule. We have smaller classes than most and our teachers care about their students' success. So please save all the whining b/c you cannot take the skills we gave you and turn yourself into a positive aspect of the comuunity. Please talk to the 100s of our graduates that have.

I have been drug even further into the abyss of lies and ripoffs by this company. They are sending me bills for over $20,000! This is INSANE since my course was only around $11,000 (that's still WAY overpriced but comparing it to $20,000 doesn't sound like so much). They apparently don't care if you finish or not before sending you your certificate. I remained in Florida for 4 months after finishing this searching for a job. I had to move because I couldn't get one. My supervisor for my externship refused to sign my evaluation forms and I was so fed up I didn't bother going back to the school. Ever. I didn't even call to say "Hey, I finished." I also stopped making payments to them because they just seem to keep adding onto my bill. I owe Wachovia crazy amounts of money for my student loans. Those I will pay, but not a cent more to that crazy school. If they do send a collections agency after me, the charges WILL be disputed. If I could have found this website and some reviews about this place I never would have attended. Please take warning. This is not just one angry student complaining because things didn't go my way. This was going on with most of the students in my class (and others) and even students at the Tampa classes. PLEASE look into another school. This one is a true RIP OFF and they will try to ruin your credit! There are other schools in the area. Please explore all of your options. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!! This certainly was. :[