Star Career Academy

DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THIS SCHOOL, AT THIS LOCATION OR ANY OTHER! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LISTEN!
I enrolled in February 2014 for their professional cooking program at their Syosset, NY location. At first glance they make everything seem perfect, the staff pretends to be friendly and caring, everything looks professional and legit. They signed me up for financial aid, taking out a few grand in student loans and arranging for me to pay the remaining balance in monthly payments of $ 60. I started classes and for the first few weeks everything was fine, after that the truth of this school started to reveal itself. Slowly but surely I began to see that almost all of the students were coming to school high or drunk, with zero consequences enforced by the administration. Actually, it seems like they cater to degenerates so long as they’re getting their money. Chef Mick was my class instructor, and in the beginning I really admired him and thought he was a person I could learn so much from — not at all true. The guy is a shady crook with a fake smile, and a line of b*llsh*t. All he cares about is his paycheck collected on the backs of the students tricked into enrolling with big promises. The students in my class, with the exception of one, were a joke. All fresh out of jail, or heading back to jail at any given moment. One of the students in my class was a 20 something year old male with a history of mental problems, and allegedly suffering from autism. WHY a school would sign him up for a cooking program and provide him with a set of professional KNIVES is beyond me — but they did. He slowly began to crack over the course of weeks, one time he got in my face and cursed me out for absolutely no reason — I complained to the school and they did nothing, except force him to apologize. After the forced apology his behavior degenerated even further, and about a week later he attacked me in the middle of class. Bear in mind I am a female, he got in my face, put me in a headlock and punched me numerous times in my face and head. In the middle of the kitchen classroom, with a handful of witnesses who saw the whole thing. The school put us in separate rooms, let him LEAVE and take a cab back home, and kept me sequestered by myself. The school REFUSED to call the police, and told me if I wanted the police called I would have to do it myself from my cell phone. Of course I did, and the second I made that call to the police I could see their demeanors change. Immediately the administration took an attitude with me, and I could see that they were only concerned with avoiding police involvement and a public scandal. The police arrived, took my statement and photographed my swollen face. The kid responsible was arrested two days later and charged with assault, he is still awaiting sentencing. The best part is this — there were cameras in the classroom that caught the whole assault. On video I can be seen trying to push the guy away from me in self defense right before he begins punching me. The school took the stance, that me pushing him away in self defense was me being involved in the fight, and kicked BOTH of us out of school!!! I was kicked out of school for trying to defend myself when being assaulted by a male! I fully believe they got rid of me because I involved the police, and they didn’t like it. They showed ZERO sympathy to the fact that I had just been attacked on school grounds. Keep in mind — I was a straight A student at the top of my class, the ONLY straight A student at the top of my class, but that didn’t matter. I was kicked out 5 months into my 9 month program, and am now left stuck with paying for my student loans AND having the school waste no time putting me into collections for the money I owe them. THIS SCHOOL PUT ME IN DEBT FOR BEING THE VICTIM OF A VIOLENT CRIME!!! The assault left me depressed and traumatized for quite a while, and still affects me to this day. I was so excited to attend culinary school and follow my passions, and this school destroyed that with ZERO care or remorse. I had read some negative reviews for Star prior to enrolling, but I foolishly ignored them because they did not pertain to the Syosset location — HUGE MISTAKE! ALL OF THEIR LOCATIONS ARE CORRUPT!
DO NOT TRUST THEM. DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THEM. RESEARCH SCHOOLS AND TRUST THESE REVIEWS, I WISH I HAD!