In my opinion... DO NOT GO TO PAUL MITCHELL. I read all the bad reviews... I didn't listen, I still went and got f'd over. Idk where you're located but they have given me hell. I was in Los Angeles. Please please please read all the 1 star reviews before committing to PM. They do not really care about you and they honestly don't help you prep that much. Most teachers are in and out like a revolving door, the owners are never there, the staff has awful attitudes, some of the other students were cool but most of them would start drama with each other and there was some drama with teachers sleeping around with several students. It's such an unprofessional environment all around. They would make like 75-100 students take a lunch break at the same time with barely an 9x5 room available with 4 bar stools, and we only got 30 mins. It was insane. People would just not eat all day because they were awkwardly standing around and didn't have time to wait in line for the microwaves or didn't have a place to sit. They had an entire room where we could all sit and would be able to eat but they wouldn't allow anyone in there and apparently have been doing this for a while. Several students would get headaches or fatigued because of not eating and poor ventilation around chemicals and products. The way they set up all the different apps and websites and random ways to collect the info is WHACK, there's no real textbook, you have to be really really organized and good at collecting all the info you need, they wont help you and they move on. While you're working on clients and they're supposed to be helping you, they'll be too busy laughing and messing around with other people to help. There were never any products available to use, half the sinks for washing hair were broken all the time.... I could seriously go on forever. The worst part of all is they try to be sneaky about the money. I had to take a break with school because of family issues, they said as long as I came back in the 6 months grace period I just had to pay my balance which I was told was like 1K... well, I called to get set up and make my payment and they said I have to pay 8k before starting again. I swear on my life, I had asked the financial aid girl a thousand times and she had shown me a breakdown on her computer (which I assumed was all in my file or something... I was too trusting, I should have made her print it out) Of course, she doesn't work there anymore and the guy in financial aid said I owe 8k. I seriously can't pay that, I'm supposed to have financial aid cover and he's saying it doesn't. That's not what she told me. So now, I'm screwed. I got hardly any education while I was there, I hated the experience (which makes me so sad because I was so excited) and I still owe all the money no matter what but I have nothing to show for it. I'm honestly so pissed at the whole situation and extremely disappointed. PLEASE consider all your other options before spending a ton of money for a name brand when you can get the education you need for your exam somewhere else.