Modeling School Endorsements
To Whom It May Concern Modeling Schools and IMTA:
I'm 16 years old.
I have a few things to say about the letters I've been reading on this website.
First of all, modeling schools are not scams. The one I attended never said that their modeling school was required to get jobs. It not only exposes you to the world of modeling, but it also gives many people the confidence they need to succeed in life.
Before I went to their school I didn't know how tough being a model can really be. It takes a whole lot of work and dedication.
If I had just made my own portfolio and sent my pictures to agents like some of you suggested, I think that I (and anyone else who didn't know much about modeling) would be in for a rude awakening. I now know that modeling is a tough job.
Modeling schools also help you learn and practice good modeling techniques. They can give you that extra boost that you need to do well in modeling.
This is no scam. If you say modeling schools are scams, then you are saying that sports camps could also be classified as scams.
They both do the same thing: help you be better at what you want to do. Also, sports camps are not required to play on high school or even professional teams. They can cost a lot of money, too. So does that make them scams? I think not.
Another thing: I'm sure that there are hundreds and hundreds of girls and guys that go to various modeling schools every year. If it's all such a scam to get money, then why aren't there hundreds of postings on this website?
If you found out how many people who go their each year, and then looked at how many people were disappointed in it, I think that you would find that the people disappointed would make up a very small and almost insignificant percentile.
When I went this past summer, I loved it. I had so much fun, and I finally felt like I had an activity that I was actually good at. Also, since I can't play sports because of problems with my lungs, modeling seemed like a perfect thing for me.
Just because you had an unpleasant experience at your particular modeling school, it doesn't mean that the entire franchise is corrupted.
I'm sure that there are people out there not qualified to be teaching classes there, but doesn't this happen once in a while in almost every occupation?
Rene, a girl who was in contact with the company over the phone, was told, "Honey, how do you expect to become a model with no training whatsoever?"
Companies are unlikely to say their schools are required to become models, but if they are sneaky and they imply in phone calls, conversations, or advertising that school attendance is going to significantly improve your chances of becoming a model with a modeling career, there is a strong argument to say that is misleading advertising and therefore fraud.
To Whom It May Concern re modeling classes:
While searching the web for the convention I am to attend in six months, I came across your reply to a mother with some questions about attending modeling school classes.
I found your reply totally untrue, for I am a student of one, and the skills I learned there helped me so much that it is unbelievable.
Perhaps there are some students on the mainland who have had the training and did not enjoy it?
I have attended the classes in Hawaii and they are phenomenal. My family members have complemented me saying they have seen major improvements in my attitude, posture, and manners.
Also the information given in your reply about certain modeling school teachers or whatever you thought they were, about the costs of convention, and they lying that they are a very successful agency is untrue to my experience.
I do not know about other auditions, but a worker of the IMTA itself came down to audition us. She also talked to my parents about the expenses and training costs.
So it was not my school who auditioned me at all, but IMTA. But they still trained me for the audition. I'll tell you one thing, I would have never got accepted for the modeling convention if not for their training.
The "model walk" is NOT easy to learn. AT ALL. My teachers did an excellent job teaching us the model stance, walk, pose, half turn, etc., etc.
They even went out of their way to bring in past convention models (who are former students) to help teach the lessons. (Whom also helped in other classes.)
I ask you, would those past students even consider coming back to a school to teach if they did not like the experience? No, they wouldn't. And to make it even better, they are volunteers.
You said: "But, more importantly, don't professional makeup artists do the makeup for professional photo-shoots, not the model?"
Yes, it is true, but how do you think you got the job? Through the audition, right? And you have to apply your own makeup for the audition. Your appearance is important for your first impression, right?
Well, if you have read this far, thank you very much. I am just defending my thoughts of my experience. I think that the money I spent to go to this school was well worth it.
I myself am only 12 years old, believe it or not, and I believe that you have totally misunderstood my modeling school agency. AND they do find work for their students. If you did not know.
Sincerely,
To Whom It May Concern re modeling school classes:
It is probably too early for you to be convinced about your modeling school because you have not come out the other side. You have not attended the IMTA convention and you have not been signed by a modeling agency.
I am not aware of anyone who attended a similar modeling school and said they did not like the experience. What they did not like was the cost and the results —or lack thereof —in their goal of being signed by a modeling agency.
The things you liked about the school and for which you got complements are useful for your personal life but their value is questionable in the context of being discovered by a modeling agency.
Even if learning to catwalk was difficult for you and you received excellent instruction, it is unlikely to be the main criteria for being signed by a modelling agency.
Catwalking is not the most common type of modeling, so it is therefor not the centerpiece of a prospective model's evaluation by a modeling agency.
Regarding the difference between being auditioned or selected by IMTA for the convention or being selected by your school for the IMTA convention, there is no difference.
You claimed you would never have been accepted by IMTA had you not been trained by your school. Well, yes. And you prove my point: IMTA and some model schools clearly have a business partnership which profits both of them.
Are you believing everything they want you to believe, and spending all the money they want you to spend?
I don't dispute grads of the school get work. The question I have is how many of them make more money through modeling than they paid for the school?
To Whom It May Concern regarding IMTA Conventions:
My daughter has been through modeling school training, participated in IMTA, and has been "selected by NYMC" to attend a "showcase."
First let me say, modeling schools are IN NO WAY IS NECESSARY TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL MODEL OR ACTOR.
Most are just some form of New Age charm school (and a quite expensive one, at that).
Here's what my daughter DID NOT get: a modeling or acting career.
HOWEVER, I went in fully knowing this, so it was much less painful for me than other parents to whom I have spoken.
Here's what they DID DO for my daughter: she improved her conduct grades in school by two letters; learned to be civil and courteous to others; learned teamwork; learned table manners; learned how to stand, act, and present herself with dignity and respect; and that being beautiful was more than just how one looks on the outside.
To me, this was worth the money I spent on the school, plus she got some really cute pictures, and she had a fun time, and she made lots of new friends.
To Whom It May Concern re modeling school graduates:
Hi, my name is Ashley & I graduated from a big national modeling school and it changed my life.
When I started out I was very shy and also very down on myself. The company helped me to straighten out my life and see my potential that I had.
Not only did I graduate with "Most Improved Award" but I graduated with a bunch of people who were not just my classmates but they were like my family.
They were friends who believed in me. This modeling organization is like no other; my teachers my friends and classmates changed my whole outlook on myself and my life.
Being up there on the runway makes you feel like you have power; it makes you feel like you are on top of the world and that you can do anything.
I just wanted to let everyone know how they have touched my life as I hope it touches everyone else's lives across the states.
Ashley
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The Inside Scoop on Modeling Schools
Do Modeling Schools Teach You How to Become a Model and Get a Modeling Job?
