Beware Of School Of Audio Engineering (sae) Cheats

[audix1979]

THIS IS MY OPINION OF THEM.

This is to warn ppl who r interested in sound engineering.... I feel cheated, the cse r expensive abt $10000 for the whole cse onli diploma... plus when u register for the cse, they nv clearly tell u verbally tat u nd to pay 3 mths cse fees when u defer or quit the cse. I get to noe it onli when im going to quit. If u dun pay or too poor to pay, they engage lawyer to get ur $$$... Shit!

Besides, even if u get ur dip u r not guaranteed a job as normally the employer in this industry onli employ ppl with experience not the stupid cert...
my frens who completed the cse faced that.... having a useless cert.

its better to go nee ann poly to get ur cert.

Oh by the way, the fees can be paid by instalment and its 600 bucks per mth.... when u quit u nd to pay them 1800 for nthing.....

 

[soft]

you did not mention in your post how they cheat you?

course too expensive?
must pay school fees?
does not guarantee a job?

these are facts and not cheat.

 

[audix1979]

they nv clearly tell u tat u nd to pay 3 mths cse fees when u defer or quit the cse.

It is oso a mistake we make tat we didn't read the registration clause carefully n by the way the clause that state the student nd to pay 3 mths of course fees of 1800 is a very fine print which normally no 1 would take notice of if they dun tell u abt it.

the $1800 would be paid to them for nothing.....

this is to say that you hv to PAY them $1800 FOR QUITING THE COURSE... :evil:

 

[soft]

did you signed up for the course? if you did, are you still there or have you left the school?

 

[audix1979]

did sign up previously and nw left the sch months ago
thats y i say... i pay the fees for nothing...... for just quiting.... damn

 

[soft]

why did you leave? and are you in Ngee Ann Poly now? Or another audio school?

 

[audix1979]

nw not in another sch..... working...... not related to music.... not much $$ to earn unless ive contacts in the industry.....

 

[mikemann]

Besides, even if u get ur dip u r not guaranteed a job as normally the employer in this industry onli employ ppl with experience not the stupid cert...

Sorry to hear your plight, like they said ceavet emptor or 'buyers beware'. This is not the first time this subject has surfaced. I believe we could hear more of this later too.

My take is that the local industry is too small to have such a school to churn out so many 'audio engineers'. Well, to make money, anyone have to hype up the product. The more hype the higher the selling price.

Being an audio engineer is not unlike a musician, you actually need the natural talents and feel to suceed (actually true for practically all fields of profession). Young impressionable and restless singaporeans are drawn to the possibilities of a glitzy, sought after and high paying career.

The truth, even the seventh month GETAI organiser rather trust an experienced illiterate Ah Pek to do his sound than some young punk who just got a degree. WHY??? Because the Ah Pek GOT FEEL MAN!!

FACT!! There are plenty of AIR HEADED, "Know it All", Attitude king and most importantly INCOMPETENT jerks out there who throw his weights around mixing crappy sounding events with a diploma or degree to show for. (Please don't misunderstand, I also agree that there are also a number of really GOOD educated soundman too).

This is the sad fact of life, the same can be said for many other field of professions too.

Thus the same still applies: CEAVET EMPTOR!! BUYER BEWARE!!

 

[audix1979]

anyway nw bo bian hv to pay.... *heartache* beside tat ive wrote a complain to CASE to report them abt this unfair clause....

 

[mikemann]

Hahaha..... if you suceed let me know...... I go to auctions and SAO the equipments.....cheap cheap...

 

[audix1979]

if the others who oso faced this problem and pay SAE for nothing can become my witness, we may win the case lor.... hmm.....

 

[seekz]

Well, i think you're a lil loose with your money. Though its true they are using some kinda marketing gimmick thingy that i can't find a term for.
You should very well be more careful when it comes to sums like 10K or 20K. And even then when you've paid so much, why would you wana quit?
Should at least try to foresee a lil further, and consider a hell lot and talk
to people who've finsh the course or something mah.

I also very "Gian", but i considered the option of buying a few $50 books.
And talking to a few pros, watching how the work, listening to other peoples works. The rest of the money i can spend on the gears and learn myself at home what.

 

[maestro]

with regards to ur posting, i'm currently a student there & am finishing my diploma very soon.

prior to registration for the course, I WAS INFORMED by the staff abt the 3mths course fess in the event of withdrawal from the course. I was both verbally told & informed on the papers.

who did u speak to before signing up?

 

[audix1979]

well hoepfully u can find a job with tat cert....
most of the guys i knew who completed the cse cant find work to do
hmm... its been a long time which i cant remember who talk to me regarding this.... the onli thing is i know it when i gona stop the course.... i dun mind paying for the months tat ive studied but not the clause tat ive to pay another 3 mths for nothing prior to quit.

Nv once i heard of a school that hv this kind of unfair clause....

let me ask u, when u engage or buy a product or service, once u tried n dun like it, u stop rite? and they told u u nd to pay them if u stop their service? Somemore this is not a service or product but education.....

anyway Ive submitted complain to CASE liao... waiting for them to reply me onli

orh if ya pro sae... Ive nothing to say... but i wun let them get my hard earn $$ for free!!! :x

 

[vernplum]

In fairness, you have to recognize that an institution like this is RUNNING A BUSINESS. If you sign up for the course, it means that another paying student can't take that place on the course. The school has a profit and loss sheet like any other business. By you quitting, they are losing the course fees for the duration of the course and it would be too late for them to enrol another person to recoup it for the same teaching period. For them to charge you a redemption fee is not uncommon, in fact, you'll be hard pressed to find a privately funded course where this isn't the case.

I am not taking sides (this sort of thing has happened to almost everybody) but this is most certainly *not* cheating. I feel sorry for you because that is a lot of dough for a student to fork out, but contracts are contracts. If you don't read the fine print, this sort of thing is going to creep up and bite you without you expecting.

Life Lesson: ALWAYS READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ANY AGREEMENT YOU ENTER INTO THOROUGHLY AND DON'T ALLOW ANYONE TO RUSH YOU INTO SIGNING UNTIL YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THEM.

Don't misunderstand me though, I am extremely sympathetic to what happened and I know that it must seem terribly unfair and very upsetting. Just wait till you're old enough to have to go throught the process of buying a property. This episode will seem positively favourable in comparison.

 

[audix1979]

nay i know i'm partly at fault, but if the fees is a few hundreds tats fine but over a thousands? thats sucking blood and the equipment n the cse doesn't justified for the big sum of course fees... well though im prepared to pay.
They actually forced me to pay by sending me lawyer letter in which i told them to give me some time to find work as im quite jobless nw, to pay it off but in vain.

 

[mikemann]

Yeah.... read the fine prints before signing the dotted line..... Remember, Singapore is a state of law, and black & white is enforced in court of law.

They done no wrong when it's stated in the contract, and you cannot plea ignorance as it's not acceptable in the court.

Maybe just share your experience so that others is aware and be more careful in their dealings.

Actually, it's the same as broadband internet and handphone contract. The penalty is justifiable.

 

[mikemann]

Actually the lawyer letter thing is more likely a ploy to get you to pay up.

You are lucky, lots of foreign students have to fork up like $3000 or $5000 deposit just to enroll in a shady school of near non existence course. The money is of course gone for good.

Just treat it as a bad episode and move on, 1K over is not really big money. think of people who owe banks and credit cards like $20K$40K, just the interest alone takes a big chunk out of a person's monthly salary. You are looking of working for almost free for the next 2-5yrs.

Pick yourself up and start over ASAP, and not mull over it. The longer you mull, the harder it is to get going again. That's my motto.

 

[teleholic]

hmm..this whole episode actually puts off the idea of studying audio engineering..i was really interested and have considered sae or poly..but now.....mike do u know if any of the universities here offer such a course...just thinking might as well try for degree since i got A's but not very good results..

 

[mikemann]

I think James of soft can advise better. I never studied any sound course myself. Just work on whatever equipments I come my hands on and learn their features. This is where my repair works come in handy.

I guess definately have to go overseas if you really want to get a good degree in a niche subject like this.

It's just how our education system works, everyone is like "qualified", but actually how many are the REAL SLIM SHADY out there???