is CRAS university a scam?

[SpockAndStep]

I have been looking at colleges ever since freshmen year, and I have recently come across a university called CRAS (Conseratory of Recording Arts and Sciences). I've never heard of it before and the reviews and their website seem a little sketchy to me. can someone verify that it's not a scam? a graduate perhaps?

 

[Amiers]

You get out of it what you put in. If you put money in and no work you will get the references outta it and maybe a job. If you put work in and network the teachers will toss you work to see what you can do outside of school. Our warehouse was fueled by CRAS kids for interns who most became employees Pre-COVID. Right now the only thing you will get out of it is a fancy piece of paper to maybe later get a job cause ya know COVID.

 

[TimMc]

About 12 years ago I participated in the first "Complete FOH Engineer" seminar by Robert Scovill (RUSH, Tom Petty, Matchbox 20, plenty of others) and used the CRAS Gilbert, AZ campus for the 3 days. The seminar was not part of CRAS, they were only the host facility. We had minimal interaction with students but more with staff and faculty. Here's what I noticed:

The faculty and staff I met seemed to be dedicated industry instructors. They spent time with their students. The students? Plenty of kids wearing the latest Che t-shirt or whatever was clever in mostly black. Then there were the students who, when invited to go out for beers responded (I overheard it) "love to but I was able to get an hour in the mixing suite and then Sally's band is playing a set and they asked me to come mix." There were more than 1 or 2 students who appeared to have the focus and dedication to get something out of their education. CRAS also had a "live show room" before Empty Sheet did.

When I get a resume from a CRAS graduate it's *usually* free of misspelled words and is not identical to others that come from CRAS grads. My experience with "Empty Sheet" (the opposite of a full sail) is that every resume I get is identical, right down to the spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. I'm far more inclined to interview the CRAS students.

Now most of that was over a decade ago. Things change. I have no idea what it was like in 2019. Right now I'd probably not sign up for a trade school education until hands-on, in person learning can take place. One needs to see and hear what other students are doing and to get one on one time with in person instructors.

I also tend to dismiss online reviews... too many folks out there that leave either a glowing or deeply negative review for the screwiest of reasons.