ABC San Diego Chapter (ABCSD)

"The best place to start a new contruction career. With the benefits of working on the job and adquiring new skills to self improve. Providing better opportunities to apprentices for the innovading demands in the contruction industry."

"Do not let your child or loved one go to this school. I've listed a few reasons so you can decide for yourself. Here's why: The waiting list to get into the school is about two years. They have something called a Committee where if you do anything wrong, they can drop you. The thing is, what they define as "wrong" changes and it's quite easy to end up being called into Committee. For example, if you filled out your paper work incorrectly because you didn't understand the interface of their system. Committee. You get the flu/injured/food poisoning/car broke down and can't make it to class once? Committee. Someone had a baby, wanted to be there to witness the birth of their first child, had to miss class because of it, and was called to..you guessed it.... Committee. This individual had missed school one time prior(during his four years) to go to his own wedding and that, plus the baby resulted in him getting kicked out of the school. Your hours are audited (this is fine), but sometimes they have issue with their computer system and if THEY mess up and don't send you a message to notify you that you're being audited, it's your fault and they can..once again, send you to Committee. If you have this happen three times, or less (it's really entirely up to their discretion), they will kick you out of the school and you will lose ALL YOUR YEARS OF EFFORT. You cannot transfer your classes or go somewhere else. In addition, the classes themselves do not teach you anything. They spend many hours playing YouTube videos instead of training you. Everything you learn will be on the job site, so you better hope they train you there, since some of the contractors will put you on basic and repetitive jobs for months instead of training you. The school's culture is an abusive one. If I were a mother, I would NOT send my kid here. It's really a labor camp, where they can pull the rug from under their students at any time if they do not jump through their many hoops. Years of work, down the drain in an instant. About 20% finish the program. They consider this a success. This is coming from someone who has finished the program and I still think it's not worth it. If you work for a news agency, please investigate. There's definitely a scandal here that no one is talking about for fear of losing their status at this scam of a school."

"Was there for a craft competition. Electricians, sheet metal workers, & plumber's. My son placed 2nd for the 1-2yr. Plumbing aporentices. Good time. Cleanest shop I have ever seen"

"Currently a student, and dont understand the bad reviews. The entrance test is a tiny hurdle to most get over. Its Algebra, I learned most of that in middle school… not difficult at all and you have more then enough time. This program offers soo much and the wait is absolutely worth it. Im a 3rd year apprentice and can vouch. The only money thats spent is on books ($100-$200 a year) and your OWN tools you will need to work in your field. There is no pressue to collect every single tool the first year. Gradually you will get every tool you need while making great money and getting college credits. Theres a long wait for a reason, its a great program. 100s of ppl complete it and have successful careers, dont let the few who don't, pursuade you otherwise."