Experience at New Horizons

I decided to find a forum for support on getting a few new certifications and I think I found the right one. I joined New Horizons through the Workforce Initiative Act in a plan where I'll get certified in A+ 2012 (just got it!), CCNA, and MCSA. I was ecstatic.

Unfortunately, I'm not so ecstatic about this school. I wonder if it's just the branch I'm going to, me, or if this is a widely known issue with them.

If you're not familiar with how their study program works, basically they purchase self-study material for you for any cert you're studying for using either crammaster (examforce.com) or cbtnuggets.com. For each exam, you get a one week, 8 hour a day, five days a week class that is actually taught over the internet by an instructor showing slides and directing you through labs. I thought this would work, but it made me realize how much more a classroom environment helps. New Horizons used to offer classroom courses, but not anymore (at least not in my branch).

So I thought that's fine, but my first A+ class, the instructor was literally reading verbatim from the CompTIA teacher's guide while scrolling through the PDF document during a screen share. I thought this was pathetic and complained immediately and got pulled out. Future A+ courses were great as the instructor used official slides, gave us lab time, etc. With that on top of the CramMaster training material, I scored over 800 in both parts. Yay! So they did something right there.

Then I took CCNA, which they cover in a mere two weeks to take the composite exam. I was totally lost. They gave us CBT Nuggets but all that is are videos you must watch... about 54 hours worth of videos and I can't learn that way. I think I got subnetting down but when I went to take a practice test, I scored about 10%. It was pathetic. I thought after 80 hours of virtual classroom time, I would be able to do better than that.

Well I haven't been able to pass a practice exam and now my MCSA classes are coming up for Windows Server 2012. I'd like to prep for it, but all they're giving me are Windows Server 2008 courseware from CramMaster which I don't think will prep me properly. I asked them about it and they said 2012 wasn't available. I called ExamForce (owners of CramMaster) and sure enough, it is.

Whenever I go by the school, I can never meet with a counselor/aid, I have to either call them or email them. I feel a huge lack of support and sometimes emails have gone over a week until I get a reply. I wonder if anyone has advice for me or had similar or different experiences at New Horizons. I'd love to hear them.

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Comments

ghoul

I've never heard of new horizons, but it sounds to me like you'd be much better off setting similar goals but just doing self study at your own pace. 2 weeks to a heavy certification doesn't sound like a health way to go. Even if you somehow passed, how would you ever retain that?

bud08

I went to new horizons two years ago. It was definitely a one sided relationship. To get anything out of the program you had to stay proactive and aggressive with instructors. I did not have an online course all mine was in classroom. Maybe it has gotten even worse in the last two years. Many ppl I had class with blew it off and instructors were paid poorly and weren't motivated towards your success in response to a large amount of that student apathy.

I was set to get A+, Network +, ccent and ccna to finish. I was able to do all but ccna in time before my program "benefits" expired. I was supplementing a lot of the materials with better materials recommended here.

I learned more on my own with the books and simulators recommended here. I also took a pretty crappy IT support job to learn on my feet as well.

Just remember it is a for profit school and they do see you as profit. If you have further questions would be glad to answer.

dsgm

I just went in to this same program, well i was called in for an interview and then was told it was the WIA program, i have signed up and have been trying to call and email the representative that spoke to me and after a week i have not been able to reach nor get a reply from him. Needless to say i dont have a good opinion on this service to this point

dpsmooth15

If you go to the search block and type in New Horizons, a few pages will come up. Mostly bad. They keep a 90+% pass rate because you have to score high on practice test for a reason. Guess what, they still get paid. You did not have to pay for the training, so I would just make the most out of it. Personally, I can not learn from 1. Videos and 2. Someone reading off a powerpoint slide, book…that I can obviously read myself.

A little bit of research would of given you all these answers. in about 1 minute and 45 seconds

fov001

That is crazy, I never took classes there but my employer usually sends the staff for on-site courses and spend 100k+/year

each course is very expensive (I think is 5k for CCNA in NYC)

Minary

The reality is you just need the Videos, a book, lab software and Forums and some practice exams.

New Horizons and similar services are for Companies who want to send staff away and get them back in 5 days.
I did and online-live MCSA course for 5 days and there was a huge amount of time with the Instructor bumbling just reading out the book around and problems with the LAB servers. They made 30-40k dollars with 20 people in the class. For that money it should be incredibly slick.

I did a live class for CCNA and the instructors were good and I got good advice about non CCNA stuff but there was no need to do the class for the course itself.

They are a legacy from before Video streaming and a new generation who can self learn. ( I hope)

no!all!

Ah, this reminds me of ComputerTraining.com where you could get your MCP, MCSA and MCSE in just six months! As for your CCNA in two weeks? That's asking a lot. Sounds like you've got yourself in quite a pickle...

Stilgar1973

I have A+, Net+, Sec+, CCENT.

I did a classroom course for CCNA 8 years ago. I did a classroom course for A+ 9 years ago, I did a classroom course for the Net+ 5 years ago.

I kind of had an epiphany.
All three of those classroom courses where people reading from a book. The same damned book I would be reading if I self studied at home. Now, I had the advantage of being able to peg my teacher with questions, but that was the only advantage.

I happen to work in IT, so if I have a head scratching question I should be able to find someone to go to to ask. If that didn't work there is the internet.

The classes I took where all one shot deals. It wasn't a 'program' like you are describing. I am thankful for this. Almost 2 years ago I was in the middle of studying for the CCENT when my Father passed away. Talk about an event shooting your plans to hell.
Because I was self studying it wasn't a big deal. 10 months later I dusted off the books and started over.

My resources:

Safari Online, Cram.com, Evernote.com and Bosom is my choice for a net simulator.

Stilgar1973

Minary wrote: »

The reality is you just need the Videos, a book, lab software and Forums and some practice exams.

New Horizons and similar services are for Companies who want to send staff away and get them back in 5 days.
I did and online-live MCSA course for 5 days and there was a huge amount of time with the Instructor bumbling just reading out the book around and problems with the LAB servers. They made 30-40k dollars with 20 people in the class. For that money it should be incredibly slick.

I did a live class for CCNA and the instructors were good and I got good advice about non CCNA stuff but there was no need to do the class for the course itself.

They are a legacy from before Video streaming and a new generation who can self learn. ( I hope)

yep, yep, yep. What this guy said.

advanex1

I would get your money back if you're still within the refund time. I'm still paying down my sallie mae loans to that school and was less than impressed. They are not flexible. If you move at any time, they will not transfer your benefits. Your benefits are on a "timer" if you go past that timer then you are no longer able to use materials, vouchers, or classes.

They are terrible, I regret all $10,000 spent on that school (more with interest). I'd take back 9 years of my life to make a different decision if I could. I know I'm a bit late on this, but I hope it helps you.

It took me until I deployed to Iraq to realize that I don't need others help (other than books and CBT's). I believe boot camps to be a waste of time and money. Good luck.

Zazzler

So I bought training through LearnSmart for their Microsoft library. It was 2 years for I think $1,500... somewhere in there.

I posted this on a previous thread:

I did receive an email and I attached their email, perhaps it might be helpful:

We’ll Pay Just to Try Us Out.

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Try LearnSmart now and we'll pay for your next exam -- whether you stick with us or not! And if you do stick with us, we'll pay for your vouchers for a full two years.Taking Your Exam Free is Easy!

Getting your free voucher for trying LearnSmart is simple. Just sign up through one of our friendly sales reps now and you're eligible for your free voucher. The following terms and conditions apply:
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$129 non-refundable initial payment required

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Free voucher must be requested within 30 days of registration (voucher request instructions provided at purchase)

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View Use Agreement here.

With my experience with LearnSmart is you get the video materials, study guides, slides, audiobooks, 15 minute study guides, etc.. and free vouchers 1 per month.

I think the current promotion would do CCNA and MCSA (I'm still enrolled and getting MCSE with them while I still have free vouchers)

I can't guarantee that it might be a better fit than New Horizons, but perhaps check it out. If you go to their Sales Chat, request to talk to "Erik" - he's a pretty helpful guy and he'll be able to explain things alot better. Tell him Zach from MT sent you.

Hope any of that information is helpful.

jdballinger

So a buddy of mine separated from active duty Air Force and decided he wanted to pursue IT as a career. He had been Security Forces in the Air Force, but is pretty damn good with computers from a client side perspective, so it made sense to try it out. He called around to a few places, and then found New Horizons. That's when the trouble started.

His primary concern was that he wanted actual vocational tech style training, but that was certification based so he knew that he was getting industry relevant information. He did NOT want to sit through boot camps, since he knew he didn't have the background experience to be able to pass a test with that kind of training. Plus he doesn't retain information well when it's firehosed at him like that.

He was ASSURED by New Horizons that they were NOT boot camps, but actual classes. His other concern was that he was going to be using GI Bill to pay for all of this, so how long was it going to take? Being that you get a stipend with the Post 9/11 GI Bill (and being as he was going to be going to school full time) he wanted to know how many months of benefits he could look forward to. They told him it would be 11 months of training. They sent a training plan to the VA for validation, who also agreed it would be 11 months.

He started training, and immediately found out that they were boot camps. He complained, they told him that it was classroom training, not a boot camp. I don't know how anyone can do ICND1 and ICND2 prep classes that are 5 days each and not call it a boot camp. They rammed him through Network+, A+, and CCNA boot camps over a 2 1/2 month period (the Net+ class was actually decent, it took 3 weeks.) Then they started telling him that they were concerned he hadn't taken and passed any cert tests yet. He told them he wasn't ready, that he needed more time to study. They told him that he needed to start passing tests or be dropped from the program for lack of progress. He told them he couldn't/wouldn't do that, and they promptly removed him from the program and told the VA he wasn't participating, so his benefits stopped.

So in my opinion, New Horizons can go to hell with their deceptive recruiting and terrible training classes.

MacGuffin

I got into a vocational training program through the Veterans Administration after losing my job a few years ago. I wasn't really sure what I was looking for but somehow I convinced myself and the VA of a plan on some certifications that would be helpful in landing a job. I knew I would not like the idea of sitting in my basement watching videos for training. A live stream to me is only a slightly less desirable level of hell. I wanted to go to a school to learn from a live person. Turns out the VA has a preference for on-site learning as well. That meant New Horizons or a community college for certification training.

So the VA set me up with New Horizons and I was not happy. My "training" for Network+ was sitting in a cold room with headphones on to watch videos. I could have done that in my basement, only I would not have had to wear the crappy headphones. There were some Flash based "labs" which consisted mostly of multiple choice questions. There were other people in the room also with headphones on, none of them taking the same training. One guy I remember was also a veteran, he was taking Adobe training.

The Cisco training sucked. Like others have noted there were some people in class that were not motivated to learn the material. Would not have been much of an issue if I was not forced into pairing up with people in completing the labs. One guy I was paired with did not know the material and was taking the class from home, I could hear him talking to his wife. Note that this was during lab time when the microphone was on, during lecture time only the instructor could be heard. No one in the building knew anything about Cisco. I had no one to answer my questions face to face. Trying to communicate through the computer with the instructor was painful because of the lag, poor audio quality, no video, and once the class is over the instructor is gone. Since I was in a classroom with other students not taking the same class I did not want to use the microphone and disturb them, so I typed my questions in the chat window.

My first account manager at New Horizons was terrible. She could not seem to order the right practice exam software and seemed to have troubles getting my exam vouchers. I complained to the VA about New Horizons and I got a different account manager. Not sure if those two events were coincidence or not. New Horizons was providing Transcender practice exams with the classes, they are OK for multiple guess exams from CompTIA but next to worthless for Cisco which has simulations in the exams.

Things did get better. I was allowed to re-take some of the Cisco training. I got paired with someone that gave a damn during labs. I was still stuck in a cold classroom. I learned to bring my own headphones. The new account manager would check on my progress at least once per day while I was in class, and kept in touch by phone and e-mail to make sure I was on track to take my exams.

I found work for a while and my training was on hold at New Horizons since I could not do both. I picked it back up after my contract work was over. I had Security+ in a real classroom, with a real instructor, with students that cared. It was great compared to before.

I'm taking a CASP course now with New Horizons. The instructor is mediocre. He seems to know the material, just not how to teach it. The course is supposed to be six hours a day (eight hour day, hour for lunch, half hour break in morning and afternoon) over five days. We've been leaving the class at least an hour early everyday, and he gives long lunch times. Today he scheduled two hours for lunch. I had probably four hours of lecture today. He stopped lecture early and most of the students left the teleconference at that time. Myself and a handful of other students hung out for about an hour and had a Q&A session about course material and general IT stuff. There were no other students in the physical classroom but the microphone didn't work for the virtual classroom. I was still forced to type my questions.

I complained to the VA about the training I was getting at New Horizons before I started the CASP training. My VA counselor informed me that they paid for all my training up front so I had to complete the training program New Horizons created before I could ask for something else. I know that is a lie, I don't HAVE to go back to New Horizons, but the VA counselor is too lazy to try to get their money back and find me new training. That is an issue with the VA, not New Horizons. I'm just explaining why I'm putting up with the crappy training at New Horizons right now.

I have CEH training with New Horizons coming up. This will be with a real live instructor in the classroom. At least that is what they are telling me now. If it's not then I'll grin and bear it because the VA told me to.

Since this is the CCNA/CCENT forum I'll expand on my Cisco training some more. I took the CCNA bootcamp and the three CCNP bootcamps at New Horizons. The CCNA bootcamp was as good as one could expect from an instructor located in another state. I failed the CCNA exam twice before I decided to take it in smaller chunks. I passed the ICND1 exam on the first try. I failed the ICND2 exam once or twice before life got in the way and I had to step away from that for a while.

The CCNP training was too much for me. That was my bad, I didn't realize at the time that CCNP was intended for a much more experienced audience. I just wasted my time and the VA money doing that. I saw how much the VA was paying, I wasted a *LOT* of money.

The New Horizons near me does not offer Cisco testing. I had to go to another New Horizons that was a two hour drive away for that. Not sure if that reflects poorly on New Horizons or Cisco, either way that was not fun. The weather on one of those drives was cold and very windy, saw a semi truck blown over in the ditch kind of windy.

My experience with New Horizons was mixed at best. I'd only choose to go back if I knew the training was with a live in-person instructor and I knew the instructor was competent. With what New Horizons training costs I'd have to be either making good money or have someone else pay for it. Sounds like the VA is not pleased with New Horizons, other veterans must have been complaining too. Problem is that around here it's a pretty captive audience, not too much competition within 150 miles of here.