Complaint Review: seacoast career schools manchester nh - manchester New Hampshire

I graduated from Seacoast Career Schools in Manchester, NH in May 2006, after completing a full-time course schedule for their Health Claims program. To tell you a little about myself....at the time, I was 20 years old and my parents paid for my schooling there. I was a 4.0 student there, making "directors list" each mod, and also was one of only 3 students invited to sit on the school's advisory board at the time. I sat for the national medical coding certification exam (and passed on my first attempt) before I even began my externship. As for my externship, I did not rely on Seacoast to find it for me. I did my own searches. I went online and looked for local places that were hiring coders, told them I was a student needing experience, and asked if any would be willing to let me "work" with them. I ended up doing my internship at a local oncologist practice. I was there for only a week of my externship when they offered me a full time paying position. I was able to complete my externship AND start my career! I'm no longer with that same company, as a better job came along, but I have been in the health claims field since graduating.

Seacoast's programs are accelerated programs, as per their website and brochures. They do not hesitate to let people know, from the get go, that you'll get a lot of information in a short period of time. As with any type of schooling, be it highschool, college, or career focused vocational schooling, only a fraction of the actual "learning" is done within the classroom. Each student is responsible for their own learning and getting the most they can out of each course. If you don't feel prepared enough, you have your books and materials to prepare yourself. You also have the internet and instructors that could offer you extra help or extra work if you had asked for it. 

They offer "career assistance" at Seacoast. They don't "find you a job", but they offer courses in writing a proper resume, how to present yourself to potential employers during an interview, etc. I'd qualify that as "career assistance".  You can search job openings on the internet just as well as the instructors there can. Show some initiative! If you want something, you have to go after it and make it happen, not wait for it to happen. 

I had several people in my class that never did pass their certification exams (some never even tried to take them), some that did horrible while in school, some that missed classes or fooled around while in class, some that never did their homework and never studied....and they'd always complain that they weren't learning anything and complain about the school and the instructors and how they were "scammed".  I also had several in my class that excelled and gained all the knowledge they could from their instuctors and educational materials in the time they were there. I think the biggest scam is not taking responsibility for your own education and your own knowledge.