Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

I'm not in that environment anymore, but this plan backfires more times than not. This ONLY saves money if you are proficient in all of the areas for your private, and according to 141 regulations, these schools have to assess your proficiency and make sure that you meet all the standards of the certificate you already hold (to take advantage of lowered minimum times). The lack of standardized training and holding students to standards, DPEs "rubber-stamping"-because "you're going to a big flight school", and completeness of the flight training are usually not up to the same level. I know lots of people push the "mom and pop" flight schools here, and I did do one of my certs at those, but it wasn't all that. I ended up having to "retrain" most of those. If you do this route, make sure you really know and understand the standards. Not just what your flight instructor tells you, but understanding the test standards and what's expected. If something seems impossible or you and the instructor can't get it right, that's probably a warning sign. Good luck though. With the right instruction and experience you can learn and be proficient with the material. Don't learn it to "brain dump" the next day after the checkride. This is stuff you will be using for years on end. It takes lots of repetition and practice.