I've gone to both DCA and ATP, and I liked both even though they are a different like night and day. DCA will literally try to squeeze all of your money out of ya, but they probably have one of the best educations however if your looking to put a down payment on a house think again. They might quote you at 70k or 60k, but in actuality you will end up paying close to 90k-100k and when they get their new cirrus on line it will jump to at least 120k. I still live right next to DCA and have lots of friends who are there. I left because I couldn't pay that much money. So I went to ATP. ATP is a very cheap, quick and efficient school. Hands down I would have to say that DCA has the better education, but you'll be doing the same thing anywhere just at ATP you'll get more multi time. If you need to know more, let me know I can give you the run down on anything at ATP or DCA. I would suggest DCA for your private, instrument and then the rest at ATP because at DCA you'll get a great basis of aviation and then ATP will be easier for ya. But keep in mind you'll pay an arm and a leg at DCA so it might just be better to go to ATP.