Seems kinda' funny to me that everyone says don't buy your job at the MAPD program and then turns around and says get your ratings elsewhere and do PACE. PACE is pure PFT/PFJ...the ab initio program is not. If buying a job is a person's biggest MAPD pet peeve, stop poo-pooing ab initio and encouraging PACE!

Regarding cost: all of the training is done in A36 Bonanzas and B58 Barons. The Bonanza is $135 or so an hour. I flew Cessna 172s for that price in Texas! The Baron is $235 or so an hour. They want HOW MUCH for a broke down Seminole? $215? $225?

I got my ratings Part 61 in three years, spent $13,000 building multi time, got my CFIs, instructed (took me almost a year to build 200 hours dual given). Wish I went to MAPD. Would have been a lot less expensive in terms of opportunity cost.

Don't tell me it's overpriced. One of the best kept secrets in aviation...if you can deal with living in Farmington.

After you put in your time at Mesa, very likely no one would even care where you got your ratings.