Sounds like you pretty much have your mind made up. You have restricted your options to only name brand, as you call them, Academies.
Where there is smoke there is fire, and I personally wouldn't spend a dime at a place that gets so much negative feedback.
There are many good options out there. You just have to get through all the salemanship and find out what the truth is. The truth is you do not need to spend premium dollars to get quality flight instruction. I suggest you talk to some of the people that do the hiring where you want to work, and ask them what they want. That is what I did, and I am not going to a name brand school. I simply found a good instructor that is passionate about his job at a place that has a couple singles and a twin to fly. Pretty much all you need right there. I suggest you shop around and see what fits for YOU. Other peoples opinions aren't always what will be best for you.
As far as DCA goes, I have no experience with them at all. I saw the price of their program and moved on, period.