I don't believe a couple months seniority is worth the price you pay for a school like DCA. And, networking can be had at any flight school big or small. You meet the right people and they can help you out. Luck and timing means much more than what school you went to.
Some smaller FBO's, flight schools, or flying clubs, can do as well as the big academies. It's all about you, your CFI, and the airplanes. Hunt around and can find better training for less money.
What the DCA's of the world have going for them is easy squeezy loan programs. Some people will have no alternatives than to buy into a program like that. To each his own. DCA's marketing practices resemble a used car lot and I hate to see people sucked in to that, later find out there were other options.