Nimbus 5,
First of all I say to you again, why would I waste my time making such an effort to attend, driving from chester to oxford and back in a day if I had already decided I did not like OAT?
From their borochure I was of the opinion that OAT could be the place for me. What the brochures do not convey however is the environment and atmosphere at OAT which is Corporate with a capital C. I do not like that anywhere in life, esp at a place where I might spend a year of my time.
You say that I claim to be a mind reader when I say that I could see what people were thinking. One does not have to be psychic to judge peoples thoughs. When I say that the OAT people gave answers to questions that the askers wanted to hear, that was easy to work out with a bit of common sense. For example, one of the questions asked was "How many of last years graduates have got airline jobs"? the answer that someone would want to hear from this would be something like "Most of them". The answer given was "oooh, dont know excatly, but I know a good few of them have". Such a "politician style" answer essentially tells u nothing, as if say 10 graduates had got jobs, that could be described as a good few, even if there were say 90 who hadnt. Such an answer could be interpreted by the asker, who is looking for evidence to back up their choice, as meaning that there is a good chance of them getting a job, which is what they want to hear.
Likewise you accuse me of "mind reading" when I say that the students and some of the attendees were sucking up to the gen manager. I have been sucked up to, and sucked up to people many times, it does not take a mind reader to notice such behaviour.
Regarding the millitary environment. In my opinion, a place where people are striped of their individuality and made to wear uniforms, with visual signs on the shoulders denoting their "rank" has a millitary atmosphere. Coupled with the fact that most of the instructors I spoke to were from RAF backgrounds, with their ingrained millitary attitude likely to be carried across to the school, I believe it was fair that I gained that impression.
I did ask questions to some of the students, but only in earshot of the tour guides, so they were un-likely to express any negative opinions if they had any. I have since been instructed for my PPL by an ex OAT student, who expressed a very negative opinion of the place, not the training which he said was very good, but of the way the students are treated in such a regimented manner.
Regarding the planes, yes, through reading their brochures and taking into account the price tag, which is considerably more than anywhere else, I figured that OAT must have superior state of the art planes, or else where would the money go? They were no better than Id seen anywhere else, indeed the twin senecas are actually inferior to the twin diamonds I saw at Stapleford, a modular school.
You say that my post is rediculous, why? All I am doing is expressing my honest opinion of the open day in a well though out manner.
You say that this thread has become a joke, because it started out as "a positive post for OAT" but has turned into an OAT bashing session. If you read this thread properly you will notice that no-one here has actually said that OAT is "crappy", all they are saying is that it is not vastly superior to many other schools, which is what a lot of people are led to believe. If all you wish to read is positive things about OAT, then I suggest you stick to their marketing brochures and keep out of the real world. Indeed they way you leap to the defence of OAT so vehemently is rather strange considering you do not have any personal connection with the place. I suggest this is because you have pretty much made up your mind to go there, and feel uncomfotable when you read things that make your decision not seem so good as you would like to think. Dont bury your head in the sand, if you do read negative things about OAT, take them seriously, and if you still want to go there then fair play.
Finally, for you own good I advise you NOT to choose OATs modular course. A number of people who have actually done/ are doing it have said some quite worrying things in this forum. Have a look at this excellent thread, started by King Rooney, the man OAT would like to silence, to see for your self.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=204650