The biggest bit of advice I can give to these kids is to keep your mouths shut. You dont know who is reading this forum and you've given too much as to your identity away. All you need to do now is apply for work with someone you've been abusing and by the close of business your name will be mud in the industry. This industry is too small and full of too many blabbermouths to be abusing or running your mouth off about anything.
GFS/Oxford is fine. Its a rip off but its fine. You will get the same level of training where ever you go because you're going to be trained by the same kids on the same path as every other instructor. The biggest thing is finding a good instructor who works as hard at teaching his students as they do at learning. I would work for hours thinking of ways to teaching students who were struggling. In the end it would pay off, but at the same time I had a lot of instructors put students up for test and I'd fail them becuase they wouldn't meet my standards. I knew that I could send my students to any strip in the country and they would be (in the words of best instructor) FOOIINNEEEE!
Now this was at one of the cheapest flying schools in Australia, using average aircraft with next to no SOP's. All my CPL students now have jobs. The instructors that were there (who were all inbread) when I was training are now all in airlines. In short it doesnt matter where you go its as Mr. Hat said, how hard you're willing to work for it; which starts from Day 1 of your training.
And my final thought; I had so much to say but it all gives too much away. Lets just say that there are a lot of people you see every day laughing at you right now boys.
PS Which one of you owns the Z3? hahaha aahhhh good times.