I learnt to fly at RVAC just over 20 years ago, and went on to be an instructor there. When I walked in the door, without a clue, I was pounced upon by an instructor (in those days instructors were only paid for flying time, and had to sign their own students - so new meat through the door was fair game.) I signed up, and that instructor became "my" instructor for the PPL.
While he was a nice guy, unbeknown to me he was a brand new grade 3 and with a fresh instructor ticket was competent, but not great. I may even have been his first student. As a consequence I took longer to solo than perhaps I would have, had I had a more experienced instructor. In fact my rough landings were eventually sorted by a grade 2 in one session, after several wasted sessions without progress. This cost me quite a few dollars.
So, unless things have changed, ALL of the schools are populated by new CPLs with new instructor tickets looking for hours more than (perhaps) being committed to being the best teacher. As such:
it is just as important to be assigned a good instructor as it is to choose a good school.
Questions to ask:
- Will I have one instructor throughout the course, or be assigned different instructors for each lesson?
- Who will be my instructor? I would like to meet them. How long have they been instructing here?
Now note, while a brand new grade 3 is perhaps someone to avoid, so also is the oldest, world weary bloke in the corner. Experienced enough to know how to fix problems not in the manual, but young enough to still be keen on the job is your best bet. A new grade 2. (Choose an experienced grade 2, and they might move on before you've finished the course!)
Remember - you are the customer. Never be hesitant to request a different instructor if the one assigned isn't suitable!
Forget about "brand names". Everyone gets exactly the same licence. It is your subsequent work history which will be looked at and asked about in interviews.