getting the right school
JPoperookie
the 143K schools are mainly part 141 with a lot of VA interaction and where you are often at times handed off to several instructors, so you have some trouble finding your groove when you are just starting out. the school im representing is about 50K less in price, and you also get dual rated and walk away with 250TT. a lot of schools broadcast their estimated costs of tuition at the faa mins, which as most pilots know is not true, most students are ready to go by 50 hrs. i know some schools that are bigger (the ones that charge 143K) wont put you into a check ride till 65+ hrs and thats on the low side, ive met people who got out of their PPL at 83 hrs... also look at where that school is located. nothing against florida or california, or any where in the midwest, but you do want a place that has a diverse amount of geography: mountains that are over a couple thousand of vertical feet, shores, beaches, sand strips, confined mountain landings etc. also from my experience, the more west and north west (not so much seattle and oregon) and more inland away from the coast, in say idaho, montana, utah area, the better the weather is on a constant basis. thats just my two cents at least.