As Go International Model Agency for example recently made it plain, a certificate from a modeling school is not going to impress a primary market agency .A model agency is after a particular look and they will train you without ever charging you money once you are on their books. A modeling school should be better described according to many usenet users as a 'charm school' or according to Cindy Crawford, it should be described as a finishing school. This is because these schools can be great for building your confidence in public, helping you with make up design and general posture, but these schools can never teach you to be a model. As Joel Wilkenfeld, the president of Next Model Management put it, when it comes to being a model, you either are or you aren't.
The consensus amongst the primary market modeling agencies is that you definitely do not need to join a modeling school if you wish to become a model. Quotes ranging from Go International to Next Model Management right up to the Federal Trade Commission all agree that modeling schools when sold as a means to a lucrative career in modeling definitely cannot deliver on that promise and may even according to R&L Model and Talent Management, Inc. prove counter-productive. This is probably because the modeling school may teach the model incorrectly, meaning that the model has practiced or developed in a way which needs to be countered before the 'proper' training by the model agency can begin.
If a model agency charges you for in-house modeling classes, then the chances are you're being scammed. The reputable model agencies will not charge you for any training because it is assumed to be part of the job of the model agency and management to ensure that the models on their books are ready for the clients.
An investigator for the District Attorney's Office in San Francisco ( Laurel Pallock ) recently described talent searches as commonly used fronts for bogus modeling schools. Here is one common tactic. A talent search is announced (often away from the primary market areas) and a number of would be models attend. A large number of these young people are then told that they have been 'selected'. In a state of excitement the would - be models are then asked to introduce these so-called 'scouts' to their parents, who are then put under massive pressure to sign their children up at a vast expense. ' You're child has great potential ' they are told 'but you will have to invest in her future.Have you considered a modeling school ' Under such conditions, when the child has just been told she has been 'selected' and is excitedly pleading with the parents to join the modeling classes., the parents themselves are put under massive pressure to part with a great deal of money there and then.
The bottom line : Do not be misled. Modeling schools are often great fun, great confidence builders, great even for your overall development, but the consensus is that they are not required by the primary market modeling agencies, who sometimes may even prefer you not to have attended such a school
