I went to Barbizon in Wilkes-Barre, PA when I was 12. I sent my contact info to them via their website. Miss Deborah (the franchise owner) called me and when we (my mom and I) said we would come in and talk, she insisted that we HAD to do it the upcoming weekend because it was the last day to register for the next set of classes. My mom paid $100 per class, a total of $2000.

The "school" was located in a mini-stripmall type thing. Like a group of offices where you'd find an insurance company, a hair salon, and a small pharmacy. It had your typical 7-8 foot ceilings like a home. The "runway" was a small, carped, T-shaped platform. We usually went down the basement to practice our walks and stuff. The runway down there was a bunch of lines made with duct tape on the concrete floor with a few mirrors leaned up against the wall. All we would do it practice walking, turning, and posing. We did makeup only one or two classes.

We would be sent out for lunch about halfway through the day. After we came back from lunch, we would be weighed and measured. Why was I measured after I just ate a full meal? ;)

Since the ceilings were not high enough, our "photoshoot" was held at a nearby Hotel (The Hilton Garden Inn on Highland Park Blvd. in Wilkes-Barre. The girls and the boys were given one hotel room each to change in. They had a makeup artist and a hairstylist (who I found out worked for the hair salon in the Hazleton Walmart after talking to her). The photographer was a man from Florida. This counted as a class, so it already cost $100, plus the cost of the pictures. Our photos were all black and white, and we had to make up our own poses. I can remember my mom *** about them being so expensive. We got one free 8 x 10 and we had to pay for the rest.

When graduation came around, my mom said I wasn't going because we had to pay for the costumes. Graduation also counted as a class (another $100). I talked to other girls who did go, and they said the costumes were still being put together by parents just hours before the show, and that they were falling apart!

I haven't heard from Barbizon since my last class in 2005. They never told us about any local casting calls or auditions. Some girls who really did have some talent were "accepted" into Miss Deborah's talent agency, D&D Talent. Some of them paid another $2000 to go to IMTA (a complete joke to fly to New York just to meet with scouts and not know if you're even going to be signed).

Miss Deborah is a SCAM ARTIST. Barbizon in general is a giant scam. They suck young girls in by saying, "Hey, (famous person) went to our school. If you come here, you could be just like them!" They suck parents in by keeping everything a secret until they meet with the parent and child. Parents don't want their kids to feel like they're crushing the dreams, so they say yes.

I regret going to Barbizon. That $2000 could definitely have been much better used elsewhere.

A few months ago I attended Barbizon...FOR ALL THE MONEY MY PARENTS PAID...it was NOT worth it at all. YOU learn things like facials, make-up, and walk down a runway- which, they don’t even go over that well.

Yes, I made some friends. But it didn’t do S*** for me, it didn’t boost my confidence or anything. Then they say when you graduate there will be agents there ...yaw okay, ONLY THE TEACHERS WERE THERE. Biggest rip OFFF EVER.DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY...but rather find an agent and take photo shoots. That’s what I did, and I got major movie parts.