Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology - Aurora, Colorado

Ella Fasel

The campus is very nice and intimate but because the instructors do not have teaching degrees the classes are often non comprehensive. They expect you to work but you have no time because of the constant studying. Some of the instructors were very demeaning and made people feel stupid for asking questions, something that should never happen in a school.

kt s

I attended this school at the age of 23 and went for the entire two years. This school was next to impossible. Previous college experience was 100x more positive than this schooling. The female"professors" were rude,unprofessional and seemed to almost want to set students up for failure.
Never have I had such an experience as I did the two years at Bel-Rea.
I wish the experience was more positive and fulfilling as my past schooling was. The price I paid for this school, is to me now, EMBARRASSING.
But as always others will have a much more positive experience. I recommend other schools.

Avelyn Goh

Bel Rea has really taught me a lot. The curriculums can be challenging but the teachers are always there to help. I really enjoyed my studies at Bel Rea because faculties are friendly and they make it worth your while. It's not a walk in the park but I felt I was prepare for anything after that. Thank you so much Bel Rea.

E. T.

Very good little school, in a safe area. As a graduate I can honestly say your chances of getting a job once graduated are EXTREMELY high. More than half our graduating class already had jobs lined up BEFORE graduating.
In regards to the actual schooling experience there is definitely a little of the good, the bad, and the fantastic.
For the good the campus has undergone some fantastic renovations, with an extra classroom added and some cosmetic work to one of the buildings. In class there is an appropriate amount of hands on experience (the school has a wide variety of on-campus animals to work with), but this school really goes above and beyond to line up volunteer and shadowing experiences right into your hands, especially if you feel you need more practice, AND these are fantastic networking opportunities! In addition, this school offers AMAZING laboratory classes. You learn an incredible amount but I will not lie--these courses are challenging! But the experience you gain is a major factor in why so many facilities hire this school's graduates.
For the bad, most of it comes down to the scale of the facility. Because it is a small campus it does allow everyone to become a tight-knit little community, but at the same time it limits staff flexibility. Because it is not a larger campus the limitations on staff also limit the scheduling times for classes. You WILL have a flexible schedule, it just won't be as flexible as you think. Mostly because the quarterly schedule makes you feel like you're moving at a breakneck pace. This isn't necessarily an issue for most students, but for students with children this can be particularly difficult to work around, especially if it is a single parent household. In addition there are some course policies that can be rather harsh, but most of this is necessary for both the school's accreditation and for the fairness to other students. If you go here you will be frustrated at least once, but I think it's a small sacrifice when you know you will have a job at the end of it all. Which is hard to say for some universities!

And for the AMAZING it has to be the staff. They want you to succeed and they want you to be honest. (Seriously, they are blood-hounds for cheating--they will find you, and they will kick you out. A common saying at the school is that if you are willing to cheat to pass a test, who knows what you'll do to an animal. And this is extremely accurate.) They want you to be a good vet tech and they want to know you did it honestly. The professors give lots of opportunities to help struggling students and guidance from their personal experience. If you work hard they will be there to help.In addition the administrators are awesome too! Sometimes life throws a curveball and interrupts your studies, but the administrators do their best to help accommodate. They can help you with almost anything. Counseling, finding roommates, adjusting schedules, and in general just helping sort your life out!

Ultimately, I would highly recommend this school! I have a few nitpicks here or there, and a couple of moments I remember were frustrating, but in the end I am satisfied with my education. AND the staff will be there to help if you ever need guidance navigating the job market, both before and after you graduate!

Chris Nestel

I'm so glad after retiring from the military that I used my 9/11 GI bill to attend Bel Rea! The classes were difficult but the school has in place many unique tools to help students succeed. Personally, I used tutoring services provided by other students and teachers then became a tutor myself. There were many job and volunteer opportunities available that reinforced the curriculum which helped me to obtain my dream job only 3 weeks after graduating! Thank you Bel Rea! If you are serious about becoming a Veterinary Technician I strongly recommend Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology.

Bri

Decided to go back to school to get another degree and always wanted to be a vet tech. This school and the teachers will drain every ambition and dream you have out of you.

Let’s start off by saying when I went back to school I was 28. I had the support system so I didn’t have to work that much.

Choose Bel Rea if you want an expensive online course but in a classroom. Teachers only read from the manuals and are not interested in students understanding. One of the best teachers was let go because she was more concerned with students mental health. All of the students I was attending with were very stable and eager for a future as a vet tech. Many of the students had higher aspirations. I can speak none of our students had mental health issues but were striving to understand the curriculum.
When my parents and I were researching the program the graduation rate was higher and it has dropped down to 66 percent. I have one degree already and never had difficulties in school and even graduated high school early. I applied myself, I’m 30 years old and went into this and have been paying for it myself. I barely worked so I could study. The reason I’m saying these things is I want to warn other students that this school is not academically supportive. You’re paying them to show you nothing and gain nothing in return.

Be prepared to watch a ton of YouTube videos and just have instructors read out of a manual word from word. If you ask a question be prepared for the teachers not even to answer you or to look at you like you are not smart.

It was like high school all over again except the teachers were the ones in the gossip pool.

I regret giving up my 50k year job to try this school out. Thanks Bel Rea for sucking every dream and ambition I had out of me.

I will also mention that I was on high honors for a good year but did not want to pay 30k for this education to be belittled by teachers and treated like you’re just another body. I got out with a year left, granted I’m paying an extra 5k on future credits I will not receive which is whatever we all signed a student contract.

You do not get hands on training with animals, you take care of them meaning; you clean about 50-60 rodent cages for a week. If I wanted to sign up for a cleaning service I do it at home with my guinea pigs. You do have to volunteer which isn’t an issue but during volunteering you follow someone around and don’t get to do anything, I signed up with VCA to do this. Basically you’re a body for 2 hours and they end up letting you go home early.

Save yourself 20k and go to Lowry community college. Had a lot of friends transfer there and they couldn’t be happier.

Colette Miles

This school is the WORST when it come to helping students succeed. Administrators and teacher do everything they can to make sure the students have an uphill battle to be successful as soon as they start classes. Even when students are maintaining a 93% in a class, they will fail if they miss one to many classes because of sickness, a death in the family or even just a misunderstanding . Most of the instructors have smug, almost hateful attitudes towards student that actually are good students but need a little help in specific courses. Instead of help you get responses like "what do you want me to do about it" or "you just need to learn to function with less sleep". I would never recommend this school to anyone for any reason. It is not worth the price. You get no help from the facility, and they just want to take your money and then watch you fail, even though the money you are giving them is paying the worthless teachers.

Sabrina Sheehan

This schools main focus is on money!
I owe $10,000 for 3 months of school.
Graduating rate is beyond low. Teachers do not help - you're on your own if you don't understand material. They say credits transfer but they don't. I was in awe when I first started at belrea, but they offer no better education than a community college. Plus they almost try to fail you to steal your money - I was in the hospital for more than 3 days and they terminated my enrollment but were sure to send me a bill!
DO NOT ATTEND THIS HORRIBLE SCHOOL!