I started flight training at ATP in Florida and it was the worst experience. What I didn't realize is that I had to pay the whole thing up front and sign a contract that if i left before i finished i lost all the money. Totally unfair. plus they expected me to take all the written exams in one shot by a certain date. not feasible. I totally lost interest in flying thanks to ATP. My suggestion to anybody looking to fly with ATP is READ THE FINE PRINT.....

I have been looking into ATP in Charlotte.  I have read similiar post on other site's.  Other than the cost, did you have any other issues with them?  What kind of shape were the aircrafts in? 

I have been thinking more and more about one of my local FBO's.  Anyone have suggestions on that?

Right now I am going for just my private and depending on how all that goes, I was going to try for ATP. 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. 

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience at ATP. I did training at ATP and I am also an ATP instructor. I found training to be a positive experience, however, it is fast paced. I started off in an Army flying club and did training at a couple of schools before giving ATP a try.

I see your post is from a few months ago. Did you find a school that you like? I highly discourage giving up on your desire to fly. Prior to ATP, I lost 15K at a flight school, and it was difficult to find a way to continue financially. In fact, I had to wait several more years to get the financial part figured out but if you keep focused, you can make it happen.