IT Support

My Merit America Experience was nothing short of amazing. At a time where I felt I was at my lowest, I found Merit America via email and decided to bet on myself. The staff at Merit America are truly incredible, passionate, and will be in your corner every step of the way. Even after you finish your track and find that worthwhile career, Merit America will be available to assist with their valuable resources. You will truly be a Merit American for life! I recommend anyone looking to change their career trajectory at any point of their life to look no further than Merit America.

I had discovered Merit America in May of 2021 when I had just lost my full-time position as a Massage Therapist (due to the pandemic) and was supplementing my income with Doordash. I'd needed to grow into something else that could support me financially and didn't have other existing skillsets that could bridge this gap in my career at the time, so had decided to go for it and applied for the IT Support track!Merit America was a life-changing experience for me, in terms of the amount of resources it provided and the doors it opened. Going to university wasn't accessible to me right out of high school for several reasons, and I didn't have the professional skillsets or the social networking knowledge that this program brings to the table. The support of my coach and peers was also instrumental in keeping me going through my program, as I was very anxious about what direction I could take my career in and what this could look like as someone who was very used to healthcare and not tech.I had gotten started in a new role within a few short months of finishing my program, after I'd continued to network and knock on the doors that were around me, but will echo what others have mentioned in that these are extremely rigorous programs. They're designed to help you get brought up-to-speed with technical material and to get started in a new role as soon as possible (and my course did require a commitment of 20+ hours a week, that I personally chose to raise to 30+), and I couldn't be more grateful that I was able to do just that over the course of less than 7 months!

My experience with Merit America was truly phenomenal! Don’t just take my word for it—check out my story on Merit America’s Promoted podcast, Season 1, Episode 11, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. I should also note that no I was not paid to share my story on the podcast and no I am not being paid to leave my review.
I completed the IT Support track, and it has opened countless doors for me. The curriculum is not only rigorous but also provides the foundational knowledge needed for real-world scenarios. Beyond that, my coaches supported me every step of the way, making the journey even more rewarding.
I highly recommend Merit America to anyone considering it. The program’s value goes far beyond its cost—you gain motivating support from dedicated coaches, engaging monthly events, a powerful network of alumni (including myself!), and lifelong resources to help you thrive. You're never alone in this journey. Instead, you're part of a lifelong learning community with a village behind you every step of the way!

Merrit America can be a great program for individuals who already have a decent amount of knowledge in whatever subject they’re choosing to participate in. But if you’re someone with zero experience or knowledge, It’s extremely challenging to keep up with the pace of learning that’s expected of you. The material you study is on Coursera, which is divided into weekly modules but at Merit America, you’re expected to complete like three of those weekly models in only one week. For me personally that was too much too fast. They were not willing to let me learn at a slower pace so I dropped out of the program. Not to mention the fact that you’re paying nearly $6000 to participate in this program when you can get the IT certificate for $300 if you do it on your own. So essentially you’re paying $5700 for the “ guidance” of course instructor. And I use the word guidance very lightly because there was not much of it. So really, I don’t see the point in paying that much money for someone to help me who doesn’t even really have the time to help me. The whole time I participated in the course I was basically learning everything on my own, so it made absolutely no sense to pay $5000 for something that I could pay $300 for instead.

I absolutely made a big fat mistake by choosing Merit America to use my Amazon benefits. Their instructors, stuff, support team has been ignoring my emails since I had made serious effort to unenroll from their program when I saw their nonsense syllabus. Can someone explain to me what IT support specialist has to do with ChatGPT ?? But their first week lecture were fully reserved for ChatGPT. I had worked as an IT technician in the overseas government hospital for number of years and I assure yo, you'll not learn anything useful to become an IT Support specialist. It's absolutely ridiculous, and they rob you with no gun. So look elsewhere.

FLAWS OF THE CURRICULUMThe school doesn't focus on the technical work as much. It crams resume learning, linkedin networking, and other unnecessary things at you while you try to soak the knowledge and learn the technical work. ANYTHING OTHER THAN TECHNICAL WORK SHOULD BE EITHER OPTIONAL OR AT THE END OF THE TECHNICAL WORK. Because not everyone needs to build their resumes or network. Some I have interacted with on the course, said they don't need this resume and networking stuff because they already have good resumes and networks with people. Learning about resume and networking SHOULD be optional. Most of us are here to learn a new skill, so most of us want to focus on the technical work without having resumes, and networking looming behind us. The point is, we all feel our time is being wasted when we don't need these things. Oh not only that but they demand weekly squad meetings, 2 1 on 1 coach meetings, and bi weekly small group meetings. Again, a lot of us don't need all of these. Its just a time suck. These meetings are only there for discussing resumes, and networking. Which most do not need. ADVICE FOR APPLICANTSNow that this school has revealed it's colors, I will give advice to anyone wanting to join. If you want just the skills to get into an IT job yourself without any unnecessary things holding you down, DON'T JOIN THIS SCHOOL. JUST PURCHASE THE COURSERA COURSE ON YOUR OWN, ITS CHEAPER THAT WAY. And then from there, you can learn more about IT and go deeper into it, like if you want to study IT networking more, go and take the courses for that, like CCNA. But if you WANT to learn how to network with people, and learn how to build resumes, AND do technical work; go ahead and try this course out, it might be for you. Oh and expect to have mandatory meetings in the future. and a lot of them. weekly squad (two hours), bi weekly small groups(1 hour), and 1 on 1 coach (30 min, twice a month). By the way once your in, and sign the loan agreement, you're paying no matter what, so just think before you go into this course. I sure didn't. So Take my advice and decide if this is really for you.ConclusionThe Curriculum is just very bad. I hope they take it as constructed criticism to improve their flawed course in the end for the better for everyone. Again to improve, I'd suggest you just make resume and networking learning optional. And lessen mandatory meetings.

I made the decision to enroll in the program after a lot of discussion, research, and thought. The program failed on multiple levels. The vast majority of the content on their website seems to be driven by marketing and revenue, and is in no way truthful. They can't seem to back up the numbers they boast. I applied for well over 100 jobs without even one interview to show for it. I am still unemployed and even further away from a new career than before. I am no longer pursuing tech as a career because Merit America eroded my faith and trust. There is no way I will ever recommend this program to anyone. If I knew where to report them I would.

I have recently graduated from Merit America and have quickly found a new job using all of the knowledge that I have studied. This is a rigorous and fast paced course that definitely takes a lot of time and commitment, but the technical and professional knowledge I have gained is immense. The people I have met throughout my cohort and coaches during this program have all been wonderful and inspiring.   This course has directly led to me getting a new job at a much higher rate. I couldn't be more thankful for these people and this organization!  

Merit America is a wonderful program that is wholly committed to helping working adults excel in the IT industry. Throughout the process, I was supported by an exceptional coach and team members. That support continues today in the form of Alumni services, furthering illustrating Merits America's desire to catapult its students into their success. Their passion and tireless efforts exerted on behalf of their students are truly inspiring, and I consider myself fortunate to have been apart of a game-changing program such as this. 

Great blend of online and in person training and offers flexibility for working adults.No upfront cost.Amazing support from staff and affiliates. They really care about your success and advancement of your career.Highly selective 13 week program that is very informative, easy to follow for the most part, and detailed.