They told my father he has to pay $3000 every month

John Casablancas the modeling school? What was the tuition? Could the $3000 be a one time tuition?

Some people say it's a scam. I wouldn't pay any model agency that much. If you are model material, it doesn't take $3,000 or more than one month to find out how photogenic you are, to learn how to pose, turn, smile etc, and to get contacts. So... it's more like an overpriced rip-off than a true scam that doesn't exist and has no product or service.

Do you have real drive and ambition? Print some flyers for the clothing stores in your area saying you are co-ordinating a fashion show. Find 5 male and 5 female models (including yourself), and a good place to have the event. Have the local paper cover it, and calculate a small entry fee based on the rental of the venue.

Exactly as joypulv stated. The schools are not a scam, but they are not a necessity either. Yes, it can be an avenue for some, but that is a very small number.

If you have potential, an agent will see that. Easy enough to get a composite with photos and your basic info on them, and then send them off to a variety of different agencies. They get many of these, but they do look through them and will contact those that they feel have potential or the look they are looking for at the time.

If they want to sign you on, they will take care of getting additional photo work done and assisting you in anyway necessary. If they feel that they can send you out and obtain more work, thus bring in more money, you are an investment and they will do what they can to help. Never should you shell out big money for photos, even at a school.

Another idea is to contact department stores directly about their buyers shows/catalogs/online shopping sites. You can see about trying to start in smaller agencies that the department stores use (where the majority of models find work) and see how things go.