I passed my road test last week! Imran Khan was my driving instructor. He is a very patient and…read morefocused instructor. His primary focus is improving the student's road skills; everything else comes second! He provides really good guidelines about the road rules of Illinois. He would also make us feel comfortable by talking about his learning experience. The USP of this driving school is that, unlike other driving schools, Imran is focused on ensuring his students become excellent, efficient, smart and defensive drivers, no matter what their current level of expertise in driving is! He identifies the areas of improvement and the mindset shift that is needed and gives us more practice in those areas. For example, I am used to the driving attitude from a different country. I had to unlearn those guidelines and shift my mindset to tune to the driving attitude of Illinois. I am really glad I learned driving from Imran sir! Kudos to his efforts and sincerity!!

Very disappointing experience with MyDrive Academy. My younger brother contacted them because he…read morewanted driving lessons and more practice with a professional instructor. He clearly communicated that he was not comfortable taking the road test yet and only wanted classes. Instead of listening to that, their response pushed him toward scheduling the road test anyway and encouraged him to purchase additional lessons. It felt more like a sales push than actually helping the student. My brother is autistic, and driving situations can already be stressful for him. He tried to explain that he wasn't ready and just wanted more practice, but that didn't seem to be taken into consideration. We asked for a refund for the road test fee since the service was never performed and was never even scheduled, but they refused and cited a strict "no refund" policy. It's disappointing to see a company refuse to refund an unused service instead of working with the student.

Francisco is my instructor and he is amazing!! Very patient, helpful, and funny too! I passed!…read moreHighly recommend. Thank you!!

The Downers Grove location took my money in December for a class in January. They cancelled the…read moreclass and promised a refund by Feb 10th. They still haven't processed the refund and the number is now disconnected.

I would reccommend a 5 star to this Driving School. Starting from Rudy who picked up my enquiry…read morefirst and then with my teacher Kalli. Everything was great. Kalli taught me the basics of road safety and defensive driving. I had to unlearn many things to get my basics right. thanks to my teacher. Sometimes i feel, the driving schools have a special contribution in making our roads more safe. Thanks to everyone at Michael's

For me to drive again after my ordeal, the State requires me to attend a driving school…read more Strive for Independence was referred to me by my doctor, Shirley Ryan, and Northwestern Medicine. Heather, who I spoke to initially, provided me with great details about the program they offer. She was patient with my concerns and questions even after my initial phone call. Danielle, the Occupational Therapist, returned my calls with my follow-up of never-ending questions and concerns and was very kind. Check-in was a breeze. I then went through a series of cognitive, rules of the roads, and traffic signs tests before an actual road test. Danielle then accompanied me for a drive around the neighborhood. It irks me to walk around in my neighborhood and notice drivers fail to stop at the stop signs on residential streets. Therefore, I made sure I stopped completely and looked both ways before I proceeded. The drive took approximately 45 minutes before we returned to the office when she informed me of the good news. The office buildings have plenty of parking spaces available for students and visitors. The staff were professional and cordial. P. S. If you are reading my review, I pray you'll never have to go through what I went through the last few months. Here's to good health!

I would give 0 stars if I could. Strive for Independence is a terrible option for adapted driving…read more I had lots of issues with scheduling and the instructor Brandon. Lessons weren't scheduled in a timely fashion. Brandon didn't work with me to come up with a vehicle set up that I could safely drive with and was not open to trying different set ups. Brandon is also not very knowledgeable and made the recommendation that I don't continue driving. Fortunately, I was able to change companies and I got my driver's license after working with a more experienced instructor and using a completely different vehicle set up. After my evaluation, it was 3 months before my first lessons. After my first 10 hours driving, it was another 6 weeks before I had another lesson. Brandon had to cancel my last lesson and didn't make an effort to reschedule until I reached out 3 weeks later. At this point, I looked at other options. Brandon did not work well with me. He was calm during lessons, but that's the only good thing about him. Their were several issues with the vehicle that he didn't address that hurt my ability to drive. First, in their vehicle, I had to raise the seat of my powerchair to see over the steering wheel. This made me less stable when turning, so it made it harder to control the vehicle. Second, Brandon made a significant change to how my hand controls were set up. Instead of giving me time to adapt and learn it, he kept kept telling me "You need to be better and make more progress." Brandon became frustrated when I wasn't driving as well in my second lesson and didn't acknowledge the major change he implemented. Additionally, he never made a serious effort to place a vehicle control screen in a spot I could reach. I would not be able to independently drive without reaching those controls, so it's frustrating that he never tried to determine where it should go. All of these factors make me believe Brandon and Strive for Independence are not as committed to helping people drive as they want you to believe. After this, I changed companies and began working with the Master's Driving School in Wisconsin. The instructor was much better and had a better vehicle set up. At Master's, I had a single joystick that controlled gas, brake, and steering. This was much easier to control. Additionally, I didn't have to raise the seat of my chair to see over the steering wheel. This made me significantly more stable when turning. Master's also scheduled much faster than Strive for Independence did. I was able to get my driver's license working with them in less than 2 months after my first behind the wheel session.

My son had Mark as his driving instructor. He learned a lot and grew more confident as a driver…read morethrough his driving sessions. I appreciate that Mark hold his drivers to a high standard. My son was even pointing out the many errors I make when driving ;).

My daughter came home in tears because of how rude the instructor was. She said that he's extremely…read moreegotistical and condescending. When she got her permit, she had no clue how to operate a vehicle after 10 classes. Very unprofessional, do not send your child here.

Great local driving school!…read more A close friend of mine took lessons through DRIVEx and said nothing but good things. The instructor was super calm and knew exactly how to help with road test nerves. They were based in Westmont but worked around the Chicago suburbs too -- super convenient. If you're near Downers Grove or Oak Brook and need a driving instructor who's reliable and easy to work with, definitely check them out. My friend passed their test right after finishing lessons here!

Coach JW is the best drivijg coach person. someone give him a raise cuz he deserves it more than…read moreanyone epse

Gustavo was my behind the wheel instructor and he was amazing. Was very engaging through our 6…read moredrives and taught me everything there was to know about the road.

I had a very good experience taking lessons from Excel. Dave, my instructor, was awesome. He is a…read morevery patient person and that's exactly what you need when you are learning to drive. I highly recommend him for an instructor. To this day, I still use his advice when I'm on the road. He has definitely made me a safe and alert driver. The only problem I had was with the online payment. I put my deposit down and it took 6 weeks for anyone to call and schedule a time. Now there was a long wait (4 weeks) because you are basically fighting with all the high schoolers to get a spot. But once I called about this, I was set up for a schedule right away. This is the place in the area to learn how to drive.

I would give a zero if I could. we were promised a home pick up for the driving portion(it's why…read morethe school was chosen at a higher price). That is a lie. My child was bounced around instructors, one of them physically and verbally assaulted her. The instructor she was assigned to had no openings most of the summer because she "wasn't working." We tried to schedule and were given final drives available after school started, not conducive. I was refused service or a refund to take my child elsewhere for the drives. Excel are crooks and scam artists.

Ms. Sabrina was incredibly disrespectful to me when I took the driving lessons. I had her for 7/10…read morelessons I had, and each one, I felt immensely under pressure, and every move I made was critiqued even if it was correct. she often tapped the break when I was driving fine, when I asked what was wrong, she just said I messed something up without actually telling me my mistake. all of the other instructors I had were great and incredibly informativ, except her. One of my friends recently took a driving test there with her to finally get her license she has been waiting for, for so long. but she failed her because she was barely over a yellow line when turning at an intersection. This was her only mistake. You better hope you do not receive her as a driving instructor. 2 of my other friends also had her a hefty amount, ans have horror stories of how much of a jerk she was.

All the prior reviews citing the inability to schedule behind the wheel sessions is spot on. The…read moreare SEVERELY understaffed - obviously do not have enough instructors to offer enough sessions to meet the demands of the customer load they have eagerly taken on. Sessions book up IMMEDIATELY - and you'll end up having to wait another month to get a second chance to win the lottery of getting a behind the wheel session. Additionally, you will need to pay more money to reinstate your agreement when you are unable to complete all required sessions within the time period.

Do not get manicure here. Wanted to support school and students so made appt online for manicure…read more After waiting, they assigned me to someone else than whom I was supposed to have. Their selection of polish is minimal and the color I selected had lint in it which the student had to remove several times. She put so many layers on that after I left, it got smeared so badly that I removed polish after getting home. They have no nail dryers. Also, be aware they don't accept cash and although their website says no tipping, that isn't true. No teacher came to check what student did as it says on website. Won't go back for other services after this.

Since I live only a block away, I decided to try this out for a haircut when I moved here 2 years…read moreago. The students have 400 hours before they get to work on customers and a teacher is always nearby to help. First they shampoo and condition your hair. Then in my experience it's often the teacher demonstrating through most of the cut. It takes a little longer but if you have time, I recommend them. And the price is right, only $13 as of March 2023.