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VIDEO: How do I choose a beauty school?

Posted on: December 14th, 2012 by Beauty Schools Directory No Comments

You have more schools than ever to choose from if you’re considering a career in the beauty or barbering business. It can be tough to know which one’s right for you. So one question we get a lot at Beauty Schools Directory is, “How do I choose a beauty school?” I shot a little video to answer this question in 5 easy steps. Let us know what you think in the comments. Thank for watching!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hey guys, it’s Heather with Beauty Schools Directory. Today the question I’m going to answer for you is ‘how do you choose a beauty school?’ As you probably know by now, you have more options than ever for beauty schools to consider, and it can be really difficult to sift through it all and decide which one’s best. Now I can’t emphasize this point enough. It’s about which school is best for you, and which school is the right fit for you.

Different things are important to different people. For some people cost of the program is what’s most important to them, and then what’s included like the supplies or the kit. For other people it’s just how close is the school to my home or my work? And for other people it’s about, do they have part-time or full-time scheduling? There a number of different things that are important to consider when choosing a beauty school and everybody has different ones that are important and not important to them. So to make it easier to choose a beauty school, I’m going to walk you through five steps that are important as you’re choosing the school, ok?

So step 1 is to find schools near you. So do a search for schools near you. Find ones you’re interested in and request information from them. So you’ll send a little request off, and then their admissions representatives will get in touch with you soon to tell you about their programs, policies and processes. But it’s also a really good time for you to get your questions answered. So that takes me to step two.

Step 2 is when you ask the admissions representatives all the questions on your mind. If you’re not sure what to ask, here’s a list of 14 questions you should ask your admissions representatives and they’ll be happy to answer them. Don’t be afraid to ask them everything that matters to you. They’ll be happy to help you and walk you through it all, and you should feel really confident in the answers they’re giving you.

So Step 3 is to prioritize what’s important to you. Here’s a list of things to consider when choosing a beauty school, and what I want you to do is rank them from most important to least important. Now for some people like I said before this is the cost of school and what’s included, and for other’s it’s accreditation, and does the school offer financial aid? What programs do they offer, like cosmetology, esthetics, nail tech, barbering, etc.? For some people it’s about the facilities and the salon floor and the tools they have in the school. And that’s why it’s important to do tours, but I’ll cover that in another video. It’s a lot of different things and so what I want you to do is rank it from one to least important. Ok?

Step 4. After you’ve talked to the schools, you’ve gotten all your questions answered, I want you to compare the information you got against your prioritized checklist. Compare each school against that checklist of things that’s most important to you. And when you’ve found the school that matches up best to your criteria that you picked, you need to call them and get your application in to reserve your spot in that class.

Step 5. Final step. Short and sweet. Get excited. This is the first step to the rest of your life. You’ve worked hard and done your research and found the school that you can be confident is the right choice for you. So go out and sign up, and get ready to learn cosmetology.

All right, my name is Heather. If you need anything else, you can find us at BeautySchoolsDirectory.com and you just let us know if you have anymore questions. I hope this helped you decide how to choose a beauty school.

What if the beauty school I’m considering has bad reviews?

Posted on: September 13th, 2012 by Heather No Comments

Choosing the right cosmetology school is an important life decision. It can be difficult poring over all the information on the web, and sorting through reviews – both good and bad. How do you know which beauty school reviews to listen to?

The first step is requesting information from cosmetology schools and narrowing your options. But in the end, there can only be one, and you may turn to reviews from past students to help you make your decision. Here are a few tips on deciding which cosmetology school reviews to take to heart, and which to ignore.

QUANTITY OF REVIEWS

Quantity is important. How many bad reviews versus how many good reviews are there for the school? There are always going to be outliers – the people who absolutely adored the school and the people absolutely hated the school, and the angry ones always seem to be the loudest ones. It’s inevitable. No one can please everyone, so don’t hold one bad review against them. However, if you notice that the vast majority of the reviews of the school across multiple sites are scathing and negative, it might be a red flag.

QUALITY OF REVIEWS

Consider the source. If the website seems spammy, it probably is. Some of the best sites to check for beauty school reviews are the My Social Beauty: Beauty School Reviews and Yelp. The reviews aren’t the next bestselling novel, so we can forgive the authors if their spelling and grammar isn’t perfect. But if the review of the beauty school is completely devoid of information, is loaded with angry ranting or cursing, or includes personal attacks on students or teachers, it might not be one you should rely on. Also, it’s not unheard of for a school to go online and post a glowing review under the guise of being a student. That’s not quite so easy to detect, but if it seems like a loaded marketing message, take it with a grain of salt.

DO A TOUR OF THE SCHOOL

Regardless of whether the reviews of beauty schools are overwhelmingly positive or negative, seeing is believing, so always contact the school and request a tour. The admissions reps will be happy to show you around the facility, introduce you to some students and teachers, and answer any questions you may have about their programs. Decide in advance what’s important to you – is it cost? scheduling? what’s include in tuition? job placement services after graduation? Different things are important to different people, so know up-front what will be deal-makers and deal-breakers for you. Come prepared with questions in hand, and know what you want to ask the beauty school admissions representatives during your visit.

PAY IT FORWARD: REVIEW YOUR SCHOOL!

Lastly, help others who come after you. Take the time to write a beauty school review for others to use as a resource when they’re choosing the right school for them. Try to pull any emotional reaction out of it, and be as objective, unbiased and constructive as possible. What are the advantages and drawbacks? What did you gain, and what did you feel was missed? Be helpful to the schools, teachers and future students with your open, honest feedback.

At the end of the day, you need to choose the cosmetology school that is right for you – regardless of whether it wasn’t right for someone else. You need to weigh out the good reviews and bad reviews, but you should also talk to and visit the school yourself to get your own feeling for whether the school is a good fit for your needs.

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How to Find the Best Cosmetology Schools

Posted on: May 25th, 2012 by Heather No Comments

Beauty school is must for anyone who dreams of becoming a cosmetologist. There are several things that you need to know before selecting the best cosmetology school for you. Before you even begin your search make a list of things you wish to ask admissions concerning everything you want to know. We put a checklist of things to ask your admissions representative together on our How to Choose a Beauty School page. Decide what is most important to you and then plan to get all your questions answered until you feel 100% comfortable you have found the best cosmetology school to meet your needs.

You may want the school to be accredited so they can offer federal financial aid, or it may be most important to you that they have a specific program or skill set on their curriculum. Many potential cosmetology students like the idea of an in-school salon. This allows them to practice on real clients and not just on wigs. An in-school salon teaches students more then just hair skills because you have to be professional when dealing with real clients. The best beauty schools offer in-school salons in addition to job-placements to help you start your career. Regardless of which criteria you decide are most important to you, the best cosmetology schools should have a good reputation for turning out students who are well trained and professional, and well-equipped to get their cosmetology licenses and find jobs.

Remember that cost isn’t everything, and having a high price tag does not necessarily make it one of the best cosmetology schools you can choose. It is important to know the full cost of program. What does tuition include? Is it just the cost of classes, or are your textbooks and cosmetology student kit included? Ask the school if they offer financial aid or financing to help you finance your dream education. Beauty school is a big step and you do not want to make this decision lightly. The schools are almost always willing to schedule a tour of their facilities and allow you to meet with some of the students and teachers. There you can ask about classes, schedules, tuition, how the students like the classes and teachers, and more. Ultimately, the best cosmetology schools should prepare you for a successful career, so you should feel confident that you will leave beauty school prepared. As an added bonus, some cosmetology schools even offer business classes, salon and spa management classes, and portfolio building classes – be sure to ask the admissions representative about these if they’re important to you!

All beauty schools must meet specific requirements that make them certified by the governing body of cosmetology schools. The importance of being accredited means that the schools can offer scholarships and need based grants to potential students. When you search for the best cosmetology schools, look through their information to see if they are accredited by an organization like the accredited by an organization like the National Accrediting Commission for Cosmetology Arts & Sciences. It is not necessary for the schools to be accredited to be a great school, but it does help if you wish to receive financial aid.

Even though not all schools are accredited, nearly every state board of cosmetology requires that a school and its teachers be licensed. Do your homework – the best cosmetology schools won’t mind if you call the board of cosmetology to verify their credentials.