Hello everyone i am new here ...i really need someone's help on this i want to take an online course but i don't know the advantages and disadvantages of an online course i am thinking about taking pharmacy technician course or Cosmetology/Esthetics course From Srtarford Career Institue but i dun know i mean don't i have to have sum on hand experience -- here is there website
sci-careers.com they say u can finish in two years or less then 6 months..plz let me know if this online course is good or not.

some1 help me plz??

I have no knowledge really of either of the two subjects you are thinking about but I'm pretty sure that you would only be able to learn some of the materials that you would need online. Both of these would require hands on laboratory work in order for you to be able to practice because both involve very powerful and potentially dangerous chemicals. If this is the path you want to take I would look for a brick and mortar school.

Well online education is good for a certain group.
If you prefer studing by yourself then online education is for you.
if you do not have time to do traditional studies then online education is good for you.

Now you must be 100% sure that the school is accredited you will need to call your state education department to make sure the degree is nationally accredited !

Even if it know names of online university like Phenix or AUI. you must make sure they are accredit and the courses that teach are also accredited.

Do not waste your money on non accredited schools.

ohh k thx for the info ...well who do i call to ask ..what education department ?

Depends what state is the school established? does the phone number/address match www.chea.org records?

You will have to Google out the "name of state" + "education department" to get the phone numbers, I do not have a list
example: california Education department
Google reply: www.cde.ca.gov

Hi -

I checked Stratford Career Site - and under "Membership & Affiliations" I see no CHEA-recognized accreditor. I believe their competitor, PCDI, is DETC accredited. Check them out. Don't know if they teach cosmetology, though.
Check them out. Also check out Penn Foster (former ICS and Learning Direct) which are also DETC accredited.

I have DIRECT experience of Stratford, and for me it was OK. Might not be for you. I took two courses - Internet Spe******t and Computer Programming, through the Canadian arm of the school, as I live in Canada. I might note that in Canada, the only real legal requirement to start a career school is posting a $25,000 bond - so here, we students have to be careful!

The courses I took were 100% answering multi-choice questions out of the text. I could have passed them both without ever turning on a computer - but I didn't. In my opinion, they made it VERY easy to get high marks; this helps them retain students and get paid, I'm sure.

In addition to the texts, I chose to learn-by-surfing for the Internet course and learn-by-coding for the programming course -- but the school did not require it. The course was in C++ and they provided the freeware (1989) Borland compiler, but did not require you to use it. I believe the U.S. course may be better and also that it teaches three languages - Java Visual Basic and C++.

There are some courses, e.g. locksmithing, that I would definitely NOT take through this school. Reason: lack of "hands on." For instance PCDI says you get texts AND sample locks to work with. Stratford's blurb said you get texts with detailed diagrams to help you visualize the lock mechanisms. Hardly the same thing. For cosmetology, you DO need hands on. Check out the others-
as many as you can find - it's your money!!

Regards

Johann