Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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The Salon Professional Academy • Ames, IA
Studying Cosmetology And Esthetics (completion in 2011)
• 3/29/2012
"They do mean well for all students."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | They taught me a lot about the industry, and so far so good. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Lots of students drop out and then give the school a bad rep. But they don't deserve it because the school didn't give up - the students did. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I went to a good school. The only problem I have is some of the personal opinions of the teachers for that career profession - "fake it to make it" - not something I would want people to know. |
| Instruction | 6 | There were plenty of days wasted not learning and just doing nothing. I would have liked to do more things with that time. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The learning was somewhat hard, but there was nothing that wasn't similar to high school. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The book learning is a long process, but very much needed. The hands on work was fun too. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | They do offer different start dates and also alternate times and days to help people work it into their schedules. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The teachers do try to help the students, but sometimes there is miscommunication. |
| Social Life | 9 | I met lots of different people from all walks of life. |
| Placement Services | 7 | They do like to help you find a good job. They do job shadowing which really helps better understand if you really want to work in the salon or not. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | Most students don't like the school so they really don't want to take part in other opportunities with them. |
E.Q. School Of Hair Design • Council Bluffs, IA
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2003)
• 3/22/2012
"I enjoyed learning and meeting new people, but I do not believe I got the dream job I was told I would after completion. It is in a good location with a lot of walk-ins, but a lot of the time they would triple book someone to perform services that others did not like, such as always giving the same person pedicures and long hair perms. The services were to be spread out evenly between all the students."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | In my area, cosmetology does not pay the best unless you are able to open your own salon with a large clientele base. Hair stylists do not make much more than minimum wage and there is no opportunity for growth or advancement. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | In Iowa you need to complete 1050 hours which is more than some states, but a lot of people would rather attend a school that is well known and more reputable. |
| Program Quality | 4 | I paid a lot to attend this school and do not feel it was worth it. I make close to minimum wage with little to no chance of increase. The school made the career seem worthwhile and successful. |
| Instruction | 8 | The instructors were great and ensured students learned and comprehended tasks. They were available for assistance, but we dealt with some favoritism. |
| How Difficult | 1 | I did not deal with any task that was too difficult. I was able to grasp all concepts and perform great work. The only difficult part was reassuring clients that you know what you are doing. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We attended classes for 3 days out of the week and then we performed services for paying clients on the floor for the other 2 days. We had books but rarely used them for anything but the illustrations. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | The hours were Monday through Friday with no weekends, but one day out of the week we had to stay until 8pm. Being a single parent at the time, it was very difficult for me to stay that late. The school does not offer any online training that I am aware of. |
| Academic Facilities | 4 | They have no library, lab, study groups, or computer resources. The classrooms were typically too small and would get extremely hot and humid during the summer months. |
| Social Life | 2 | I believe once a year there was an outing, but nothing else. Any gathering or parties happened outside the school between classmates and instructors, and although there was a strict policy of no fraternization between the two, it happened frequently. |
| Placement Services | 1 | The administrators offered no assistance with job placement, resumes, or interview preparation. I was able to get a position on my own through networking. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | Since receiving my Iowa license in 2003, I have not heard from the school concerning any reunions or even a discount on services. |
La James International • Cedar Falls, IA
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2011)
• 4/6/2012
"I learned the basics I needed to learn, however I feel I got the most training actually being in the field. I met a lot of people that I still talk to and receive advice from."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Again, because there are only two cosmetology schools in the area, this is definitely the better of the two. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | They are one of two cosmetology schools in our area so they have a fair reputation. They do get a bad name sometimes for the student atmosphere rumored to be somewhat stuck up. |
| Program Quality | 5 | There wasn't much motivation involved. There wasn't as much hands on experience encouraged as I would have liked. |
| Instruction | 5 | Most of my instructors were well educated in their field, however most of the time they seemed uninterested in teaching. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple that were very influential, but a lot of time was wasted. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Had a lot of homework in a workbook my first term, then it declined. We had monthly written projects that didn't really help in the improvement of my skill development. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There wasn't as much hands on as I would like. Classes tended to be quite large and you weren't able to get individual direction when needed. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 6 | The hours are very similar to that of a salon, they offered two nights a week for those students needing to make up hours in case you missed the time you were allowed to make it up. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | We had one computer we were allowed to use, so at times that was inconvenient. We were allowed to check out books from our administrators office but were frequently denied due to books being stolen. Our director was very busy and rarely available to talk to us one on one. I never saw the president of our school the whole time I was there. |
| Social Life | 8 | We did offer a student council that put on events and parties. We won the spirit award at our annual event between all the schools. People were generally nice to everyone. |
| Placement Services | 5 | Again, they don't have very many job postings up in the actual school and didn't help me in finding my first salon position. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | They say they offer job placement after graduating but I received no assistance. If I ever wanted to leave the salon where I work I'm not sure if they would be the first place I would contact for assistance in job placement. I did have a clinic floor director who was there for me months after I entered the field, and who helped me through a lot of my concerns. |
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