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POINTERS FOR FINDING THE BEST SCHOOL
§ Never
evaluate a school on one criterion only. Look at
all the criteria. However, the most important
criterion to assess is how many courses in the
program are directly related to massage.
§ Find
out how many years the school has offered a Massage
Therapy Training Program. Even if the
administrators of a school are well intentioned, it
is impossible for a school not to experience a
number of glitches in the first few years that the
program is running. Look for a school who's Massage
Program has been in operation a minimum of five
years. Ten years is better. Please also realize
that many new programs never get off the ground.
You are taking a chance, if you enroll in a new or
semi-new program and then find that the classes have
been cancelled at the last minute. It may be too
late for you to enroll in another school by the time
you find out the program has been cancelled.
§ Visit
the school to check out the facilities and to
preview classes which you would like to take.
§ Find
out the employment rate for graduates of the program
you wish to take.
§ See
if the cost of the program is realistic in terms of
the number of types of massage you will be able to
perform upon graduation. The more types of bodywork
you learn, the more expensive the program should
be. Many programs are watered down with many hours,
but little content. Beware!
§ See
if a school has a smaller program that you can take
prior to committing to the larger program to see if
you like it and if this is really for you.
§ Talk
to current students at the school to get a general
sense of their satisfaction with their training.
Talk to teachers or observe the teacher's teaching
to see how well you like them.
§ Find
out if the school has a student clinic. See if you
may recruit some of the clients in the student
clinic to become some of your own personal clients
by handing out your business cards.
§ Find
out what the school does when a student does not
have a partner to work on due to there being an odd
number of students in a class. Does the school get
a model in for the extra student to get to practice
on?
§ Find
out if notes are already made for you by the school
and provided with each course that you take, so as
to minimize your own need to take notes.
§ Find
out how many certificates and diplomas you will have
on graduation to frame for your wall.
§ Find
out how much your Continuing Education classes are
going to cost you if they are not already built into
the program at a substantial savings. Realize that
if you have only learned one or two styles of
massage or bodywork, within six months of graduation
you will want to learn more. Figure out if you will
be able to afford this upon graduation if it is not
already built into your main program. The more types
of bodywork you can do, the more employable you
are.
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