Is this right for me?
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Asked by TimN {20}
12/22/2010 7:11:52 AM I am strongly considering reporting as a career. I have been interested in it since I graduated high school 17yrs ago. I am not the best typist in the world and have no way to measure my aptitude. My work ethic and determination will not be lacking if I take the plunge. I am also interested in opinions on how to choose the school. I have the luxury of having several programs locally. Is a trade school better than a community college? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated! 
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 |  Answered by jjt83 {138} http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325293567 12/22/2010 10:28:09 PM | [1 Votes] Vote this up Vote this down Flag as inappropriate |
 | Hi! Congrats for considering court reporting as a career. I know that there is a GREAT need for court reporters, so if you decide to have it as your career, there are great rewards ahead of you. But, before you keep in mind the rewards, you have to know the struggles and sacrifices that come with court reporting. Everyone is different; there are people that are gifted and get steno just fine and breeze on through school, but -- in the case of most people -- it's a big challenge. The heart of your education is your theory. Learn it WELL. I cannot stress this enough! After each theory class (and days in between), PRACTICE! While learning theory, do not achieve speed, achieve accuracy and control. Go nice and slow! And read back your notes, too! It's tedious, believe me! But it's all going to piece together once you get to speed tests and you'll be glad that you made sure you got your theory down. Honestly, I've been through private and public schools. The biggest difference is the price. If you have the financial freedom to pay the private school price, then go for it! But, for the fraction of the price, public school is great, too! Go to your state's court reporters board website and call schools that you are considering. Check out the campus and talk to the directors face-to-face. There are slight differences in each school's curriculum as well. Check out schools and educate yourself on their theory, curriculum, teaching styles, etc. Do not hesitate to stop and ask other people about their experiences in court reporting school. Just don't disturb us while we're testing and transcribing, though! You do not have to type well and fast, either. Steno is a different game from typing. All you need is determination and an undying will to finish the program successfully. Oh, and remember, we WRITE, not type. :) Does ReadBack.org have a message feature? I'm sure there are many of us -- including me -- that will be happy to help you out. But please make an educated decision on which school to go to. Go with your instincts. Good luck! :) |
|  Answered by shastaroxy {38} 12/22/2010 5:38:44 PM | [0 Votes] Vote this up Flag as inappropriate |
Tim, I went to Bryan College of Court Reporting in Los Angeles 25 years ago. Its reputation then, as it is now, was outstanding. The CSR pass rate for graduates of Bryan College were extremely high. I am assuming the same holds true today. Your best bet is to ask around and check out the campuses yourself to see what fits you best. Good luck! Lisle Dewar |
|  Answered by jbergmancsr {1164} 12/25/2010 3:48:48 PM | [0 Votes] Vote this up Flag as inappropriate |
I feel like a broken record because I keep saying this, but I HIGHLY recommend starting out in a community college, unless you're independently wealthy. Community colleges are great because then you can see if you have an aptitude for this. Seriously, some people don't and then they're stuck with a mountain of school loan debt with nothing to show for it. You can even get your academics out of the way at a community college, which saves again. Go to a private court reporting school when you are in high speeds -- that's when the concentrated four-voice practice is invaluable, although I think you can even get the four-voice practice in a community college program. Cerritos college in Cerritos is one that has the program, but I know there are others as well. Great career, by the way! Love it, love it! |
Comments from Facebook | ||
 | Kimberly Clary Pros: Working different places @ different times w/ different people. Interesting environment. Flexible work schedule. Cons: self-employment which means higher taxes, no medical group insurance, retirement plan, vacation/sick pay. Follow one around for a week or two. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Tracy Barksdale I started school two weeks after my 10-reunion. Best decision I ever made. Okay, second best. Divorcing my first husband was the best, but I digress :DFWIW, I attended a court reporting school that is part of a trade school in Sacramento. My education was just fine, and I`ve really enjoyed my career. The BEST part is that my education cost far less than my peers who attended colleges and private schools. They`re successful too but still paying student loans... Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Maggie Mullins I think if you start in school, you will figure out pretty quickly whether reporting is for you or not. And it takes a different skill set from typing, so don`t worry about that too much! Learning a court reporting theory might be fun for you if you enjoy foreign languages. Solid skills in grammar will be a huge help for you. Good luck! Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Beth Nole DON`T DO IT. THE STRESS IS OUT OF THIS WORLD. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Rita Sisk Best decision I ever made. I was 25 when I went back to college again. Trade school is just as good. WE NEED MORE REPORTERS!!!! Come join the best profession there is!!! Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Anne Bryant One thing to keep in mind is how well you type on a typewriter or keyboard bears no importance in whether or not you will succeed at stenography. The QWERTY keyboard and steno keyboard are two completely different things. I know a girl who passed her 240s when she was at school, but she could barely make 30 wpm on the regular keyboard.As for the type of school, I went to a private school, and I have a huge student loan to pay off. I know people who are in the court reporting program at a lo Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Jessie Coburn What part of the country are you in? Have you looked at both methods of taking a verbatim report.? Look into voice writing training and using the closed microphone system with a CAT program. There are several schools which train in this method. Also go to NVRA.org and read history, education affiliates and CAT vendors Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Susan Wight France Simonetti It is very hard. I heard that and still wanted it. You have to want it. A lot of students quit and, after graduation, a lot of new reporters quit. You have to really, really want it. Yes, it is very stressful, but what I really like is it`s not 9 to 5 and I get to be home working if I`m not a job. You also have to be disciplined and not lazy at all. You have to be a detail person and a perfectionist.Good luck if you decide to do it.I wish I had another profession option but t Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Noel Bartels It`s a personal decision that only you can decide. But since you`re asking, Kimberly is 100% correct. And so is Tracy. What they left out is you work all day and scope all night. Personally, I wouldn`t want my children to be court reporters but I know you will get the total opposite opinion from many others who love it. Good luck! Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Olga Amador I`m a first-year court reporting student (I just started Theory 3 module) at Bryan College in Sacramento. And I can just affirm that yes, your regular keyboarding skills have nothing to do with stenotyping. they are two different worlds! As for the schools, if you can go to junior college, go for it (it is definitely cheaper), but I did hear from my instructors at Bryan that it takes much longer, and it`s not as guided as private school. And last I heard, Bryan`s stats are almost 100 percent. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Wendy Godwin I am in court reporting school now taking online classes. I have just finished my 2nd theory. It is a very interesting field to learn. I typed at least 100 per minute on a keyboard but on the steno machine I am lucky to do 30. It is like starting all over again in grade school. It is a totally different education. What you have learned over the years in school about spelling instead of typing what you hear is out the window. As far as the price of school, I go part time online and it will Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Bonita Finan Court reporting, like every other job, has its pros and cons. Having been in this field for almost 25 years now, I can say that I`m looking forward to retiring from it. Would I do it again, knowing what I know now, probaly not. It did afford me a lot of flexible time and luxuries that no other job would have provided me. If you`re serious about court reporting you should look into a school that has a great record of students passing and being successful after graduation...Good luck. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
| Maggie Mullins @Olga: That is one of the things I love most about steno! The mental challenge of translating from English into your theory and to do it while writing on the machine. That is an art! I have heard that Bryan has one of the best programs in the country. I am a student at Miami Jacobs (taking a break right now). I hate the school, but the instructors are awesome and very dedicated. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
| Olga Amador @Maggie: I`m on Christmas break from school, and found myself steno-ing things in my head today.;) I definitely love it. And the a-ha! moment when, one day, you look at a steno paper or a book, and you`re like, I know what this means! English is definitely like being back in grade school. It`s all new to me. I think my fourth-grader knows more than I do. LOL Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Sherry Sullivan-Balagna I`ve been reporting for 25 years and I still love it - the people, the flexibility, the work, always meeting new people and hearing different things. However it is a lot of work and you are self-employed. I`ve always said this is a great supporting income to the bread-winner only because not only do you have to pay your own taxes and insurance, you also have to invest $10,000 in a machine and software plus a computer (although most people have that) and there`s a lot of driving involved. You Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Laury Leibowitz Wasoff Sad to see the comments from reporters who are unhappy. Personally I LOVE reporting, but it is a personal decision that you will have to make. The one comment I agree with most -- if you do start school and dislike it after a few months, get out. Don`t linger for years and incur student loan debt. The physical act of writing on your machine in school is exactly what it`s like working. You should know pretty fast whether it`s for you or not. Good luck!! Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Nika Priestley After 10 years, I still love being a reporter. I am blessed to be covered under my husband`s health insurance. Take that into consideration if you have to purchase your own policy. It can be stressful at times, but I have yet to see any well-paying profession that isn`t. Good luck. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
| Tracy Barksdale Um, I don`t work all day and scope all night. I work SOME days, and I have the flexibility to decide when I want some time of and to decline jobs that I don`t want. I work for some great firms who take good care of me because I do a good job for them. I`ve also had to deal with the other kind of firm, and I no longer work for them because of their nonsense (I`m happy to share the names with anyone in P.M.) And I actually do my scoping on the train when I`m traveling to and from work. And I Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Kim Murphy I can`t think of another profession that you can learn at your own pace, pass certification and make the money we do. Sure, there`s a learning process. You don`t have to work for one firm. Stress is all in how you handle it. If you can`t keep up with transcripts, hire a scopist. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Melissa Macrelli-Powell I like the advice about trying the school! U will know right away if this is something for you! Out of 25 in theory, I think 9 of us graduated! Its def one of those things that u must LOVE in order to be happy w it! I absoluetly love it and love going to work everyday! Everyday is a new challenge and the job never gets boring! EVER! People will admire ur skill and so should you! So funny that the people on this forum who r so against are still members of this forum! Guess there`s something about Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Karen Carollo i am currently attending DACR, an NCRA accredited school in Denver. It is owned by Stenograph. I have been there for a year and a half, and I am 54 years old. Late starter. This is not for the faint at heart, not for slackers. You need a very strong vocabulary. Knowing what`s going on in the world around you would be a huge help as well. Reading books, a newspaper (while they`re still around) is important and necessary to this field. The more you know a/b what`s going on in current events, the m Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Jennifer Tow Hulbert I didn`t see any comments from Superior Court officials, so I`ll jump in here. I did depos for the first half of my career and LOVED it. I was an official at Los Angeles Superior Court for the second half of my career and LOVED it even more! As an official, you have fantastic benefits, plus a fairly hefty salary, and transcript income on top of all of that. I couldn`t recommend working in court highly enough.Those that made the comments to the effect of trying out school and getting out if Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
| Jennifer Tow Hulbert One more thing...and I`m afraid I`m probably going to offend some people on here. If I do, I apologize, but I`m trying to be honest with the original poster. For those that complained about the stress, yes, it is stressful. So are most other high-paying professions. Some people don`t deal with stress well, no matter what their occupation. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | George Ricci Consider trying what I did: Before setting foot in a school, I bought a machine $500, student software $300, and theory books and tapes $200. In this way, I found out if I would and could do it. I am currently attending a private school in Orlando, at 160 wpm.Speed building is VERY hard. Plan on putting most of your life on hold and dedicate every spare moment you can to thinking, eating, breathing, and talking steno.I have been in school for 2 years and hope to graduate in 2011. I am very gl Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Jill Moyle There are some excellent community colleges out there. I went to one, and it was very well-respected. You might try asking the working reporters in your area what schools have good reputations. You said you have a strong work ethic and determination. I think those are two things that every successful reporer must have. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Tanya McCreary I`ve been a freelance reporter for 20 years. Yes, it can be stressful, and you do have to deal with the cons of self-employment, but having been a legal secretary for 6 years prior to becoming a reporter, I would much rather be my own boss and have the stress I have, and the FREEDOM and FLEXIBILITY, than to have the stress I had working for someone else and making less than half the money. Also, as Tracy said, I do not work all day and scope all night, and occasionally take a day off when I c Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Beth Douglas Whatever school you decide to go to, you must DO THE WORK and PRACTICE daily to succeed in a timely manner. It`s a great profession, but does take a lot of hard work. Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Judy Bergman Try to find a community college with a program first. (There are some). Then go test it out to see if it is for you. It`s so sad that there are so many with huge school loans with nothing to show for it. If you do find it is for you, THEN transfer to a court reporting school. You can even get a number of your academics out of the way at a community college. Cerritos College in So. California has a program. I know there are others. It`s a totally GREAT career! I love it, love it, love it Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Kelly Clark I attended school 3 years, graduated, and lasted 8 months. Twenty years later and I have been back at my original school for 2 years and have just switched to the scopist program. I have to add this: Most schools will not tell you truthfully how many hours per day you will have to practice in order to graduate nor how much it will cost you for software and a writer upon graduation just to be able to go to work. If they did, they would have a lot less students enrolling. A lot of students Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Michele Sowerby I went to a local community college where the teachers were office skills teachers - not a good combination! Quit reporting after a few months because I wasn`t financially ready for the job (no-one seems to mention that part in school!) Went back into the field 15 years later and LOVE it. If I can re-start in my 30`s after knowing all the stress of school, you can do it! Good luck. As for proofing tranies all night - yes, been there - write cleanly and that won`t be a prob! Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Tammie Shelton-Simmons It`s extremely stressful and all consuming (if you want to actually make any money). And yes as some have said on here you can pay a scopist or proofreader but that`s another expense you need to consider. Like one reporter said I too can Proof and scope on my commute but that`s what I mean by all consuming. It never ends. Yes it`s flexible schedule wise but the time I take to attend my kids functions and family things, believe me when I tell you I make up for it at midnight when everyones slee Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Marcie Culliton You mentioned you`ve been thinking about this profession for 17 years. That`s a long time to be wondering whether court reporting is what you should be doing. If you have a community college near you that teaches court reporting, give it a shot! You`ll find out in theory if writing steno is for you. I love writing steno! I graduated from a community college many years ago. Great program and it didn`t cost an arm and a leg. I didn`t have the burden of monthly payments while trying to build Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Elizabeth Russette Go for it. But keep in mind that it takes quite a bit of start-up costs, which they don`t tell you much about in school. About choosing a school, what I WISH I would have done is called agencies first and see where they preferred their graduates to come from and go from there. Because there is nothing worse than having the incredible skills of steno writing and passing your state test but nobody wants to work with you because of the school you came from. Tough lesson to learn when intervie Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Evelyn Tirado Senior court reporter registration for exam un April 2011 now open!! Apply soon.. New York courts need reporters! Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
 | Katie Wood All I can say: It`s hard work. It takes a certain person to do it. It`s very time consuming. There`s always deadlines. It can be very stressful at times. There are also some really good perks too. Good pay, flexibility. I think the worst part is the schooling though. It`s tough and there is a very high drop out rate. If you can get through a good school, you`re golden;) Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
| Katie Wood Elizabeth, I`m in PA and nobody cares where you went to school. If you have the skill and your a warm body to fill the job you`re in...lol Thursday, December 23, 2010 | |
| Elizabeth Russette Katie, I`ve heard you talk about PA before, and I must admit I am jealous! Around Detroit here, I don`t know what it is, but people will push you aside over the most ridiculous things like where you went to school and/or who you work/worked for....it stinks! And it`s happened to me! I like to consider myself like a workhorse-beginner. Yeah, I have some questions and need a little guidance here and there, but I will do anything or go to any job. I have had agencies nearly hang up on me whe Sunday, December 26, 2010 | |
 | Susan Falzarano-Crivello Tammie, you are right on. I went back to school after my children were able to take care of themselves, and it is very time-consuming. Love going to jobs ... hate editing. If you do the math with scoping your work what are you left with? Here in NY the page rate is very low. Maybe if the page rate were higher, I would feel differently. I think becoming an official really would be a consideration, if you pass the test. I would find out as much as you can the way you are doing now before yo Sunday, January 02, 2011 | |
Thank you. I ended up doing it that way you do it. It looked fine. I had...
jbergmancsr {1164} commenting on an answer by ebeths {83}
Had this same scenario a few months ago where the witness spoke maybe 2/...ebeths {83} answering a question by jbergmancsr {1164}
I agree. You did it perfectly. In some instances I think it is best to go...lauraromeo {10} commenting on an answer by ebeths {83}
Are you recording the audio from your steno machine or your laptop? ...fstfngrs {1742} answering a question by KD {30}
You know what, I actually love it just the way you did it in your exampl...ebeths {83} answering a question by Shenna Basye-Cara {104}
I think you should put (as spoken) after each one where she speaks phonetic...Rosalie {1907} commenting on an answer by Shenna Basye-Cara {104}
They do correctly spell it as Weis a few pages later. It doesn'...Shenna Basye-Cara {104} answering a question by Shenna Basye-Cara {104}
I know there is a section in Morson's that touches on phonetic spell...AnnMarie Marciw Deis {35} answering a question by Shenna Basye-Cara {104}
I hate it when these situations arise...they always have to throw us for...CS320 {198} answering a question by Shenna Basye-Cara {104}
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