Does anyone have any opinion about court reporter school?

I sure do have some opinions about stenography schools.
FIRST: If they do not have "live" readers, you will not come out qualified.
SECOND: The Staff should be professional. The readers should be at least highly qualified amateurs. People who read for the blind, or radio announcers or stand up comics. The Teachers should be court reporters.
THIRD: Instructional material, the words you transcribe in class, should be REAL transcripts. Not creations. You will start with creations, and probably recordings to learn the basics. But by the time you are transcribing at 15 or 20 WPM you should be listening to a person, reading against a clock, not a recording.
FOURTH: You should be allowed to advance at your own speed, but there should be a cutoff. If you cannot pass 40 WPM in a specified time, you should be set back to 35, and given that sequence again. It should cost extra. But the specified times MUST be reasonable. The best system has a brackets so that each step is not a make or break point.
FIFTH: The standard for certification, say 200 WPM, should be exceeded by at least 10%, and better 20% for graduation. So the state standard, whatever it is should not be the graduation standard.

One last thing, before you do any signing on dotted lines, talk to court reporters about their schooling, and their school. And, call the Bar Association, and ask about the school you are looking into.

I was a reader for a Steno School for several years while working a full time Radio Job. And my Father and Mother operated a Private Accounting School till I was in my late 20's. The School was Gregg College of Phoenix. Course work ranged from typing and business shorthand to preparation for the CPA examination. I know how the system works, and I also know how it can fail students.

As a lawyer I can tell you that there are SO MANY different types of stenography that I see now when I do depositions or hearings. There's the old fashioned machine that has the five (??) keys. There's a reporter who wears what looks like an oxygen mask and basically talks the whole hearing into a transcription machine. There's a tape recorder-multi-microphone set-up. There's a combination of the above. I would do as Karl suggests and talk to stenographers who are big money-makers and find out which method is the best and easiest (I'm sure carpal tunnel syndrome is a big issue) and then go from there.

i have no opinion because i am clueless when it comes to it. all i can say is good luck with whatever you decide!

Good luck!

Good luck to you from this former paralegal.

yes

Thanks for all your imput.. Deb.. if your a former paralegal.. what do you do know? I should have stayed in NY!!!