How long did it take you to graduate?

[Mary Smith]

One grad from our school went for SEVEN years before she graduated.  Lots of starts and stops.  I'm hoping for two and half years full time on campus if I keep my nose to the grindstone.  How long did or is your program taking you?

Check out my blog!

[Jennifer Morrow]

I have just passed my two year anniversary in court reporting college.  I've completed all my theory lessons, court procedures, proofreading, English I & II, conflict resolution, software training, legal terminology, medical terminology, and am taking medical/legal dictation class now.  I am at 140 WPM in speed. I hope to be done before my third anniversary but it will just depend how much time I can devote to practicing.  I would say that at my school, two and a half to three years is average.  By the way, if you or anyone else ever needs any practice material, I put all the recordings of my theory and speed classes on Facebook.  Search for the group, Court Reporters in Training and ask to join... literally hundreds of hours of downloadable sound files to practice to from 60 WPM all the way up to 200 WPM!

Jen

[Mary Smith]

Sounds like you go to a good school!

[Cale McCabe]

Hey, Mary! I'm Cale.

It took me two and-a-half years from my first day of theory to passing my certification exam. Then again, I was straight out of high school when I went into my court reporting school, so I was still kind of in "school mode" at that stage in my life. I can empathize for a person in mid-30's or mid-40's going back to school after years of serving in the American workforce. It's definitely a readjustment and may take them longer to graduate school and get certified. 

However, I'm a firm believer that you can focus your mind into full-on "school mode" again if you made it your intention. So definitely don't let any part of your background, age, or living situation hold you back from kicking butt in school. It's all about how much of yourself you want to bring to the table when it comes to practicing and getting really good at court reporting. Just like anything else in life.

You mentioned that you hope that it will take you two and-a-half years to complete your program. I love your attitude, because I feel that that amount of time is extremely realistic and healthy. It's not too long and not too short and intense. It's perfect.

Feel free to contact me anytime at [e-mail]

Take care, Mary!

-Cale

www.passthecourtreportingexam.com