Just came across your post today, and I'm wondering how your journey in court reporting school is going. Have you chosen a school and got started? I have been attending court reporting school online since October 2007. I attended Sage College in Moreno Valley, CA online for four years, and have transferred to Bryan University six months ago. Bryan is also very structured and does a great job of pushing us students to succeed. They use RTC for practice and tests.

I have one word for you... practice!!!  Even in the beginning, practice is key even if it only serves to get you in the habit to be able to practice later on!  It takes time to build up the stamina it takes to sit and type for hours on the job.  That stamina building starts now.  I can't tell you how many of my fellow students fell completely apart when transitioning from theory class to speed class because they never practiced and thought that as long as they passed their tests, they could forget what they learned like we all did in high school!  

I would steer clear of online training if at all possible.  This is something that makes almost no sense even when someone is standing in front of you, showing you what to do!  If you do have to do an online course, make sure you shop around and don't pay too much for it.  I go on campus but only pay $175 in tuition each month.  Yeah, only $175 a month for as long as I attend... if I quit, I owe nothing more.  The online program in my state is about 5 times that cost!!!  

If you do have to do an online program, try your best to get a group of fellow students together so you have some live people to check in with, gripe to, bounce questions off of, etc. even if it is through Skype or e-mail.  It takes a village to raise a court reporter!

I would also suggest you network as much as you can with reporters in your area and across the country.  Many are very nice and willing to e-mail or talk with you as a sort of mentor.  They can tell you how it really is and offer their own insights as a working professional that you won't be able to get from your college teachers.  

If you need a group to start out with, feel free to join mine on Facebook, Court Reporters in Training.  Just search for the group and then request to join.  I put recordings on there of all my theory and speed lessons so you can listen to them and practice!

Good luck to you!

Jen

Reena:

Hey there! I'm Cale. I'm a court reporter and also live in Houston, Texas.  Nice to meet you.

If you are just south of Houston as you said, then you will want to go to Houston Community College in Alvin. They are known for an incredibly robust court reporting program, and it's my understanding that they have a very healthy graduate percentage and certification percentage. It's just a good program over there.

However, I don't think they offer anything online. 

I, myself, attended the Court Reporting Institute of Houston, which has just shut down as of a couple of weeks ago and has migrated completely online. They were fully accredited, as I attended that school from my very first day of class all the way to getting my Texas CSR license. Their online program is pretty good, as far as I am hearing it from other people.

Mr. Kislingbury's school is very new. He may be working on getting proper accreditation from NCRA. I am not sure. But I will tell you that his style of court reporting is very good for today's market. If you are wanting to make big bucks in court reporting, his online course may be one of the better choices for you since it is specifically geared towards writing very fast real-time.

As far as interning or job placement, most court reporters work in a freelance method. Unless you are chosen by a judge to be HIS court reporter, then you are looking at more of a self-employed environment. You can always work with a court reporting firm that is good about taking in newly certified reporters (Ross Reporting, for instance) and interning them out on depositions.

But, as far as job placement, that will really be up to you after you decide which arena of reporting you want to work in (freelance depositions, courtroom proceedings, CART, captioning, etc.)

Feel free to contact me anytime at cale@passthecourtreportingexam.com

Take care!

-Cale

www.passthecourtreportingexam.com