I’m in the process of getting my real estate license (in Pennsylvania). The choice is to do the course online or in a class. Classes (this varies, but this info applies to the school I’m considering) are each just over four hours long, and there are seven of them.
When I began the process, I took the advice of others and registered for the online class. The class is a “30-hour” class, the actual live classes take about that that, and who doesn’t love going to school in their pajamas?
I don’t, that’s who. The only way to teach a class online is to require the student to memorize a lot of details, and spit them back in a multiple-choice test. For this particular course, you can’t move on until you get a 100% on the test. There is no textbook to correspond to the class, so I’m spending a lot of time reading a sentence, flipping to Word to type it, and back to the course. Over and over. I’m about a third of the way through the first of two required courses, and I’ve spent WAY more than 30 hours at the computer.
I’m wondering - is this typical? Am I doing something in a really weird way? For the second course, is the live class better, or can it possibly be even worse?
Any input will be appreciated! I have to do this, and the quicker the better. The lessons really are interesting, but I’m spending a lot more time just trying to get through them than I am learning them.
If you feel the stumbling block is the lack of a textbook/written reference, there is nothing stopping you from supplementing the online course with another text such as a “Real Estate Licensing for Dummies” or the like.
They won’t necessarily be synched to each other, so you probably won’t be able to read the book sequentially, but it shouldn’t be too terribly difficult to match a chapter(s) to the relevant class session(s).
Thanks, but I did that - bought the book they provide in the live class. It is amazingly different in order and doesn’t even seem to prioritize the same way - some stuff I’m learning now was in the section for the next class I’ll take, and something that I just spent an entire chapter and test (and an entire hour) on was covered in less than a paragraph in the book. Very strange.
It’s funny - I really imagined that this was some sort of universal problem, but I guess not! I’ll have to just suck it up and do a chapter at every opportunity and get this over with.
First of all, 30 clock hours is how long the classes must be; it doesn’t include the time you spend outside of class studying.
That said, you might find a real estate agency or community college that offers the required classes in person. This sounds like it would be a better fit for you.
The reality is that in many states online licensure classes will generally take waaaayyy longer because you have to recall and regurgitate very specific minutae every step of the way before you can proceed to the next module. The same is true of RE continuing education classes. They are deliberately designed to be quite rigorous re going from module to module. Online classes are not a cakewalk, they are generally the last resort for agents who can’t get live classroom instruction in their area or have run out of time re available classes before their license expires.
Always go for the classroom option of you have the opportunity. It’s less stressful and you can ask questions of the instructor.
I took my real estate license class in a 2-week, classroom course that I had to drive about 100 miles to each way, each day. I’ve taken the continuing education courses (16 hours every 2 years) online, thru a DVD, and in person at a class much closer to home.
I think the interaction possible in a live class is highly important. I would take an online class again only if a live class were not available or not close enough, or if I couldn’t travel to it.
I will soldier on and finish this course, and today I signed up for the next one, which I will complete in four weekend classes, 7.5 hours each.
For what it’s worth, I knew all along that I would prefer the classroom courses, but my employers convinced me to take them online instead, “so getting the license doesn’t take so long.” Ha!