How to Enroll In the Right Esthetician College Near West Chester Pennsylvania

Since you have decided to enter the field of cosmetology and attend an esthetician school near West Chester PA, the task starts to find and enroll in the best program. It's essential that the school you select not only provides the necessary training for the specialty you have selected, but also prepares you for passing the licensing exam. When you begin your initial search, you may be somewhat unclear about the contrast between beauty schools and cosmetology schools. Well don't be, because the names are pretty much interchangeable and both refer to the same kind of school. If you intend on commuting to classes you will need to locate a school that is within driving distance of your West Chester home. Tuition will likewise be an important consideration when assessing potential schools. Just remember that because a school is the nearest or the least expensive it's not necessarily the ideal choice. There are a number of other qualifications that you should evaluate when analyzing schools, for example their reputation and accreditation. We will examine what questions you should ask about the aesthetician schools you are looking at later in this article. Before we do, let's talk a little bit about what kinds of courses are available.

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Esthetics Training Requirements

Esthetics school is an investment of time, energy, and money. Requirements vary from state to state, but the majority of states require that you complete at least 600 hours of training. Full-time school can take an average of six months to complete, and part-time school can take anywhere from 9-12 months. The primary purpose of esthetics school is to get you ready to pass the state licensing exam. They also teach basic skills that you will need to perfect through experience and sometimes additional classes, such as giving facials, body treatments, and performing waxing.  More advanced training includes learning to work with machines, such as IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) and Lasers used to rejuvenate the skin and permanently remove hair.

Esthetician Job Description

Estheticians provide a wide range of beauty services to help their West Chester Pennsylvania clients look and feel better. This includes improving the quality of the skin (including the treatment of skin disorders), hair removal, permanent makeup application, and facial massage. Some types of estheticians, like medical estheticians, provide highly specialized procedures that require detailed training in order for it to be done safely and effectively. Medical estheticians can help individuals suffering from serious skin disorders, burns, and other trauma, and to help with pre and post-operative surgery affecting the health of their skin. Estheticians work closely with their clients in a friendly and positive manner, so an enthusiastic attitude and desire to help people is an excellent attribute for an aspiring esthetician to possess. Some of the basic duties an esthetician may perform will include such tasks as:

• Assessing a patient’s needs
• Chemical peels
• Laser treatments
• Waxing
• Facials
• Massage of the head and neck
• Microdermabrasion

Online Esthetician Schools

Online esthetician schools are convenient for West Chester PA students who are employed full-time and have family responsibilities that make it difficult to enroll in a more traditional school. There are a large number of online cosmetology school programs available that can be attended via a home computer or laptop at the student's convenience. More conventional beauty programs are frequently fast paced since many programs are as brief as six or eight months. This means that a considerable portion of time is spent in the classroom. With online courses, you are dealing with the same amount of material, but you are not devoting many hours away from your home or travelling back and forth from classes. On the other hand, it's important that the program you choose can provide internship training in area salons and parlors in order that you also get the hands-on training required for a comprehensive education. Without the internship portion of the training, it's difficult to acquire the skills required to work in any area of the cosmetology industry. So don't forget if you choose to enroll in an online program to confirm that internship training is available in your area.

Questions to Ask Aesthetician Training Courses

Following is a series of questions that you need to look into for any esthetician training program you are contemplating. As we have previously discussed, the location of the school relative to your West Chester residence, in addition to the cost of tuition, will undoubtedly be your initial qualifiers. Whether you wish to pursue a certificate, diploma or a degree will undoubtedly be next on your list. But once you have narrowed your school choices based on those initial qualifications, there are additional factors that you must research and take into consideration before enrolling in a cosmetology program. Below we have put together several of those additional questions that you need to ask each school before making a final decision.

Is the Esthetician School Accredited? It's necessary to make certain that the esthetician training program you enroll in is accredited. The accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized local or national agency, such as the National Accrediting Commission for Cosmetology Arts & Sciences (NACCAS). Programs accredited by the NACCAS must meet their high standards ensuring a quality curriculum and education. Accreditation can also be necessary for obtaining student loans or financial aid, which often are not available for non- accredited schools. It's also a prerequisite for licensing in several states that the training be accredited. And as a final benefit, a number of West Chester PA businesses will not hire recent graduates of non-accredited schools, or may look more favorably upon individuals with accredited training.

Does the School have a Good Reputation?  Each esthetician school that you are seriously evaluating should have a good to exceptional reputation within the field. Being accredited is an excellent beginning. Next, ask the schools for references from their network of businesses where they have referred their students. Verify that the schools have high job placement rates, indicating that their students are highly regarded. Check rating services for reviews as well as the school's accrediting organizations. If you have any connections with West Chester PA salon owners or managers, or anyone working in the field, ask them if they are familiar with the schools you are looking at. They might even be able to recommend others that you had not looked into. Finally, contact the Pennsylvania school licensing authority to find out if there have been any complaints filed or if the schools are in complete compliance.

What’s the School’s Focus?  Many esthetician schools offer programs that are comprehensive in nature, focusing on all areas of cosmetology. Others are more focused, providing training in a specific specialty, for instance hairstyling, manicuring or electrolysis. Schools that offer degree programs frequently broaden into a management and marketing curriculum. So it's essential that you enroll in a school that specializes in your area of interest. Since your ambition is to be trained as an esthetician, make certain that the school you enroll in is accredited and respected for that program. If your aspiration is to launch a West Chester PA beauty salon, then you want to enroll in a degree program that will instruct you how to be an owner/operator as well. Choosing a highly regarded school with a weak program in the specialty you are seeking will not deliver the training you need.

Is Any Hands-On Training Provided?  Practicing and refining esthetician techniques and abilities requires lots of practice on volunteers. Check how much live, hands-on training is provided in the beauty lessons you will be attending. A number of schools have salons on site that allow students to practice their developing skills on real people. If a beauty program provides minimal or no scheduled live training, but instead relies mainly on the use of mannequins, it may not be the most effective alternative for cultivating your skills. Therefore search for other schools that offer this type of training.

Does the School have a Job Placement Program?  As soon as a student graduates from an esthetician academy, it's crucial that she or he receives support in landing that very first job. Job placement programs are an integral part of that process. Schools that provide aid maintain relationships with West Chester PA businesses that are looking for trained graduates available for hiring. Verify that the schools you are looking at have job placement programs and find out which salons and businesses they refer students to. In addition, ask what their job placement rates are. High rates not only confirm that they have wide networks of employers, but that their programs are highly regarded as well.

Is Financial Aid Available?  Almost all esthetician schools offer financial aid or student loan assistance for their students. Find out if the schools you are reviewing have a financial aid office. Speak with a counselor and identify what student loans or grants you may qualify for. If the school is a member of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS), it will have scholarships offered to students too. If a school meets all of your other qualifications except for expense, do not discard it as an alternative until you learn what financial aid may be provided.

More Info on How to Become an Esthetician in West Chester

Enroll in the Best West Chester Esthetician Training

Locating and enrolling in the right esthetician program is essential to obtain the appropriate training to become a licensed cosmetology technician. Be sure to ask all the questions that you need to in order to feel positive about your decision. Be sure to compile all of the information you receive from the beauty school admissions departments, prioritize what matters the most to you, and then utilize that data to compare schools. A good start in your due diligence procedure is to make sure that the institution and program you choose are accredited and have excellent reputations within the profession. If you start with that base, and address the additional questions provided in this post, you will be able to filter your list of schools so that you can make the proper choice. And when you graduate and pass your licensing test, you will be self-assured that you are qualified to start your career as a professional esthetician in West Chester Pennsylvania.

 

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