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Home > Archive > Oracle certifications > March 2001 > Help
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| sallyjrs 2001-03-26, 8:15 am |
| Can someone who knows about Oracle please help me I am thinking about taking some classes at this school here and I am wondering if it is going to be worth the $2,795
www.aceoracle.com
Thank you in advance for your help | |
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| Well, I haven't taken classes at that particular school, but I can offer you a few pointers about questions to ask when deciding on a school... based on my experience of doing a very BAD job of picking a school 
1) They say their instructors are all OCP's. Are they CURRENT OCP's, and do they actually have work experience -- as opposed to a paper OCP who simply passed the exams but may not have the real-life experience to intelligently answer questions?
2) How much money is refundable and on what sort of time line, should the program be very poor or just not suited to you? They should at least offer a 30-day money back guarentee.
3) Try to speak to current students. What are the strengths/weaknesses of the program? Do their strengths match what you need most from instruction, and can you live without the parts they are weak at?
4) Can you schedule private sessions with the instructors to cover problem areas? Does this cost extra? DO the instructors have office hours?
5) Does the price include books and materials? Oracle books are very pricey, and this can substantially add to your training costs. (Plus the cost of exams.)
There's a good chance this is the only local school offering an Oracle curriculm, but remember you don't have to go to school. You can self-study. Some folks don't have the discipline to go home after work and study 3 or 4 hours every night, and it does take a lot of discipline and ability to stick to a schedule you make for yourself. It's also nice to have an instructor to ask questions of, and classmates to bounce ideas off of. However, in a class environment, you are still going to have to go home and study a lot. I saw that they only have scheduled 17 classes for the entire 8i DBA track. That's mighty optimistic, and an awful lot to try and retain at once if you are a complete newbie or close to it. It sounds like it is better suited to Oracle users who already have some experience and knowledge.
If you do well in class environments and there's a moneyback guarentee (just in case), this may be a good solution for you. $2795 is pretty cheap for complete Oracle training. Otherwise, you may want to look at some other options.
I hope this gives you something to chew on. Good luck finding the right solution, and let us know how it goes!
-Nicole | |
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| I have a friend who just took the course and its only one instuctor. I live in Atlanta so theres a lot of schools but he said this guy was really good and he takes time if u dont understand. I am going to talk to him on Friday(the instuctor). If I want to self-study what kind of books should I buy? My friend has a lot of CBT's he burned for me.
THank you for your help. | |
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| I don't know much about Oracle, but based on what I know about training centers in general, I may be able to help.
Glancing at the web site it looks like this would be a good school to attend. One of the red flags to look out for which I don't see here is a company that makes outrageous claims about the type of job you'll get upon completion of the program. The fact that they'll let you retake a class if you don't pass an exam is a very good thing too. All the instructors having 5+ years experience is what's most impressive.
If you can afford the cost of taking classes then that's great. Something to consider that would be less expensive, but take more time would be taking classes at a local college. | |
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| Thank you Nicole and CCIE for your responses. I talked to the instructor and he is really nice. He is an Indian man and he has 10 years of real world experience and decided to open this school a couple years ago. Right now he's the only instructor but he hopes to add another one in the near future. He told me that if I ever have trouble picking up on something let him know right away and he will take some time out either after class or during the week to help me. The books are also included in the fee. I put down $1500 and he is willing to let me pay off the rest bi-weekly. I will keep you two informed. Also Nicole is there a e-study group together yet. My first class is SQL. I am so happy. my email addy is asdavis88@hotmail.com | |
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| Yes, we have a little e-study group. You can go to Yahoo Groups and subscribe to OCP_Study@yahoogroups.com
Your school sounds like a winner and a good value... which is getting pretty rare. Plenty of folks are trying to make a fast buck off the certification industry, and they give the honest schools a bad name. I hope it works out for you! |
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