Aveda Institute - Portland Reviews

9 reviews

I am grateful to be going to such a high esteemed school. However, there are a few things that I would change.

I feel like I am really living out my dream of going to cosmetology school at Aveda Institute Portland! The education, environment and hands on learning is everything I was hoping for. Anyone considering going to an acredited cosmetology school needs to think of Aveda!

The staff at Aveda Portland is incredibly professional. They also offer a lot of resources to students. It has a great location for walk-in clients, which allows students to get a lot of hands on experience.

Review Aveda Institute - Portland

I like aveda. They are very hands on and will work wi5 you step by step on a service if you need help. They have videos that you can watch when ever you want while attending the school. Have lots of activities and competitions to keep you interested in what you love to do

The only negative is that they charge you to change your schedule which I think is ridiculous.

There isn't consistency in the quality of classes and instructors. For example, our instructor for the chemical phase was awful. There was next to no hands on, she did not care about us as students in the slightest, and she viewed class time as her time to talk about her personal life. It was ridiculous. When our class tells another instructor or student who our teacher was for that phase, the response is a knowing and sympathetic "Oooooooh".

On the flip side, the instructor we had for styling took time with each student individually to make sure they were on the same page as everyone else. It was obvious she loved what she was doing, and loved teaching. She was professional and friendly and caring.

There were also a couple phases that I feel like wasted an immense amount of time. The business phase in particular could have been done entirely at home in less than half the time. There wasn't any really teaching happening. It was just DVDs. That time could have been better spent getting more hands on experience.

I really, really wish we got more makeup instruction. It is listed in the curriculum, but it's kind of a joke the amount of 'instructions' offered in this specific area. I also wish we could choose to specialize in a certain area of study. For example, if your passion is styling, you could get further instruction specific to styling.

I wish the care and professionalism of the instructors was consistent. They can be extremely helpful, and you can definitely learn a lot, but you have to really push to get that knowledge and I feel like you shouldn't have to work so hard to be taught. Maybe it's because this school is drowning in estrogen or maybe they are over worked, but the instructors can be catty and mean one second and the next they are trying to be your best friend. I just don't think it's too much to ask for the instructors to act like professional adults on a consistent basis.

That being said, I have had a lot of fun in cosmetology school. I have learned so much about the industry as well as about myself. I do love the set up of building upon what you learn as each phase goes on, and we do get a lot of hands on experience. I wish there was more structure though.

The campus has a very urban feel to it, very relaxed and welcoming.

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