If you've been thinking about studying to earn your license to sell homes in South Carolina, you will have numerous decisions to make. You might have an overall time frame in mind and a completion date for when you hope to accomplish your goal. Another decision you'll make is which real estate school you want to enroll in to meet the pre-license education requirements the state has set, which you must do before you can be eligible to take the license exam.

Once you choose a real estate school, you will no doubt have various scheduling options and may have to choose between taking classes online or in person. There are benefits and downsides to both styles of learning. The key is to determine which one best fits your needs, budget, learning style and lifestyle.

Online classes for real estate school enable self-paced learning

When you went to school as a child, you may have known some classmates who learned at a much faster pace than others. In such situations, students who learn quickly often feel bored if they are forced to wait for the rest of the class to catch up and are not allowed to move ahead independently. On the contrary, students who learn at a slower pace often struggle to keep up, which makes it difficult for them to master certain concepts.

Advanced technology brought new styles of learning to the education industry, including online classes. One of the greatest benefits of online classes is the ability they provide to learn at one's own pace. If you consider yourself a slower-paced learner, online sessions often include the ability to pause a video, rewind and repeat, as necessary. For those who learn at a faster pace, online learning often enables students to move ahead at will.

In-person classes are beneficial for networking

If you attend a real estate school that offers in-person classes, you'll have many opportunities to network with fellow future sales agents, as well as people who are currently working in the industry as agents or brokers. Another benefit of learning in person is that a classroom usually has less distractions than an online learning environment.

If you take classes online, you might be at home with family members moving in and out of a room. Or if you try to spend your online class time at a library, there may be patrons coming and going or other things or people distracting your attention. If you attend class in person, however, there are other students and an instructor, and the ambience of the room is conducive to education.

Explore both options and choose what works best for you

Sometimes, it's possible to fulfill real state school obligations with a sort of hybrid schedule, taking some classes in person and others online. If you choose the latter, you will need a quality headphone set and other equipment, such as a laptop computer. For classes in person, there can be transportation issues involved. There's no right or wrong choice for meeting the state's requirements to become eligible for your real estate license exam. Explore all options available, and execute a plan that fits your needs and goals.