Review of Allied Schools – Online Real Estate Courses
4.4
PROS
Freedom to study your own way. Money-Back Guarantee. No proctoring required. No hidden fees. Optional hardcopy books.
CONS
On the higher end of the price range. Software User Interface looks like it’s from the ’90s. Limited live instructor support.
UPDATE: Allied Schools was acquired by Real Estate Express. They have moved to the Real Estate Express platform, which means they look the same as courses from Real Estate Express now. You can check out the Real Estate Express review to see what the new courses look like.
Allied Real Estate Schools has been the long-time industry leader for helping people get a real estate license. This review primarily focuses on their program for getting licensed in California. However, if you are in a different state, you can still get a good feel for their program since it is the same format. We are going to review their program in detail so you can decide if this program is right for you.
There are 3 different packages to choose from. All 3 packages at Allied Schools cover the California state minimum requirement of the 3 real estate courses along with some practice tests for the state exam.
Both of the Premium packages offer additional study materials to help you on the state exam. They have the Money-Back Guarantee, which means that if you do not pass the state exam on your first attempt, they will give you a full refund. The Premium Plus package goes one step further and gives you the hardcopy books that accompany the 3 online courses.
It is really up to you which package you want to select. If you want the best chance at passing the state exam on the first attempt, then I recommend the Premium Plus package. This review on Allied Schools will focus primarily on that package since that is the one I picked for myself.
After you enroll in the program, you will receive an email with your login instructions to your online account. All of the course material is available online, so you can start the course immediately if you want. Allied Schools gives you online access to the 3 real estate courses, the Super Online Prep practice tests, real estate dictionary, and Exam Cram streaming videos.
The layout of Allied Schools‘ online courses are pretty straightforward. There’s a collapsible navigation pane on the left side if you want to jump to different areas of the course.
The course material is presented as a PDF that you can either read directly online or download it to your computer. This is the same content in the hardcopy books, which is easier to read from.
I really like that there is no schedule or deadlines. You get one year of unlimited access to study whenever you want, however you want. The only restriction is that you have to wait until Day 18 to access the final exam due to a California state requirement.
Course Format
Each course has 15 chapters, and there is an optional multiple-choice quiz for each chapter. Even though the quizzes are not required, it is a good idea to go through them to gauge how well you are absorbing the material. If you get the question wrong, it will give you the right answer along with a brief explanation.
The final exams look just like the quizzes, except there are 100 questions, and you have up to 3 hours to score 70% or better.
The course finals are also open-book, so if you get stuck on a question, you are allowed to look up the answer in the book.
Hardcopy Books
If you signed up for the Premium Plus package, you will also receive a package in the mail. It takes about 1 to 3 days to arrive, depending on your location. You get paperback books for the real estate courses, which are 500 pages to 600 pages long. The font size is nice and big with lots of pictures and diagrams, making it easy to read.
Allied Schools will send you study materials with the Premium packages like the Exam Cram workbook, which you can write inside of. It is meant to be used when you are watching the Exam Cram streaming videos when studying for the state exam. There’s a small real estate dictionary, and you also get hundreds of color-coded flashcards which I found really helpful when preparing for the test.
Exam Cram Videos
Allied Schools provides you with Exam Cram videos that are streamed through your online account. There are 11 hours of content where the instructor walks you through each section on the state exam. You get the feeling like you are sitting in a classroom. The material is adequate after reviewing it, and is as exciting as you might expect it to be.
You only get 90 days of access from the time you open it up, so make sure you do not start watching it until you are ready to study for the test.
Super Prep Practice Exams
Allied Schools also give you the Salesperson Super Prep Practice Exams, which include online access to over 1,500 test questions to prepare you for the state exam.
There are two ways to use it: Practice Test or Mock Exams.
The Practice Test allows you to take questions from 12 different subjects of your choice. You can also set the number of questions you want to see. As you take your practice test, you will see hints for each question you answer.
The practice test questions are presented to you one at a time. If you answer them incorrectly, it will tell you the correct answer along with a brief explanation.
If you want to display all the practice test questions at once, there is an option to print it out on paper and answer them by hand.
The other option is to take the Mock Exams, which mimic the actual state exam where you have to answer 150 questions within 3 hours.
After you take a Mock Exam, it will give you a score summary that breaks down how you did in each category.
This is a really nice feature with Allied Schools program because you can easily review which area you are struggling in and where you are strong. You can go back to the Practice Tests and take questions from only the areas that you need the most improvement in (since you don’t need to spend any additional time studying in the areas that you are already strong in).
You get one full year to access the online practice test questions. However, if you use it for longer than 90 days, then you have to call Allied Schools to reset your account to get access for the next 90 days (up to a year). There’s no additional fee for this and it’s not that big of a deal, but it is kind of annoying having to reset your login.
Overall, I’m happy with the Fast Track Premium Plus package. On the outside, it looks old and outdated, but on the inside, the program delivers solid content with very attractive features, such as their money-back guarantee and no surprise fees.
After having a chance to review the online real estate program at Allied Real Estate Schools, I would recommend this to anyone who is an independent learner and motivated about establishing a long-term real estate career.
I live in the Caribbean….can I register for this course?