Online colleges: Thoughts & Experiences

[Ozz1113]

Anyone have experience with studying for a degree online?
What colleges did you consider and why? University of Phoenix, Seton Hall, UMass?
How did you like the team enviroment? Did your teammates do their fair share of the work?
Any other opinions would be nice.

My job has slowed a lot lately and I need to consider a new degree to move on. There isn't much growth were I'm at right now.

Thanks

[mikeyj23]

Many (maybe even most) colleges have online classes along with traditional classes. There are many degrees you can get by taking mostly online classes, with maybe one traditional class meeting a week. My university, UNT, offers over 30 degrees with 100% online classes. The online school game isn't just left to University of Phoenix - there are literally hundreds of universities offering online programs. A website I found with a quick search is http://www.elearners.com/ - seems to be a good reference for online schools/classes/degrees, and has a listing of universities offering online classes and degrees.

[TripleF]

Never attended the online colleges......the party was to hard to find.

[BlackDog]

My 17 y/o daughter did her first year of college on-line with a nearby college. She was too young (16) to attend classes on campus her first year (their policy). She liked the on-line classes and did well. She had an "advisor" who checked on her pretty regularly to see how things were going, and who made sure her questions got answered by the professors. Overall her experience was very positive, although she only took her basic freshman level classes. She will be starting on campus classes in a few weeks.

[Ozz1113]

Originally Posted by BlackDog

My 17 y/o daughter did her first year of college on-line with a nearby college. She was too young (16) to attend classes on campus her first year (their policy). She liked the on-line classes and did well. She had an "advisor" who checked on her pretty regularly to see how things were going, and who made sure her questions got answered by the professors. Overall her experience was very positive, although she only took her basic freshman level classes. She will be starting on campus classes in a few weeks.

Interesting. What were the age differences like for her?
Did the group projects go well?

[Gargoyle]

My sister had an Assoc degree and wanted to get a BS... which was difficult as a single mom with 2 kids. The online courses offered tremendous flexibility and she felt the content of the coursework was good.

He biggest caution was the amount of work that goes into it. Although there are some recorded video content... most of the traditional lecture time is replaced with TONS of reading that you do on your own. Without the scheduled structure of actual classes, it was very easy to slip behind if you didn't stay disciplined to keep up with work. Because of the obscene amount of reading, it was harder to catch up than in traditional courses.

My sister ended up doing a mix of online and onsite courses. You can't substitute chemistry lab work online... you have to be there. It also gave her a balance between getting to the campus to use the library and other resources with her work schedule and responsibilities to her kids.

Try one class online before you enroll in a whole semester load. Online classes work for some people... but it is not for everyone.

Good luck!

[foomanto]

i took some on line classes some were really ez wile others were much more difficult there is a lot of reading witch can get overwhelming if you have to many classes. but over all it was good.

[DonnieW]

Originally Posted by TripleF

Never attended the online colleges......the party was to hard to find.

I hear ya dog. My problem was I couldn't resist the temptation of being online...

[boonedoggle]

My wife and I both got our BS in Business/Management from UoP. It took roughly 3 1/2 years, because of all the breaks and stuff. The classes can be challenging, lots of papers, and some people do not pull their weight in the team assignments. The good part is, there are no semesters to worry about and the classes only last 5 weeks long. By the time these people start getting on your "virtual" nerves, the class is over.
I have also been looking at getting my Masters at CMU. They have an 18 month online program that is really good for military people as school tuition is met by military tuition assistance.
Good luck to ya!

[mikeyj23]

Originally Posted by foomanto

i took some on line classes some were really ez wile others were much more difficult there is a lot of reading witch can get overwhelming if you have to many classes. but over all it was good.

english classes? j/k