Online College Question

RobXIII

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So I work full time, and finally bit the bullet and decided to go to online colleges in my spare time.

Every single online-only college I see requires you to buy these bullshiat e-books which are always over 100$ in addition to the per-credit costs (except University of Phoenix, but no thanks!)

Is there any reputable colleges out there that instead of farming $$$ on e-books, simply add the required material to the online course itself? I always knew college textbooks were a scam, but hoping for a way around it ;\
 
Noodleface

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The college book market is ridiculous. You can torrent some.. but it's difficult. Good luck.
 
Cybsled

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Wasn't there some site that sold overseas market textbooks that are essentially identical to the US counterparts, but they are like 1/20th the cost?
 
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RobXIII_sl said:
So I work full time, and finally bit the bullet and decided to go to online colleges in my spare time.

Every single online-only college I see requires you to buy these bullshiat e-books which are always over 100$ in addition to the per-credit costs (except University of Phoenix, but no thanks!)

Is there any reputable colleges out there that instead of farming $$$ on e-books, simply add the required material to the online course itself? I always knew college textbooks were a scam, but hoping for a way around it ;\
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Your options are:

1) Suck it up and buy them
2) Try to torrent them, and when you can't, see 1).

I have a book this semester that is over 200 dollars. Its previous edition is 18.50. The instructor on day 1 said "you can't get away with the previous edition gaiz."

It's the college textbook mafia.
 
Ameraves

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Colorado State University is a pretty good choice if you want to go the online route. When you sign up for the classes they assign the book(s) and you go and buy them however you choose to. You actually can't even buy them through the school itself, but they have a handful of sites they suggest. There are a ton of options out there now, either buying it outright, renting them, or even renting the e-book. There are even some classes that you can get away with not buying the book if you are at all familiar with the material in the class. Some of the instructors will reference material straight from the book, and others won't, so you sort of take a gamble if you don't get it. Also, you have to be pretty self driven as the instructors aren't super hands on unless you engage them a lot. For me this is perfect because I prefer to work on my own anyways, but some people have a hard time with it.

Anyways, give them a look and see what you think.

Cybsled_sl said:
Wasn't there some site that sold overseas market textbooks that are essentially identical to the US counterparts, but they are like 1/20th the cost?
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I actually seem to recall this as well. One of the books I was looking for was ridiculously expensive and after much Googling I found some place where it was going to ship from like Malaysia or something and it was way cheaper. I will see if I can find it later and reply back here if I do.
 
chaos

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There are a ton of sites like that. abebooks.com and alibris.com both sell international versions of textbooks.

I have a lot of luck just searching around until I find a pdf of a book, but I also never had access to a good torrent site.
 
wormie

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I would be more concerned about the quality of online only college than the books it requires.
 
Joeboo

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It might not be online-only. A lot of legit 4 year universities now offer full online degree programs. Since he's already stated his aversion to the University of Phoenix, it looks like he knows to stay away from the shams like them and the other for-profit online only universities.

One of my friends girlfriends just recently got a degree from Capella University (online-only like U of Phoenix) and shockingly, she's having a lot of trouble even getting an entry-level position with her degree.
 
wormie

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joeboo_sl said:
It might not be online-only. A lot of legit 4 year universities now offer full online degree programs. Since he's already stated his aversion to the University of Phoenix, it looks like he knows to stay away from the shams like them and the other for-profit online only universities.

One of my friends girlfriends just recently got a degree from Capella University (online-only like U of Phoenix) and shockingly, she's having a lot of trouble even getting an entry-level position with her degree.
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Oh I know that there are lots of brick and mortar institutions offering online degrees now and those are just fine and dandy. But the OP specifically stated that its online only and I would be concerned about that.
 
Joeboo

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wormie_sl said:
Oh I know that there are lots of brick and mortar institutions offering online degrees now and those are just fine and dandy. But the OP specifically stated that its online only and that I would be concerned about that.
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Yeah, basically he needs to not choose an online-only college. They are all for-profit and will nickel and dime you to death with ebooks and crap. It's what they do.

They might be cheaper than the online degrees from a traditional 4-year university, but you also get what you pay for. What good is a degree that is 1/2 price if people look at it unfavorably when applying for jobs? That's wasted money. At that point you're only going to have an advantage over people with absolutely NO college degree, but I don't know any employer that would treat something like the University of Phoenix on anywhere near even ground with a traditional university degree, all other conditions being somewhat equal.
 
Ichu

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If the course just says, "Know chapters 1-5 for quiz 1, chapters 1-10 for quiz 2." Just buy an older edition. You can usually find them for like $5-20.
 
Gravel

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Just don't rent. That shit's a scam (worked at a text book distributor for 2 years). Best advice is to buy it on something like half.com and resell it at the end of your semester. You'll lose some money, but hopefully no more than 20% of the purchase price after cost of shipping to the buyer.
 
Noodleface

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Yeah I rented a book once. I never used it at all for the course and it never left my coffee table. Brought it back and they told me it was too damaged and I wouldn't be able to return it. Assholes.
 
wormie

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joeboo_sl said:
Yeah, basically he needs to not choose an online-only college. They are all for-profit and will nickel and dime you to death with ebooks and crap. It's what they do.

They might be cheaper than the online degrees from a traditional 4-year university, but you also get what you pay for. What good is a degree that is 1/2 price if people look at it unfavorably when applying for jobs? That's wasted money. At that point you're only going to have an advantage over people with absolutely NO college degree, but I don't know any employer that would treat something like the University of Phoenix on anywhere near even ground with a traditional university degree, all other conditions being somewhat equal.
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I am of the opinion that you might as well just buy a fake diploma somewhere. That is just as marketable is U of Phoenix or Strayer or Capella or any of these other scam "colleges".
 
McCheese

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I used to think people trashed resumes with shit like University of Phoenix on them. However, in my current job I've seen hundreds of resumes of people working on government contracts and the amount of diploma mills listed on them is staggering. All of these positions are IT/tech related, so maybe the degree isn't as important in those fields? Whatever the case, have a "for profit" university diploma doesn't seem to be quite the black mark that it used to be.
 
Noodleface

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I guess I would automatically look at an online school as "lazy". Of course, if it was my job to hire people I don't know what I'd do.
 
wormie

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Vinen_sl said:
I throw away any resume with an online degree.
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Good call. Considering the widely avalaible online degrees from real colleges, anyone who has a degree from one of these diploma mills is either: a) lazy or b) dumb. There are zero reasons to give these "schools" your money so the only explanation is stupidity or apathy.
 
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