Online College Question

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Gunnar Durden
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I chalk that up to "most people are morons". Its true.

I have a guy working for me with an English Degree from a great school and half of his professional emails include short hand, internet chat phrases or emojis. Ur, Lol, 2 instead of to....its bad.

What I have seen is all of the people I've come across that have online degrees right out of high school (not really the night school types, but someone early twenties with an online degree) lack functional social skills. They cannot even carry a conversation during an interview. We have a generation of kids who grew up on the net and lack interpersonal skills, all think they need a 4 year degree in digital arts, and are not prepared for the real world.

Thats another thing I look at for Degrees, is when they graduated. If I see someone has been in the Work Force for 20 years and has a degree from an online place 5 years ago, I take that into consideration. Working person trying to better themselves and their career. Might not know any different. Kind of like the OP seems.
 
wormie

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Gunnar_sl said:
If you are hiring and throw out a resume based on "online degree" alone that is silly. Unless you are dealing with 900 applications.

Im hiring two positions now. Lots of online degrees, lots of normal "in field" better known colleges, lots of ITT Tech bullshit, and ten times more SUNY DEGREE IN BULLSHIT FIELD.

If im hiring IT, ill take someone with a Phoenix Online degree over someone that went to Syracuse for Anthropology, or Theater Design, Or Art History with a concentration in 13th century france or one of the other "non real world job" degrees. I focus on experience, job history and if they look promising interview skills.

This isnt the 50s. A college degree is just a check in the box for EVERYONE.

That said, Online classes gouge on the books, never buy from the "school" - always shop used book sites. Buy them for cheaper, then sell them back for a little bit. Still going to take a big dick in the ass on costs.
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This is kind of comparing apples to oranges dont you think? No one hires people with art history degrees but are you saying that you would give the same weight to someone with a degree in IT from U of Phoenix and same degree but from one of SUNY schools? Thats just silly in my opinion.
 
BrutulTM

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I have a bachelor's from DeVry (I was 18 and didn't know any better and they gave me a scholarship) and I can tell you that it is a real school, not a degree mill. Less than half of the class that started with me graduated and there were plenty of people with C averages and I don't think anybody in my class finished with straight A's. I got a 3.74 GPA and worked my ass off for it. The professors were hit an miss, but I think that is the case in most schools if you're not going to Stanford or Harvard or something. They only hire people with industry experience and they focus on lab work so it's very practical. They also schedule all of their classes either in the morning or the afternoon so you can work during the other half of the day. You can also go half time at night.

The best thing about DeVry though was the job assistance. I had probably 10+ interviews before I graduated, all set up by the school, and it was better times in the tech industry, but almost everyone in my class including me had a job before graduation. I don't think many traditional schools would give you that. Also, they said that you could come back and use their job assistance office for life if you get a degree from them although I've never tried to utilize it.

The only real downside I encountered was when I looked into graduate school. When I talked to the California University system, they shit all over my DeVry degree. The reason that they gave was that their EE bachelors has 3 semesters of Calculus and Physics and DeVry only had 2. Calc/Physics III were prerequisites to every electronics class in junior and senior year so they would have required me to take those two classes plus retake 2 years worth of electronics classes and get a bachelors from them before I could start on their master's program. Private schools on the other hand, had no such prejudices. I was easily accepted to Santa Clara University and even Stanford would have only made me retake a couple classes. I actually know a couple people who got a master's from Stanford after getting their bachelor's at DeVry. I worked in a lab environment with people with degrees from Berkeley, Stanford, Purdue, etc. and had no trouble holding my own. In fact I was a better engineer than a lot of them in my own totally biased opinion.

In retrospect, as an 18 year old I think I should have just gone to a traditional school and had the "college" experience with girls and shit like that but if I was a 30 something with a wife and kids and a job who just wanted to get a degree with as little hassle as possible, it's a pretty solid option.

Not so sure about University of Phoenix. I have known people who got degrees from there and they didn't seem to be working that hard at it. I have one friend that did get into law school with a U of P master's degree, so I guess she got what she needed out of it.
 
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Gunnar Durden
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Edit - In RE: Wormie

I didnt say that. I said I would take an online IT degree over a Suny something else degree. If its Apples to Apples then its different.

It all depends. If all they have are similar degrees to go on - then Yeah, Suny guy would probably win out. But I would never rule someone out based on an online degree in that same thought.

So if I get to 23 year old kids right out of school for a entry level job, I look at the degrees. If Online was in IT and SUNY (FYI I am just using SUNY as a shorter easier way of saying traditional college) was in bullshit then yeah, Id give the edge to the online degree. If they were the same I would give it to the SUNY degree. Now thats if its all thats on the resume. I still would factor in Internships, work experience, references. Its all cumulative to finding good candidates.

So in the end, my whole point is anyone who junks a resume based on where a degree came from is stupid.
 
wormie

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Gunnar_sl said:
Edit - In RE: Wormie

I didnt say that. I said I would take an online IT degree over a Suny something else degree. If its Apples to Apples then its different.

It all depends. If all they have are similar degrees to go on - then Yeah, Suny guy would probably win out. But I would never rule someone out based on an online degree in that same thought.

So if I get to 23 year old kids right out of school for a entry level job, I look at the degrees. If Online was in IT and SUNY (FYI I am just using SUNY as a shorter easier way of saying traditional college) was in bullshit then yeah, Id give the edge to the online degree. If they were the same I would give it to the SUNY degree. Now thats if its all thats on the resume. I still would factor in Internships, work experience, references. Its all cumulative to finding good candidates.

So in the end, my whole point is anyone who junks a resume based on where a degree came from is stupid.
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Well I assume the guy who junks resumes based on where the applicant studied hires in a field that requires specific degrees and not just any degree. And that makes perfect sense to me. If i have to hire someone with a CS degree and i have an applicant from Strayer and an applicant from any traditional college, the latter wins hands down.

To summarize this entire thread with a question: Why should anyone bother to go to an online only school when traditional colleges are offering degrees online as well? Seems to me the answer is to go traditional.
 
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Gunnar Durden
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Because most traditional schools are new to Online Programs....and most people dont know they exist. There is no reason you would choose one over the other. But U of Phoenix Online has a stadium named after it, more commercials and its all people know.
 
wormie

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Gunnar_sl said:
Because most traditional schools are new to Online Programs....and most people dont know they exist. There is no reason you would choose one over the other. But U of Phoenix Online has a stadium named after it, more commercials and its all people know.
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Sucks for those people. If you cant put in the minimal effort required to do research on something as important as college, then you deserve to get butt raped by these shitty for profit schools.
 
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Gunnar Durden
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wormie_sl said:
Sucks for those people. If you cant put in the minimal effort required to do research on something as important as college, then you deserve to get butt raped by these shitty for profit schools.
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Someone else said it...All schools are for profit. The difference is "traditional" schools make WAY MORE.
 
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Yes, technically all schools are "for profit". However, most traditional schools do more than simply make a profit, such as performing research, developing new technologies, and conducting studies in whichever fields they happen to specialize in. The "for profit" schools (read: Strayer, Kaplan, University of Phoenix) are purely focused on taking your money, teaching you, and giving you a diploma.

I don't think anyone who refers to such schools as "for profit" actually thinks that traditional schools aren't out to make a buck.
 
wormie

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Gunnar_sl said:
Someone else said it...All schools are for profit. The difference is "traditional" schools make WAY MORE.
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Yeah you are right. There are no differences between a school whose sole concern is profit and they minimize every single cost possible, including quality of teachers and course materials, and a school whose purpose is to break even every year and to distinguish itself only by the quality of its graduates.
 
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Gunnar Durden
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wormie_sl said:
Yeah you are right. There are no differences between a school whose sole concern is profit and they minimize every single cost possible, including quality of teachers and course materials, and a school whose purpose is to break even every year and to distinguish itself only by the quality of its graduates.
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Yeah, "BREAK EVEN". Im not defending the Kaplans of the world. Yes, all they want to do is make money, they are a business.

But lets not pretend EVERY school isnt. You think any top flight school does research, studies, field sports if it didnt lead them to ....MAKING MORE MONEY? You get the best academics to research exciting new technology to get grants to build bigger facilities to get more grants and attract more students and make more money. This is America.
 
wormie

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Gunnar_sl said:
Yeah, "BREAK EVEN". Im not defending the Kaplans of the world. Yes, all they want to do is make money, they are a business.

But lets not pretend EVERY school isnt. You think any top flight school does research, studies, field sports if it didnt lead them to ....MAKING MORE MONEY? You get the best academics to research exciting new technology to get grants to build bigger facilities to get more grants and attract more students and make more money. This is America.
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Dont be silly. You cant use research grants on building a stadium. The for profit schools cut costs at the expense of the quality of education. The standard schools do not.
 
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Gunnar Durden
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Where did I say that?

You cetainly can use it to expand your science facilities so that you can bring in more staff to bring in more grants and funding. Like I said. If Alabama Football started losing money it would be cut immediately. If a research department becomes a financial liability it gets cut. At any school. More likely at a Small school than Harvard, but across the board.

If you think quality of education factors into Most schools then you live in a dream world.
 
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This is a interesting thread.. I am 33 years old married, family, and I have zero college experience. I am currently an IT systems admin for a Medium size business. I make decent money(though i feel no where near industry standard), I have a few Industry Certifications and 14 years of IT experience. However I know that if I ever want to move on (which I am considering) if will be exceedingly difficult to obtain the type of Job I have now or better with more pay with out any type of degree.

I am currently researching online schools and while I know to stay away form Diploma mills, they can be attractive for certain people. I am currently looking as Western Governors University, which is an online accredited school to get a degree, and few more certifications under my belt as they are offered with the curriculum.

Any one have any thoughts on WGU ?
 
wormie

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kaxfenix_sl said:
This is a interesting thread.. I am 33 years old married, family, and I have zero college experience. I am currently an IT systems admin for a Medium size business. I make decent money(though i feel no where near industry standard), I have a few Industry Certifications and 14 years of IT experience. However I know that if I ever want to move on (which I am considering) if will be exceedingly difficult to obtain the type of Job I have now or better with more pay with out any type of degree.

I am currently researching online schools and while I know to stay away form Diploma mills, they can be attractive for certain people. I am currently looking as Western Governors University, which is an online accredited school to get a degree, and few more certifications under my belt as they are offered with the curriculum.

Any one have any thoughts on WGU ?
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Given your industry experience, a bachelors degree will do nothing for you. So if you wish to go back to school it has to be with a goal of obtaining a graduate degree. And for a graduate degree from a semi decent university, WGU for undergrad wont do.
 
Falstaff

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McCheese_sl said:
Every colleague I have who has a "degree" from places like University of Phoenix, Kaplan, etc., write shit like "could of" or "should have did" in their professional writing. I don't know if they're just idiots or what, but I know during my first degree at a real college if I had written that garbage on papers I would have been skewered.
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I handle internships at my job and every person ages 20-25 writes like that regardless of what college they go to. I mean, I'm not getting people from the Ivy Leagues but any college/university in Chicago and across Illinois. None of them can write professionally.
 
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