<p>Before I begin I want to be clear... I did not want to sign up here after I saw the responses to one user's thread asking for help. I'm not expecting to be coddled or anything, but I do need good advice from experienced, supportive, helpful people. If this is not you please read no further. Thank you.</p>
<p>For the questions I'm about to ask I need to describe my personality a little. I'm a loner with limited social skills as I was home schooled through high school. I attended Lower Community College for three years at the end of the 90's and paid for it with Financial Aid and a work study job. I am creative and artistic by nature. I am interested in anything that requires building, as well as anything related to digital art. So architecture, website design, computer aided drafted (CADD), graphics for games, electronics hardware design, computer design, etc. are all interesting to me. I would also like to throw in a little small business and or entrepreneurship in here. I can only attend a college that offers all my training online and which I can pay for with financial aid, as all the money I have in the world and which I can access in tied up in my car, which would net me $1200.00 at most if it even sold.</p>
<p>I am willing to work hard as long as the thing I am working for is worth my effort. I do not believe in working at whatever job you can get after more than a decade of crappy jobs. I also do not believe that a college education magically opens all the doors and lets the money flow in. I think overall our society wastes its resources and is seriously flawed. That said my friend, someone whose advice I respect, suggested I take some courses. He has similar views to my own, and some even stranger ones. I figured I should at least look into this. Only a stupid person ignores good advice and does not investigate all their options.</p>
<p>One last thing here... My experience at college was not very good. Part of this was my fault. I did not know what I wanted and really just grabbed at the closest thing that interested me at the time. It was an impractical choice complicated by a degree designed to fail the majority of students who pursued it, which I found out later just before I left. My main instructor is the one who let me on to this. How things were set up to flush out the weak students. Unfortunately I was one of them, although that was not my fault. I did well at most of my courses. I was responsible and completed all my assignments. I failed only in my programming work.</p>
<p>If you have made it this far then you are ready for my questions, but first you need an illustration. Imagine a tree, a trunk based on good foundational knowledge. In my case whatever I can transfer, if anything, from LCC combined with any new knowledge I acquire. Imagine the first branches. These are my undergraduate work and they support the next set of limbs which lead to a bachelor's, masters or doctorate. These branches can go in any direction from the trunk. Still with me?</p>
<p>My first question should be obvious... I drained most of the financial aid and work study money I was allotted when I went to LCC. It's been over 10 years since this time, do you think I could still get aid or have I used up all my resources in this area?</p>
<p>My second question, if in your opinion I can get financial aid, is what is the best and most affordable completely online undergraduate program I can take to build the trunk of my tree? The school should accept as much of my community college work as possible, and it should allow me to pursue one of my fields of interest after I have graduated from the undergraduate program. It needs to be fully accredited and provide courses which will be accepted by any future licensing needs I may have for Washington. For example, any architecture work would have to be accepted by NAAB.</p>
<p>My third and final question is two-part: What degrees at what online universities would you recommend for a person such as myself, with my particular interests and handicaps? In your opinion, what starting-college-over programs should I take, if any are needed, before I pursue your recommended field of study? Please give me any suggestions you have.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for your understanding and advice -
- Deatbliss</p>