Reviews and Advice from an Online College Student

College Search & Selection Online Degrees
1

Hello,

I am currently a freshman in college. I do my college work completely online through a local community college. I want to share what knowledge I have now that I have been enrolled in the program for a little over a month now that I wish someone told me before I began college online.

About me:

Major: Business - Concentration: Marketing
Status: Full-Time
Age: 18

I always thought college on campus was a waste of time because I do not like to party and I do not like immature idiots.

For any of you who are interested in pursuing a degree completely online, you need to know the following:

<ol>
<li>Those who tell you that the education online is completely the same quality as the education you will receive on campus are lying. College education has two parts: the academic part which grows your mind, and the social part which lets you reinvent yourself.</li>
<li>College online is not easier than college on campus.</li>
<li>If you choose to do college online because of your demanding life and work schedule, that is fine. But if you are just a shy college student, don’t do it. Get out of your house and go far away and meet new people and reinvent yourself.</li>
<li>MAKE SURE THE COLLEGE IS ACCREDITED AND NOT-FOR-PROFIT (I will explain this a little and also give you examples of legitimate colleges later).</li>
</ol>

<hr>

Here is a day in the life of an online college student (me):

I wake up, log on to the not-so-easy to navigate interface which is used by 90% of online programs, and look at which course I want to work on. I print out endless amounts of documents and then read them all. After losing the motivation to go on any further, I push myself with whatever energy I have left to start an assignment. It is very boring.

There is no social interaction of any type which will help you network and build connections.
There is no feature that allows you to ask live questions.
There are no videos and there is no fun.
If you are a boring, bland person and like boring, bland things, then please enroll in a fully online program.

If you are a working professional with more incentives than me to do college online, that is wonderful. But you need to make sure you pick a good school. My overall advice is to pick a state school with the state’s name on it so when you go into an interview and say you did college online, they will find your degree more credible, vs. Capella University online which no one has ever heard of except for the people who went there.

Online programs that are good (and regionally accredited):

<ol>
<li>Anything from [Online</a> Degree, Online Course and Online Certificate Programs from the SUNY Learning Network and the State University of New York](<a href=“http://www.sln.suny.edu%5DOnline”>http://www.sln.suny.edu) - These are fully online degrees from the State University of New York system which is a very credible system. Tuition is reasonable.</li>
<li>[Online</a> & Distance Degrees – Oregon State University – Extended Campus – Ecampus](<a href=“http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/online-degrees/]Online”>http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/online-degrees/) - Oregon State University is good because it is accredited by the AACSB ([aacsb.com](<a href=“http://www.aacsb.com%5Daacsb.com%5B/url%5D”>http://www.aacsb.com)</a>) which is the gold standard for business schools world-wide.</li>
<li>Northeastern University online ([Online</a> Degree Programs | Northeastern University Online](<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/online]Online”>http://www.northeastern.edu/online)) - the programs are diverse and professional. Northeastern is a GREAT SCHOOL and also holds AACSB and many other accreditation.</li>
<li>Florida International University online (online.fiu.edu) - AACSB accredited and one of the few International Business programs online.</li>
<li>If you are a Political Science major, I know the University of Central Florida (ucf.edu) has a full degree for this online.</li>
</ol>

I know that was a lot of random, scrambled information, but it’s the truth.

Please consider going on-campus if you are able to. You will be able to make solid, important, almost-crucial connections with people you never knew existed.

Good luck.

PS: If I forgot anything or you have questions, feel free to ask!

2

I’ve been in online programs for nearly 5 years now and I can say that it is much more difficult than your traditional campus experience. The degree of difficulty in your course work will be the same, but the difference lies in the attitudes and characteristics that you must sustain to succeed in an online environment. You need to be self-motivated, have a high ability to be self-taught, know good time management, be technologically inclined, and don’t mind being a bit of a recluse. The biggest benefit of online education is the ability to work while you are in school. This lowers the amount of loans you’ll need and builds valuable experience that no other undergrad can get.

Furthermore, if anybody considers schools like UOP, Kaplan, and those alike I strongly urge you to think otherwise. Your chances of getting a job post graduation is slim. These days there are so many good brick and mortar schools offering online programs there is no reason for you to go elsewhere. Hell, some of the best business schools in the US, Cornell and Northwestern, are offering programs online. Best of luck….