I need some input on those online colleges

[Sugarcoated]

My daughter is about to sign on for 18 months towards a bachelors in computer programming with a loan for $18,000 to go with it. I have a bad feeling about this for so many reasons, her past college academic history, her not knowing what she wants to do and suddenly deciding on programming out of the blue and when I ask her if she knows what it's all about her answer is 'I love computers so I think I'll like it.' Programming is entering code all day, right? Has anyone ever gotten a Bachelors with one of these rackets and gotten a good job? Do they carry the same weight as an actual college degree?

Not that she'll listen to me or anything, but it's my duty to try.

[XemaSab]

1. Tell her to go to the JC

Until she decides what she wants to do.

[WCGreen]

13. Here Here....

JC's are a great place to set your priorities...

[Truthiness Inspector]

14. Good advice

And for the OP, not only might you run the risk of getting ripped on money and/or a legit degree, your daughter will get ripped on having "the college experience." So much of that is making new friends who you will be friends with forever, sports, and other extra-curricular things.

Best of luck; she will regret not being able to have those memories and lifelong associations, in my opinion.

[LeftyMom]

2. Tell her online classes from her community college will be much cheaper

and if she doesn't like the subject or do well with distance learning, she won't be out as much money as it would cost to get a decent new car.

[Sugarcoated]

3. She's a single mom working full time

The most I could do is maybe tell her to try a better one than the one she's looking into - it's called Online Intercontinental University.

[LeftyMom]

18. So am I, so I know how that goes.

But she's looking at an awful lot of money for a degree that isn't going to open a lot of doors. Does she even know who has accredited this school?

Anyhow, a credit hour means something. If this school is going to give her a degree for significantly less investment of time than a traditional uni, they are both cheating her and cheating anybody who might hire her on their say-so. If all she needs is the flexibility to take some or all of her classes online (which is just as time consuming, if not more so in my experience) she's better off with a real school, which will be able to help her get financial aid, almost certainly has daycare if she needs it and when she's done will issue her a diploma that means something.

She really needs to think about this more and do some real research, even people with a lot of experience are having trouble getting good jobs in that field, and the very long hours generally expected of a programmer aren't a very good choice for a single mom.

Really, I think she's about to get ripped off for a whole lot of money.

[rocktivity]

6. I think community college is the smarter way to go, too

not only because it would be cheaper, but because she could always go to a four-year college later on.

:headbang:
rocknation

[NewWaveChick1981]

4. Online colleges are mostly proprietary (for-profit) schools.

I've worked in student financial aid for 21 years now in both public and private nonprofit schools, and I have heard horror stories from students who have gone to for-profit schools, both online and in person. My husband even looked into some graphic design classes at a local for-profit technical school, and they did an extremely hard sell on him. He did not go, but he still gets literature by email and snail mail from them.

Not all proprietary schools are bad. In fact, some of them are excellent. However, they exist to make a profit for their owners and are a business to them. Public or private nonprofit schools are not out to make a buck off students; those schools exist to educate. I have seen way too many students get in over their heads at for-profit schools, especially the online ones, and the debt they take on for attendance at those schools is insane.

If you want to tell her a card-carrying financial aid director says to think twice, please do. You can PM me if you want more help. :)

I hope she makes the right choice. :hug:

[MassLiberal]

5. here's an article she might want to read

It advises anyone thinking of getting a degree with an online university first of all to make sure the institution is accredited--good advice.

http://www.catalogs.com/info/education/online-universities.html

The tuition does seem high for an online program. Good luck with helping your daughter figure out what to do.

[Omphaloskepsis]

7. I just asked my sister... She was a HR person at Symantec for a long time.

She doesn't suggest going this route and I agree. Most of these places are diploma mills and don't carry much weight. She should download a copy of Python or Ruby (both are free) and get a few books on them to see if she really likes writing code before wasting a bunch of money on school for it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Online courses from legitimate colleges are okay; online colleges are SCAMS

18 months to get a bachelors in computer programming?

BULL-FUCKING-SHIT.

Unless a college is accredited, it should be shunned.

And online colleges are so far away from being accredited, she'd be better of learning computer programming (while wearing a dress) at Bob Jones University.

If I were a hiring person and saw on someone's resume they "graduated" from an online "college", I'd throw it in the recycle bin.

[Midlodemocrat]

11. Word, Rabrrrrr, word.

That is it in a nutshell.

I took 2 courses online after my degree. They were a totally different animal than online colleges.

[Sugarcoated]

9. This is so effed up

I know she's being preyed upon but she's such a hardhead and she won't listen to me. I'll be reading these posts to her tonight, though, she may listen to you guys. One of the things that sold her was the glowing posts she read on their messageboard about the place. She's naive. God I despise scum who prey on young people.

[Omphaloskepsis]

10. For 1$ I will post a glowing review of the place on this message board..

See, that was easy.

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Seriously, I'd hire someone from a Technical "College" before an online one

Long, long, long before an online one.

And the chances of me hiring from a technical college, unless I was looking for some kind of specific machine operator or something, is pretty fucking slim.

Here's Rabrrrrrr's heirarchy of education:



non-accredited, whether physical or online college

High school diploma (yep - I'd give weight to a high school diploma before someone from an unaccredited school)




(notice the size of this gap?)






Accredited technical "college" or school

(smaller gap, but still a gap)


Accredited community college


Accredited college or university
Ivy League school (yeah, maybe that makes me an elitist, but that's how it is; include this group Brown, Wellsely, Vassar, and some of the other topnotch non-Ivy schools)
and for technical people: MIT/GMI/CalTech/Rose Hulman/Georgia Tech

[WCGreen]

15. I have two clients that have completed course work at a very visible

On-Line College and neither has been able to find work...

The education was great, I mean the accounting classes were just as hard as the ones I took at a Brick and Mortar University...

However, I believe their is a stigma attached to the whole idea of On-Line colleges so that if two candidates came up for the same job and one attended Ohio State and the other earned their degree from University of Phoenix, I believe the OSU person would get hired first...

Just my opinion

[Sugarcoated]

16. My stomach is in knots now.

But John King just came on 360 lookin fine, a little distraction . . . fucking Ann Coulter now, shit.

I'm stressed.

[yvr girl]

17. The only people I know who went to online schools were already employed

and their employer was paying (the very high) tution costs.

Most real schools offer online classes because they are doing their best to service non-traditional students.