Online schools and degrees?

[Melorock]

Not trolling

 

What do you guys know about them? How do employers look at them?

 

I'm at a university and to be honest, I hate it. Works for some, but I think it's just not for me. Maybe some distance learning could better suit my personality and my financial situation.

[eudaimonia02912]

Here is a published academic paper that reviews (i.e., summarizes) the results of a bunch of other research papers, including experiments in which real-life employers were asked to choose among resumes. It indicates that overall that employers strongly prefer traditional students.

 

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring121/columbaro121.html

[thenakedarab]

Here is a published academic paper that reviews (i.e., summarizes) the results of a bunch of other research papers, including experiments in which real-life employers were asked to choose among resumes. It indicates that overall that employers strongly prefer traditional students. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring121/columbaro121.html

 

 

But, if you're smart you can be "traditional", yet still do a large share of your coursework on line.

[Ovid9]

I think it matters greatly what field you want to go into. It also matters greatly what "online university" you're going to. Is it online coursework from an established brick and mortar school? Or, is it a strictly for-profit online uni.

 

Cause if its that second one....then I'd go back to, what field are you planning on going into?

 

edit: Which is sorta what eudamonia's link says. Only, it actually has facts and stuff to back it up.

 

2nd edit: This is a big generalization, but its something to think about. Getting a job in many fields can be as much "who you know" as where you went and to a degree even how well you did. One drawback of 100% online schooling could be a lack of connection with those who can get you in the door at a company. I'm not saying this WILL be the case, but its pretty tough to overestimate the contacts you can make from a traditional school if done right.

 

Final thought: If you hate uni...are you going to like a job you can get with a degree? Might you be better suited to a skilled trade or some other field that doesn't require university style booklearning, but other knowledge and skills? I have no idea, but again, something to think on.

 

Good luck!

[Melorock]

Computer science.

[Ovid9]

 

Computer science.

 

 

What do you want to do with it? That's a degree you can get online and probably get a job with it as there seems to be a continual need for CS guys.

 

I'd think the situation still applies that larger companies would like to see a recognizable name on a transcript, but it might not matter as much.

 

Maybe some of the numerous CS guys we got around here will pop in for ya. Or edit your title to add that's what its for maybe?

[eudaimonia02912]

P.S.: I think there's a big higher education bubble in the US, akin to the dot com bubble of the 90s or the housing bubble of the 00s. It will probably explode in the next ten years, if not sooner. The bottom half of students probably shouldn't be going to college. At any rate, I expect many non-flagship state schools and small non-prestigious private colleges will either close or cut back dramatically.

[nedezero]

As long as the school is properly accredited, it is better than not going at all.

 

Many traditional campuses offer online courses, and an employee won't know the difference unless they actually require transcripts.

 

As long as you can check the block that requires a 4 year degree (or masters) on the application, you'll be fine in most cases.

 

Also, online courses aren't necessarily easier. I wouldn't suggest taking an accounting course online, but that's just me.

 

For folks that can't attend a traditional campus for some reason, online courses offer a great alternative to just doing nothing.

[Wicked_Tone]

I received a BSIT degree from University of Phoenix back in 2005 and you have the option of attending the brick and mortar facility instead of online. I chose going to a physical location, as I learn better that way in a class room environment. The unfair thing in this country is that the average joe college/community college that is accredited will always be trumped by the Ivy League and big State Colleges, as employers view these establishments as a right to royalty and aside from scholarships or major assistance from Mom & Dad paying with blood, sweat and tears to put they're middle class boy/girl through these colleges, rich families dominant and shake hands with big business. I've seen examples at my job where some new graduate comes in with an Ivy League business degree and are instantly absorbed into the upper management role. More than ever it's an employers market and todays average salary pays {censored} compared to over 40-50 years ago where a shoe salesman could raise a family on his income alone. The standard of living keeps going up and the standard rate of pay is not keeping up like it used to ages ago. Its no wonder that everyone is going back to school. Its either work 3+ jobs or enhance your education in the hope of working one good job to support yourself. I also agree with the old adage 'It's not what you know, it's who you know'. I've seen it too many times and the corrupt politics just keep happening, especially in a corporate workplace.

[eudaimonia02912]

 

The unfair thing in this country is that the average joe college/community college that is accredited will always be trumped by the Ivy League and big State Colleges, as employers view these establishments as a right to royalty and aside from scholarships or major assistance from Mom & Dad paying with blood, sweat and tears to put they're middle class boy/girl through these colleges, rich families dominant and shake hands with big business. I've seen examples at my job where some new graduate comes in with an Ivy League business degree and are instantly absorbed into the upper management role.

 

 

I work at an Ivy League school, and there's a lot of truth to this.

 

Think of it this way: If you're some fancy bank looking for talent, it's expensive and time-consuming to search through all the possible candidates. Now if you know that certain schools, like mine, have extremely high standards for entry--rejecting 91% of applicants after a rigorous application processes--then you can use these schools' admissions processes as proxies for quality. You save money and time doing that. Will you miss a lot of talent? Sure--but finding the diamonds in the rough at Winston-Salem State College is costly. Finding talent at Harvard, Brown, Chicago, or MIT is easy, though you will end up hiring quite a few hacks.

 

I got my Ph.D. at a large state university and then got my first job at an Ivy. The first-year students at the Ivy were far superior on average to the first years at the state university. (About half the first years at school weren't prepared to do college-level work.) But the seniors who major in my subject at the state university and the Ivy seem about equal in ability.

[SexWithRobots]

If you want to do online school get enrolled into a real University and do online classes, dont get involved in those {censored}ty online school scams.

[nedezero]

 

I work at an Ivy League school, and there's a lot of truth to this. Think of it this way: If you're some fancy bank looking for talent, it's expensive and time-consuming to search through all the possible candidates. Now if you know that certain schools, like mine, have extremely high standards for entry--rejecting 91% of applicants after a rigorous application processes--then you can use these schools' admissions processes as proxies for quality. You save money and time doing that. Will you miss a lot of talent? Sure--but finding the diamonds in the rough at Winston-Salem State College is costly. Finding talent at Harvard, Brown, Chicago, or MIT is easy, though you will end up hiring quite a few hacks. I got my Ph.D. at a large state university and then got my first job at an Ivy. The first-year students at the Ivy were far superior on average to the first years at the state university. (About half the first years at school weren't prepared to do college-level work.) But the seniors who major in my subject at the state university and the Ivy seem about equal in ability.

 

 

 

Good thing the majority of employers aren't looking for Ivy League graduates.

 

Most employers are looking for experience and education they can afford, which rules out Ivy League graduates.

 

For the rest of us (I work at a mid-sized bank), we use vendors to filter applicants based on qualifications, experience, keyword searches, etc.

[green2]

I've been to both ivy league, state, and private universities at all levels of education. bright individuals and idiots can be found everywhere - yes, the ivy league has its share of not so intelligent people!

[HKSblade1]

A lot of parents shovel their kids to Uni with the same mentality of what jr did collecting those trophies he didn't earn. Soccer, and 3 other sports ...yeah that's what you do.. ohh and jr made all C's and a D and has a 9th grade reading score... let's send him to Uni.

 

Part of the "bubble" mentioned here. Tons of kids attending for one reason only... parents could afford it.

 

I have three neighbors with kids in Uni that changed majors 3 times already. They barely can earn B's and teh parents seem satisfied agreeing with their jr "it's tough at Uni." Just like sports, many parents want their kids in Uni "just because" for the same status bull{censored} they had when jr played sports he hated... but the curio cabinet looks cool with a few trophies the kid never earned.

 

OP- we hired quite a few associates that earned degrees on line. All new hires must complete their required training.. if they don't , we let them go! It's how they apply their skills/knowledge, not just where they obtained their degree.

[Harvest]

I don't recommend doing a CS degree unless you absolutely love coding and software design. Also, despite there being a "big need for IT", you get treated about one step better than a janitor and you're pure expense to any business (which is not an IT consulting business anyways), meaning your department budgets will always be tight, raises and bonuses are almost unheard of, and on top of all that, in many parts of IT you're pretty much expected to re-certify for new technologies (be it new programming languages, new OSes, new DMBS systems, etc) every two years or so, and a lot of those certs can be in the 5 figure range pretty easily. And even if you do all those things, half the time there's a guy in India or Romania that can do the same job (arguably) for 1/3 of your rate so you get your ass "best-shored" and then you're collecting food stamps on top of your big student loan payments...

 

On top of that, it seems to be accepted industry standard for IT that you have at least one pimp (IT outsourcing company/headhunter) with their hand in your pocket... I haven't seen that in many others round these parts but I find it {censored}ing disgusting.

 

Sorry to paint a bleak picture about it, but I've been in it long enough to see that's where things are going.

[glenecho]

^^^^^ what he said.

 

Stay out of IT...it sucks balls. You'll never get a raise, you'll work nothing but off hours and weekends unless you're a coder. If you are a coder you'll flit around from place to place while your jobs get outsourced.

 

There are exceptions to every rule but most people I know in the IT business (and I've been in it for 15 years now) hate it and want out. I know I want out...BAD. IT has become progressively worse each and every year since the dot com boom. IT also has ruined any chance I had of being able to continue playing music regularly because of all the emergency/oncall/offhours bull{censored}. I can't even book a gig unless I set time aside as if it's a vacation or something.

 

Want freedom, fullfillment, and advancement opportunities? Get into the health care field. My wife is a nurse and her job rules. She's done nothing but advance for 10 years and she can work whenever and wherever she pleases.

[HKSblade1]

 

Want freedom, fullfillment, and advancement opportunities? Get into the health care field. My wife is a nurse and her job rules. She's done nothing but advance for 10 years and she can work whenever and wherever she pleases.

 

Our bassist is an RN and Cardiac Cath lab specialist. We book gigs and he's always on call. Some gigs we have to find a bass player to cover or cancel/reschedule.

[glenecho]

 

Our bassist is an RN and Cardiac Cath lab specialist. We book gigs and he's always on call. Some gigs we have to find a bass player to cover or cancel/reschedule.

 

 

My wife's first RN job had on call. She got sick of it and was able to find another gig that didn't require oncall very easily. She's been able to coast to another job anytime anything even moderately has annoyed her.

[dicky sofa]

mother {censored}ing piece of mother {censored}ing {censored}

[HKSblade1]

 

My wife's first RN job had on call. She got sick of it and was able to find another gig that didn't require oncall very easily. She's been able to coast to another job anytime anything even moderately has annoyed her.

 

 

It doesn't annoy our bassist, he makes a ton more money than he would a {censored} cover gig. When it happens, he just says "sorry.. can't do it!" We've been able to cover for him though so no sweat really. My wife is an RN at a Trauma Care Hospital so, she knows all about being on-call. She was a Labor/Deliv RN in USAF 10 years prior to her RN position in the civilian world. She said the military version of on call was by far more a pita!

[glenecho]

 

It doesn't annoy our bassist, he makes a ton more money than he would a {censored} cover gig. When it happens, he just says "sorry.. can't do it!" We've been able to cover for him though so no sweat really. My wife is an RN at a Trauma Care Hospital so, she knows all about being on-call. She was a Labor/Deliv RN in USAF 10 years prior to her RN position in the civilian world. She said the military version of on call was by far more a pita!

 

 

One thing about it...it can't be outsourced or offshored.

[Melorock]

What about computer or electrical engineering?

[HKSblade1]

 

One thing about it...it can't be outsourced or offshored.

 

 

No but they are IN sourcing!! My wife has seen a rash of this lately. Imported RN's and the hosp furnishes their apt's etc as part of their (lower) pay. Some said its a little test they are doing, others say its here to stay and more medical facilities will be importing their staff that sign contracts to work for x amt of years.

[Melorock]

hmm...

[jimSG]

I don't recommend doing a CS degree unless you absolutely love coding and software design. Also, despite there being a "big need for IT", you get treated about one step better than a janitor and you're pure expense to any business (which is not an IT consulting business anyways), meaning your department budgets will always be tight, raises and bonuses are almost unheard of, and on top of all that, in many parts of IT you're pretty much expected to re-certify for new technologies (be it new programming languages, new OSes, new DMBS systems, etc) every two years or so, and a lot of those certs can be in the 5 figure range pretty easily. And even if you do all those things, half the time there's a guy in India or Romania that can do the same job (arguably) for 1/3 of your rate so you get your ass "best-shored" and then you're collecting food stamps on top of your big student loan payments... On top of that, it seems to be accepted industry standard for IT that you have at least one pimp (IT outsourcing company/headhunter) with their hand in your pocket... I haven't seen that in many others round these parts but I find it {censored}ing disgusting. Sorry to paint a bleak picture about it, but I've been in it long enough to see that's where things are going.

 

Wait -- CS and IT are not the same. Kids ask me what to do, I tell them stay away from IT and run to CS. There are plenty of current articles on the web right now detailing the shortage of engineers. If you are good (not even great) at software development, you WILL get a job and it will pay well and it won't suck like IT. I hire people all the time for SW development. We haven't eliminated any jobs due to the recession.