# Online College vs Traditional College



## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

So I'm considering getting my bachelors in computer information systems or something similar in the future. I already have my A+ and I would want to get my Net+ and MCDST before starting college. Online school would be more convenient for me as I wouldn't have to commute back and forth to school and I could keep more hours at work. Also I could study more at my own pace. The only thing I'm wondering is if an online degree from, say, Devry or Phoenix Online would carry as much weight as a degree from a brick-and-mortar college? Wouldn't want to go through all that work and money and find out the degree's not worth much :/.

Also I'm considering going into the air force reserves...it'd only be one weekend a month I'd have to put in and two weeks a year. They pay for pretty much all of your schooling I hear which would be real nice .


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## blackbeagle (Aug 8, 2008)

I've worked for both so I can offer some insight on this. If all things are equal, employers prefer a traditional university. Now with that said, online education has made a big move in the last decade. 

I worked for a private tech school and we rolled out our online curriculum back in 1999. Think back then how such a thing was a novelty. At that time, the only school that did that was the U of Phoenix. Essentially, they were the big player in that field. When we did start selling it, we found it to be very difficult. Employers were not willing to accept that online would take off. In fact, many in my area frowned on people with online degrees, as many of them were paper mills. 

But time has changed. Now employers are quite favoring online curriculum because their employees can get their education without sacrificing work hours. The curriculum, the types of degrees, and the quality has gotten a lot better. 

Here's what I would suggest:

If you're going to pick an online school, pick one that has both online and on-campus. Make sure it's Regionally Accredited (very important). Get the degree and on your resume, just put down University of _______, rather than University of _________ Online. 

Lastly, don't confuse online with correspondence courses. Most online schools have a schedule you have to follow. You just can't do it at your own pace (ex: I'm going to finish my homework next week because I have a game to watch). They stick by a schedule and have due dates just like a regular class. So essentially, your homework is issued on a Sunday and you need to do 3-4 things by the following Saturday, then take a quiz/hand in a paper/etc.

With Correspondence courses, you finish your degree in 1 year or 5 years. It doesn't matter. Stay away from these at all cost. 

Good luck to you.


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

one comment about online colleges - stay away from them if they are for-profit. they are way too expensive. They will not advertise their fees on their websites, they pressure you with phone calls after phone calls. And leave you with extreme debt when you graduate. Most will not accept all hours from other colleges as they would if between state schools. 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-07-23-1Aforprofit23_ST_N.htm
http://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=4092

if your state university offers it, then check it out.


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## blackbeagle (Aug 8, 2008)

sobeit said:


> one comment about online colleges - stay away from them if they are for-profit. they are way too expensive. They will not advertise their fees on their websites, they pressure you with phone calls after phone calls. And leave you with extreme debt when you graduate. Most will not accept all hours from other colleges as they would if between state schools.
> 
> http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-07-23-1Aforprofit23_ST_N.htm
> http://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=4092
> ...


100% agreed. I used to work for one of those colleges. Tuition was reaching $90000 for a BS degree. I kid you not. They pay their Reps/Sales staff/Advisors top dollars to sell you the school. You will end up taking up a ton of financial aid and will end up owing a lot upon leaving school. Some will never bet able to pay it back for 30 years. 

These schools care more about the bottom dollar than the number of graduates. Internally, I can tell you it's very high pressured, especially in the admissions department. If you meet with 10 students, you need to enroll 7-8 of them. If not, you'll eventually be fired. 

Stay away from these schools: Phoenix, DeVry, ITT, etc. Go to a state university. Most of them now offer online programs.


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## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Wow great advise guys thank you. If I do go get a degree online I'm deff. Not going to a for for profit school I'll try to get into a regionally accredited place. And oh, if I have a+, net+, and mcdst, do you think I might be able to pass out of some of the courses? I mean at the bachelors level are they going to be teaching me a whole lot techwise that I won't already know from studying for those three certifications?


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## blackbeagle (Aug 8, 2008)

tim19889 said:


> Wow great advise guys thank you. If I do go get a degree online I'm deff. Not going to a for for profit school I'll try to get into a regionally accredited place. And oh, if I have a+, net+, and mcdst, do you think I might be able to pass out of some of the courses? I mean at the bachelors level are they going to be teaching me a whole lot techwise that I won't already know from studying for those three certifications?



Whether these schools allow you to 'test out' is going to depends. Most colleges and universities aren't offering A+/Net+ certification courses (some tech colleges do). So most likely, they won't allow 'test outs'. You'll have to sit through it all. 

My advice: 

Let's say you take Intro to Computers. We'll if you have your A+/Net+/etc. this class will be elementary for you. Just be patient and go through it. Don't skip classes. Don't fall asleep. Be a student aid. Help other students. Get yourself ahead of the class. Help the instructor if needed. And lastly get yourself an A. 

You'll also be surprised how much of what they are teaching you didn't know through your certification courses. 

Just be a sponge and suck it all in.


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## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Okay, thanks for the input. I will do as you suggest


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

tim19889 said:


> Wow great advise guys thank you. If I do go get a degree online I'm deff. Not going to a for for profit school I'll try to get into a regionally accredited place. And oh, if I have a+, net+, and mcdst, do you think I might be able to pass out of some of the courses? I mean at the bachelors level are they going to be teaching me a whole lot techwise that I won't already know from studying for those three certifications?


some colleges will let you test out...if not, sometimes the instruction themselves will go ahead and let you test. It never hurts to ask... ether way you will have to pay for the class. 

However if you already have the pieces of paper that said you are certified, then go for stuff you don't have.


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## ronalde.barron (Jan 28, 2010)

Well getting certification and diploma are like increasing your skill level, you just need to go best university available, like you have mentioned Dervy University and Phoenix University, and don't worry all universities working online but accredited has reputation and job market.


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## mjfinca (Aug 19, 2010)

Please note that this is my personal opinion, and is not meant to offend anyone or suggest that all online schools are bad.

For all of those people who like the idea of getting a degree from schools like the University of Phoenix: DON'T.

As a primary interviewer in the teams that I have worked with, and having worked for a couple of the major technology companies in the US, if I see a degree from the University of Phoenix on a resume, I almost always automatically throw it out.

Perhaps other degrees they offer are better, or perhaps their IT-related degrees in the future may be better, but as of today, the curriculum is so arbitrary that it is almost meaningless.

Here is my reasoning:

1) The curriculum at the University of Phoenix is arbitrary and does not conform to the same standards that you would find at a traditional university.
2) IT-related degrees from the University of Phoenix, because they do not conform to the more stringent standards of a traditional university, give the impression that the candidate who received the degree didn't work as hard for that education. (This may not be true in reality, but perception is everything when you're trying to get a coveted job at Microsoft or Intel.)
3) Your experience matters more than your education, although having a degree doesn't hurt.
4) Certifications, although they do not in themselves demonstrate any specific level of knowledge, give the impression that the candidate cared enough about their field of work to bother to get them, even if not having them would not automatically disqualify the candidate for the position.

In the companies that I've worked for, at least, the most important criteria for having a successful career is to never let yourself stagnate, always strive to over achieve, and always be passionate about technology. It is only the last 3-4 years of your experience that really matters, even if you've been in the industry for 20 years, because it is only the technology that has been developed in the last 3-4 years that is still in use and/or will continue to be in use in many organizations.

If I had two candidates, all other things being equal, and one had a degree from the University of Phoenix, and the other had an AS from a community college, I'd interview the one with the more traditional education, even if a degree from a community college isn't particularly impressive to me.

Instead of considering schools like the University of Phoenix, have you considered online curriculums offered by traditional universities? If you have a basic Associates degree from a community college, you could transfer to a state univerisity. For example, Florida State University offers an online BS in Computer Science if you have an Associates that covers the core curriculum. (You have to be careful to make sure the credits will be transferable, and you must save--yes, really--ALL of your course catalogs and syllabi just in case. It is even helpful to talk to an admissions councelor at the university you want to transfer to, and make sure that the credits for every class you choose will be acceptable.) Yes, it's expensive if you aren't a Florida resident, but you'd sure save a bundle by getting an Associates first at a community college. And I bet there are a lot of other online degrees, offered by traditional universities, that would be a better choice.


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## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks for the reply mcfinca. I would definitely sign up for an online program from a real university. I've heard only bad things about these for profit schools like Phoenix, especially from Blackbeagle. 

It's encouraging to hear you say what you did about the certifications. I already have my A+ and am studying right now (well, after I'm done posting this lol) for my Net+ certification. After Net+ I'll be going for the MCDST as well from Microsoft. My biggest difficulty right now is trying to get experience. I talked to the company I've worked for for the past four years and told them I have my A+ and am going for Net+ and MCDST and they said they would keep me in mind if something opens up in their IT department. If I'm still not doing anything PC related by the time I have Net+ and MCDST I'm planning on offering free PC repair just to get experience. I'd have each person just fill out a piece of paper when I'm done servicing their PC just basically stating their name and what problem I fixed for them and if they were happy with the work that was done. I figure it'll look good on a resume if I can say that I can produce X amount of records of satisfactorily repaired PCs. Do you think this is a good idea or not? Or is there a better way to get experience? I've been wracking my brain here lol. My goal is just to be able to get into an entry level position repairing PCs, then after a few years of doing that, plus with my certs, possibly getting into a helpdesk job.


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## mjfinca (Aug 19, 2010)

I, actually, am not a huge fan of CompTIA certifications. They're not bad to start off with, but they really only qualify you for a Help Desk position and, therefore, are pretty useless after you have a few years experience under your belt.

Have you considered volunteer work instead of doing work for free for for-profit organizations? There are tons of non-profits that have small budgets, small offices, and no technical help because they can't afford it. Non-profits will be very grateful, and you'll get great references in the bargain. But skip the satisfaction surveys. What you really need are professional references.

And I'm not sure what you mean when you differentiate between repairing PCs and having a Help Desk job. They're the same thing, even if one company calls you a PC Repair Technician and the other calls you a Help Desk Representative.

If the only thing you do is replace hardware in PCs, there's not only not much money in that, and there's very little future. It is the ability to troubleshoot problems with OSes, either systems or network, and applications--enterprise applications--that are valuable.

Lastly, if you're ambitious, and you start off in PC repair, then Help Desk, you should really only do the first job for 6-12 months, and the second for 1-2 years. Then you could move on to systems or network administration. The key is to keep getting education and certifications, and keep looking for better opportunities until you're in a position that allows you to grow. That's hard work. You work full time, and then spend another 20-30 hours per week in classes, studying, or taking tests. But you can do it. I did and continue to do it.

And always be passionate about technology, always learn new things--even if it's at your own expense--and always strive to over achieve. There is no such thing as a 40 hour week for a Systems/Network Administrator or Engineer. There's the 9-5, and the maintenance windows, and the on-call, and the emergencies.

Good luck.


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## mjfinca (Aug 19, 2010)

Oh, and a note about the Air Force reserves. Having had almost every member of my familly serve in the armed forces for some period of time, I say go for it. But take it with a grain of salt. You would get some educational and training benefits. But take my word for it, it isn't enough pay for your education but only a fraction of it, especially for a reservist. (http://www.gibill.va.gov/pamphlets/CH1607/REAP_FAQ.htm) And you don't get the benefit until you have actually been called to duty and/or you've served 90 days of continuous, active duty service. At 4 days per month, it would take you 22.5 years to qualify.


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## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

mjfinca said:


> I, actually, am not a huge fan of CompTIA certifications. They're not bad to start off with, but they really only qualify you for a Help Desk position and, therefore, are pretty useless after you have a few years experience under your belt.
> 
> Have you considered volunteer work instead of doing work for free for for-profit organizations? There are tons of non-profits that have small budgets, small offices, and no technical help because they can't afford it. Non-profits will be very grateful, and you'll get great references in the bargain. But skip the satisfaction surveys. What you really need are professional references.
> 
> ...


Yes I know the CompTIA certifications are only entry-level, but then again that's what I need right now. After I have some experience either working with Windows Server or Cisco products, then I will definitely start studying for the more advanced CCNA and MSCE or MCITP certifications. 

Once I get this Net+ certification done and the MCDST, I will start looking for non-profit volunteer positions. Right now I'm pretty busy though as I work 40 hours a week and then study for 10+ hours for this Net+ exam, then work out at the gym for 8 or more hours every week lol. 

As far differentiating between a repair technician and a help desk representative or whatever you want to call it, I visualized the repair tech as being something like BestBuys geeksquad, where people drop off their PC to be repaired and then the tech works on it in the back. A helpdesk person I consider to be more of someone who works for a company and fixes problems for that company's computers/network. I know a helpdesk rep. will be making a lot more as well.

I did not know the Reserves would only cover a fraction of the cost? I was under the impression they would pay for like 80% or more. Guess I'm in fantasy land again. :grin:


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Reserve Tuition Assistance is different than the GI Bill. They will pick up a large portion of your tuition, not room/board, books, etc.

Talk to a recruiter !They will know.

BG


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## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Alright man thanks for the info. I've decided to go the certification/volunteering route for now tho to try to break into IT.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

tim19889 said:


> Alright man thanks for the info. I've decided to go the certification/volunteering route for now tho to try to break into IT.


good idea, has worked for many people I know.

Just dont over certify yourself for your experience level otherwise you will find most places rejecting your applications. There are certs for beginners and certs for people already in IT.
Beginner certs are:A+,N+,MCDST,MCTS and MCITP
Advanced certs are:MCSA,MCSE,CCNA and ones that state 12months + experience.

Technically the CCNA does not say anything about experience but you will find that unless you have experience of working with cisco hubs & switches then having the CCNA will do you more harm than good.


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## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Yeah I only plan on getting A+ (already have that), Net+, MCDST, MCTS: Windows 7 Enterprise, and maybe an Apple Certification or two. I know BestBuy for one will give you preference if you have Apple Certs. At least that's what they say anyway .

I just really want to get my hands dirty now and start actually DOING stuff. I've been learning so much from these certifications that I want to apply what I've learned now so I don't forget the stuff. I only have so much time now though, working 40 hours and studying 10+ a week, among other things. Anyways though I figure within a years time (tops) I'll have all the certs I want to start out with. Then I'll really start focusing my efforts on volunteering and doing free repairs, submitting applications and so on and so forth.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

good luck


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