Category: Cram Session
Hello:
So I was going to start college in the fall of this year going to a traditional university, but seeing as the unexpected baby happened I am now considering taking classes online through online universities. Does anyone know anything about these online universities such as their accessibility and if anyone has been to an online school? I'd like to know some of the oppinions you guys may have about online schooling, it's pros and cons, and also for those who have experienced it, what you found different about it or any problems you may have had. I appreciate anyone's help on this matter.
thanks
Jessica
I can see how having a baby could complicate your ability to attend a traditional college, but if I were you, I would not completely rule out the possibility of attending a traditional college or university. There are many traditional colleges and universities that provide online classes these days. In fact, someone could get a degree at the community college that I attend without ever stepping one foot into a classroom. The college I attend also provides assistance for childcare as well as a women’s resource center to provide other assistance for single mothers.
Personally, I do not like online classes, and after my experience with them, I honestly do not know if anyone could convince me to take an online class again. They require a lot of time, discipline, and self-motivation from both the student and the instructor. In my case, I felt as though the quality of education I was receiving was compromised a bit by the online platform. I found that instructors did not always provide clear instruction on the material, and were often difficult to communicate with when I had a question about the class. Online platforms such as Angel and Blackboard are accessible, but specific course content may be difficult to locate when instructors just randomly throw things on the website without taking the time to organize it.
However, this is just my experience with online classes. I am sure that there are other people out there who will disagree with me, and say that online classes are just the perfect fit for them. But if you do end up taking online classes, don’t fall into the trap that the class is somehow easier or will require less time simply because it is offered online. In many cases, online classes require more time and are just as difficult as traditional classes. But whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of luck.
Quick update. so I start my online schooling on the 16th of this month. My enrollment adviser gave me a demo classroom so I can see what the classroom looks like when it has assignments and discussion forum posts and all that on it and I've found no problem at all navigating the course successfully. the school I chose to go to has been all sorts of helpful and even has a link to their disabilities office in their classroom window if I really need acomodations for something. The only thing that upsets me about this particular college route is now i don't think I can get vr to help me since I don't go to a school in the state of texas and it's not a public university so I have to rely strictly on financial aid. If I'm wrong someone please correct me but that's my understanding of it anyway. Other than that, I think this will be the perfect schooling environment for me to not only get my bachelors degree, but I can stay home and take care of the baby as well and still manage to go full time and get done in 4 years instead of like 8. Yay.
what school are you going to, I'm going to kaplan, what program are you in as well? VR may still help you, their helping me at any rate.
What school are you going to? The one I'm looking at is Kaplan, and so far I like what I've seen.
I'm going to ashford university. they were extremely helpful, and I like them because they're a traditional university that just happens to offer all their traditional classes online as well. They're located in Clinton, Iowa.
Because of your post, Jessica and because of the fact that I've been dying for an opportunity like this, I too have joined Ashford. I just filled out the application and am going to sign the forms and start on the financial aid forms today! I am ecstatic! I cannot wait for the 16th! And yes, the advisors are very helpful and so is Disabled Student Services.
I'm going to check Ashford out too, to see how it compares to Kaplan.
good luck and all the best Jess, keep us update with the progress.
Oh, I had forgotten the question about my program . I'm currently leaning toward getting my bachelors in business administration with an emphasis in information systems. Brandy, I'm glad you've liked Ashford so far as well, you know if you start in february they're doing a book voucher special for your first two courses, and if you talk to your enrolment adviser he or she may be able to wave the application fee for you.
Hope this Helps
Jess
Yes they waved the aplication fee. That was so nice!
I'm glad to hear that others are looking into online schooling. I'm considering this route since I have a one-year-old and want to finish up my degree.
Hi all.
I am also considering online university, because I am the single mother of a 2-year-old little girl. I tried going to the community college for a while, but even though they had online classes, I still had to come on campus for all of my tests. This was a problem because with 4 or 5 courses each semester sometimes there were tests at least a few times a week, and of course I couldn't bring my daughter with me. I also live in the state of Texas, which offers free tuition if you attend a public college or university in Texas and are blind. I tried to ask them about getting help to go to an online university such as National American University or Kaplan, but they said that they don't help if you are going to a private or out-of-state based school. I have since withdrawn from my classes at the community college because I couldn't find child care as the person watching my daughter could not do it any more, and I didn't have the funds to pay for child care, and the child care provided by the community college was full and vocational rehab said they couldn't help with that because getting a degree is too long-term and would cost too much for them. I stopped going until perhaps I can find a way to go to online university or wait until my daughter starts going to school or something. I think I will look into Ashford University, although I don't even know if I can get financial aid any longer because I had too many withdrawals on my transcript and owe the community college where I was going money from the pell grant because I withdrew mid-semester due to the aforementioned reasons.
I wonder if anyone here would know anything about the financial aid aspect, and also how much Ashford would cost per year?
Misty
My best suggestion to you is to see if you can talk to someone at Ashford before you enroll so they can answer any questions. I've been going for almost a year and have had ups and downs but ultimately it has been the best decision for me.