Is an Associates Degree worth pursuing?

[Havok]

I'd love to get my bachelor's, I can't find any schools in my state (VA) that offer one for what I'm interested in (CAD, something along the lines of http://degreedirectory.org/search/fi...earchButton=Go ). There are plenty of places to get an associate's degree however; ITT tech, westwood, probably other places.

I'm still doing some searching in hopes of finding a bachelor's program for it in VA, but in the event that it doesn't exist...should I just go for the associate's instead?

Also anyone have experience with schools like ITT tech?

[Mizango]

Simple answer, yes. It certainly wont equate to getting your bachelors but even an associates is better than nothing. You will find quite a few jobs that require an associates at absolute minimum.

[Tyche]

ADN (associate's degree of nursing) is always good monies. Everyone needs RNs. YOu can always go back and get your bachelors/masters too for even more monies.

[Effluo]

ITT Tech is not a University, so keep that in mind. If you ever decided to go to a major university, be prepared to start over from scratch. 99% of your class credits will not be accepted by any accredited college, as ITT itself is not accredited. You'd be throwing down a pretty penny, for not a whole lot in the end.

I would suggest starting at a community college and getting an associates, then working towards a bachelor's degree. Most community college credits will transfer to a 4 year school without too much trouble.

[Tyche]

And yeah, ITT is absurdly expensive, get an associates from a community college.

[Kurokikaze]

Go CC and transfer to a 4 year after you're done. Going with some of those diploma mills is gonna set you up for a world of hurt.

Get out of the mindset that CC is bad. Most CCs are just an affordable step in the right direction.

[Acturus]

ADN (associate's degree of nursing) is always good monies. Everyone needs RNs. YOu can always go back and get your bachelors/masters too for even more monies.

I can't speak for the entire country, but RN programs in the areas of the US that I'm familiar with have absurdly long wait times and entry lists.

[Tyche]

THe one's here have no wait lines, they have standards that must be met and they take the top x number of candidates. THe next semester they'll do the same thing. If your standards aren't high enough, then you should probably retake classes to get them up and put yourself in position. But you can get into nursign school in 1 semester if your GPA and ACT/SAT are high enough.

[Acturus]

THe one's here have no wait lines, they have standards that must be met and they take the top x number of candidates. THe next semester they'll do the same thing. If your standards aren't high enough, then you should probably retake classes to get them up and put yourself in position. But you can get into nursign school in 1 semester if your GPA and ACT/SAT are high enough.

My wife tried for an RN program at a CC in central Florida. She got a 4.0 on her pre-reqs, finished a semester early, was the 17th person or so to turn in her application, and was denied because there was a waiting list.

Her cousin up in Mass. had a similar story. They told her up there to expect to be denied at least twice for the program because of the waiting list.

My wife ended up going for a BA in Health Admin because it was the same amount of time, and with it she could get into an accelerated BSN program.

It was a tough experience to be a perfect student and still get denied, and then be told that the grades only matter once the waiting list makes it to you.


*edit* to answer the OP, Associates degress, like any other degree (except some Doctorate level stuff), do two things:

1. Open you up for more schooling, and
2. Help you land your first job.

AA or AS degrees will get you covered if you go for a Bachelors, and there are some jobs out there that require a two-year degree, but by and large, you go after an Associates degree so that you can go back for a bachelors later.

[Dolmen]

Check out:
http://www.nvcc.edu/curcatalog/programs/

Northern Virginia Community College always ranks in the top for community colleges in the States. I've taken many classes there, and the professors are normally excellent (there are a few that are horrid, but that's everywhere). The positive is that there are a lot of adjunct professors that work in the field, thus giving you points of contact for obtaining a job in the future. NVCC has an Associates in Architecture Technology (http://www.nvcc.edu/curcatalog/programs/pdf/ARC-AAS.pdf), so look into that.

And yes, an Associates is worth pursuing. Two years at NVCC will set you back ~$6500-7000 in tuition, and ~$2,100 in books. Plus, NVCC has a deal with many Virginia universities where if you earn an Associates from NVCC, you're automatically accepted into a 4-year university.

[Mizango]

Go CC and transfer to a 4 year after you're done. Going with some of those diploma mills is gonna set you up for a world of hurt.

Get out of the mindset that CC is bad. Most CCs are just an affordable step in the right direction.

I wish more people understood this.

[Tyche]

My wife tried for an RN program at a CC in central Florida. She got a 4.0 on her pre-reqs, finished a semester early, was the 17th person or so to turn in her application, and was denied because there was a waiting list.

Her cousin up in Mass. had a similar story. They told her up there to expect to be denied at least twice for the program because of the waiting list.

My wife ended up going for a BA in Health Admin because it was the same amount of time, and with it she could get into an accelerated BSN program.

It was a tough experience to be a perfect student and still get denied, and then be told that the grades only matter once the waiting list makes it to you.


*edit* to answer the OP, Associates degress, like any other degree (except some Doctorate level stuff), do two things:

1. Open you up for more schooling, and
2. Help you land your first job.

AA or AS degrees will get you covered if you go for a Bachelors, and there are some jobs out there that require a two-year degree, but by and large, you go after an Associates degree so that you can go back for a bachelors later.

I guess that's the difference here. Even though they get hundreds of applicants, they weigh grades (college and high school GPA) over when the application was turned in. As long as it's turned in before the deadline, you get thrown into a pool of applicants. Then, they do a point system based on GPAs, ACT/SAT, where you live (locals get extra points). They also have an "auto-entry" if you get over so many points.

Nursing faculty is difficult to find and you have to have so many faculty per student, so how difficult entry is depends on what nurses make in the area vs what instructers are paid. Most nurses make more than college professors/instructors, so it's hard to find people to teach the kids. Sad but true.

[jinkazama]

My friend got a 2yr degree in networking from ITT and making roughly 45/yr working for steinmart as a database admin.

[Mizango]

My friend got a 2yr degree in networking from ITT and making roughly 45/yr working for steinmart as a database admin.

We have 2 guys that graduated from ITT. In this industry is about what you know and if you can do what you say you can do.

[*Shinzon*]

It really isn't unless your very complacent and have no trouble making below average salaries. With all the competition for jobs now, every applicant is over-qualified and the people hiring have a larger pool of very good people to choose from. I could wipe my ass with an Associates Degree. In the Tri-state area there's no way you'd get by on that, maybe it's different in other places.

[Woozie]

I would normally say "no" if it wasn't for the fact that there's no B.S. program for what you want.

Around here (northeast OH), most people who stopped at associates are unemployed, and have been that way even before the bankers flushed the economy down the toilet.

If you're getting an associates, then use it as a stepping stone towards getting a bachelors. Considering this route is a lot cheaper and easier, and the end result is the same, it's pretty much the best way to go. I just hate it when people think they can stop at associates and be set. Maybe that works in some places, but around here it certainly does not.

You can check to see if things are different where you are. I'd recommend doing some research first to be sure you'll have a job when you are finished since you don't seem to have the option of going towards a bachelors.

And I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with Miz and Kuro about associates degrees not being bad. Associates are awesome if it's a stepping stone towards bachelors, but otherwise I'd call them a huge waste of time and money. I do know a small handful of people who went on to be successful with it, but by far the majority of people in Northeast Ohio with associates degree aren't better off than the people with just a high school degree (except they owe a bunch of money now, so I guess they're technically worse). If it truly is a regional thing, then I guess once you graduate you can move to an area where associates degree holders are actually employed, and then hope you get a job (if it isn't already that way where you are). But that still sounds like a horrible idea, especially considering that with higher degrees you can apply for a job far away and then move once your hired instead of moving and then hoping you get hired where you are (the competition for associates is so heavy and the skillset is so low that there's no reason for employers to not hire locally, whereas with some higher degrees employers might hire someone from another state).

Edit: After rereading Kuro's post, I think he's saying the same thing I said (that an associates is good if you're using it to go towards a bachelors)

[Moosey]

Go CC and transfer to a 4 year after you're done. Going with some of those diploma mills is gonna set you up for a world of hurt.

Get out of the mindset that CC is bad. Most CCs are just an affordable step in the right direction.

This. Definitely.

All those schools like ITT tech, Keiser University, Phoenix online etc.. are all scams. They promise big and always fall very short of what they promise, and make you pay out the ass as a result.

Don't waste your time with them, CC is a great start (or in my case, re-start.)

This is speaking from personal experience.

More on topic: Associate's is definitely worth it. It serves as a great foundation for further education and it's sort of like a college sampler, lets you get a feel for it to see if it's something you want to continue with.

[Headspace]

Pretty sure a Bachelor's isn't worth getting anymore.

[Woozie]

All those schools like ITT tech, Keiser University, Phoenix online etc.. are all scams. They promise big and always fall very short of what they promise, and make you pay out the ass as a result.

These schools are the worse. They advertise like infomercials. They convince you that less pay and hardly any work can make you wealthy in a few short years, then people graduate and find out that not only can't they find a job, but they can't even get their credits to transfer when they try to go to a 4 year school to finish up their B.S.

So another piece of advice for the OP (though this was already mentioned), wherever you go, make sure your credits will transfer when you graduate (even if you don't think you'll ever want to go any further than associates).

[scaevola]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As a general rule for all post-secondary education, from Community Colleges all the way up to Harvard Law, the most important thing to remember is that they teach you the same shit anywhere you go; the only material difference in the quality of your education (which is a non-zero factor, to be fair) is the quality of the student body with whom you will compete/collaborate. That being so, you should ask yourself one question about your potential career:

Is the degree I am seeking the highest degree attainable in the field I am trying to enter?

If the answer is yes, then the quality and reputation of your school will matter. To continue with the law school example, Harvard and the worst law school in the country, by whatever standard that may be judged, teach you the exact same shit. Going to Harvard does not make you a better lawyer. However, Harvard has a reputation for attracting and matriculating the best and brightest of the legal profession (sow's ears and silk purses and whatnot), so graduating from Harvard will unquestionably open doors that were not previously available.

If the answer is no, the reputation of your school does not matter. To use the Nursing example many in this thread have mentioned, whether you drop $30k on an ITT education or get your associate's from a CC for like 2 grand makes exactly 0 difference, because even if ITT had a better reputation than the CC, you would still be competing for jobs with people with BSNs and MAs or whatever who are by definition more qualified than you. That being the case, there is literally no upshot to ITT over a CC, because even if ITT gave you a better education the money you spend on it could be used to finish up the last two years of your Bachelor's degree after finishing your Associate's, which makes you more qualified and thus worth more money. This being so (and this applies to undergrads who pay $25-$30k/year tuition at private schools as well, the idiots), the difference is always better spent as either a means of supporting yourself during your job search or as a nest egg for further education.

When I went to law school, I made a few friends who'd earned their BAs from Ivy League schools, whereas I'd gone to an in-state public. Sweatshirts aside, the only difference between us the second we'd been accepted to law school was that they were $100,000 in the hole already vs. my 5 grand.

To wit, ITT (and private trade schools in general, to a lesser degree) is a bit of a scam. A local Community College will most likely provide all the same resources at literally under 10% of the cost.