Online school suggestions!

[Eliseos]

I know a degree in the field would be worth it, but I'm pretty set at just attending an online university instead of a physical campus. I just have a feeling that I'm just throwing my money away to get an online degree in IT, whereas an online degree in another field may have some more legitimacy to it. It's a shame I can't take electrical engineering courses online without failing hardcore at a job later on!

Is there a reason why you don't want to attend a physical campus? If EE is something you're more interested in (just assuming based off of this sentence) why not pursue it? UW-Milwaukee has a great engineering program, and they also help you in finding internships/jobs throughout your education. EE's will also make a ton of money in an entry level position, a bunch of my EE friends graduated with $60-65k salaries.

I'm also biased towards people pursuing engineering, as I am/will be one in about a month.

[Mizango]

I need to start charging people, because I've been doing that for over 10 years now for people for free. As well as hooking up car stereos. Damn my altruistic nature...

Oh man, you could have an extra 30k over that time frame QQ I do it for free for select people, but you can easily make cash by charging.

I know a degree in the field would be worth it, but I'm pretty set at just attending an online university instead of a physical campus. I just have a feeling that I'm just throwing my money away to get an online degree in IT, whereas an online degree in another field may have some more legitimacy to it. It's a shame I can't take electrical engineering courses online without failing hardcore at a job later on!

Is there a reason why you don't want to attend a physical campus? If EE is something you're more interested in (just assuming based off of this sentence) why not pursue it? UW-Milwaukee has a great engineering program, and they also help you in finding internships/jobs throughout your education. EE's will also make a ton of money in an entry level position, a bunch of my EE friends graduated with $60-65k salaries.

I'm also biased towards people pursuing engineering, as I am/will be one in about a month.

^

[Mizango]

Gamecock nation, all up in this bitch. Eliseos knows what he is talking about, he is going through the job placement process now and is one of the smartest guys I know. He's an EE major iirc, so id direct questions his way since thats right in his wheelhouse.

[Cheerios]

EE is just something I've thought of, but ultimately I don't think it'd be right for me. I've always been interested with the idea, but I haven't had much of anything to do with electrical engineering (or just electrical work in general) aside from soldering and messing around with PC wires and arcade cabinet controls, if you can consider that electrical work.

A buddy of mine also graduated from UW-Milwaukee as an EE, and he had a salary of $50k pretty much right out the door. The money would be nice, but I definitely don't think I'd be able to keep up with the studying and hieroglyphics.

I'm also in a long distance relationship (and she's unwilling to move here until she's done with school), so that also makes it difficult for me to find a degree and pursue it. There's a bit of back and forth travelling, I don't plan on breaking up with her, and I want her to finish her degree. I enjoy the freedom of being able to visit whenever I can (when work permits) with online schooling because I can just continue my education out there. With a physical campus, I feel like I'd be tied down.

I apologize for the late replies, but I've been busy!

[Meresgi]

What all is EE about anyways? Does it differ from Electrical tech in a huge way?

[Skyylya]

Theres a big difference between being for-profit and not. Part of the tuition for For-profit schools goes into the pockets of the owners. All of the tuition for non-profit schools goes into the school itself. That is a pretty big difference imo.

As for online schooling, echoing the checking for accreditation before applying. There are many online colleges that aren't accredited and offer no real degree to speak of. Don't go into schooling of any kind without a real plan or you will be wasting your time and money.

How ignorant are you? Presidents of many of the top "not for profit" regionally state schools in the country pocket many hundreds of thousands of dollars a year just for that one position. The president of USF here in Tampa makes roughly 750k a year after bonuses and incentives kick in and isn't even the top paid state school president in the country.

She may not be pocketing the millions that investor's in private schools do but don't think for a second the school isn't out to get a profit.

[Skyylya]

Is Phoenix a decent place for a so so job? I want to get a BA asap and plan to teach English in South East Asia and to the people who just come to America, and maybe Chinese in the states too.

I would avoid phoenix at all costs. I work in the online college field and I know a lot about these 'mainstream' schools than probably a lot of people in this thread regurgitating stuff they think they've heard somewhere rather than actual facts.

Fact of the matter is that online schools get a lot more recognition now than they ever did. Many fields are finding that people with training online are just as capable as people with training at a campus.

I mean seriously what is so special about learning at a campus. You walk to a classroom, day dream for an hour or two and then go back home where you do your actual studying and learning. Then you go back to the classroom to turn in assignments and take tests.

What's the big difference between taking classes online, still doing all your learning at home, and turning in assignments online and taking tests online? There really isn't any. Having gotten my bachelors at a traditional campus, and currently going for my masters in a mostly online, but also part not online for practicum/internship, I can tell you there is little difference.

It just depends on the school and in that case it's your own fault if you get duped into a school without doing your own research.

[Cheerios]

It just depends on the school and in that case it's your own fault if you get duped into a school without doing your own research.

And that's where you come in!

[Eliseos]

What all is EE about anyways? Does it differ from Electrical tech in a huge way?

I don't know what Electrical tech is, but EE is designing and debugging circuits. Microcontrollers, power supplies, amplifiers, pretty much anything that uses an electronic circuit to operate. Some low-level programming as well if creating a microcontroller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_engineering

I mean seriously what is so special about learning at a campus. You walk to a classroom, day dream for an hour or two and then go back home where you do your actual studying and learning. Then you go back to the classroom to turn in assignments and take tests.

At least for engineers, most of the learning is done in lab. You'll be doing the same stuff in lab as you will in your career, only on a smaller scale. If you don't do labs and projects (which require using the lab) you aren't going to know what the fuck, and you're going to be a terrible engineer. That's why my school fails you if you don't do the labs/projects, even if you have 100% in the rest of the class.

Also if all you do is day-dream during class, you're doing it wrong and could probably take something that challenges you more. If I day-dreamed through my physics major, I'd have no idea what is going on when it comes time to do homework.

[Skyylya]

And that's where you come in!

Maybe people in the industry, but not me. The first thing I talk to a student about is why they aren't going to their local community college. If they say why and it's because of any reasons regarding no transportation, nothing close by, not the program etc... then i'll talk to them about my school.

I didn't get a degree in psychology, begin a masters in school counseling to be a guidance counselor so I could fuck people over.

To clarify what I was saying about campus vs. online, there are obviously things that have to be done in a campus that are hands on like engineering, nursing or any other profession like that. But for stuff that is simply information learning, there is no difference.

[Mizango]

Also if all you do is day-dream during class, you're doing it wrong and could probably take something that challenges you more. If I day-dreamed through my physics major, I'd have no idea what is going on when it comes time to do homework.

That's the truth.

[Ratatapa]

I'm not the greatest IT but the best advantage of an IT is to auto learn

If you don't know the base (Installing Windows Mac Linux, Client and Server, basic Network, basic terms etc) Go to school

IF you know these AKA you can or are A+ cert at least get books pirated or not and learn

You can do everything at home

Build a mini lab with real PC or with vmware and virtualbox

Cheaper and better

[Eliseos]

But for stuff that is simply information learning, there is no difference.

I'd agree with this, but to a point. Some people learn better with face-to-face interaction, some people learn a lot better reading something out of a book (or online in this case). In my case at least, I definitely need face-to-face interaction, especially if I'm having an issue with something.

[Skyylya]

And that is very true. Different people have different learning styles. Reason online has such a bad reputation is because most people don't bother to find out if someone is right for online. Honestly if you ask most people that have done both they'd say the online is more difficult simply because you have to motivate yourself. It's easy to keep an appointment which is essentially what going to a classroom is. Obviously depending on the specific class you're taking one might require more attention than another but if you attend a typical 4 year college about 30-40% of the classes you take actually have something to do with your major so you still have plenty of classes that required about .5% of your brain power to pass.

[kyod]

Many employers look poorly upon online schools which aren't arms of traditional universities. It might be unfair, but that's the truth.

[Meresgi]

I don't know what Electrical tech is, but EE is designing and debugging circuits. Microcontrollers, power supplies, amplifiers, pretty much anything that uses an electronic circuit to operate. Some low-level programming as well if creating a microcontroller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_engineering

From my understanding of what the local CC told me and their program for Elec Tech it seems to be Elec engineering maybe with a little less broadness to it, as engineering seems to encompass a lot more fields. I know that from the Elec Tech program you can go work for a computer chip manufacturer that moved in near the area.

Many employers look poorly upon online schools which aren't arms of traditional universities. It might be unfair, but that's the truth.

I'm not sure about technical degrees like the one the OP wants, but I know that statement is not true of ALL online schools or all online degrees. It all depends honestly. I mean do whatever you feel is more convenient for you. You can explain to any future employer that "Hey I had to go to this online branch of this school because I was working full time, or I was trying to better myself" and I think that holds a lot more clot.

[Skyylya]

Many employers look poorly upon online schools which aren't arms of traditional universities. It might be unfair, but that's the truth.

Just the ignorant ones. Its true some places but is changing in many fields.

[kyod]

I'm not sure about technical degrees like the one the OP wants, but I know that statement is not true of ALL online schools or all online degrees. It all depends honestly. I mean do whatever you feel is more convenient for you. You can explain to any future employer that "Hey I had to go to this online branch of this school because I was working full time, or I was trying to better myself" and I think that holds a lot more clot.

If you go to an online branch of an actual university, like the OP suggested, your degree mentions nothing about it being online. One of my friends did online grad work at the University of Illinois and her diploma just states the University of Illinois. If you go to a pure online school like Phoenix/FullSail/Devry, they don't hold clout.

And it may be 'ignorant' but it's reality. If you want to work in a competitive field out of college, a degree from Phoenix/Devry/FullSail will hurt you. HR will put other candidates before you (Unless you're not employing at a top company). If you had the choice between going to Phoenix or an online arm of UMass - Lowell, you would be stupid not to pick UMass - Lowell. Perception is reality for many employers (especially in this economy), and if you went to an online school, you will be discounted. Fact.

[Meresgi]

A degree from Fullsail Devry will hurt you in the sense that those colleges are worthless and are known that way. I agree they won't hold any clout at all, but it's not do to the online school part, it's due to them sucking major ass. I'm sure there are brick and mortar schools that carry no impression with them because they are known to be 100% party schools or have terrible teachers and idiot graduates. I do agree though that picking an arm of an actual school is the best choice.

[Aleth]

Though you said you wanted to avoid any programming I'd warn against doing that.

Understanding what is going on under the hood will be advantageous to you even if you just like physical side of putting systems together. Programming and scripting (if taught well) is not hard to understand if you can grasp simple algebra. Networking however is one of the more complex programming disciplines (hence so many games in the past did it so badly). Combined with that, scripting will make any repetitive IT type task you do easier/faster; sometimes doing things manually doesn't make sense.

Don't be the IT guy who doesn't program!