This is the best and most to-the-point analysis I've seen regarding higher education!!! On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 10:02 AM, Alexandros Nipirakis wrote: > --If I may interject my opinion -- > > If you are in the United States, and you are thinking about college -- > there are several ways of getting through college. Some are better > than others, and I am going to comment only on my personal experience > with the education system here. I AM NOT TRYING TO START A DISCUSSION > ON POLITICS. > > With that said, I went to ITT Technical Institute for an associates > degree. Yup, I spent the time and money to go to that wonderful > example of private education, and it was horrible. I am still paying > back the money for ITT tech, and probably will be for many years (it > is at least 33k to go there, or was when I attended in 2003). > > Having spent that kind of money, I was obviously interested in > transferring a few of the credits towards my BS degree. Asked UCF > (University of Central Florida, a public university) what I could > transfer, they said "Exactly nothing." > > Given this, and knowing how these stupid colleges work, I assumed that > DeVry would transfer at least some of my ITT credits. They would (not > many, only a few) but it was going to be another 40k to get my > undergrad. > > I have a small bit of experience with DeVry, it is (IMHO) not too far > from ITT tech in quality of education. Some people get a lot out of > it, others not so much. > > My current plan (which is basically on hold because I have other > things going on) is to complete another Associates Degree with a > community college, and then transfer to FSU (Florida State University) > for a BS in Computer Science. The whole idea of the degree is of > dubious usability to me at this point since I am coming up on 10 years > of professional experience in Computer Programming. > > Obviously I am a CS major, so perhaps for other programs something > like ITT would be good (they did seem to have some decent electronics > instructors - at Troy,MI Campus, but I never took any electronics > courses, and wouldn't know bad from good anyways). > > With all that said -- > > * Online is OK if it's offered through a public university (many are > beginning to offer this because the demographic of the college going > public seems to be shifting to working adults) > > * If you go private, expect to pay much more for your degree > > * Many private schools are just degree mills (note, there are plenty > of good private universities out there, I am talking about the ones > that advertise on TV primarily). In other words, you are buying a > degree. Don't expect to learn a thing about what you are going to > school for. Don't expect to earn a good wage with this "degree." > (there are exceptions, particularly if you are good at what you are > going to school for, but the degree is nearly useless). > > * Public universities and colleges will almost always transfer > credits amongst themselves. Private colleges and universities may or > may not (expect that if you got your degree at a degree mill, you will > not be able to transfer your credits to a reputable public university) > > * There is no easy way to a degree. Expect easy degrees to come from > degree mills and be of near zero usefulness in a professional > environment. > > * Going to a public university means a whole bunch of extra courses > (here in Florida, you need at least one year of foreign language to > even touch the junior level courses for example). There is no way out > of them. > > * Going private doesn't mean you will be absolved of these courses. > > * If a private college doesn't make you take liberal arts courses > (English, Public Speaking, etc.) then I would run. Generally, in my > experience, this means they are either a degree mill or a tech school > (career training). > > I said that all to say - in the US (IMHO) there is basically one big > distinguishing factor. Either you are going to a degree mill, or a > good school. The former is almost always going to be a private > school. There are some public universities that are not as good as > others, but in my experience, if they are public you will proabably > get a cheaper education, and one that is more useful to you > professionally. > > Another note, if money is a factor, always go in state. In state > tuition is almost always cheaper than out of state. I know that is a > no-brainier to most people, but when I started researching it, I was > completely floored by how much of a difference there was. > > Finally, be careful about Universities that tout their accreditation > too much. In my experience, this means that the accreditation is > useless (ALWAYS research their claims), and that they are pushing it > because they have little else to bring to the table. > > Aleksei > > On 1 December 2010 09:12, Xiaofan Chen wrote: > > On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 7:03 PM, CDB wrote: > >> > >> :: "Don't even think of putting that university on your UCAS form. > >> :: Apply to Leeds and York instead." > >> > >> What's wrong with the Open University, or has that gone downhill as > well? > >> > >> (Memories of Dr Allan Solomon with the widest kipper tie to grace > >> television and bell bottoms). > > > > Open University is one of the UK universities which are > > not that recognized by quite some employers here in Singapore. > > > > > > -- > > Xiaofan > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .