Where Did You Go to College/University

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 9:39 am

Down here (in SC), everydamnbody refers to University of South Carolina as "USC." It drives me crazy...but it's too late to change decades of ignorance.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:01 am

Source of the post University of North Dakota (of all places)- it is highly rated both in program quality and affordability.

The doctorate I'm shooting for is with Dakota State University in Madison, SD. Same thing, high quality program (one of the few that partners with the NSA) and dirt cheap.

Source of the post This is the first time someone described online classes to me in a way that didn't portray them as a joke.

That's on you. Quality online instruction has been around for a while. I (re)started my bachelors in 2007 at a regionally accredited public university. Had I completed that Masters at BU the degree would've been completely indistinguishable from a brick and mortar student in the same program. Before I decided to go to Maryland I was also accepted by PSU but I didn't like the program offerings.

Maybe the for profit degree mills have clouded your perception, and I would understand that.

If you want to get really into the gray area of online classes we can talk about WGU. I might take that to the education thread soon.

Postby **RonnieFranchise** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:07 am

Many reputable institutions offer online degrees, including PSU World Campus and PU Online.

I am willing to bet the diplomas they issue don't indicate whether you sat on campus or at your kitchen table in your underwear to do the coursework.

The UND degree my wife is looking at requires 6 days in Grand Forks. Does it get any better than that?

I have considered pursuing my DBA for awhile, but the work seems to far outweigh the benefit. Nobody outside of Universities are looking for that, anyway.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:16 am

Yeah, the DSU program requires three residency sessions. Which is great since it's only 5hrs away.

I would've rather gone to PSU:WC but they just didn't offer any really good programs back in 2007. I think the one I was actually accepted to was Bachelor of Arts in Letters, Arts, and Sciences which I'm really glad I dodged in hindsight.

Man, they have some good stuff now. Their MS:IT specializations include Data Analytics, EntArch, and CyberSec. Hmmm. PSU still gives me the creeps but I may add them to the list of places I'm applying to this spring. Born too early.

Postby **willeyeam** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:16 am

Down here (in SC), everydamnbody refers to University of South Carolina as "USC." It drives me crazy...but it's too late to change decades of ignorance.

How dare they call their school by its initials

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:38 am

I'm in the University of Florida's online MBA program. Ten days of in person orientation to start the program, back on campus for the end of semester/beginning the next semester, everything in-between is online. Lectures are recorded every two years, same curriculum as the traditional MBA program, professors are easy to reach and communicate with, and the degree says nothing to indicate that its any different than an in person MBA. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Allowed me to pursue an MBA from a top 15 (or 20 or 25 depending on the ranking) public university without having to quit my job or move before my wife finished school.

Some programs are less accommodating. UNC's online MBA program requires you to Skype into live lectures for the part-time MBA program. UPS issues their World Campus degrees from the Behrend Campus instead of main campus and doesn't offer the full support of their career services center (UF does). Regardless, online offerings are definitely the future of higher education.

Postby **slappybrown** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:52 am

An even better question is will we double up the ups thread? It's not really fair to compare the premier college football thread to a page 2 thread, but here we are.
It's almost like the majority of posters on this site are from Pittsburgh and surrounding counties, and are more likely to devote their allegiance to the long-dead football program in Oakland than they are to a school that's their rival.

Pitt
8
20%
Penn State
7
18%

/s/ EPP'd

Postby **count2infinity** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:53 am

Postby **Tomas** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 11:57 am

Czech Technical University for my Master ("Mathematical Engineering")
Pitt for my PhD (Finance)

Now I have been going to the University of Arkansas. For the 16th year!!

Regarding online education: I perfectly understand that many people have very solid reasons to choose it, and that those reasons have nothing to do with easy way out. And I also think that the quality and perception of degrees (especially from "real" accredited universities - in business the only one that matters is AACSB) is getting close (really close in case of universities like Indiana) to the full-time degrees. That being said - I still think that nothing can replace the face-to-face interaction with the instructor and the classmates. So, if geographic/work restrictions are an issue, I would very much recommend some "blended-delivery" program - combination of online and face-to-face (usually, once-a-month Saturday and/or Sunday) program. We have, for example, a blended-delivery Executive MBA:
http://gsb.uark.edu/executive-mba/
and I'd say there is absolutely ZERO quality/perception differential with respect to the full-time program (personally, I'd even say EMBA is our better program).

Postby **LITT** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:05 pm

Yeah, this Masters of Human Resource Management from Saint Francis is really quality stuff. All online. 33 credits. I'm a little over halfway through (starting year 2).

Honestly, online classes are the future.
This is the first time someone described online classes to me in a way that didn't portray them as a joke.

my wife took an online calculus course through kansas state. as a pre-req for her grad school (nursing, wtf calculus?). i did all of the course work for her. got every point through the semester and corrected a problem. we received a b+. i asked him what gives (through her email) and he said he knew that was just taking for pass/fail to show a pre-req and he knew that someone took the course for her. oops

Postby **LITT** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:09 pm

Ohio State

inb4 people start ragging on me for not saying "The"
Do people do that. Saying "The" is top tier dbaggery.

almost everyone i know from tOSU does it. and those that dont, dont do it because they fear the ridicule of doing it; not because they think its stupid.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:12 pm

Source of the post (nursing, wtf calculus?)

My wife just started the last two courses for her Doctorate of Physical Therapy pre-req. What is she taking? Physics I/II.

Postby **LITT** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:13 pm

Source of the post (nursing, wtf calculus?)
My wife just started the last two courses for her Doctorate of Physical Therapy pre-req. What is she taking? Physics I/II.

i think it could be beneficial for torque/angles/forces and then gas laws/etc which are always beneficial in a health care setting

Postby **dodint** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:16 pm

Beyond what's taught in Chem I/II that she also took?

Personally I think it's just a barrier to entry to keep people with non-science undergrads from applying for the programs without fully considering what lies ahead. Not a bad thing, but it seems excessive.

Postby **columbia** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:20 pm

I had take two semesters of calculus, two semesters of physics and the CS101 programming class to get a....liberal arts degree.
Bad? No. All have served me well (in at least an intangible way).

Postby **dodint** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:22 pm

She already took Calc at SVC, and whatever science. Not sure how she missed Physics there as I took it in my one year there.

The frustration is compounded because in both NC and here in WI the community colleges are not offering hard sciences as much anymore. The one in WI doesn't offer Physics II at all, so she'll have to take it as a visiting student to UW-L.

Postby **shmenguin** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:26 pm

Yeah, this Masters of Human Resource Management from Saint Francis is really quality stuff. All online. 33 credits. I'm a little over halfway through (starting year 2).

Honestly, online classes are the future.
This is the first time someone described online classes to me in a way that didn't portray them as a joke.
my wife took an online calculus course through kansas state. as a pre-req for her grad school (nursing, wtf calculus?). i did all of the course work for her. got every point through the semester and corrected a problem. we received a b+. i asked him what gives (through her email) and he said he knew that was just taking for pass/fail to show a pre-req and he knew that someone took the course for her. oops

yeah, i guess i have a different approach to college education. i think you should do your own work. even having someone else proof read a paper of yours is poor form, imo. this isn't a popular opinion, as was discussed at some point on the old board. but being evaluated for YOUR competency in the subject matter is kind of the point of taking a class, no? and college is competitive. your achievement is being judged by employers after you graduate. if you hand your work to someone smarter than you to punch up, it demeans what people are doing by themselves.

anyways, the online stuff can breed all kinds of foul play. it's not why i said the "joke" thing though. like dodint alluded to - that's on me. the people i know who have done it had different experiences than some of you.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:28 pm

Beyond what's taught in Chem I/II that she also took?

Personally I think it's just a barrier to entry to keep people with non-science undergrads from applying for the programs without fully considering what lies ahead. Not a bad thing, but it seems excessive.

My wife has a doctorate in PT and I don't remember her saying she took Physics. Chem I believe at least one semester. It was both her worst class and mine.

With that said, I went to Geneva College with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Took plenty of physics, chem and calculus classes and maybe have used 5% of it all.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:37 pm

Source of the post My wife has a doctorate in PT and I don't remember her saying she took Physics. Chem I believe at least one semester. It was both her worst class and mine.

Not saying you're wrong by any stretch, but for amusement I'll post her prereqs:

With her History Education degree from SVC the softer stuff was already done. Stats, 2 doses of Chem, and 2xPhysics just seems heavy handed to me. But really, I'm just happy she's going.

Postby **MR25** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:45 pm

Source of the post the people i know who have done it had different experiences than some of you.

That's granted. I originally thought online classes would be a joke, but with how St. Francis runs things, we're taking courses that would normally be covered over a full semester in a live classroom in 7 weeks online (for example, I took the HR 521 class in 7 weeks last winter. It's currently being offered on campus over the course of the full Fall semester). We can do double the classwork/credits in half the amount of time. It really keeps you on your feet because you're switching topics every week. You pretty much have to be able to take a new concept, understand it, apply it for a week, then move on and try to remember it for the final.

Postby **MalkinIsMyHomeboy** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:50 pm

Source of the post (nursing, wtf calculus?)
My wife just started the last two courses for her Doctorate of Physical Therapy pre-req. What is she taking? Physics I/II.
i think it could be beneficial for torque/angles/forces and then gas laws/etc which are always beneficial in a health care setting

physics I maybe, but physics II most of the time is electromagnetism. Don't see how that could be useful. also, you don't learn gas laws until chem or thermodynamics

Postby **Craig** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:53 pm

Ohio State

inb4 people start ragging on me for not saying "The"
Do people do that. Saying "The" is top tier dbaggery.
almost everyone i know from tOSU does it. and those that dont, dont do it because they fear the ridicule of doing it; not because they think its stupid.

Yeah i meant "do people give him crap for not saying THE". I know that people say THE a lot.

Postby **MalkinIsMyHomeboy** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:53 pm

also, after going through the physics program, there wasn't a class I had to take that was harder than the physics courses.

like, I took Orgo which was largely a walk in the park

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:53 pm

never even finished a full semester.

College is a sham.
Who needs college when you have muscles and dirt?
For what maagwa does, college would have been idiotic. I completely agree with his sentiment. I have never worked a job that should have required a college degree, but ive also never worked one that didnt require a degree.
I think it is overpriced and you don't get what you pay for. I didn't finish at Behrend for multiple reasons, but I think most career paths need a type of education more than high school.
Yeah to prove youre capable of learning or at least playing the game enough to function.

In my personal experience it seemed to be more of playing the game and copying work from others that got the others to pass. Which in engineering doesn't help a ton to cheat.

Postby **Craig** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:54 pm

Well yeah engineering is a real thing. I went to business school.