Online schooling...?

Question

Which online 'college' or 'certificate' schools do you recommend for recent H.S. graduates?

Answer 1

Since the prices of most online Universities are through the roof, I would hesitate to recommend them to anyone who wasn't already set up with a good job.  A good junior college that also offered online coursework might be better.

Answer 2

Depends on what you are planning on doing.

I know one homeschooled girl who took a couple of online courses through Athabasca University (I'm in Canada) and was able to use those credits as a way to transfer to a local college. She had no interest in doing her degree online. To be honest, I think she wanted to go into journalism and you just can't do that online.

Most online degrees will be somewhat limited because certain courses do need a degree of interaction or labs or something. Some work just fine in the online format. I can think of a few of my university courses where it really wasn't any different than sitting in a lecture hall watching a taped episode--no interaction during the class. Those would have made excellent online classes. You could ask questions afterwards, but you can do that through online college courses, too.

Back to what I said: it depends on what you want to do. You need to think in terms of future career areas and decided if online is going to meet the requirements for that or not. I can tell you that if you do something online, you want it accredited through some recognized institutions. Check them out thoroughly. Also, plenty of regular universities and colleges offer online courses in addition to regular classes. You could look into those.

Answer 3

Western Governors University (www.wgu.edu) does not require a previous college degree in order to enroll.  They don't require any onsite attendance, everything is done via the internet.  Tests are proctored at a location near you (such as a library or local business).  

There is something else great about WGU, they let you work as fast as you can in a semester for a flat rate price.  They don't charge by the credit!  This is an incredible money saver.  

I hope they have what you are looking for!  They can help you locate a scholarship, test out of subjects you already know, and qualify for Federal Student Loans.  Good luck!

Answer 4

None of them.

A student needs to interact with classmates. A student needs to interact with professors, major advisors, and department chairs. A student needs to get his brain thinking of something besides the computer.

There are some who will probably recommend some site or other. I think even Harvard offers some online classes.

Online stuff is not for regular students. It's geared to professionals who work 10 hours a day and can't attend classes.

I know a young lady who, at 16 attended some kind of academic "summer camp." She was recruited into an ROTC program. She went back to Puerto Rico for her Junior year in high school and challenged her GED. That young lady is now approaching 19 and is a Junior at Clarkston University in New York majoring in aeronautical engineering... she wants to fly jets. She even spends her summers in school.

Besides, college is more than just classes. Let's see you go out for and "letter" in a sport online. Let's see you pledge a fraternity. Research papers are cut and paste online... you can't do that with books in a library... you really have to learn something. You want to learn a subject? Kick it around with some of your classmates... kind of hard to do that online too.

What you get out of education is directly proportional to what you put into it. Rolling out of bed and sitting down at the computer... isn't much.