Online College Degrees—Pray About it!
The best approach to going to college is to present a terrific SAT/ACT score and offer a great transcript (Obtain a free download @ http://forsuchatimeasthis.com. Click on “free downloads.”). A few weeks ago I talked to you about SAT/ACT. Without a doubt, in public school, private school, or in home school, the SAT/ACT is by far the most important credential that you bring to college admission and college scholarship determination. Absolutely. In an age when schools are so different—schools even in the same zip code—when an A somewhere would be a C in another place—colleges MUST rely on the ACT/SAT score to determine admission. It has been that way for a while. It will be that way for years to come, if not forever.
Take the SAT and/or ACT junior year. And then apply during your senior year. That is the ticket!
One question that I’m often asked, is, what about an online degree? Should I do that? Perhaps. But not usually. If you are forced to do so by life circumstances, an online degree is acceptable. But two things are clear: an online degree is perceived by employers as inferior to a resident degree and it is not cheap.
Online college students stay at home and take most course work via the computer. Sometimes the student is required to attend a two week on campus class or two. Normally an online degree includes a lot of CLEP credit. The course work plus CLEP credit equals an online degree.
This is different from taking some course work online. A lot of people do that. A lot of people get AP or CLEP credit. But most do not complete a degree that way. Taking a few courses is fine. There’s no question that you may take one, two or three courses online—or get some CLEP/AP Credit–but you should know that many colleges—the best colleges—will not give you credit for any online courses. Usually they’re basic courses that are essentially the same everywhere. Most general online course, or CLEP credits, are not in your major area, and, they might save you some money.
Or not. Remember if you have a high ACT/SAT score the university/college that admits you will give you a nice financial package. Let them pay for your education. Besides, as I said, colleges that I attended will not give you credit for online courses. Period. No credit at all.
I have some real questions about an online degree. You should too. If you don’t, call a few employers and ask them if they prefer online degree employees or employees who went to Vanderbilt or the University of Texas in Austin. Ask them if they would rather have an online degree graduate from an online program or a four-year, resident graduate.
Another reason I have questions about an online degree, is that the best graduate schools, will not admit online degree students. And what good is a degree, online, if you can’t use it, to go where God is calling you?
Another thing is, online degrees are terribly expensive! I know one online program that costs about $15,000 and you have nothing when you finish. If you don’t believe me ask people who have online degrees. Ask them if they were able to go to graduate school. Ask them if their degree is viewed the same way as a degree from the University of North Carolina or Messiah College. Ask them if they would do the same thing again.
Online degree students do not take the SAT, ACT, or PSAT and therefore are ineligible for merit scholarships, ineligible for need based scholarships, ineligible for scholarships period.
$15,000 is a lot of money. You could spend $15,000+ and then need to pay for 2-3 more years in another college (if this college will accept your CLEP credits) because all you have is a bunch of CLEP credits (which are much less respected than AP credits).
If you really feel God is telling you to get an Online Degree don’t hire an independent agency to help you. Really, the entire Online Programs can easily be replicated by your own efforts. Online agencies (except colleges—colleges do help you sign up for online courses) do nothing more than what you could do for yourself—FREE. I could pay someone to get my social security for me. I see Ads on television all the time. But why would I? For a little bit of effort I could write and get one for myself FREE. Don’t pay someone $15,000 for something that could cost you nothing if you would do it yourself!
Texas A & M costs $7,500/year tuition. The University of North Carolina $5922. You might spend $15,000 only to find that you need to spend another $28,000 because you do not really have a college degree! Unfortunately, too, you might have taken yourself out of the running for scholarships because typically four year students do not give scholarships to transfer students.
CHELifeline is proprietary about the evangelical leadership emerging in this country. We do not want you to be distracted by smoke and mirrors. We do not want you to pursue Quixotic delusions that sound too good to be true because they are too good to be true!
We have nothing to fear in the American university. Nothing. CHELifeline believes are more than conquerors in Christ. He has favored us with the great opportunity to lead our sad country into the next millennium. Let us stay focused on this task.
We don’t have the time and resources to waste on something that will not advance the Kingdom of God.
Just pray about it, and make sure you know what you’re doing, before you enter an online degree program.
I talk about this at length on some YouTube videos—visit www.whatisthebesttest.com.