I recently bought the Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees and I have narrowed it down to five schools. I have an Associate of Applied Science in CIS. I am going to pursue a BA or BS in CIS or CS then a MS, and maybe PHD as well if my brain is still functional. The five schools are: 1-Charter Oak State College, 2-Lakeland College, 3-Mercy College, 4-Strayer University, and 5-Thomas Edison State College. I have choosen these five based solely on what I have read in the book. I will need more info before my final decision. I will be eternally grateful to those of you that post.
I looked at the book too and I came up with the same conclusions as you. All of those colleges that you chose are very good. Which is best for you? I dunno!
You may want to add Excelsior College as another good selection to your list. On par with Thomas Edison and Charter Oak. John
I am enrolled in the on-line B.A. Computer Science degree program offered by Lakeland College. I have an A.A. General and was accepted into the program at junior standing. Just finished up my second semester and will start my third next week. Faculty and staff have been helpful and prompt in answering my questions. Only mid-term exams must be proctored. On-line bookstore services are provided by the efollett.com Network. Their book and software prices seem competitive on average. Based on the three courses I've taken so far, I rate the program as only being fair on a scale of bad-fair-good. Though I learned quite a bit in each course, I feel that two of the courses were too slow-paced and did not cover as much material as they should have. The third course curriculum was satisfactory, but course work and communications were hampered by technical problems with new (to Lakeland) JenzaBar on-line course software. I am very dissatisfied with one aspect of the JenzaBar software. I believe that it is important that software supporting an on-line course provide adequate tools for on-line discussions. Especially when participation in discussions is a substantial part of the course grade. The Izio software used in my first semester was good. The discussion forum portion of the JenzaBar software falls short. I'd go so far as to say that its shortcomings inhibit discussions. It has no mechanism to readily indicate that new messages have been added to a thread or forum and there are no sorting options. One must open each forum area and carefully scan the subject lines for new messages. Each time a forum is opened for viewing, not only are the subject threads listed, but the entire message base in that forum is loaded. Maneuvering between large, or even medium, sized discussions can be very slow. Message size is limited to 2,000 characters, a ridiculously small number in my opinion. The on-line editor has no facility for spell-checking, a minor inconvenience. Detailed error reports I sent to JenzaBar technical support went unanswered. Students are strongly encouraged to complete course evaluations at the end of each semester. I've done so for each of the courses I've taken--all of the comments I've made thus far were included in the evaluations I submitted. The instructors of the two courses I'll be taking next semester appear to be more technically savvy, and have prepared what look like challenging programs. They seem to be be better prepared in general. I'm hopeful that the upcoming semester will be more interesting and intellectually stimulating. Though I remain optimistic about the Lakeland program, if I don't see improvement this fall in course curricula or the forum functions of the JenzaBar software, I am likely to change schools. I hope some of this is useful to you. Good luck with whichever program you decide on. Lowell Kinzer
I'd encourage you to review the online BSIS program at UMass Lowell. http://cybered.uml.edu I have no idea how UML stacks up in Bear's Guide but I will share my experience. I transferred into this program after a disappointing experience with another DL BS CIS program not on your short list. The fees run ~$200 US per credit and there is no out-of-state differential which I have found to be competitive if not relatively inexpensive. The instructors I've encountered have been informative and very responsive; moreover, the administration is amenable to student input. UML offers an extensive list of courses (computer and otherwise) online. Lastly, each course has an optional weekly chat with the instructor which is a great alternative to e-mail tag. Even so, UML instructors typically respond to questions overnight if not sooner. I'm interested to find out which school you select and why. Good luck in your search.
It seems to me there are two routes to take. If a degree in the quickest time is the goal, the Excelsior BS in CIS is the quickest to attain for someone with a fair amount of knowledge. If you have little formal computer related knowledge the U of Mass, NJIT and other programs seem to be more thorough and perhaps slightly better names. A third option would be to finish a BA/BS from Excelsior/TESC/COSC and then a master from one of a number of sources. I hope this is of some help and if you have further questions please post. Best Regards Dave
UPDATE: I'm three weeks into two courses, Ethics and C++ Programming, and the pace and content of both are very satisfactory. I hope future courses are as good. Jenzabar utility is unchanged and performance has been poor. Lowell Kinzer
