Is DL easier than B&M?

Here's the deal... I just started my MA in Communications at Ellis College a couple weeks ago. It has been 2 years since I was in school.

When I was in high school and getting my undergraduate degree, I was a terrible student (just mostly lazy)... I barely scraped by. Now, understandably, I was quite nervous to be going for my MA.

In those 2 years, however, I have become a husband, father, home-owner, etc. So I feel that I have grown up quite a bit and take school more seriously.

So, here's the problem (if you can call it that). I've been taking this class for 2 weeks and have gotten straight 100's on ALL my assignments... I'm quite proud of this considering my past, but it makes me wonder - am I a better student after all these years or is DL (or just Ellis) easier? I may just be paranoid, but I want to get an A because I deserve it and not because its an easy school or instructor.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with Ellis? Are they easier than anyone else or should I simply just be proud of my accomplishments and let it go?

Thanks!

 

I did terribly in school in youth. I flourished under distance learning when I was married with children with a house mortgage. I think the reason was maturity and a need to succeed.

I don't think my earlier goals and education lined up. I also was not under the pressure to succeed that I was later. I simply tried harder because I had a family to support and the education was costing the family money as well. I was focussed, not scattered and searching.

You may be in the same position

 

I do not think DL is easier. I had an amazing 2.0 GPA at DeVry in the mid 80's. I was really bad. Now, I finished an MS with a 3.88 and have a great GPA for my PhD. Is it easier- hell no. Am I more serious - hell yes.

 

I agree, maturity plays a big role in one's success at DL

I don't believe Ellis' College Success Course is a good gauge of how one would do on a real assignment. Posting a Bio, class participation and a few quizzes opposed to the heavy writing we will be doing in the real classes will be the test.

 

I can't speak to your experience, but returning, older adults are invariably worried about their ability to keep up with the "kids" and almost always walk out with some of the highest grades in my classes.

Maturity - sense of purpose - recognition of value - older students are almost always more motivated than traditional college-age students.

 

I have found the same thing occurs in my classes. A former professor of mine did a study of adult re-entry students and found that they excelled over their younger "traditional" (i.e. entered college straight from high schools) peers in every area except one: academic self-confidence.

For most learners who are brand new to distance learning, they tend to find it harder that face-to-face learning at first (unless, of course, the course is poorly designed and is not challenging). Most students who drop out of their first online course do so because they expect it to be much easier and less time consuming (and they are distressed when it is not).

 

This is actually the main reason I recommend people NOT enroll in college right out of high school. For someone so young, college is often about a lot of things not related to getting an education (sports, partying, the social scene, etc.). Only when one has experienced "real life" and worked a job for awhile can they truly understand the things they have to gain from a college education, including whether college is even the right choice for them. I think most people should wait until they are in their 20's before enrolling in college.

My son is 18 and he just graduated high school. He works for a retailer and is on track to become an assistant manager, a job which would pay him about as much as I make in a year (yikes!). Of course, he will need a college degree to advance beyond that point, but at least he will see the benefit of getting a college education when that time comes (he will probably be a business major). Is he ready for college right now? I seriously doubt it.

BTW, I was a terrible student in high school, but had a 3.8 average at a B&M college I attended when I was in my 30s. I currently have about the same GPA at Penn Foster College, although I have excelled in some courses (business math and English Composition) and struggled with others (accounting and business management, of all things).

 

See: http://www.nosignificantdifference.org/

 

Try Keller Grad School's online courses and you'll see how much harder they are than Keller's on-campus courses, which are already very time-consuming to begin with.

 

In general I found CC classes the most difficult, followed by 4-year college classes, folowed by masters level classes. Perhaps this has something to do with experience.
I also find most B&M classes easier than most DL classes.

 

It may be specific to your program...this is not the first time I have heard of "easy" A's / 4.0's at Ellis.

For example: this thread.

 

horric29's

"I think, personally, there are to many 4.0's sliding out and this will just make matters worse."

This statement is what your going on? Well then I guess that makes it true then!

I'll quit Ellis tomorrow thanks for the info!!

I guess dealing in fact is the "old school" way of doing things. And what do you think horric29 is basing his absurd statement on? I would assume it's the hundreds of A assignment grades and 4.0 GPA's that all the Ellis students gave him personal access too?

 

So do you know of anyone who has made bad grades or failed out?

 

It probably has a lot to do with maturity.

I’m a new mom, wife, work more than full time in a highly stressful job, and go to school full time. I can handle all of my assignments now and get a decent GPA. I did have a 2.7 at my local CC previously and had a hard time with my B & M classes (which I honestly think were easier than my classes now).
The difference now is I have a clear career goal in mind, I want to set a good example for my child, and I already know about time management in a way I couldn’t grasp at 18.

And in my personal experience, my online classes are harder. It’s not so much the material (although for some classes it is), it’s the time management required.

 

Oh and FWIW I looked at Ellis, but the tuition was too much for me.

 

Like others here, I also did very poorly straight out of high school. It's quite embarrassing for me to look back at those grades on my transcript. I believe my GPA at the time I dropped out was like 1.9. The reasons, at least for me, were quite simple. I spent more time drinking and chasing women than I did in the classroom or studying. An obvious formula for disaster that ultimately cost me a full-ride scholorship.

After having gone back to finish my B.S. (15 years later), the lowest grade I've gotten since is an A-. The reason for this, in my case, was also very simple. I had a much different purpose and focus, which was probably the biggest difference. But in addition to that, I also found that I now had something else of great value; a context for what I was learning. I found the courses much easier to understand because I had experience to relate them back to. As icing on the proverbial cake, I was also able to immediately apply what I was learning in everyday practice, which further motivated me.

I've talked to many other working adults who have returned to school and found the same to be true.

Danny

 

I never asked anyone? IMHO, that would be kind of a strange question to ask a fellow student.

I can't see NYIT (Ellis College is under NYIT accreditation) would allow such courses to be put out there with the NYIT name on it. I would think NYIT would have too much to lose credibility wise, no?

However, I will have to see what happens when I finish the College Success Course and start an actual class in a few weeks.

I am soooo not in this to just get a degree, learning is my first priority the degree is a icing on the cake. IMO without the knowledge the degree is useless-

Right or wrong I will post my findings here during my upcoming class at Ellis.

 

Well, that and the statements from several other Ellis students, including the OP of this thread and siddilou on the other link I provided, along with many others. Honestly, I have not researched this topic. I have just been around for many years and the few grade inflation complaints I hear about seem to derive from Ellis specifically. I'm Just posting an observation, that's all. One should do their own due diligence.

If I were to guess, I would say he is basing it off personal experience from Ellis of which he was a student.

OP: Academic rigor various by institution and various programs whether DL or B&M. If you are happy with the quality of education you are getting, then there is little worry about.

 

I think it's so cute that you wouldn't (eeeewww) ask someone a personal question. It's all so John Wayne. I'm thinking about "Rio Bravo."

John is the Sheriff and Angie Dickinson is the babe. Add in Dean Martin, Rickie Nelson and ...wait for it...wait for it...Walter Brennan (who absolutely steals the show) and you've got one of the best cowboy movies evaaar!

Back to the issue. When I'm in school I absolutely know how everybody is doing. Most programs have some sort of interactive dealamajig. Use it!
But that's just me.

 

Mmmm...Angie Dickinson. She was mighty fine back in her prime. I highly recommend her film "Big Bad Mama", which featured more stupendously over-the-top acting by one Mr. William Shatner.