Distance education for younger people

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by hans_1984, Dec 12, 2001.

Loading...
  1. hans_1984

    hans_1984 New Member

    Hi,

    I'm 17, 18 in three weeks, homeschooled and graduating from high school next spring. I was wondering what your guys' take is on college-age students choosing to skip out on the residential experience and instead using accelerated distance education to obtain a Bachelor's degree in, say, 2 years instead of the usual 4.

    I've been trying to decide if I'd really be missing out on a lot, or if it would really hurt my career prospects, to get a double-major in History and Photography from Thomas Edison State instead of going off to a four-year. I still think I'm kind of nuts for considering this; I got a 1520 on the SAT and could basically have my pick of liberal arts schools. But I'm working a lot right now, and have put away a fair amount of money, and don't like the idea of being penalized to the tune of 35% just for having done well for myself. If I go with Thomas Edison I can complete my degree for under $8,000 in somewhere around 2 years... sounds a lot better to me, in some ways.

    Then again, it could get boring being stuck at home for two+ years. And it might also be hard to stay motivated enough to do all of the studying without many external pressures.

    BTW, TESC does let you do double-majors, right? They're not to clear on this point on their website.

    Second question: how would a BA in a subject like Photography work at TESC, when they don't offer more than an intro to photography? Where could I go to take the course-work, since photography isn't the kind of thing you can just test out of?

    Thanks a lot for the info,
    Hans Friedrich
     
  2. P. Kristian Mose

    P. Kristian Mose New Member

    Dear Hans,
    You are raising an interesting question, to which of course there is no right answer. The four years at which so many American young people are off at college is as much about maturation and getting away from their parents as it is about studies.

    I had a great time as an undergraduate, hundreds of miles from home, even if I was sort of a creative loner, not someone given to drinking beer from a funnel.

    Could I have done just as well intellectually as a commuter student living at home, or nowadays by distance education? Certainly. In some ways what you are proposing sounds more mature.
    Clearly it is less expensive.

    But I doubt you will be bonding with faculty and other students in the same way when there is no physicality, and no opportunity to be social together. Sitting at a table together, for example: it's of intangible value in education, but of profound valuejust the same.

    What about a compromise: two years of a residential college experience and then polish off the rest of your degree from your home if you still want to?

    Peter

    P.S. I just reread your post and see that you have been home-schooled. Hans, get outa there and get thee to a campus!
     
  3. Hille

    Hille Active Member

    Hello. I read your post this morning and thought about it. I would take every test possible to challange credits and go away to school. There has been a lot of Harvard dl discussion. If they accept Clep,Dantes, and other testing sources why not aim high. Best wishes on your academic quest. Have a good holiday.Hille

    ------------------
     
  4. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    "Can do" and "Should do" are different. I completed the requirements for three Regents degrees (an A.A. and two bachelor's degrees) before I turned 21. But my circumstances were quite different. I grew up extremely poor, joining the Air Force to find a way out. I'd served almost 3 years by the time I graduated; that's a lot of work experience to go along with a degree at that age. But if I'd had the opportunity, I would've gone to college with my peers. (I realize poverty alone didn't keep me from doing it; there were a lot of bad things in my family as well.)

    Go to college. Learn about things beyond the curriculum. Or keep working and do the TESC degree. Either way, work hard towards your goals. You may not arrive to the place you set out for, but you'll still end up somewhere nice.

    Rich Douglas, who never reached his dream of managing a bowling alley. Of course, the way AT&T is going, I may just get there yet! [​IMG]
     
  5. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    I think it's a great idea--but I should admit that I'm a little biased. Like you, I was homeschooled and went the degree track early, finishing an off-campus BA in Liberal Arts from Excelsior College rather than going to a four-year college.

    Only you can really answer this question; my experience has been that the arguments used to support the residential college experience are more-or-less the same arguments used to support traditional K-12 schooling. Personally, I think they're bunk; your mileage may vary.

    I think most people are a little nutty for not at least considering this as an option. It has some definite advantages, and the disadvantages can be overcome (ex: socialization probably isn't a problem for you; you're already in the workforce).

    Agreed on both counts; these are serious concerns to bear in mind. They can be mitigated, though--for example, you can join local photography clubs and historical societies, thereby giving yourself a post-academic social support network while you're still technically a student. You'll probably learn much more in a room full of experienced middle-aged photographers than you would in a classroom full of inexperienced students.

    I think so, but you might want to give them a call just in case; they can be reached tollfree at (888) 442 8372.

    You take courses at other regionally accredited institutions, then transfer them in; as part of my BA at Excelsior, I did correspondence courses through Ole Miss (English 101 & 102) and Penn State (Creative Writing).

    It should be possible to take most of the courses online or via correspondence; if you'd like to do hands-on photography work, local colleges or art schools may offer appropriate coursework as well. Another factor to bear in mind: TESC grants credit for non-academic training (via "portfolio"), so it's conceivably possible for you to do your entire photography major through a local studio or art school, arranging your projects to meet specific course requirements.

    Good luck!


    Cheers,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net

    co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
    co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)
     
  6. Howard

    Howard New Member

    One thing you have not clarified is what you intend to do with the Bachelors degree or what you want to accomplish in life. Given, at your age you can take a lot of different roads but I would suggest you have a plan and then make sure that a cookbook degree will provide you with the power to do what you want to do in life. Good Luck!

    ------------------
    Howard Rodgers
     
  7. P. Kristian Mose

    P. Kristian Mose New Member

    A plan? At age seventeen? I still don't have one and I'm likely older than Hans' teachers. Howard, promise you'll never ask me what *I* want to accomplish in life!

    If you ask me, I say Hans' plan should be nothing more than to move out of the family manse pronto, and study widely. On a campus; off a campus. Using only a public library and not for credit, or towards a degree. These things don't matter so much.

    Hans, if you're already worried you might be bored at home next year, I think you have just answered part of your dilemma.

    But I don't understand the reference to losing 35% of your $. In tuition? It's hardly lost. Just not in the bank anymore.

    Peter
     
  8. Bill Highsmith

    Bill Highsmith New Member

    Hans, definitely study in a residential program; on the other hand, definitely stay at home and study via 100% DL.

    I hope you are not expecting meaningful advice about this from perfect strangers. People here can advise you about the relative merits of specific programs or about the relative merits of DL and residential learning; and, they can suggest options. However, no one can give anything but armchair advice to an anonymous teenager about when he should leave home. You know that you'll have to decide for yourself, taking into account your goals, the educational opportunities available to you, your home situation, and your parents' advice. And definitely study podiatry instead of photography.
     
  9. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

     
  10. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    It's unclear from what you wrote, but have you ever studied with other students, or has all of your schooling been homeschooling? My personal opinion is that everyone should spend some time in a classroom studying with other students. How much time, I can't say.

    My first take is that you are confusing two very different things, as many on this group habitually do: accelerated education and distance education.

    Is photography really an appropriate major for a 100% DL student? I think that the first thing that you need to consider is your choice of major. Distance education is not a wise choice in some fields. Laboratory sciences for example, or other hands-on fields like agriculture, medicine or (yes) photography. A lot of what you learn will be technique. And you will learn a lot of it by observing the work of other people.

     
  11. samc79

    samc79 New Member

    Hans, I'm currently a senior in college. I'm $20,000 in the hole(b/c of loans), but I wouldn't change a thing! The residential experience is worth far more than the money you may be forced to shell out.

    I've experience amazing growth socially during the past year and a half. Even if you already have an active social life, Peter is still right in saying that college is as much about maturation than it is about studies.

    Where you go(Ivy League, whatever, etc) is not as important as what you do when you get there(to whatever school you go to).

    As for staying home, yeah it DOES get boring, and I've been a commuter student for the past 2(going on 3) years. Think about how boring it'd be if you didn't even have a a school to commute TO.

    Whatever decision you make, follow your heart. [​IMG]


    ------------------
    Sam C
    www.uci.edu
    UCI 2002
    [email protected]
    Confusion is just the path to insight and knowledge
     
  12. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Hi Hans,

    Just another side to the story -- my younger son (20) went away to school because it was just what all kids do including his older brother (now 21). Two different kids and two different circumstances.

    Older is in his element and LOVES residential college. Younger had lots of problems with roommates and motivation and being totally BORED in lecture classes (high SAT and all upper level honors courses as a college freshman with full academic scholarship, photographic memory, speed reader). He didn't have much in common with his freshman peers since he was in all upper level courses and wasn't into team sports (2nd degree black belt in karate and black belt in tae kwon do) nor was he into the partying and drinking.

    Long story short -- he came home after one year, has since changed majors twice and is finally this spring finishing at community college (while living at home) with two associates degrees. The main reason he has been happier in community college is that at least half of his classmates are working adults and he has always related better to people older than he. Adults are much less judgemental and much more accepting of others than are teenagers or traditional age college students (as a general rule).

    He has decided he's had enough of going to classes and listening to professors drone on about nothing when he can learn it for himself. He is currently working full time while living at home and plans to continue doing so -- that kid has more money than we do LOL His dream is to start his own business and that is all part of his reason to save money by living at home.

    The motivation for study and work comes from within. If you don't have a reason to do it then it won't matter whether you are at home or away. My younger son bombed freshman year because he was just not interested and was very unhappy. It was a valuable learning experience though and once he figured out what he wanted then he found his own way. For the record - we never insisted on college and encouraged him to take a couple of years off and work if he wanted. He made the decision to continue with his studies while he worked.

    Think about all your options -- weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each. My guess is (and I realize I don't you or your situation so take it with a grain of salt) that you might be more content with attending community college while living at home. See how you like it and then decide from there. You can always take extra courses via distance learning while you're attending traditional courses. That way you can see what it's like on both sides of the fence.

    Good luck,

    Sunnie
    *who will never ever set foot in a traditional class again to either teach or to learn!!!!!!!*
     
  13. irat

    irat New Member

    Hi Hans
    Generally a dual major bs/ba is more powerful than a single major. It always seems that when a person takes up their career of passion, it was the one they almost majored in. My daughter just completed a dual major and has had many nice offers.
    I think that classes with people are very important. However, you usually don't get the smaller, interactive seminars until you are a Jr. or Sr. It might be possible to take two years worth of credit at a distance, and transfer into a bricks and mortor campus. Actually, if you enquire, many bricks and mortor campuses allow a significant amount of credit by testing. My daughter went to a bricks and mortor land grant college and entered with 18 credits from A.P. testing/classes. My son entered a bricks and morter community college and got 7 credits for his A.P. testing/classes.
    Two local four year colleges will accept almost all the clep/dantes testing credits, outside the major subject field. But they will accept the A.P. credits in the major subject field, providing you pass the next most advanced class.
    It took my daughter 152 credits to have the dual major in the field she selected. She was able to do it in 4 years thanks to the 18 A.P. credits.
    My advice is to look at several bricks and mortor colleges. Find the colleges that will allow you to get the most cheap credits, clep/dantes/excelsior/A.P. testing/challenge and test out of- options and see if it is possible to work out the dual degrees you want.
    The credit by testing can save a significant amount of money, but also get you by the electives so you can concentrate on the subjects you like.
    Many colleges will award a 2nd bachelors degree for an additional 30 credits beyond the first BA. A second option would be to go the distance learning route for BA and then get the second through a college that has this option.
    Good luck!
     

Share This Page