Need help deciding which online school

Greetings All,

I am currently enrolled in University of Phoenix, but I am transferring at the end of this year. I haven't had any problems at Phoenix, but I want to go straight in to a bachelor's program. I am working on my degree in Psychology so that I can be an addiction therapist. I currently have a 4.0. I have been obtaining my degree online and wish to continue doing so.

I have narrowed my choices down, and I am trying to decide between two online schools: American Public University and Troy University. Here is the good and the bad of the two. Troy University has the counseling and substance abuse courses I want to take. However, their admissions process and the whole proctor exam issue seems very difficult. In addition, stemming from the reviews I have read, a degree from there may not be as respected as a degree from APU. In opposition, APU seems to have a great reputation. I think I have only read two negative reviews our of about 52 reviews. My only problem is that even though it is a BA program, all of the courses are geared toward the science side of Psychology rather than the counseling side.

Should I go for it and give Troy University a try or should I transfer to APU and worry about getting a certificate in Substance Abuse Therapy at a later time.

Please respond if you have any advice or experience with the two schools. It will be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi, welcome to the board.

I know of three universities called APU.

There is Azusa Pacific University, American Public University and Alaska Pacific University. Which are you interested in? I'm guessing it is American Public?

 

you got it!

Hi Michael,

Yes the two schools that I am trying to decide between are American Public University and Troy University eCampus.

 

Oh yes, Thank you for you welcome!

 

According to
APUS - Online Student Experience

Some classes at APU may also require a proctor.

Why would you get a degree in an area you're not exactly interested in? If you're doing this to get a job in the field, wouldn't you want to have the appropriate training? And if you're self-funded, that's another reason to choose the program you want--you dont want to pay for more coursework later if you have access to what you need now.

I don't see what would be wrong with Troy.

Good Luck!

 

I'll tell you what little I know and hopefully another member will fill in with more detail.

Both schools are regionally accredited, so you are not making a mistake with either school. As far as respect goes, either way it's going to be a online degree (right?) so academia will not respect either one if you wanted to teach at a university. For any other purpose there is no problem with a DL (online) degree. I would go with the school that offers exactly what I want to study. My personal opinion, and that's all it is, is that neither school would be more respected than the other. You should not take those online review sites too seriously; they all tend to be skewed toward the negative.

Hope that helps!
Mike

 

Psychology

Hi,

Both schools do offer a degree in Psychology, which is my passion. However, I want to begin Addiction counseling after I complete my Bachelor's degree. This is possible here in Montana. However, I do plan on continuing my psychology education. I need to make sure my bachelor's degree will be accepted by the master's or doctorate I decide to pursue.

I am using financial aid to fund my education. Both schools cost about the same. I had heard somewhere that Troy does not make Pell grants available for their students, but I am not sure if this is true. And there was a big scandal that involved Troy University in Texas that I don't really know the facts about.

Troy does have the remote proctor system which may not be too bad. American Public University does not seem as strict about who can be a proctor. I live in a very small town, even our library is operated by two volunteers, not a librarian.

 

Either school is fine as Michael stated earlier. One thing to remember about Troy is that Troy is part of the Alabama University System (It's State U).

Shawn

 

I didn't know that, Shawn. With that the case pagg should definitely go with Troy. The diploma and transcripts will probably not even mention that the degree is online.

 

To elaborate you should contact the school and see if the transcripts or diploma mention online at all. Some schools have an FAQ that actually addresses this. You may not care either way but in case you were wondering Troy does have a football team too (albeit a bad one). For some reason some people associate schools with their sports programs and at least in the south Troy is well known.

 

That's why I wish NCU would start a football team.

 

I would go with the school that has the football team! My spouse graduated Troy and we went to the campus for graduation. Wonderful, well established school that you will be proud of graduating!

 

You might want to ask Oklahoma State about Troy's bad football team:

Haugabook leads Troy to 41-23 upset of Oklahoma State - College Football - Rivals.com

 

Thank you for your post!

Thank you for sharing that! I would like to be a part of graduation after all this work. It is nice to hear from someone who graduated from there say positive things about the University. It sounds like your spouse graduated online. I have an appointment to talk to one of their enrollment counselors tomorrow, I will let you know what I decide. I am leaning more towards Troy now.

 

I thought they have one online by using XBOX360 live.

 

LOL...Hey, let's start one! He with the fastest thumbs becomes the star quarterback! Full ride scholarship.

 

Troy is a VERY popular college with military personnel. They have a number of masters programs that attract service members.

So in a world that may not recognize one school from another, at least Troy will get you some name recognition with many current and former military officers.

Best of luck either way.....

 

Thank you! It gets so frustrating trying to select the right University. So many people only write bad reviews on all of the review sites. Asking for information on this forum has been helpful.

 

That's why you can't trust those sites. It seems like the only people who post to those are disgruntled students. Most of those sites are very much negatively skewed.