Best online BA for people who hate online classes?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by SurfDoctor, Mar 19, 2012.

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  1. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    My daughter started a semester at Empire State (SUNY) online this fall and absolutely hated it. I poked around on her online classrooms and I can see why she did. The whole system was rather convoluted, with instructions and assignments in several different locations and it was confusing. She found that she completed the requirements in one place in her classroom only to find something she failed to do that was located somewhere else. A rather strange system they have there, even though I know the school is good. Empire State uses Angel which gives instructors a lot of latitude in the design of the class, I'm told.

    I think she may study marketing, but she is also thinking about studying to be a nutritionist and becoming an RD. What is a more organized, straight forward program that you would suggest?
     
  2. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Is Harvard an option? It's the most un-online I've come across. Simply, all students (grad/undergrad, distance, hybrid, on campus) are all together. Lecture attendance is optional on campus. So, each week the lecture is uploaded following class for anyone to view. You also have the option of "attending" class live via webcast and chat box. Even campus students must do online forum requirements and submit work electronically, so it's really a paradigm shift away from the canned curriculum delivered by mentors and auto-graded. She'd have professors, teacher's assistants, class and section, etc.

    The undergrad requirements are not light, but the liberal arts degree is an option, and they'll take 12 CLEP plus up to 64 credits in transfer. Also, you can attend summer sessions, which are held on campus, and stay in the dorms. It creates an opportunity to blend the online/oncampus nicely.

    Cost is about $1000 per 4 cr. course, offset by any CLEP/transfer. You're looking at less than $25,000 give or take for the whole degree.

    Harvard University (College of Continuing Education in the drop down)


    EDIT: Direct link http://www.extension.harvard.edu/degrees-certificates/undergraduate-degrees
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 19, 2012
  3. rebel100

    rebel100 New Member

    HES offers a marketing minor also.
     
  4. TonyM

    TonyM Member

    Go to Excelsior and Take Exams and Old Fashioned Correspondence Courses

    DANTES, CLEP, Excelsior College exams and Excelsior College are a great way to go. You can mostly test out to earn an Excelsior degree in business. You can take any others by correspondence, which is still the most practical and convenient method, or even take a class or two at a local school as a transient. It's still possible to do distance learning without going online!
     
  5. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    What platform does Excelsior use?
     
  6. TonyM

    TonyM Member

    Because Excelsior accepts all kinds of credits throughout the program, you can earn credit in whatever way, from any school that you prefer. If you don't like online learning you can use paper correspondence, local classroom or credit by exam or any combination of these.

    Excelsior has its own courses, which you mostly don't have to take, but I'm not sure what platform they use.
     
  7. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Blackboard.
     
  8. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I am currently working on my BS through Excelsior. I will be taking 3-4 online classes through different colleges, but most of my remaining credits will be earned through DSST exams (I needed upper level credit).

    The test I am currently studying for is DSST Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union. I watched a few documentaries on Russian history online, and I'm currently reading a textbook called The Soviet Colossus. Once I finish that, I'll be taking the exam. To me, this is my preferred method of learning.

    I took DSST The Civil War and Reconstruction last month. I studied by watching the Ken Burns documentary The Civil War and watched a few more documentaries about Reconstruction, plus I read the Spark Notes on the Civil War.

    If you're looking to gain credit without taking a class, AP, CLEP and DSST exams are the way to go. It's a good way of knocking out the general education portion of a degree.

    Some colleges do have video-based courses, and courses which emphasize writing over exams. Perhaps those would work better for your purposes.
     
  9. JBjunior

    JBjunior Active Member

    I am not familiar with Excelsior but one thing I liked about TESC is that every class format was pretty similar. Discussion post, 2 replies, a few essays, proctored mid-term, un-proctored final. This was a couple of years ago but that was my experience.
     

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