HES vs ASU vs UW vs UMUC - How do they stand ?

Hello all !

So I had a very long chat / informal interview today with my boss about paying for my studies. The company as formally agreed to sponsor me for my studies. Just tuition fees. I actually submitted to them a list of the schools programs listed below for consideration for sponsorship, and they agreed to all of them (Have to choose one).

HES's ALB, with a focus on IR or Government.

Fields and Minors for the Bachelor's Degree at Harvard Extension School

UW's Social Science completion program

Integrated Social Sciences | UW Online Bachelors Degree Programs - University of Washington

UMUC's Social Science degree program

Online Bachelor's Degree in Social Science | UMUC

ASU Online's Political Sci or Psy program

Undergraduate Online Degree Programs | ASU Online Degree Programs | Arizona State University

They will agree to pay 50% for NYU's Social Science degree completion program. I guess it was very expensive.

Core and Major Curriculum

I'm very interested to complete everything at HES. I found the course work for my first 3 classes very challenging and engaging. The professors were very helpful. The cons of this is, I have to relocated to MA for a semester to study (That means no pay leave + cost of accommodation etc)

I've had experience with ASU's online program since I've been with them for the last 2 years. It's very 'on your own' type of program with very little interaction with your professors. Most engagement I had was with the TAs. I guess one of the PROs' is, their GPA can exceed 4.0 since they offer A+. Con - maybe it's reputation as a 'party' school ?

I saw UW and UMUC programs recently and submitted them for consideration as well since they were from 'big name' schools. Same goes for NYU.

I work for a non-profit org. and my eventual goal is to enter law school to read law and go back into non-profit. There was some talks with my boss about letting me major in CS but they eventually thought otherwise as it didn't really fit my job scope to justify the cost.

So my question is, between the 4 or 5 if you count NYU. Which one's really a 'good' fit for career progression and admission into law school ? I'm not aiming for a T14 (although good if I can get in). I'm going to try to enter a State Law school and gain experience locally (Aiming for W&M or UCLA).

I know law school is all about GPA and LSATs, but still, would be nice to have insights of people who've been through anyone of those places and how it has helped you so far.

In the event I don't go to Law school. I'm also wondering which Uni's cert would give me some sort of 'job advantage' in the working world ? If any.

I'd love to finish everything at HES but I do have 2 kids to look after and feed. The cost of going 1 semester on no pay leave + cost of accommodation and all is causing some doubts. Not sure if it's 'worth it'.


Thanks for listening.

/confused


**I know it's naive to ask opinions on a forum but this is a DL forum and there's so many people here with online experience in education. I thought some in sights would be beneficial.

 

If your goal is Law School, an additional factor that you want to consider is how much support the career counsellors at your university are going to give you in accomplishing that goal.

I can say confidently that HES is quite good at helping people pursue education beyond HES. Whether it is Law School, Medical School, or a PhD program, the folks at HES's Career Center can help you. The key is to talk with them early, so that they can guide you in taking the right courses and building the right relationships with professors.

As far as the other schools on that list, I have no idea what kind of career counseling they provide, but it is something that you should look into.

P.S. If you go to HES, while their may be ways around spending a whole semester their (doing Summer, January, and June sessions there instead), you should STRONGLY consider spending a semester their anyway. I was a Government/International Relations major for my undergrad at Georgetown. There were 3 major things that made my experience their great in terms of studying international relations.

1) VERY international student body.
2) Professors with REAL WORLD experience (e.g. high level positions with the State Department, CIA, Congress, etc)
3) Going to FREE evening Seminars/lectures by world leaders and ambassadors.

You'll get all that and more at HES IF you are on campus.

 

As an ASU graduate, I can say that I got out what I put in. They are a major university with no hand holding, but if you reach out and need something, they will always respond and help quickly. Certain areas look at them as a party school, but they are extremely well respected in their criminal justice, business, communications fields. I think the sustainability department is getting a lot of recognition, too. No relocation required.