EllisZ and any other opinions?

I am in the process of application to
AIU.
After years in the world of lovely Management
I feel my business and most others are going the way
of IT.
Our company will "downsize" in the slow times but
the IT department continues to grow.

In short I have completed the paperwork for
a BS in IT with a direction straight to the MIT program.

Ellis, I see you have completed your MIT

Can you provide some feedback regarding the
classes, staff, etc. To date I am impressed.
( The cost is a killer, but so is everywhere else)

I have seen both sides in my day.
From great, Shepherd College. Average to Good
American Military University. To rock bottom
of TESC.

Will appreciate any info.

Thanks

Dave

 

Hi!

Yes ... I finished my Masters at the AIU on-campus program. Are you going to be studying via DL or traditionally?

Here are my impressions of AIU:
It is expensive. (Obviously).

- The course work is good. You will learn a lot. (I've tutored folks in the same program from Southern Polytech and the coursework that I saw wasn't as challenging or as current.)

- AIU (at least the on-campus version) requires you to work in "teams". Each team operates like a small business or at least as a department. Part of your grade is dependent on this teamwork. So ... you must make it work. This is very similar to what happens in real life. If you don't like a team-mate you can't trade him off, you must learn to be productive. With the time constraints that the program puts you under you'll have some conflicts. I find this to be a very relevant part of the experience, especially in the IT industry.

The instructors, for the most part, are very good. In all two years I can only think of one professor that I would call "less than stellar" while the rest were very good to excellent. (Both full time and adjunct staff.) The last teacher that I had there was probably the best teacher that I've ever encountered at any school. (A real inspiration ... and those are rare.)

Ok ... so AIU has good, relevant coursework, so what's the downside?

Quite honesty it's the administration. They are somewhat disorganized and things are often done in a hap-hazard fashion. As far as I can see, things are getting better but they have a long way to go. Now: Every school I have ever attended has suffered in this area to some extent, AIU is just a little worse than average.

The masters program is a lock-step program, so registration couldn't be easier. (That's a big plus.)

Overall I'm glad I went there. I'm glad I didn't actually think about the cost before going because I probably would not have and I would have missed the experience. I was fortunate enough to have some great team-mates that I became very good friends with. (So that was a free added bonus.)

If you have any more specific questions please let me know and I'll get back to you.

I'll be out of town from tomorrow until Sunday night so I may take a few days to answer.

- Ellis

 

Ellis

Thanks for the response.
I will be online for the duration.
With my schedule and travel, brick and mortar
is out of the question.

Came to the AIU decision after a few months of research.
So far their response has been excellent.
Less than 24 hours for questions and processing.

Starting classes on Sept 3rd.
Want to at least enjoy the summer.

Dave

 

I'm back!

This sounds great. After you get started, please let me know your impressions of the program. I am genuinely interested. (Private mail me if you like.)


Take care,
Ellis