Being embarrassed of where you graduated or attended

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by NorCal, Aug 17, 2021.

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  1. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    Some of us just don't bother to update our signatures very often. Nothing to do with being embarrassed.
     
  2. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Some members on the other forum started looking up people's combination of schools to identify them on LinkedIn and Facebook, so not listing schools is probably more about privacy than anything else.
     
    sideman likes this.
  3. asianphd

    asianphd Active Member

    I obtained my bachelor's and currently studying for another bachelor in an Indonesian university. I'm not embarrassed but it's unnecessary to mention it completely as it does not add any value. But one can view my full profile on LinkedIn.
     
  4. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    UoP has become an archetype for for-profit schools. They're the go-to example anytime anyone wants to bash for-profits, distance learning, or even diploma mills. I have to think this is hard on its graduates...but not frequently. (I worked full-time at UoP as a campus chair and subsequently taught as an adjunct for a few years.)

    McDonalds takes it for fast food, even though Burger King does everything McDonalds does.

    The Ford Pinto is the epitome of bad American cars, yet the Chevy Vega was probably worse.

    We like our stories simple, but not necessarily accurate.
     
    NorCal and SteveFoerster like this.
  5. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    For a long time, you couldn't get admitted to UoP without 60 transferrable credits. Then they decided to go after that market and lowered it to 20. Then they decided to go after everyone, so those without 20 credits had to take a 5-course fundamentals series, good for 15 credits that would count.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  6. Gabe F.

    Gabe F. Active Member

    I don't have a dog in this hunt, BUT...

    If I were to suggest a name change to UI&U, I'd feel inclined to suggest University of Southwestern Ohio. There's already a private University of Northwestern Ohio so this seems like a natural evolution.
     
  7. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member


    The AA was was never a goal. I went to a community college for lower division classes just for financial reasons. I don't even remember what the AA was in. It was just on the path. I never really considered it an accomplishment. Getting a Music AA or something else extra would seem different though, a real accomplishment.
     
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  8. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    They would just enroll those students at WIU. That's what happened with me.
     
  9. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    They did almost have almost 500k students at one point, so they were the McDonald's of higher education. Before them, it was Devry.
     
  10. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    Yes, they were but an over priced McDonald's that relied on student loans, federal military money, and slick promotion. Students paid prices for more expensive food but got Happy Meals instead. Their model of education relied heavily on self taught (teach back methods), group work, etc. It did meet a need and technically students have accredited degrees (just like you did have a meal at McDonald's). But when some employers see the U of P, it is not always a positive association. Also, some schools didn't want their credits in transfer.

    May be one of the cases where it is just better to say you have your MBA and leave it at that.
     
    sanantone likes this.
  11. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Agree. I didn't attend University of Phoenix, but I attended Axia College when it was under WIU (another Apollo Group school). Initially, the course descriptions and syllabi didn't change when Axia was moved over to UoP. Central Texas College, which has a very liberal transfer credit policy, wouldn't accept the Axia writing courses as the equivalent of English Comp, but those were intended to be Axia's equivalent to English Comp I and II. CTC explicitly told me that they didn't accept University of Phoenix's writing courses. The Alamo Community Colleges wouldn't accept them either. TESU ended up accepting the courses, though.
     
  12. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    I don't think people add a school to their signatures out of embarrassment, but more that most people haven't heard of random schools. Unless it's Harvard or some sports school, most people don't have a whole lot of knowledge about random schools. Also, many people don't have much school spirit about anywhere, other than being proud they got any/some degree.
     
  13. Futuredegree

    Futuredegree Well-Known Member

    Not the first time I have heard something like this particularly with math and science courses as well. Schools are picky with what they choose to transfer because they feel the For-Profit schools and private school sometimes do not hold their students to the same standard. A common problem seen in CUNY and SUNY in NYS is students must take standardized tests to find what level of English/writing and math courses they will be placed in. In private schools especially for-profit they skip over the assessment testing causing questions to be raised if the person was actually ready for college-level work. Oftentimes students will have to take remedial or pre-requirements before being allowed admissions to the actual course costing time and money.
     
  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Yes, like in real life. You imply that it is a bad thing. It is not.

    At UoP, a student's grade was typically 70/30, with 70% on individual assignments and 30% on team assignments. Typically, students would form pretty solid cohorts that would travel class-to-class, showing up ready to go with a track record of team success. This taught them the benefits--and perils--of working together on teams. Still, the vast majority of their assignments were individual.

    I've taught for several MBA programs and went through another as a student. I didn't find any of them particularly more or less rigorous than UoP. If you finished a UoP degree, you earned your degree.
     
  15. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    In Axia's case, they had wonky course names for their writing courses instead of just calling them English Comp I and II. University of Phoenix was able to dig up some old syllabi for me to send to the community colleges, and they still wouldn't grant me credit. I ended up retaking a comp course that was different and more difficult than Axia's course.

    If my mother hadn't been evil and refused to sign paperwork, I would have already had English Comp completed in my high school dual credit course. No one informed me of the fee reductions for low-income students for the AP exams, but that's the past.
     
  16. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I respect your preference for pseudonymity, but I've long gotten the sense that your memoirs would be worth the read.
     
  17. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    Not an issue for me as my FB is under an pseudonym, and I deactivated my Linkedin a while back. I was trying to do a social media "cleansing" of sorts after the last few election cycles. And if all else fails, I have my trusty tin foil hat . . .
     
  18. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    While I am not embarrassed about where I earned my undergraduate degree, I would have preferred a better school (i.e., RA, non-profit/public, B&M). That said, I proudly list all my schools in my faculty bio (high school and college - adjunct and FT), on my resume, and on LinkedIn.
     
  19. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I had to look it up, but no one sells tin foil anymore. It's been all aluminum since the end of WWII (and really started in 1926). Yet the name "tin foil" stuck.
     
    NorCal likes this.
  20. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I’m proud of my institutions.

    The President and CEO of US Polo Global Licensing Inc. did his Bachelors in Accounting at East Central University prior to his MBA at Duke.

    Southeastern Oklahoma State University has a low-cost AACSB Accredited business school. Could not have asked for a better value.

    Duke University is well…Duke University.

    I believe I have them all listed in my signature but I’m on my phone so not really sure.
     

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