I am currently erolled in BIT program at AIU and just finished 6th class. 4 more classes to go. My current GPA is 4.0. The last class I took was Visual Basic .Net. Although it helped me a lot, studying it in 5 weeks is too short to absorb everything I am supposed to know. A group project was in chaos and had to stay up one night to do everything by myself from scratch. People post their code even though it didn't work at all and generated errors.... I really hope if they were all individual projects instead of a few group projects.. Being an international student at AIU and living in Tokyo makes group projects frustrating sometimes... Anyway, it's going to be 7th class in the end of this month and I am starting to think about applying to traditional graduate schools in Europe. I had to start wonder if I made the right choice for this online bachelor program. There are only 10 classes to complete to get a degree which is very unusual compared with other traditional colleges. I wonder if admission people at grad schools will evaluate my school work less than I expect it to. I applied one premininaly application for this graduate school in Belgium and because my school is far "irregular", they came to the conclusion they couldn't accept my application even though the major is relevant to a graduate study program I am applying to. I am applying to 4 more graduate schools but cannot apply until I graduate. Then, it hit me if my bachelor degree will less valued than other traditional bachelor degrees. My question is rather irrelevant here as I will be applying to traditional graduate schools in Europe but I guess what I want to ask is are there any BIT@ AIU graduates who applied to non-online graduate schools? I would like to know how application process went. If you could share it with me, that would be very much appreciated. Thank you. Sorry for my English but I happen to be Japanese so please allow me for that. Thanks.
Hi Tokoboi Hi Tokyoboi, I to am in Japan, Yokosuka a little south of you. I've applied to Oklahoma and Pheonix University with no problem These schools have both online and campus settings. We have both universities here on base also the University of Maryland, which doesn't do a master locally unfortunately. I don't know the European standard, sorry. I'm sure some of the senior member on the board will be able to assist . My question to you is, is it only the AIU credits that are not accepted? You are probably doing the 2+2 program, 2 years of college credits or a AA plus 10 courses from AIU. Goodluck S/
Hello Vonnell, Thanks for the reply. I got my A.A. from a 2-year private college in Kansas (yes, middle of nowhere...) and am doing my 2+2 stuff. The admission board told me that my college degree I will be getting from AIU will not be sufficient enough to be an eligible applicant. Maybe, it was because I will have an online degree? I don't know.... I start to wonder if every grad school in Europe would say that to me. I am thinking of getting help from an AIU student advisor to write a statement that AIU Online is an accredited instituition, and my bachelor degree is fully recognized as it is. One more problem is the letter of recommendations... I don't really interact with professors at AIU that often like I do at a traditional college so it's kinda problematic to get one from AIU... I hope one of 4 schools at least accepts me... I am kind keeping my fingers crossed for that. I take you are navy related. Watch out high waves due to the typhoon coming up soon!! Tokioboi
I am for group projects. Tokoyoboi: I don’t think that you made any mistake by enrolling at AUI (American Inter-Continental University). If you are enrolled at the other AIU (Atlantic International University), it is certainly a mistake. American Inter-Continental U is RA. Depending on your program, I believe that in general, out of five projects in each course, only one is a group project. The group project usually looks like any other project except that its main objective is to teach students intricacies and dynamics of teamwork. The group project provides the students with familiarity and hands-on experience in team building and group dynamics. It is a known fact that information systems’ projects in organizations are usually managed and implemented by project teams. Familiarity with group dynamics and team building could undoubtedly help an employee thrive easily as a project team member. As a professor with several years of college teaching experience in both online and on-campus settings, I believe that group project is a good thing as long and it’s only one of the several assignments that students are required to submit to fulfill the requirements for passing a course. Regarding equal participation by members of a project team, I believe that it’s the onus of the course instructor to ensure that all team members partake in the project.
Re: I am for group projects. The issue here is that not because is US RA means that will be accepted in Europe or any other country than the US. Many universities examine the course content of the program before a student can be accepted into graduate study. Accreditation is important but if the program is too weak, it might not be accepted for admission. I must say that I would be also concerned as admissions official if I see a B.Sc with only 10 courses no matter if they are 4 credits each. My only advice is to submit your AAS transcript also so they can see that it was a degree completion program and not the complete bachelor’s. The other possibility is to apply to American institutions that might be more keen about accepting an RA degree. The other problem might be that many institutions in Europe require an honours B.Sc for admission, if you have a three year bachelor’s degree then you might not qualify for many programs. The other possibility is to complete a B.Sc (Honours) degree at some distance institutions like USQ, this will require an extra year full time of work but it will give you more opportunities
Re: Re: I am for group projects. I don't disagree with you. I have always believed that degrees earned at a distance from some accredited schools are not for everybody. Students that aspire to enroll for a degree at a school that has a marginal reputability should understand that their degrees would face some kind of discrimination. In some circumstances, graduates of less-reputable DL schools use their degrees to validate their knowledge. Others might indeed use these degrees to advance professionally and academically.
It may not be as bad as it seems Tokoyoboi, You may be able to take a few classes after graduation to strenthen your chances. A graduated certificate can go long way in this case. I think if you take the gmat and recieve a above average score along with additional coasework you should be able to get into a few very notable graduate schools. Have you taken your gmat yet? I would strongly sugeest you do .
I don't disagree with you that group projects are a very important part of the program. I've been working in IT sector for several years, and moving a project forward smoothly is really challenging and difficult to some extent. But sometimes those practices during the 5 week course are very difficult especially if team members are not willing to help each other. But if I had to do it all by myself like the last time, I thought it would be good to do it alone...is all.. but that's not really ideal so I guess I am keeping my fingers crossed for the next group project in the mean time. Since I graduated from a 4 year traditional college in Japan with B.A. in French, I do not think I would like to have more additional bachelor degrees besides BIT from AIU. So I believe I will see if I can ever get accepted to one of those schools. I will surely enclose transcripts from a junior college in the States and a 4 year college in Japan even though a degree in French doesn't really help me get into an IT grad school... Great advice, Thanks. No, I haven't taken a GMAT as I am not planning to go to a business school; however, some of schools I am planning to apply require GREs. I took them. Although a verbal part is not great, I think it's still acceptable as total of verbal and quantitative is above 1200. My TOEFL score should be acceptable as well... The other high hurdle is a letter of recommendation but I hope I can find a way to take care of that.
Tokyoboi , Sorry I thought you were trying to apply to a mba or mis program. In that case if you dont mind me asking are you trying to get your Masters degree in. There are many american university's that are on line and land based from well know schools that I know for sure will except you and a few that probably will except you but you will have to complete a few prereq's first . For example Drexel, Illinois institute of technology, University of Illinois ( which is the best deal I have seen so far at least for there mis program), Rochester Institue of technology just to name a few. If it has to be a European school Im not sure but as for american school's These are a few on my personal list after I get my second bachelors.
The University of Maryland does not have a presense in Japan. On the other hand, the University of Maryland University College does. Two different degree granting universities.
