Since reading Dr. John Bear's book, what is your highest DL degree attained?

Once I did a survey of readers, to see what (if anything) they had done. I sent a questionnaire to 500 people, six months after they had bought the book.

Roughly 10% had decided not to pursue a degree, after they came to realize that it was going to be harder than they thought.

Roughly 15% had enrolled in a degree program.

And the remaining 75% were still thinking, still looking.

According to Harvey Brody, who made several fortunes in self-help books (everything from 'get rich' to 'lose weight' to 'find happiness'), this is a fairly common pattern: some people do it, some decide not to, and the majority just seem to enjoy reading about it.

Brody's wrote that his best customer for a new self-help book were the people who had bought others on different topics.

(He made his first fortune with the approach of discovering patents that had never been marketed, and buying the rights for a pittance. His million-dollar one was that thin tube you insert in the can of WD-40 to spray it into narrow spaces. First he made money on the patent, and then on the book about how to do it.)

 

Christmas Gifts This Year

Bought copies of Bears' Guide 16th edition for the niece and the nephew.
Bought copies of Bear's Guide to the Best MBA Degrees by Distance Learning for two brothers and two cousins.
Bought copies of Bear's Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning for two brothers.
Bought copies of Bear's Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning for Mom, the sister-in-law, and four cousins.
Bought copies of Bear's Guide to Getting Your High School Diploma Non-Traditionally for the niece and the nephew.
Bought copies of Get Your IT Degree And Get Ahead for two brothers.

 

I earned my Associate in Arts degree through attending classes on the campuses of local community colleges while holding down a full-time job. Frequent changes in my work location and schedule resulted in many dropped or incomplete courses. There were many times that I was close to giving up, but I kept going back for more. It wasn't until I changed jobs that my work schedule stabilized and I was able to resume persuing a degree. When graduation was close to becoming a reality, I determined that a traditional on-campus undergraduate program would not work for me.

A couple of months before I was going to graduate, I started looking for alternative methods of earning a Bachelor's degree. My only experience with distance education up to that point had been with some correspondence courses I'd taken through the Cornell University Home Study Program. I wanted more guidance and structure than that type of program offered.

Informative postings by Dr. Bear to the alt.education.distance Usenet group and favorable reviews I found on the Web, persuaded me to buy a copy of the 13th edition of "Bears' Guide To Earning Degrees Nontraditionally." It was from that book that I learned of the many options available and about accreditation.

Four months after graduating from Cuyamaca College I enrolled in an on-line program offered by Lakeland College. Though it took me four years longer than originally planned, I did complete the program and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree.

(Note to self: When you get around to enrolling in a graduate program do not, I repeat, do not start any major home improvement projects until after you've graduated!)

Cheers,

Lowell