Analysis Paralysis / Degree Hunt Addiction

I have it as well lol... I'm working on an MBA right now and STILL have my eye on both an MA and BS "for fun" (although they would help with future career prospects)... Oh and a D.H.Ed. I've been drooling over... *sigh*

 

Well, does eight different majors from as many schools count??? I've been "on the pipe" so to speak for the past 16 years now. I managed to attend five different schools before I finally completed my associates with Excelsior. I guess I woke up at that point, as I managed to finish my bachelors a year later with Bellevue.

Here is my breakdown of schools and majors (note when I first jumped on this crazy train!):

Bucks County Community College (1994) - Major: Music
University of Phoenix (2001) - Major: Information Technology
Montgomery County Community College (2004) - Major: Biological Sciences
National University (2005-2006) - Major: Psychology
Drexel University (2006-2007) - Major: Psychology
Aspen University (2007-2008) - Majors (graduate level): Information Technology, Education, Information Management
Excelsior College (2008-2009) - Major: Liberal Studies
Bellevue University (2009-2010) - Major: Behavioral Science

Coursework:
National Fire Academy, FEMA, Thomas Edison State College

Subjects I've (seriously) considered studying at the graduate and/or professional level:
psychology, sociology, linguistics, education, informatics, computer science, biology, chemistry, pharmacology, forensics, aeronautics, medicine, optometry, dentistry, podiatry.

I've FINALLY settled on educational psychology, with an eventual goal of conducting research in this area, with a possible post-secondary teaching gig on the side. I've applied to the online MA in Ed. Psych program with Eastern Michigan University. I'm hoping to hear something by the end of this month. If this comes to pass, will I need to hand in my APDHA card?

 

Thanks for the feedback. The program that I've applied to is 100% online. So, no trips to the seedy part of town for me! It's good to hear that the professors make students work for their grades. I'm not looking for an easy program. I really do want to learn something, as I'm considering pursuing a doctorate in the subject at some point.

 

At the risk of sounding dumb (I apologize in advance if I do), what exactly does a research educational psychologist worker person do? Conduct clinical trials? Would you work for a university or a textbook company?

 

How do I know? I have APDHA! It just sounded like a cool degree program.

Seriously though, I would be likely be researching how people learn in an educational environment. Other areas of research for educational psychologists include: effective teaching, school bullying (and it's effect on learning). A background in traditional psychological methods, human development and pedagogy is helpful in this discipline.

I probably would not be involved in conducting clinical trials, however, teaching at the K-12 level (with a teacher cert) or university is possible. Another possibility would be working for ETS (the company that is responsible for creating the CLEP and GRE, and AP exams). They also do educational research, but not nearly as much as they used to.

Wikipedia has a very good entry on Educational Psychology. If you're interested in an in-depth look at the field, this article is a great place to start.

 

I have noticed that since starting HMU I have been looking for other degrees for fun. I try to help others with their search for online degrees as well.

 

I use to have that disease... but I'm recovering

 

The horror, oh my the horror. I too suffer from APDHA. Where do I sign up for the 12 step program? I jumped ship from an MBA program to a writing program, I too suffer from this horrible disease. Someday, I will get my MBA, although it will be ground based and not DL.

 

hahahahaha

Been a really tough week - I needed that!!

 

The first step is to admit that you have the addiction and are powerless over it.

I'm curious. Why not get a DL MBA rather than ground version? How might the difference in instructional modality affect you?

 

My guess would be that the potential for networking would be much better in a BM program as opposed to online. If I were doing an MBA, I'd seriously consider a really good BM program because of this benefit.

 

I have this affliction, but I have to blame DegreeInfo for the spread of the disease (at least in part.)

Prior to finding DegreeInfo I had thought about going back to school but never really seriously. Then I found this board, found some great info on programs, access, durations, and the next thing I know I'm enrolled in a BSc program and have a list of 4 Masters programs, 5 certificates and a Doctoral program lined up for the next few years.
Prior to this board I had no idea how many options there were out there.

I've even taken it to the next level and have already contacted the head of the Doctoral program I want (by fortunate coincidence he's a friend of a friend) and am already talking about possible thesis topics. Did I mention I'm still only completing my BSc at this point?

Oh yeah, and those certificate programs, I found a way to get started early. :O

But it doesn't stop there - after seeing me go back my wife has gone back and is getting an HR cert. And then last week out of the blue she mentioned that she wants to get her Masters in HR. And she's now convinced three friends that they should go back too. You have no idea how many different programs I've researched or these people this week.

If not for DegreeInfo I'd still be clueless and disease free.

 

You are completely 100% correct in your assumption. The reason why I want to do a BM MBA instead of it via DL, is because of the networking opportunities. One of the many benefits, if not the main benefit, for obtaining an MBA is the networking opportunities that arise from such programs. It's my opinion that you do not get the same level of opportunity from a 100% DL program. Hopefully I will get into a top 20 MBA program, I have over 10 years work experience, military and civilian, my undergrad GPA was 3.78 and I have 710 on my GMAT. Hopefully, this will be good enough for a top MBA program. On top of that the Army will pay a nice chunk, it's a no brainer for me. As to why the writing program, well, I'm not paying for it, it will improve my writing skills, and it will help in the long run.

 

There are a lot of programs, like the UMass program that can be completed as hybrids. You can take as many or as few DL courses as you want. You get the convenience of DL along with the benefit of B&M networking.

 

I'm not trying to rain on your parade in any way, I can just tell you what I have learned from working inside a top tier program and speaking with administrators at other schools, your stats are impressive but you're going to run into two major hurdles. The first is you mention that you have over 10 years work experience which makes me assume you are 30 or very near it. Top programs tend to be very biased to applicants over 30, so if that is the case I would get on applying right away. The second is your undergraduate institution. I don't know much about it and I'm sure it is a fine school, but the students at the top tier programs always seem to come from tier 1 schools. There are always the same feeder schools you see each year and a handful of outliers, but they always come from schools with national or global reputations. Keep in mind, I'm only speaking about full-time programs. The undergraduate institution and age don't seem to factor in as much in part-time or executive programs.

 

I'm guilty of this. It took me months to finally decide on Penn Foster College. I jumped into AJU because of the sponsored tuition deal they had. I guess I've always known Excelsior was the best fit for me, but it took me years to finally pull the trigger and enroll!

 

Same for me. I would love to do an undergraduate degree via HES, but honestly I can't justify the extra $$$ to take a minimum of 64 credits (plus the 2 summers of residency) when I'm only about 15 credits away from a degree with Excelsior.

So I'm already trying to figure out how I'll afford to enter the ALM program at HES.

 

Count me in as well! Its addicting... Sometimes I think I spend more time browsing and researching programs than I do on my actual school work for my current classes

 

I’m too tired from working on my MBA and gearing up to start a second degree program in January to even think about any more degrees, but I’m famous for this… I ALWAYS second-guess my degree choices, always.