Big Three Grads, What Did Your Degree Do For You?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by thaddoc, Nov 7, 2006.

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  1. recruiting

    recruiting Member

    An applicant from a lower tier undergraduate program (big 3, most dl programs) scoring 20 points below the auto-admit score is going to be examined more closely. However, most individuals that complete these types of programs have "good stories." They are older, have work AND life experience and are typically more mature and motivated.

    Most DL programs are lower tier? Really, that's some very important info! I did not know that..

    Thank god they have a "good story" to tell so that a potential applicant with a degree earned via DL may actually get a job-

    That clears things up for me, thank you!

    :rolleyes:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 16, 2006
  2. jtaee1920

    jtaee1920 New Member

    I'm not sure if "most DL programs" are lower tier. It wouldn't surprise me is more than 50% of all DL programs (degrees that can be earned entirely by DL) are at lower tier schools. But there are plenty of great schools that have DL classes. It seems like most upper tier schools are fairly limited in their DL offerings.

    I'm sure most DL schools are lower tier. In fact, I think we would be hard pressed to find a school that is exclusively DL that ranks in any tier other than the lowest. Maybe I'm wrong. Can anyone think of a DL only school that is not bottom tier?
     
  3. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Fielding Graduate University maybe? I'm not sure if they're ranked in any of their disciplines, but they're respectable, and their Clinical Psychology PhD program is APA accredited.

    -=Steve=-
     
  4. Jodokk

    Jodokk Member

    My two cents

    I graduated from COSC in May of 2004 and was admitted to the pretty competitive MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte...one might say that entrance into an MFA in writing program is talent based and you would be right...but I could never have applied without my bachelor's degree.
    I am now in my third semester at University of West Alabama's MSCE in Psych/Counseling. When I graduate...I wiill have what I need to become a licensed Professional Counselor here in NC, just like anyone completing their masters in psych at an ivy league school.

    So, that's what I got from my "Big Three" degree. I highly recommend the route to anyone.

    Dan B

    www.myspace.com/batfishy
     
  5. jtaee1920

    jtaee1920 New Member

    I don't give much consideration to rankings but other people and employers may. Fielding is not ranked by USNWR.
     
  6. CoachTurner

    CoachTurner Member

    I like rankings - I'm a jock and that's what we do, we rank things.

    That said, anyone want to comment on the USNWR tiered rankings of COSC, Excelsior, or TESC?

    Excelsior - "U.S. News ranking: Liberal Arts Colleges, unranked"

    COSC - "U.S. News ranking: International, specialized, and other institutions, unranked"

    TESC - "U.S. News ranking: Universities–Master's (North), unranked"

    =====

    My other Alma Mater, Coastal Carolina Univ. - "U.S. News ranking: Liberal Arts Colleges, fourth tier"

    My other, Webster Univ. - "U.S. News ranking: Universities–Master's (Midwest), 23"
     
  7. Petedude

    Petedude New Member

    I live in SoCal as well, and at least in these parts, they're known to have good accounting programs.
     
  8. pugbelly

    pugbelly New Member

    No, most other people and employers don't know anything about rankings...especially employers. They know if a school sounds familiar, period. Other than a handful of ivy league schools, most of the population couldn't tell you which schools were on a top 30 list. If those same people actually looked at the list I believe they would be surprised by some of the schools that were on it, and wouldn't even recognize some of the names.

    Outside of academia, most people just don't pay attention to these things. Most employers don't even know the differance between regional and national accreditation, or even that there is such a thing. Most people don't even realize that accreditation in this country is private.

    Pug
     
  9. jtaee1920

    jtaee1920 New Member

    lol....you are too funny. It wasn't a yes/no question. In fact, I didn't ask a question at all. Some employers may care and others may not. I never said anything about all or even most employers. Forums like this are open discussions. Lighten up ;)
     
  10. pugbelly

    pugbelly New Member

    I am light. That's the problem with short, written messages. They don't allow for emotion to be conveyed unless using emoticons. Anyway, I wasn't answering a question. I was making a comment. My experience really has been that employers don't know about most schools and absolutely don't know about accreditation. In fact, most college students don't know anything about accreditation.

    Pug
     
  11. Petedude

    Petedude New Member

    I was shocked to find out a friend of mine, one of the most intelligent men I've ever met, did not know the difference between regional and national accreditation.

    Of course, this might explain why he had trouble transferring his ITT credits.
     
  12. wfready

    wfready New Member

    I think it just appears (to degreeinfo posters) that accreditation is common knowledge. But, in fact, not many people have much of a clue on what regional or national accreditation is.

    BReady
     
  13. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    My experience is that even many university administrators are shaky on the subject. I had to come in as a new academic advisor and explain it to my colleagues who had been here for over a year.

    -=Steve=-
     
  14. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Accreditation usually is common knowledge among degreeinfo posters, unless, of course, we're trying to explain it to newbies. Most of us have read Bears' Guide.
     
  15. thaddoc

    thaddoc New Member

    I'm sorry but that's simply not true. If you've ever attended a prestigious university or worked at a top company you would know that people do care about it. Otherwise, why do people give schools $20,000 a year? Compare the companies that recruit graduates at Akron to the companies that recruit at NYU. It's a huge difference. If companies didn't care they would recruit every school, but they don't.

    I've read every response here and it seems people feel I'm trolling. I'm not; I just want to promote healthy discussion. I don't know how old the posters are here, but if you think most companies don't care about your degree, then you are delusional. If you're talking about Pizza Hut or Joe Blow Sales, then I would agree. But if you're talking about Goldman Sachs, IBM, Pfizer or Accenture then it definitely matters.

    As I mentioned in earlier posts, it seems as the people here are entrenched in their current position and happy. They know that by picking up a degree they will move up their company's pay scale. That's good and I'm happy for you. However, it doesn't prove that a Big 3 degree is worth anything especially if you want to work at a top firm.

    Please don't hate me. I live in a NYC suburb and competition is fierce. That may affect my train of thought.
     
  16. Tekneek

    Tekneek New Member

    To be fair, following any sort of non-traditional educational path takes you off of the radar for one of these "top firms" anyway, doesn't it?

    I know from one of Jim Cramer's books that even Goldman Sachs was wary of hiring him to be a trader, when he had come through Harvard Law, simply because it was an untraditional educational path for someone in that role.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 20, 2006
  17. Mundo

    Mundo New Member


    I tend to agree with you in that some firms recruit from prestigious schools more than from less known schools. However, I think you're missing the premise of this thread; is not about degree prestige, is about degree utility.

    Pepe
     
  18. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I see your point as I used to live in Queens and worked on Wall Street many many years ago. If you are looking at places that have that much competition would a Big Three school do any better or worst then a college like Kean or St Peters ?

    The company I worked for was in a competitive area (Long Island) and my degree was accepted without issues.
     
  19. JoAnnP38

    JoAnnP38 Member

    I think thaddoc is talking just about the recruitment of *new* grads. Having a degree accepted for an existing employee is different than deciding where to recruit for employees fresh out of school. I suspect that what little recruitment goes on at Kean or St. Peters (assuming that these are tradition B&M institutions) is much greater than the recruitment at the Big 3
     
  20. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    Until I stumbled onto DegreeInfo.com in 2004 I was unaware about the issues surrounding accreditation. In Canada, though, the only accreditor is each provincial government which might explain my ignorance of the subject w.r.t. education in the USA.
     

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