Finally finished !

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by EllisZ, Mar 28, 2002.

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  1. EllisZ

    EllisZ Member

    Everyone,

    As of last night I have completed my final class at American Intercontinental University (Dunwoody campus) for my Master in Information Technology (MIT) degree.

    It appears that I've finished with a 4.0 GPA. Whoo hoo!

    I'm not sure what's next on my plate. I want to go back and get a second masters in Asian Studies, and I'd like to complete a Ph.D or Ed.D. in education, but with my current student loan debt I'll push that off for a little bit. :(

    I'll probably try and get a job as an adjunct professor which will gain me some teaching experience and help me pay back my student loan.

    To everyone here who has helped me or provided support over the years since I began my undergrad (you know who you are) I'd like to offer a HUGE THANK YOU! Your contributions and encouragement have helped more than you'll ever know.

    And with that, I'll continue on with my day. ;)


    - Ellis Z.
    (BS CIS - Regents College)
    (MIT - American Intercontinental University)
     
  2. Tommy Fisher

    Tommy Fisher New Member

    seeking Master

    Congrat to you!

    1. How long does it take you to finish the MIT program?
    2. What is the total cost for the program?
    3. How are the testing and assignments go online?
     
  3. Congratulations, Ellis!! :) :)

    Don't just continue on with your day. You should celebrate!
     
  4. DaveHayden

    DaveHayden New Member

    Hi Ellis

    Congratulations on finishing and also the great gpa! On your EC degree did you use the ICCP exams or classes from other colleges? If you were to do it again would you do it the same or differently? Have you seen the Troy State Univ BS CS degree? I am kind of torn between the two. I like the idea of self study and flexibility of the EC degree but I also like the actual CS degree and getting it from a state university. Many thanks for any insights and again congrats!
     
  5. EllisZ

    EllisZ Member

    Re: seeking Master

    1. Two years
    2. My total bill came to $46,000 but it can be done for $40,000.
    3. I did the traditional program (as they didn't have the D.L. program two years ago.) (Nor did they ask me the best way to run such an endeavor ...) <GRIN>
     
  6. EllisZ

    EllisZ Member

    I would, but my employer has been very patient with me, and I owe them some real work. <GRIN>

    I'll celebrate ... eventually.
    Thanks!
     
  7. EllisZ

    EllisZ Member

    Dave,

    I did a combination of both. When I started Regents (Excelsior) I already had 94(?) credits from traditional NJ state college so I didn't have too much more to go. (But if it were not for Regents I would have had to repeat nearly 60+ credits once I moved to a new area!)

    That said: I took a few classes at local schools, one or two at the University of Southern Colorado (Distance), I completed 3 Regents College Exams (Excellent BTW!) and I took two DANTES exams.(DANTES is VERY cost effective!)

    Let me know if you need details on the exams or courses that I took.

    You HAVE TO BE MOTIVATED for the Regents (or any) DL course and exam. You are essentially the teacher and the student. I enjoyed it. But it WAS a challenge. (My traditional Masters was a cakewalk by comparison in so far as figuring out what I had to do.)


    Good luck to you!
     
  8. Robert

    Robert New Member

    Just curious

    Congrats. What a wonderful feeling.
    I was just curious It seems to me that $46000 for a two year masters degree is a boat load of money. I would think there would be hundreds of MAsters degrees out there for a lot less.

    Am i missing something?

    Just a thought
     
  9. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    Congratulations, Ellis--and well done!

    If you might be willing to consider an Aussie school for the master's in Asian studies, it should be possible to keep the tuition in the neighborhood of $4,500. Let me know if you're interested and I'll see if I can remember where I can across the relevant programs (or maybe someone else would have suggestions...?).


    Cheers,
     
  10. EllisZ

    EllisZ Member

    Re: Just curious

    Nope. It *IS* a lot of money. It actually went up close to $8000 during the two years that I was there. (Hence how my bill got so high.)

    I wanted a traditional degree to go along with my D.L. degree. (The world should only know how much more challenging DL degrees are!) AIU also allowed me to finish my degree in two years while going nights/weekends.

    Could I have done this via D.L. in the timeframe I had given myself? Probably, but this made things a LOT easier. (I didn't have to hunt down courses, materials, etc.)

    AIU is based on a team based model. (You are basically married to a group of people for two years.) Your grades are partly based upon the work you do together. Thus it's a great way to show that you have team based experience. I have a strong software development background, while nobody else in my team did so I became the "teacher" for those courses. We had a corporate CFO in our group who became quite handy during the business case-studies. (You get the idea). We also had a "slacker" which we had to deal with. (Tell me when you DIDN'T have one of these in a group.) Since our grades are all tied together to some part, we managed to find a way to "motivate" the slacker and (I'd like to think) that this person is now much better for having participated.

    I also wanted some interaction with the professors. (I actually had quite a few EXCELLENT professors at AIU.) All in all I got about 200% more than I expected from the school, so the money was well spent. (And I managed to get out of my undergrad with $0 in student loans or debt. (So I'm making up for lost time!)

    (And just so everyone doesn't think it was TOO easy, our class had a 60% attrition rate ... AFAIK about half of those dropped out due to GPA shortcomings.)

    (And it's done, so I'm not going to second guess myself now ....) <GRIN> :eek:
     
  11. EllisZ

    EllisZ Member

    Thanks Tom.

    I'd *LOVE* to hear any suggestions that you have. A few months back I was looking HARD at alternative programs, but then I found out about my student loan debt, etc. and everything kind of came to a screeching halt here.

    (And I'm not too familiar with how the down-under programs work so I'm in unchartered waters.)

    Thanks again in advance.
     
  12. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Hey, Ellis!

    Warm (and slightly belated) congratulations on your degree! You've made a lot of useful contributions to this forum, and I hope that you'll continue to stick around and help out.

    Regards,

    Chip
     
  13. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Congrats Ellis!

    I'm three months into an 18 month long masters program, so I know how you must feel!!! The heats off -- but now you can saddle yourself with the endeavor of pursuing a doctorate (ugh). :( :)
     
  14. EllisZ

    EllisZ Member

    Chip,
    Thanks!

    I'm not going anywhere. I still have MANY academic goals to accomplish. (Besides, I have to give back to this forum which helped me so much.)

    I'll leave when I die. <GRIN>

    Take care,
    Ellis
     
  15. mdg1775

    mdg1775 New Member

    Congratulations!!!

    Enjoy your degree....and you set the bar pretty high for your colleagues here in this forum. Congrats on that amazing GPA as well! Take care,

    Mike


    AA Burlington College, NJ (RA B & M)
    BA TESC (RA DL)
    MSAS (2003 hopefully) SMSU, MO (RA DL)
     
  16. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Congratulations, Ellis. It is a proud and wonderful thing. But it is a parole, not a pardon. Enjoy your freedom for awhile and then get in there and get that doctorate!

    Rich Douglas, gettin' back in.
     

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