Hi!! New here....

Hi -

So, you're right. It is odd for someone to come on to the forum and extol the virtues of any school without that poster being a short-term shill for the school, usually from admissions. The reason why they do that is because this site is a well-established source of reliable information on distance learning. Most people come here to research programs. The general conversation otherwise is just people being people.

I want you to know that I'm seriously happy that you've found a program that's right for you. I'm not questioning the research you've done to make that decision. If you care about my rationale, here it is:

1. Most people come here to research distance learning programs.
2. What makes a program right for you, doesn't necessarily make it right for others.
3. The people mentioned in point one are looking for objectivity.
4. Because of the need in point three, a lot of noise is made about the value of RA vs. NA accreditation.

One note on point 4. The RA vs. NA debate hinges on personal need. Abstracting it globally - an RA degree, regardless of quality is more often accepted by a larger number of schools than a NA degree. Most here want to see RA because it's almost universally applicable to the needs of most. NA gets a bad rap because it requires a person to determine if it will meet needs, which in most cases isn't worth the effort given the number of RA programs available at similar cost.

5. When a NA degree is said to be effective for RA graduate admissions people usually want to do the research themselves, and want that information put where they're doing research (here) so when I asked you to speak with data.. it wasn't a challenge to your intellect or quality of research, it was an honest attempt to validate.

6. Next, admissions reps are a scary lot. If you're not actively in process they have a tendency to say anything to get you off the phone or raise their application numbers to appear more exclusive. While this may not be true in your case, it's true for a lot of others around here. Any information gotten from admissions not derived from a successful matriculation is met with skepticism.

7. Last, I think if you took a straw poll most of the posters here that have been here a while are older, have families and have worked full-time while going to school full-time. You're in good company, but it doesn't make your situation worthy of any special consideration beyond normal respect.

Ultimately, if you're happy with your decision that's very cool. Others around here can't use your experience objectively so they assume shill. My position was an attempt to provide culturally relative legitimacy. Sorry if I bugged you.

 

Re: Tom: "Our resident 'Schiller' strikes again!" LOL