SUNY Empire State - Psychology

Good morning, all,

I've done a search on this forum for any and all information about ESC from distance students; apparently there aren't many on this board. The past year or more, I have continued to investigate DL programs offering psychology and really, this little school in Saratoga Springs might be the most comprehensive in Psychology I've yet to find! Seems like they have all the core courses offered by independent study. Is it too good to be true, I wonder...

If any of you know more about their courses, such as who teaches them (is it a consortium with other SUNY institutions, or do they hold their own classes?) and how rigorous they were or are, I'd really appreciate the feedback.

Thanks

 

I attended ESC throught their Distance Learning Center. This is not a little school. It is part of the State University of New York. The process is very simple.

Classes are taught throught the Suny Learning Network. Depending on the course, the class could be totally online or print based. A print based course is one in which the work is mailed to the teacher. This process might have changed, since I graduated in 2003.

What specific questions are you looking to answer regarding the CDL?

 

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the information on Empire State College. So, it is not a 'small' school, being connected to the SUNY network; do you mean that for every course being offered through ESC, there is a professor teaching that course to ESC students? Or are you "patched in" to other institution's course loads? I guess it doesn't matter if that were to be the case. But it seems remarkable to me that ESC has so many DL psychology courses offered, hoping that they are not all taught by the same two professors, if you know what I'm asking....

So, otherwise, a positive experience, it sounds like. That's wonderful because I'm about to enroll in a Research Methods course with them - should save mega $$ over commuting to the nearest B&M institution I could find, here in Virginia.

Thanks again, and I really appreciate any feedback at all about this school.

 

I was not patched into another school, but I did graduate in 2003, so things could have changed. The school is one of SUNY's best keep secrets. I enjoyed my classes, I am sure you will too.

Good Luck.

 

Thanks Chris,

With the latest news, I think I'm going to need some luck!

Empire State's Distance Learning advisor in Social Sciences has very kindly and promptly emailed me a particular course syllabus for me to present to my "home" institution for consideration as an alternate course substitution. My home school today notified me that, due to the sudden increase in requests for online courses like this, they are going to hold a curriculum committee meeting to debate the merits of accepting a "distance" course in Experimental Psychology! I was warned this may take a few weeks. Seems they might not be so impressed with SUNY credentials down here in Virginia! I really feel like a pioneer, attempting to complete a Bachelors In Psychology this way.

By the way, to all those who have been reading this thread without posting (!) I should add that Empire State does not actually offer a major in psychology; they have a B. S. in Human Development with various concentrations, one of which is in Psychology. Not sure if that matters to most.

I will have to wait for feedback now on whether I can use some of their online courses in my program. This gets back to school prerogatives and that we are breaking some new ground, doing our degrees this way. But it doesn't hurt to test the envelope, as they say.