I am 31 yo and have never attended college. Mostly due to the fact I never had the slightest clue as to what Id like to be when I grew up.Last year it all became clear to me, Id like to be a counselor. BUT...how could I, at my age accomplish this? After all, I work full time ect... I recently was made aware of distance learning and through the internet found U of Phoenix. They happened to have a human services BS and a masters in counseling. I made an appointment to speak with someone, she told me about the once a week classroom option which seemed better because its cheaper and I figured Id lean more that way anyhow. Now Ive finished up my finacial aid and am set to start classes on the 11th(nov) This whole thing happened in less than 2 weeks. BUT NOW I found this website and subsequently UofPsucks.com and Im afraid confused and angry!!!! HELP!!!! I guess my issues are... 1. I didnt realize UofP was overly expensive & 2. I didnt realize I might be getting less than what Im paying for acedemicly (I keep reincarnating as a bad speller) At the undergraduate level, I dont know how important that part is to me, in fact in some ways I guess Im almost relived to find out "every one passes at UP. as I dont think math is very relevent to my goals. But Im afraid that a bachelors from UofP wont get me into a good graduate program. So acedemics are important but so is getting through this quickly and easily. Am I making a big mistake? should I just find an online program thats less expensive but still accredited with more respect? and if so where??? Am I obligated now that my financial aid has gone through? ADVICE NEEDED QUICKLY!!!!
Learn how to spell q-u-e-r-y or you'll get all sorts of unanticipated attention. Good luck with your other problem; I've no experience with UoP, but there are many posters here who can offer you their own insight and experience. Use the search function to check old threads for information on your own, too. Best wishes.
The very first thing you need to do is check with your state licensure regulatory board and find out the requirements for licensure. Unless, of course, your state allows the practice of psychotherapy without a license, as a very few do. Then, match the criteria with the schools on your short list of choices.
Hi Welcome to Degreeinfo.com. I am unsure what kind of counselor you would like to become? School counselor, marriage counselor or ? For many a LPC license can be an effective way to switch careers. I would start by searching the archives for psychology, LPC, and related terms. Two schools to look at are Liberty University and Southern Christian University. For your Bachelors there are a ton of options. Personally I would avoid U of P due to high cost and low quality, but only you can know if it is right for you. No matter where you choose you will want to make liberal use of CLEP and DANTES credits to speed things up and lower the cost. Hopefully others can post more helpful info. Be sure to ask any specific questions. Best of luck in pursuing your goal.
Hi Amapola A couple of questions: 1. What do you want to major in for your Bachelors degree? 2. Ultimately what kind of counseling do you want to do? To answer your above question, if you withdrawl before the start of classes you shouldn't have any financial obligation. If I were in your place I would start by testing out of as many credits as possible. Again good luck.
UoP gets bad rap I graduated from UoP with a BSBA this year. Granted, I was in residence, not online, but I did see mutliple failures. UoP gets a bad rap on this site for many reasons, the expense, the supposed lack of rigor, and its lack of marquee status. I can only answer from personall experience as I have taken classes online at UoP and at CSDH. UoP classes online are more rigorous in the extreme. Many of the posters that have actually attended UoP online or in residence did so for only one or two classes. The negative feedback these posters give is entirely understandable because the first couple of classes really are a bit of a joke. It has been my experience with UoP that thier Business classes are actually quite good, but thier Education classes are very poor. As far as Education classes are concerned I think the same can be said of a number of supposedly good schools. Are there better options than UoP online? YES Is UoP a very viable option? YES Do I personally believe that my UoP education was worth the money? YES
Im sorry I wasnt clear. I am enrolled in the human services program and plan on getting my masters in counceling elsewhere. But, thier counceling masters program is fully accredited by the appropriate boards. So no problem getting a licence to practice (if I decided to stick with them). I am not enrolled on-line. I will be attending classes in Phoenix AZ. I DO want the best education possible. But possible for me is something whith this kind of flexibility. I just dont wanna walk into some nightmare. Has anyone reading been in the human services program? or counceling program? Will be able to get my masters anywhere else? I dont mind an easy BA program but I certainly wont go into private practice with just an on-line degree.
You could do far far worse than UoP. They are fully accredited. The main complaint that I've seen is that they are on the expensive side.
I have helped fellow employee UOP students (both BS and MBA) with their Statistics assignments and found them to be as equally challenging as those I have taken at the masters level. These students were not DL students. My employer (a fortune 20 company) picked up all costs up to $10,000 a year so cost was not an issue for the UOP students I know. The convenience of local classes and times was a big plus for these students. Factors that might lead to a high UOP tuition costs include small class sizes, rented commercial meeting space in the LA/Orange County area of S. California, and of course being a for-proffit company UOP has to pay income and other taxes on its profits.
As others have stated the main negative about UoP is their cost. The other main complaint is that they are, to put it nicely, very proactive in finding new students. UoP will definately fit your need, but their may be cheaper alternatives available. As for a degree from UoP being acceptable for your MA program it really depends upon what MA program you are speaking of. If you are going to apply to Harvard other programs that are full time day programs would probably be better situated for your goals. When you consider UoP versus other part time / night time programs it is probably pretty equal to any other program. The end result is if you already have a school in mind for your MA I would suggest calling and asking their admission department their opinion on UoP.
