College advice for adults - without the sales pitch
There are many common myths associated with earning a degree online...especially when it comes to taking classes. Let's disspell the three biggest lies people believe (or tell themselves) about online college classes:
Actually, they're usually harder than taking the same classes face-to-face.
Why? For starters, you need to be disciplined and well-organized. Online courses are often shorter than their face-to-face counterparts - so you have less time to learn the same material and do all the work.
Also, good reading skills are vital: You have to read for understanding, instead of solely for content like you did in high school. For example, you've probably read Romeo and Juliet, but could you tell me what it was about in 3-5 sentences?
Hard to summarize Shakespeare's central theme in a few lines, isn't it? You have to really chew on the story to get at the meat of his message.
That kind of college-level reading (some call it active reading) takes effort - especially in an online course.
Ads promising that you can earn your degree in as little as 18 months online are very appealing to working adult students. But be sure to read the fine print: most schools have certain degree requirements that may mean a longer wait for you. Ask the admissions counselor lots of good questions before you apply.
And beware any college that promises a degree in less than 12 months' time...that's a warning sign of a potential scam. (See my page on college accreditation)
Remember our Romeo and Juliet example? After writing a concise summary of the story's central theme, could you then compare and contrast Shakespeare's message with that of other writers from his time period? What do these writings tell you about social values and economic conditions back then? What if I were your online instructor and you had to discuss these questions in our Internet classroom, and then email me a five-to-ten page paper by the end of the week?
Could you handle that kind of workload every week for eight or ten weeks straight?
Maybe you thought you could finish your degree in only 18 months like the ads promised, but then found out that timeline requires you to take five or six classes every semester...What if you were taking six courses online while working full time?
Hmmm...an English or journalism major might easily write five to ten pages per week...but what if you're also taking College Algebra and Philosophy 101, plus a couple of courses for your major...Shakespeare and algebra and on and on...all at once...you get the idea!
A good rule of thumb: You need to study three hours a week for every credit hour the class is worth. So a single, three-credit course requires nine hours of weekly study...still interested in taking six classes every semester?
I hope you've learned that online courses - at a reputable school - require the same amount of work with the same level of difficulty as their face-to-face counterparts! And don't be fooled by the advertising: accelerated online classes don't automatically guarantee that you'll be able to finish your degree any faster. Ask questions upfront to find out what you're getting into, plan accordingly, and you'll do fine.