What's the best online IT school?

[dave_the_nerd]

True. I got a degree in another field and now want to switch over so I took Cisco classes at a community college to prepare for the test.

I just hope that certs and an unrelated degree will get me a job.

...worked for me. *shrug*

Going to a community college (as opposed to taking online classes and learning in your basement) is an opportunity for networking, too.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Hopefully they are all cheap since it's such an over saturated field.

By oversaturated, are your referring to IT or Online Education?

Because I could see it both ways.

Then again, if 90% of the grads in your field are incompetent boobs with degrees in "fixing computers and Xbox and shit" your field isn't probably as oversaturated as the grads/jobs numbers might suggest.

 

[alkemyst]

Hopefully they are all cheap since it's such an over saturated field.

What do you do for a living?

 

[sze5003]

The online courses are for those that have time commitments and who are motivated enough to actually complete them . Having gone to a university, I would say the university is better for socializing.

I have an IT degree and minor in business but I didn't take the general IT courses everyone else took I went the programming route.

I was always stuck in programming classes with IT people that couldn't write a single line of code. Got a internship through a professor and then a part time job while in college with a software company shortly after.

Many people take the IT field thinking they are gonna get a nice job only to find out they get stuck in data entry or sys admin. Then they don't like it but never looked at development or other sectors.

After I graduated the school added a development and security sub degree under the IT degree and many others. I wish they had been available when I was there.

Now I'm working with a huge company doing the same thing senior level programmers are doing only it's called "entry level". I may as well just did computer science anyway since I had most courses needed from pre med.

 

[alkemyst]

Data Entry vs System Administration are way different pay grades.

 

[szechuanpork]

Having gotten a degree at a normal 4 year university and mixed in a few online classes, I don't see how you can get anywhere close to the same education purely online.

The material learned in class is only half the value of going to college. The other half is meeting people, networking, talking to professors/TAs/students, etc.

this might have been the case 10-20 years ago but the college scene is changing primarily because of the growing popularity of online education. it is almost as if face to face education is changing to 'look' like what an online class looks like. this may be intentional or not intentional, but the fact remains that the college/university way of doing things is shifting towards a more online distant form of education. networking yesterday will be different from networking today and tomorrow. that is, you will be able to 'network' tomorrow, but not in the traditional more conventional sense. it will be through discussion boards, skype, email, etc.

 

[alkemyst]

"networking" is at Ivy league levels, otherwise you are just partying or wasting time in a library.

 

[OverVolt]

this might have been the case 10-20 years ago but the college scene is changing primarily because of the growing popularity of online education. it is almost as if face to face education is changing to 'look' like what an online class looks like. this may be intentional or not intentional, but the fact remains that the college/university way of doing things is shifting towards a more online distant form of education. networking yesterday will be different from networking today and tomorrow. that is, you will be able to 'network' tomorrow, but not in the traditional more conventional sense. it will be through discussion boards, skype, email, etc.

Nnnnnnope!

At best, hybrid classes are the way to go to save on gas but still meet face to face.

Face to face is hands down the best, hence that Harvard program requiring one semester face to face.

What Dartmouth is famous for and how they build their connections is by camping trips with executives and such from major corporations and government. Not spamming their email inbox.

 

[OverVolt]

"networking" is at Ivy league levels, otherwise you are just partying or wasting time in a library.

Also correct hanging out with the people in the hallway like "You passin mang with a C GOOD GOOD mang wish I had a C" when I had an A was like :/ whatever read the book morons I'm like one of the 50% even passing the class yet alone with an A, such dumb people in college these days. You basically just need a pulse. It doesn't differentiate you at all like it did in the 1970's when smart people went there for fun and because they liked learning shit.

For-profit Online colleges basically pander to the lowest common denominator and have physical campuses to just give the appearance of having a physical presence when in fact its just there so they can take pictures of it.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/view/

There is a PBS/Frontline documentary about some of the online colleges. They are tarnishing the reputation of online schools and when it comes to universities literally the only thing that matters is reputation.

They pander to the lowest common denominator and try to recruit AT JOB FAIRS with people who are striking out. Pretty amazing. I'm dubious at best of ITT tech's reputation because their commercials follow the same formula if you know what to look for and which for-profit schools are owned by whom, IE Corinthian colleges have a certain advertising formula and whatnot.

 

[BudAshes]

"networking" is at Ivy league levels, otherwise you are just partying or wasting time in a library.

The best advice I can offer you is to stop giving other people advice.

 

[OverVolt]

The best advice I can offer you is to stop giving other people advice.

Yea you can start a business like Apple out of your garage duh its so easy... if your garage is full of Harvard friends anyway.