My Online Degree Story (for the EDU Blogger contest)
This post is my official entry for the onlinecollege.org edu blogger contest, about my experience with, and endorsement of, online education. But before we get to the actual post about my online degree story, I need you all to do me a favor. You see, part of the judging of this contest is how many people I refer to their site.
You heard me right. The content of my post will not even be considered until I land in the top 20 referrers to their site. So please hook me up with a referral by clicking on the badge below.
Did you REALLY click on the badge or did you just scroll by it? Help a girl out! Without referrals, the hours I spent slaving over this post will count for nothing. And I’m really proud of the post, so I’d rather it count!
(Are you picking up what I’m putting down? A backlink or two never hurt any site, right?)
Ok, I’ve held the suspense long enough. You’ve earned this one. Thanks for your help in getting me through round one!
And…begin!
Online degrees don’t get nearly the respect they deserve - not from hiring managers, faculty at traditional universities or the general public. I say that from experience.
Yup, that’s me. June 22, 2007 - the day I graduated with the MBA I earned online.
Looks just like any other MBA, doesn’t it? Yet when some people hear I earned it through an online program, they will flat out tell me that the only reason I graduated with a 4.0 was because “it was too easy.” I beg to differ. Earning my MBA online was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I didn’t have a life for two years. My friends would always wonder why I couldn’t go out on Saturday nights. My boyfriends wouldn’t understand why they didn’t see me much when I was writing papers (probably why none of those relationships lasted!). My family thought I was becoming a hermit.
And I had it easy. No husband. No kids. I only had myself and two rascally ferrets to take care of. Most of my classmates weren’t so lucky. I watched how the experience took its toll on my fellow graduates and their families. During our graduation ceremony, the president of the university joked that families were getting their spouses back, and a huge cheer rose up from the crowd.
Having been there and done it, it angers me that many still consider all online programs to be “less than.” Sure, there are diploma mills out there, but there are also many legitimate degrees and a lot of really smart people working overtime to earn them. At times, I’ve been ashamed to tell people about the origin of my degree because of the stigma attached.
To be fair, the respect of online degrees has risen in recent years, particularly with the rise in enrollments that many online programs have seen. Many say that an online MBA today is what a weekend MBA was 15 years ago, and in time, will gain the respect it rightfully deserves.
But not soon enough. Though I often joke by calling my MBA my “superfluous degree”, the truth is that it has made me the person I am today. Every time you read a post on here about return on investment or efficiency or human resources management or organizational culture…it all comes from that. It impacts my life and my work every single day.
The bonds I formed with my classmates were also very real, culminating with our week-long residency on campus, and graduation:
We persevered through the same difficulties together. The week we spent together during our residency was one of the best weeks of my life. We worked hard, and played hard. It was like being a teenager again, even to the point of the boys regressing and flashing the shocker at the camera at every opportunity:
(proving once again that, even with MBAs, men will always be boys)
If you’re thinking about entering an online program, be prepared to make sacrifices. It’s not as easy as those commercials you see on TV about “going to school in PJs.” Your friends will think you’re a flake. If you have a family, they’re going to get pissed at you. You’ll spend more hours slaving over papers on your computer than you can possibly imagine. But the satisfaction you feel on the day you complete it is second to none. You’ll have accomplished something few people have, probably while working a full time job.
I’m about to embark on a second masters degree. This time, it’s a traditional degree (from an ivy league school no less - about traditional as they come). I’m scared to death because, looking back, I don’t know how I got through it the first time. If nothing else, it will be a fascinating opportunity to compare the two types of degrees from first-hand experience. I’ll bet all the money in my pocket that neither one will be judged any harder or more worthwhile than the other.
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(One last chance to click on the badge…if you haven’t yet, I forgive you. I know, this is annoying but I didn’t make the rules!)
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February 17th, 2009
the bias against online degrees sounds like a failure of marketing. why do you have to be physically on a campus to do the work required to achieve a degree there? is qualifying for a degree online really any different that working a full time job and pushing yourself through night school at a “real” brick and mortar university? most importantly: are we really ready to say that only those who have the resources to be full-time students can be considered to have really done all that is required to earn a degree?
I think the answers to all of these questions are self-evident, which is why I say marketing is the issue here. Established Universities should take it on themselves to market their online degrees as every bit as rigorous as the on-campus versions so that hiring managers (and anyone else for that matter) won’t allow the degree mills to define the “online degree” brand for them.
(Also…Yes. I clicked the badge).
February 17th, 2009
Interesting. I think my response to that would be that marketing isn’t a magic bullet and can only accomplish so much. I understand why people are leery of online degrees - they go against tradition. Also, brick and mortar colleges are always going to preach against them (unless they have an online program of their own) because the online schools are after their audience. Based on that, I think it would be more adequately characterized as a public relations problem.
I was just looking at the contest rules and apparently your click doesn’t even count until March 18 or something LOL…Oh well…I’m still going to make fun of a blogging contest that has nothing to do with actual content until you prove your “popularity”
February 17th, 2009
If you don’t win, it’ll be a travesty. I hope they send you your winnings in the form of Tiffany’s jewelry. Kudos.
February 17th, 2009
Thanks Andrew
February 17th, 2009
I totally agree with your thoughts. Having taken online courses, it is amazing how good a student you really have to be to do well and absorb the material.
If I have one complaint about online programs, it isn’t that they are too easy. It is that many instructors have yet to understand how to teach online courses effectively and therefore courses are MORE difficult.
February 17th, 2009
Sorry can’t comment - as a judge - on your post itself, but if the first step of the contest were a race, you would have won it with this entry
Actually posting early isn’t a bad idea as your post will be indexed by search engines and might get even more traffic when people look up for info about the contest.
I replied to your comment on Andy’s blog before reading the similar point you make above re: the popularity issue.
I wished we live in an ideal world, but until my dream comes true I’m trying my best to do what I can to make it a tiny bit better
February 17th, 2009
Nick I completely agree with you. Most of my faculty members felt it was sufficient to put up a PowerPoint presentation for that week’s lesson and leave it at that, so the student really had the responsibility to figure all the info out for themselves.
February 17th, 2009
ok so i know it won’t actually affect the numbers but i clicked each badge multiple times just in case, because you really deserve to win.
that said, i appreciate this article on its own, i’ve been considering the online MBA approach and heard all the static about it not being legit. Glad to have a serious first hand account of what’s involved.
February 17th, 2009
Thanks Isaacson, I really appreciate that. I definitely recommend Norwich University’s program and would be happy to talk to you about it offline if you had questions!
February 17th, 2009
Sending some clicks your way because you deserve the cash, no matter how the voting/choosing goes. You pour a ton of resources, thoughts and ideas into this little piece of the web that all of us benefit from. Win or lose, keep up the great work.
PS - Thumbs up to online classes. I took several through undergrad and grad, and they were always more work-intensive than traditional classes.
February 17th, 2009
Thanks Brad! The same could be said for you or any blogger out there right? These are primarily labors of love. Money’s great, but I’m happy to recoup hosting expenses (and maybe have enough left over for like a necklace from Tiffanys
) through the little bit of advertising I do on the site.
Hope you have a great trip to Singapore! That’s your real excuse for missing the Tweetup in Boston
February 21st, 2009
Hi Karlyn,
I’m intrigued by the competition and given it’s link-building nature I’m even more intrigued by your choice of links in the opening paragraph of this post. Would love to know how and why you came up with what you did in that first paragraph?
I’ll also be interested to see what you do from the 17th March to ensure your post gets considered. I think a creative mind like yours could find all sorts of ways to ensure you appear as their top referrer on Google Analytics (or that your only competition were weaker posts) if you really wanted to.
You said something in a comment that I always ask people to think about - that online and distance education steals students from on-campus courses. Usually the characteristics of the student bodies are very different. For example, I’d be interested to hear for how long you considered an on-campus MBA before settling on your online course from Norwich.
Finally, I hate to say this but your friends may have a point, you may not have got the 4.0 in a face-to-face environment!
Why? Well, an online learning environment is more controlled and replicable/repeatable and as long as the materials are well written they will probably match the learning outcomes more closely than face-to-face lectures ever would. What’s more students are forced to be more self-directed and are often more dedicated (I think this fits with Nick and Brad’s points as well). If you are interested there’s a load of literature on this subject, a good starting point is http://cli.gs/qUV75d
February 22nd, 2009
I’m not sure what was so intriguing about the first paragraph….there honestly wasn’t a terrible amount of thought to what I wrote there.
How did I decided on Norwich? Simple. I worked there and got it for free.
March 5th, 2009
I totally agree with your thoughts. Having taken online courses, it is amazing how good a student you really have to be to do well and absorb the material.
March 18th, 2009
[...] phase of the EDU Blogger Contest. Before you read any further, please do me a solid and go to my entry post and hook me up with a referral by clicking on one of the badges (or just click the EDU Blogger Contest link!). Also, read my post…it’s good! And [...]
June 4th, 2009
Thank you, thank you Karlyn!
As I approached the final units of my courses which I took 3 this term (stupid, I will never do that again, it was way to much), I started getting this sick feeling as if this was all a waste of time. Well, I have a husband and kids and the experience has greatly taken its toll on my family and me. I used to be “Super” mom, soccer mom, PTA coordinator, and attended every birthday party, school function and anything that followed an invitation. Along with all of that, I work full-time. My life has totally changed! I thought I was crazy or, at least, losing my mind.
Today marks the official completion date of my first year of online studies. So, I decided to surf the Internet, hoping to find someone “out there” to confirm my decision to return to online studying for the completion of my bachelor’s degree. I have been reading blogs and EDU advertising websites most of the morning. Nothing helped until I read your post. I have been encouraged to continue my online journey. Thank you!
NO KIDDING! Your post has helped me to remember what online learning has done for me. I am a better person academically. I am more organized and a much better manager of time (can’t help but be since the terms online go by so fast). At work, I was offered a promotion because of the knowledge and information I have obtained through my classes. Although my kids have MickyD’s for dinner at least 3x’s a week, I have maintained a 4.0!
Oh, by the way, I clicked over six times already. I don’t know what it is for or what you are winning but I hope you WIN!!
December 7th, 2009
I totally agree with your thoughts. Having taken online courses, it is amazing how good a student you really have to be to do well and absorb the material.
January 3rd, 2010
An accredited degree is essential when coming to job employment since your potential employer do not view your degree as an empty paper.To obtain your degree the easiest way is to get it online. However, some online degrees may not worth as much value as what they claimed to be.
Keith Ong
Easiest Degree
January 11th, 2010
An accredited degree is essential when coming to job employment since your potential employer do not view your degree as an empty paper.To obtain your degree the easiest way is to get it online. However, some online degrees may not worth as much value as what they claimed to be.
January 14th, 2010
NO KIDDING! Your post has helped me to remember what online learning has done for me.