Anyone had experience with online colleges?

Has anyone tryed online colleges? If so how was you experience?

• Answer:

  I got my 2nd degree in graphic design and illustration online through the art institute of Pittsburgh. I got my first degree in UTC in a regular college. There are pros and cons to online classes. First (in my experience) it's not really so much like they say where you do it when you want at your own pace. I had to log in at least 5 days a week and be part of groups as well as critique other's work, give feedback and be part of discussions. Not that it wasn't cool but I couldn't just do classes one day a week and do other stuff 6 days. Secondly, for me I was already aware of the techniques being taught, I had been doing art semi-professionally for several years prior, I just wanted a B.S. in it since it was a formality to design jobs. So I didn't really struggle but I could not test out like I could in a regular college either. but if I were unaware of paintbrush or airbrush or certain design techniques I would not have had a teacher to show me hands on. Now if you were going for something like a business degree then everything can be explained in books but how to hold a brush for a certain kind of stroke needs to be seen, so the type of degree you plan on getting may be a part in how well this kind of program works too, and how much you know about it already. Lastly, you have to motivate yourself. Many drop out from what I saw because they didn't have someone right there or other classmates (other than online contacts) to learn with. IF something is tough to learn you kind of have to do it on your own, you buy your books and you read them and you do your tests pretty much on your own. You have to be motivated, you have to be proactive and sometimes you feel more like this is a program that is less about teaching and more about paying $75,000 and going through the motions to get your BS or BA but you do get it eventually and usually within 3 yrs as opposed to 4 and you dont have to leave your house or be at classes at a certain time. I liked it for the most part I just thought it was a different machine than a university and served my purposes but I may thik differently if I would have been learning in a field I knew nothing about.