Physics Concentration at Charter Oak State College

[sciencemathematics1]

I'm not actually sure they accept the GRE anymore  

Wow, I am surprised. Do you have any idea what would have prompted such a change? I know that excelsior stopped offering credit for them 10 years ago.
It seems that from this thread https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...dated-Info
That they have also changed other policies of theirs. Maybe them not accepting GRE credit anymore may have something to do with their new policy changes.

[conflitz]

If your goal is grad school for physics, then you might want to consider options other than the Big 3. Grad schools will want to see mostly RA credit on your transcript, and all of your physics classes should be from an RA school. Letters of recommendation and research experience are also important. You'll most likely have a rough time getting those things if you take your classes online. Not to mention you wouldn't get proper lab experience.

I'm actually doing something similar at TESU with a CS/Math major, but I'm only using ACE/CLEP credits for my gen eds, and all of my CS/Math courses will be either from TESU or from a local university (where I hope to get letters of recommendation and research experience). If you're eligible for financial aid, you should see if COSC offers a consortium agreement. But I think in general you'd be better off at a traditional brick and mortar university if you want to go to grad school for physics.

[sciencemathematics1]

If your goal is grad school for physics, then you might want to consider options other than the Big 3. 

My plans have been reconsidered from when I said that. I still am considering graduate school, but I am considering pursuing computer science or mathematics. I want to have some additional mathematics and science education in addition to my computer science education. 
I found WGU which has a competency-based computer science program. I also found various self-paced mathematics courses but they are expensive.
https://www.wgu.edu/online-it-degrees/co...ience.html
https://netmath.illinois.edu/

 Grad schools will want to see mostly RA credit on your transcript

If so, then does that mean that they would not want to see study.com credits for computer science? I would just take them with WGU instead.

[conflitz]

If your goal is grad school for physics, then you might want to consider options other than the Big 3. 

My plans have been reconsidered from when I said that. I still am considering graduate school, but I am considering pursuing computer science or mathematics. I want to have some additional mathematics and science education in addition to my computer science education. 
I found WGU which has a competency-based computer science program. I also found various self-paced mathematics courses but they are expensive.
https://www.wgu.edu/online-it-degrees/co...ience.html
https://netmath.illinois.edu/

 Grad schools will want to see mostly RA credit on your transcript

If so, then does that mean that they would not want to see study.com credits for computer science? I would just take them with WGU instead.

Grad programs would always prefer to see RA credit with a grade over study.com credits. Which grad programs are you considering? If it's something like Georgia Tech's OMSCS, I know people have gotten in with WGU CS degrees, so you'd probably be fine there. If you're looking at other grad programs, you should contact them and see if WGU/NetMath would be acceptable options for your undergrad.

One thing you should keep in mind is that WGU only gives out a GPA of 3.0 due to their pass/fail system. Admissions officers might not really understand what this means in context, and it's possible your grad applications could be automatically filtered out as a result. Again, it's best to ask the grad programs you're interested in before committing to any of these options.

If you're looking at highly selective grad programs, you will likely have difficulty getting research experience and strong letters of recommendation from professors at WGU. I'm not saying it's impossible - just that the typical WGU student isn't interested in selective grad programs, so their program isn't built around that. If you want to do a grad program that isn't OMSCS, taking traditional in-person classes is your best bet. Barring that, I would recommend choosing a school that offers more traditional online courses with grades, like TESU.

[sciencemathematics1]

Grad programs would always prefer to see RA credit with a grade over study.com credits.

If you're looking at highly selective grad programs, you will likely have difficulty getting research experience and strong letters of recommendation from professors at WGU. 

https://omscs.gatech.edu/program-info/ad...n-criteria
It says that the preferred qualifications include a 3.0 GPA or higher.
If they prefer graded RA credit, then wouldn't it mean that WGU's is not preferable because it's not graded?
Is its preferred rather than mandatory? If so, would there be schools that would still accept me into a master's program with non-RA credits from study.com?
From what I heard study.com credits do have a grade and they can get a grade above a 3.0.

I'm not too focused on looking at any particular school for my graduate degree. I'm not sure if I am exactly looking at highly selective master programs. I am not too sure about how much it will matter where I get my masters from. I could go to a Ph.D. at a better school from where I got my master's degree.
I would consider OMSCS and apply to it but I could settle for somewhere else if I did not get into it.
I have found a number of online masters degree programs.
I could look into how and if I can find research opportunities outside of a university program that I am in.

[ss20ts]

Having a master's degree from Bob U may not help you get into a doctorate program especially one which requires research. Everything counts remember.

[conflitz]

Grad programs would always prefer to see RA credit with a grade over study.com credits.

If you're looking at highly selective grad programs, you will likely have difficulty getting research experience and strong letters of recommendation from professors at WGU. 

https://omscs.gatech.edu/program-info/ad...n-criteria
It says that the preferred qualifications include a 3.0 GPA or higher.
If they prefer graded RA credit, then wouldn't it mean that WGU's is not preferable because it's not graded?
Is its preferred rather than mandatory? If so, would there be schools that would still accept me into a master's program with non-RA credits from study.com?
From what I heard study.com credits do have a grade and they can get a grade above a 3.0.

I'm not too focused on looking at any particular school for my graduate degree. I'm not sure if I am exactly looking at highly selective master programs. I am not too sure about how much it will matter where I get my masters from. I could go to a Ph.D. at a better school from where I got my master's degree.
I would consider OMSCS and apply to it but I could settle for somewhere else if I did not get into it.
I have found a number of online masters degree programs.
I could look into how and if I can find research opportunities outside of a university program that I am in.

For grad admissions, WGU isn't ideal because nothing has a grade. I couldn't tell you if graded RA credit is preferred or mandatory - you should first find grad programs you're interested in and work backwards to make sure your degree would be acceptable. Even if study.com credits come with a grade, it wouldn't matter because study.com isn't RA.

If you want to do OMSCS, then I wouldn't stress too much since they're not selective and people have gotten in with WGU CS degrees. They accept almost anyone who has the right qualifications. On the other hand, funded PhD positions are always competitive, and you'd have a rough time finding one without research experience and strong letters of recommendation.

It's possible to get research experience outside of your school - potentially you could ask a professor from another school or do an REU program. But I want to emphasize that this would be in person, and it'd be an uphill battle to get that while doing an online degree. OMSCS offers some research opportunities, but they're not always easy to get and nothing is guaranteed.

Online masters degrees are typically terminal, meant for people who don't plan to pursue a PhD. An in-person masters with a thesis is much more likely to help if you want to go the doctorate route. It's an uphill battle if you do your bachelor's online, but even more so if you do your master's online too.

[sciencemathematics1]

I wonder if I would be able to get any letters of reccomendation or experience with professors from Thomas Edison State University. I live very close to TESU, and I am a New Jersey resident, so I could go to them in-person while taking online classes. There is a doctoral program I found online from Aspen university (nationally accredited). They require a masters degree for admission, so I could potentially go to this college. https://www.aspen.edu/business-technolog...r-science/

[bluebooger]

as you said that school requires a masters for admission
and you don't even have a bachelors yet

so don't worry about it
get the bachelors
then think about a masters

[conflitz]

I wonder if I would be able to get any letters of reccomendation or experience with professors from Thomas Edison State University. I live very close to TESU, and I am a New Jersey resident, so I could go to them in-person while taking online classes. There is a doctoral program I found online from Aspen university (nationally accredited). They require a masters degree for admission, so I could potentially go to this college. https://www.aspen.edu/business-technolog...r-science/

TESU isn't a research university, so the odds of getting research experience from TESU alone are 0. You would need to look elsewhere for that. Also, you can get letters of recommendation from professors online - it's usually just harder for them to get to know you personally that way. It's very unlikely you could visit TESU professors in person: first, there's the pandemic, and second, most professors probably don't live in the area.

Why do you want to get a PhD? If you just want the title of Dr., then that program would be fine. Otherwise, absolutely don't get a doctorate from a nationally accredited or for-profit school. You very likely would not be eligible for any research positions or professorships (except those from other for-profit nationally accredited schools), which is usually the reason why people get PhDs. Some people here might argue that all schools are for-profit - which is true - but the point is that nobody in academia would take a for-profit or nationally accredited degree seriously, justified or not.

Good PhD programs will pay you to work on your research - that's what it means to be funded. The ROI on a doctorate is questionable even with funding, but if you have to pay for it yourself, it's abysmally bad. I've never heard of a funded online PhD for computer science, but if you could find one from a regionally accredited non-profit school, that could be an option. But I doubt that exists.

If you're serious about this path, you should attend a brick and mortar school for your bachelors. If you don't, then you should at least attend an in-person program from a regionally accredited non-profit university for grad school. If you're not willing or able to do either of these, then you should question why you want to do a PhD. Sorry if that's harsh, but it didn't seem like my previous posts were getting through.