Explaining the Big 3 to my colleagues...

[rebel100]

I think they are afraid of the challenges of seeking a degree by the road less traveled.

I see what you did there!

[rebel100]

Your giving people too much credit. Honest to God, so much is made about this and I don't think folks really care. Sure, you might need to explain this to your spouse or the rich Uncle that's helping you fund it, but tell the rest of them to pound sand. Don't rely on the whims of the uninformed to mold YOUR future.


I will add however, that I struggled with this a bit at first. In one interview a guy said "so you got your degree from Charter Oak?" from this simple sentence I went off for 5 minutes qualifying what I had done, explaining accreditation, etc... You know what...they didn't care. Even made the remark..."uhh...I was just asking where you went to school". Point is that it's our insecurity about doing something different that can lead us into this box where we feel we need an explanation to exit. Don't buy into it.

My answer on this "I went to a small state school in Connecticut named Charter Oak" that's usually enough...

Did you go online? I sure did, helped me finish quicker.

If I get the "how did you do it so much faster than me" question...I say "cause I'm that much smarter than you". Then I laugh a little and if they seem interested...and if I care to....I explain it. More often than not I encounter others that want my help doing the same thing.

Just be proud, it's your accomplishment.

[brucet3]

I started my journey in Sept of last year with 22 credits and am looking to finish my BSBA in CIS by June of this year. It been an unbelievable ride guys. I spent the month of Sept looking for proof that TESC is a diploma mill. (To be fair, I was researching diploma mills when I found this forum :reddevil

Ive told everyone who asks about this program and most folks dont seems interested or thinks its slightly "fishy". I think most of the angst that people have with this "amazing opportunity" is skepticism. We've been programmed and told for years and years that degrees cost a lot of time and a lot of money, regardless of personal experience and ability to self teach.

This forum proves that's not true. You just have to take the time to prove it to yourself. :hurray:

[IrishJohn]

This forum proves that's not true. You just have to take the time to prove it to yourself. :hurray:

Agreed. I can remember being highly skeptical of the Big 3 when I first discovered this forum. I actually started with Grantham University in 2007 when I was seeking to complete my bachelor's but had to drop out due to finances at the time. Everything else I knew about online education was University of Phoenix, which even back then had a bad reputation among employers, or diploma mills. I kept hearing the infamous Sally Struthers commercial in my head which was a complete turn-off! When I discovered this forum my #1 requirement was accreditation of the schools, followed by cost and convenience, and when I learned that TESC was a state school that went a loooooong way to selling me on the idea!

[mobiusbox]

That's true. I'd imagine they started out as doing night-course-type formats, like Katzepatra was talking about. They are probably just now in the limelight because of being more accessible for everyone.

[mobiusbox]

My answer on this "I went to a small state school in Connecticut named Charter Oak" that's usually enough...

Did you go online? I sure did, helped me finish quicker.

Hadn't thought of it that way. I did a semester online at Troy University. At the time, it was listed as "in progress" on my resume. During that time I was not liking my job, so I went to a couple of interviews with a large corporation. The VP I met with was HUGE into school names from what I could tell (plaques, his alma mater's sports paraphernalia all over the walls, etc). He ended up asking about Troy University and I tried to explain that it was a brick and mortar school, but had an online program that I was part of. After he heard my speel about it being a great program, he kinda treated me like I was wasting his time. I don't know that I will have this problem though after I actually graduate. Since "in progress" was on there, it leaves it open for discussion.

And no, haha...I didn't get the job. He was VERY snobby about it. The HR lady from that place was very cool about it being online though. So that's a good sign that people's attitudes are changing, right?

[cookderosa]

You're over-sharing. Keep your mouth closed, head down, and work your rear end off. Later, in your free time, you can think of snappy and clever things to say, but looking for colleague approval is a fast-track to self-doubt.

[mobiusbox]

I totally agree with the over-sharing part, it probably came off as defensive. Plus, the self doubt is definitely there too. Most of the people I hang with these days have their masters and beyond, so they assume I'm working on grad school as well. I think it's kind of a blow when they find out that I've gotten as far as I have in my career, just from having some community college credits. The truth is, I had to work harder at my job to get there and now I'm as far as I can get without having a bachelors degree.

It's been hard, but I think I need to just stop caring about what everyone else is doing and worry about getting it done. Then I'll worry about explaining to employers.

[Ace_King]

I have been using Rebels comment pretty much. When they ask me where did I go to college at, I usually respond back with.. "A small state college in Trenton, NJ" . I haven't had anyone really question or ask if I did it online. I try not to go into extent detail. I don't tell them the accreditation or how I managed to get my degree in a short time. At the end of the day, it's a four year degree, right? K.I.S.S.. Keep it simple stupid. Always my motto folks, lol.

My plan is to try to make up my for my undergrad and get a Masters at a well known university here in my state.. or either get a graduate certificate at a well known school here. Not saying my undergrad is bad, I just needed a degree, a simple check box was my goal.

And how I found out about the big three was that when I was enrolled in my Penn Foster A.A program, in the forums some one brought up the big three. I had no idea what the big three was, but some one recommended me to transfer to EC or TESC and I told him, "Man, TESC is alllll the way in NJ, I need to do the online route, I can't go to TESC." Until I found out how TESC worked, boy it took me a while!! I really thought the big three were brick and motar schools. My goal before was to transfer from Penn Foster to AMU/APU or UoP, until I saw the bright light at the end of the tunnel, that's when I went to TESC, lol. And Thank God I did, otherwise I'd be swallowed in severe debt from UoP or any other for-profit school.

[mrs.b]

I agree with rebel, cookderosa, and the others. Most of it is in your head. The rest is others' misunderstanding of the road less traveled. I would say one in maybe thirty actually might be looking down their noses, and are they really worth the time or aggravation?

When I've been asked, I said I went to Thomas Edison State College, and when given the confused look, I might add that it's a state college in New Jersey. Since I live half a country away, that says it was online. If asked further about it, I explain that working 50+ hours a week, a lot of travel for work, and a family to take care of, it was either online school or nothing, so I hunted down a fully accredited state school that offered what I needed and got the job done. That tends to get a nod of respect, even from the high-and-mightiest of degree snobs I've met.

For the handful that I've gone into real detail and explained testing options, I summarize it by saying a CLEP or DSST exam is like signing up for a course, skipping all the classes, reading the book on your own, and showing up for the final exam that determines your success or failure in the course. You can do it on your own time, with as much or little time as you need, but you still have to know the material to get the credits. I only go into that detail with folks that I've already recognized are not snobs.

Like all the others have said, though, try not to take any of it personally. The alternative is to be ashamed of an accomplishment that should make you proud. For those very few (and there are honestly few) that try to make others feel bad about their accomplishments - whether their reasoning is because you're doing it better or smarter than they did, for less cash, in less time, or because they honestly feel that traditional college is the only way to go - they only have as much power over your motivation and self-esteem as you give them.

P.S. At an HR conference a few months back (where degree snobbery runs rampant), when everyone was discussing their college days and eventually looked my way to contribute, I laughed and added that my extracurricular activities for my college days were working full-time and raising a family. No snide remarks were had, and later had two stop me to ask where I went to school, only to find out that both of them did go to college - hence where their own stories came from - but dropped out short of finishing. Not all "college days" stories include a graduation, if you were to press for details.