Is it possible to 'hide' a degree?

[Jnx]

looking to follow a TESU plan at some point soon. My only concern is that I'm only 23 and don't really know what I want do with my life. Make great money already, no degree... but sometimes consider a career change. Who knows, maybe I'd like to give a normal 4 year university + med school a shot one day, but I don't want to be judged for getting a degree through any of the big 3. It still seems like there's a stigma associated with online degrees of any sort, which is why I really like ASU or Penn St online, but I don't really need a degree that bad to dedicate my life to those. Just want to keep my options open in the future and don't want this to kill any.

Thanks everyone and thanks for this wonderful forum!

[Synicaal]

looking to follow a TESU plan at some point soon. My only concern is that I'm only 23 and don't really know what I want do with my life. Make great money already, no degree... but sometimes consider a career change. Who knows, maybe I'd like to give a normal 4 year university + med school a shot one day, but I don't want to be judged for getting a degree through any of the big 3. It still seems like there's a stigma associated with online degrees of any sort, which is why I really like ASU or Penn St online, but I don't really need a degree that bad to dedicate my life to those. Just want to keep my options open in the future and don't want this to kill any.

Thanks everyone and thanks for this wonderful forum!

If you get a degree from any of the big three just like every other university it doesn't have some Scarlet Letter type thing on your transcript that say earned online. I could send you my CC transcript and you couldn't tell if my courses where online or in class.

Now if you mean only online schools then I still don't get your point. A degree for TESU is a degree. You will be eligible for grad school, law school, med school... TESU, COSC, and Excelsior are all Regionally Accredited. As for Excelsior it is regarded very highly here in New York.

[rlw74]

Re: online degrees.... TESU is a brick and mortar state university that happens to offer online degrees. Same with most colleges these days. It might not be as well known as a Penn State or Ohio State or others. Then again, most state schools aren't well known unless they have a big football team attached to their name or some kind of prestige attached to a particular field of study (like engineering, medical etc). I could get a fully-online degree from several state schools in my state (Ohio) and I bet, aside from Ohio State, you wouldn't have any idea who the other colleges are unless you lived here. Doesn't make their degrees any less or any more than they are. And it doesn't matter if I drive the hour to sit in their classroom or take the courses online. Its the same degree - same transcript. No where will it indicate that its an online degree.

Re: not being sure of your degree. You are 23. If you change your mind and decide to get a second degree later in another field it doesn't hurt. But, if you really are considering med school you need to be committing to that sooner rather than later. Its not (usually) something one wakes up one day when they are 30 and decides to do on a whim. It takes year and years of schooling, exams and its competitive to get into medical school so you might lose a year or two just applying. Your undergrad should be geared to making you the best candidate possible. I don't think you could afford to spend a couple of years at TESU getting a BSBA or BALS and then just jump to another 4 year program somewhere else and then hope to get into med school. You would probably waste 6-8 years right there.

Honestly, you are going to have to want it (whatever that is) to make it work. Whether you go with one of the big 3 and get a degree fully online its going to take a lot of hours and commitment. It isn't going to be easy. If its going to a school with the end goal being medical school, its going to be a lot of hours too. While you decide, why don't you start getting your gen eds and as much math and science done as you can. If you switch over to something like biology or pre-med you won't be able to fully test out of it but at least you'll be part way toward your potential end goal.

[davewill]

To answer your question, no you can't hide your degree. When you apply to grad school or med school, they will require all of your existing transcripts including from TESU. It will show your degree. Also be aware that some public universities may not allow you to pursue a second bachelor's degree.

[bjcheung77]

If you get a degree from any of the big three just like every other university it doesn't have some Scarlet Letter type thing on your transcript that say earned online. I could send you my CC transcript and you couldn't tell if my courses where online or in class.

Now if you mean only online schools then I still don't get your point. A degree for TESU is a degree. You will be eligible for grad school, law school, med school... TESU, COSC, and Excelsior are all Regionally Accredited. As for Excelsior it is regarded very highly here in New York.

To answer your question, no you can't hide your degree. When you apply to grad school or med school, they will require all of your existing transcripts including from TESU. It will show your degree. Also be aware that some public universities may not allow you to pursue a second bachelor's degree.

+1 on these two posts. Furthermore, I think it's better to have more than one degree. For me, I like to "flaunt"... haha
Why bother hiding it when you can show your talents in having a second or subsequent degree of your choice.

[cookderosa]

looking to follow a TESU plan at some point soon. My only concern is that I'm only 23 and don't really know what I want do with my life. Make great money already, no degree... but sometimes consider a career change. Who knows, maybe I'd like to give a normal 4 year university + med school a shot one day, but I don't want to be judged for getting a degree through any of the big 3. It still seems like there's a stigma associated with online degrees of any sort, which is why I really like ASU or Penn St online, but I don't really need a degree that bad to dedicate my life to those. Just want to keep my options open in the future and don't want this to kill any.

Thanks everyone and thanks for this wonderful forum!

You should definitely make sure that people won't judge you- super important if you're under 30. After that, you'll do what you need to to get the job done.

[RANSOMSOUL]

Taking things in order I would spend time figuring out what your top 3-5 future aspirations are (can be more but 3-5 is a nice start). Flush out what path is needed for each of them, e.g. Time, Money, Education. Review them each on paper and it should start to create some focus. Your own focus creates energy and you will be able to use that to make some future goals happen.

If medical school end up in the top 3-5, I would still rock with the Big 3 and have theses areas be your focus:

Course study in Degree
GPA
MCAT Score
Clinical Hours

I have had the please of working in the medical field for close to 20 years and can confirm it's the talent that matters at the end of the day. If you can handle the four targets above and crush the interviews, expect to have some great options.

Loved your line of 'Make Great Money Already'. Reminder being 23 with no kids making really good money feeling the same. I make considerably more money now but live in Orange County, married with five kids and I feel there's a thief every day messing with my accounts

[Life Long Learning]

TESU has never been considered a Brick & Mortar School? It is a State school and so is COSC.:iagree:

All three are considered online by todays standards. Years ago they were NOT online colleges. They started as non-traditional adult assessment colleges. NO capstone courses even.cheersmate

Re: online degrees.... TESU is a brick and mortar state university that happens to offer online degrees. Same with most colleges these days. It might not be as well known as a Penn State or Ohio State or others. Then again, most state schools aren't well known unless they have a big football team attached to their name or some kind of prestige attached to a particular field of study (like engineering, medical etc). I could get a fully-online degree from several state schools in my state (Ohio) and I bet, aside from Ohio State, you wouldn't have any idea who the other colleges are unless you lived here. Doesn't make their degrees any less or any more than they are. And it doesn't matter if I drive the hour to sit in their classroom or take the courses online. Its the same degree - same transcript. No where will it indicate that its an online degree.

Re: not being sure of your degree. You are 23. If you change your mind and decide to get a second degree later in another field it doesn't hurt. But, if you really are considering med school you need to be committing to that sooner rather than later. Its not (usually) something one wakes up one day when they are 30 and decides to do on a whim. It takes year and years of schooling, exams and its competitive to get into medical school so you might lose a year or two just applying. Your undergrad should be geared to making you the best candidate possible. I don't think you could afford to spend a couple of years at TESU getting a BSBA or BALS and then just jump to another 4 year program somewhere else and then hope to get into med school. You would probably waste 6-8 years right there.

Honestly, you are going to have to want it (whatever that is) to make it work. Whether you go with one of the big 3 and get a degree fully online its going to take a lot of hours and commitment. It isn't going to be easy. If its going to a school with the end goal being medical school, its going to be a lot of hours too. While you decide, why don't you start getting your gen eds and as much math and science done as you can. If you switch over to something like biology or pre-med you won't be able to fully test out of it but at least you'll be part way toward your potential end goal.

[sanantone]

TESU is mostly an online school. The only brick and mortar program they have is in nursing.

[cookderosa]

It might be true that a segment of the population is critical of distance learning, the truth is that over 90% of all public colleges and universities offer distance learning classes and or degrees. So, simply choose a school that doesn't have a high profile and move forward.

Since I'm 46, I'm old enough to tell you that technology doesn't stop- and progress doesn't reverse. So, even if you are in a minority as a distance learner TODAY, that won't be the case in the next decade. The decade graduating high school now has been raised on tech products. Remember when colleges didn't have a website? I do. Remember when financial aid paperwork was actually on paper? I do.I could go on.