What an Ivy League Phd thinks of us

[april004]

I have had many friends and family members unfortunately put down the way I am obtaining my degree. They think the only correct way is to sit down in a brick and mortar classroom. Any other way is not vaild.

Well, I have a good friend who received his bachelors degree in Molecular Biology at the Ivy League school of University of Pennsylvania and received his doctorate in cell biology at Rockefeller University in New York.

He is currently a postdoc fellow doing research in a genetics lab @ University of Chicago.

I thought of all people he would look down on me. When he asked where I went to school I would try to change the subject but eventually I admitted where I went and surprisingly...he was all for our way of learning.

I've copied and pasted our email conversation and thought I'd share it. Although the message is for me think of it as a message to us all. He gave me permission to share it because he wants you all to know he thinks highly of us!

I am posting my email message to him so you can understand his reply better when we talk about missing limbs!

April to non
show details 9:06 AM (2 hours ago) Reply



I have friends who barely studied in high school...these are people that copied off me! These are people that paid me to write their reports!

They have their degrees. Have had them for years.

Not me.

I feel like I am missing a limb or something.

I feel empty because of it.

The Ivy League Phd's reply!

non frog to me
show details 9:09 AM (2 hours ago) Reply



Well, you are rectifying it.
You're growing your limb. And you should be proud of it.

Doing it like you've done it is harder.
Going through school the "normal" way, is mostly just about momentum.
People start school, and just coast through it. It requires very
little initiative. You did this on your own, and you should be VERY
VERY proud of it. It means a lot.

[NAP]

So far, I have gotten a lot of positive feedback and encouragement. I'm sorry to see that you haven't.

Even so, I didn't expect this to be such a nice post. Thank you for sharing.

I see that you are very close to the finish line! Congratulations!

[nick94]

Wow! Great feedback from the PhD! Sorry to hear that you haven't gotten many, "wow that sounds interesting" statements. I haven't either but some people that have asked and I answer telling them what I am doing just drop it... I wonder if that means they don't approve.... Must feel good to be so close to finishing!

[skyfall123]

Very cool!!! Earning your degree this route uses the same type of resources that you must utilize every day when you are in business (which I have been since 1988). It is all about being efficient, resourceful, finding and using the right tools and doing those things that others won't do or can't do. Lets face it, must of us are doing this while juggling work, family, business etc...

What you learn from this experience is that you can do anything that you set your mind to. That is a priceless realization.

[april004]

Yes it does feel good to finish! I don't know what I plan to do with it...but I'll just be happy to have it!

Here's some more wise words from the PHD....

non frog to me
show details 9:03 AM (4 hours ago) Reply



I can tell you're an academic at heart. it's obvious from talking to
you that you are smart, and that you soak up information and like it.
Not having a college degree doesn't make you any less smart or
academic, but I can understand it really feeling like you just SHOULD
have it. That makes sense to me.

You deserve it.

Funny thing is I have had friends from the local community college or the HR manager who received her degree from the state university tell me my degree will not be legit despite Excelsior's accreditation.

It's the PHD who has given me the most encouragement and thinks this is just another path to a degree! Of course he was also homeschooled during his elementary years so he knows that learning doesn't just take place in the classroom.

[blueberry]

Thanks for the post. Very inspiring. Although I am doing my degree mostly in a classroom, people who ask me how I am finishing so quickly usually also give me the kind of expression that clearly shows their distaste. But I recently realized that I was always interpreting their expression wrong. It's not that they think we're cheating our way out of a degree. They're just jealous.

[nick94]

Thanks for the post. Very inspiring. Although I am doing my degree mostly in a classroom, people who ask me how I am finishing so quickly usually also give me the kind of expression that clearly shows their distaste. But I recently realized that I was always interpreting their expression wrong. It's not that they think we're cheating our way out of a degree. They're just jealous.

So the people I tell who drop the subject must wish they had been smart enough to think of doing it our way!

[blueberry]

So the people I tell who drop the subject must wish they had been smart enough to think of doing it our way!

Exactly!

[malcs]

Exactly!

Some people forget that education can be thought about in the same ROI (Return on Investment) terms as any business decision. The same people send their kids to expensive schools rather than state schools when they know that they can't affort it. They give me a dumb look when I tell them that my kids have a choice of any state school, and that I am not paying for a private school or letting them take loans out for $100k.

In most cases, getting your degree with the methods that we are using gives the highest ROI of any method. You spend less time, and less money, and get similar results.

I have a friend who is the head of a department in a southern university (Phd), and he was complaining to me that his school is missing the extra revenue that they would be getting if they had an online service. He feels that all courses that don't require student-teacher interaction could be tought this way.

Many universities use the "lecture hall" concept. 100 people jammed into an auditorium to hear someone recite from a textbook, often with an incomprehensible accent, with no chance of student interaction. I contend that any course offered in such a way is equally suited for distance learning.

Some types of courses are better tought in classrooms because they do require large amounts of equipment and interaction. The rest can be tought using a variety of venues and methods.

I often use the name Excelsior-SUNY Regents for my degree. I wish that EC did not pick the name Excelsior, it just sounds a bit like a degree mill. That being said, I will gladly describe the amount of work that I put into this degree, and the fact that EC has regional accreditation and very strict rules, to anyone who challenges me on it.

One other important thing....
Distant learners are not usually going to school on their parent's dime. They are paying their own way, and interleaving education with work and family obligations. When I look at a resume of a prospective employee, there is nothing that turns me off more than seeing someone who spent 12 years going to school to get a Phd that should have been completed in 7 years. I always think, " So, you spent 12 years of time, and 12 years of your parent's money before you entered the job world? Nice gig if you can get it!".

[Ruddigore]

Doing it like you've done it is harder.
Going through school the "normal" way, is mostly just about momentum.
People start school, and just coast through it. It requires very
little initiative. You did this on your own, and you should be VERY
VERY proud of it. It means a lot.

Thanks for sharing this. It is definitely encouraging.

but some people that have asked and I answer telling them what I am doing just drop it...

I get that. I tell them that I am considering doing my entire bachelor's through mainly testing, and they reply "Oh...That's interesting..." and leave it at that. The more opinionated ones tell me that I'm missing out on the experience of a lifetime by not attending private college.

Although I am doing my degree mostly in a classroom, people who ask me how I am finishing so quickly usually also give me the kind of expression that clearly shows their distaste. But I recently realized that I was always interpreting their expression wrong. It's not that they think we're cheating our way out of a degree. They're just jealous.

Haha. That MUST be it.