Will graduate schools in the United States and abroad accept an online college degree

[shoron]

I have been researching online colleges for quite a few days now. I understand colleges like Excelsior, WGU, and TESU provide a valid bachelor's (master's too) degree. They have been accredited, so there are no questions about their authenticity. I am convinced about that. But my questions are:

1. Will graduate schools like Harvard & MIT accept these degrees? No, I know they are very selective. Not everyone will get the chance to be enrolled. But Having an Excelsior degree is a minus there, or is the validation quite the same?

2. How can I determine if schools in other countries/continents like Canada, Europe, and Asia will accept these degrees?

3. What if I enrol in a "not so reputable" graduate school and get a master's? If I want to do another master after that from a "reputable" one? Will that ease up the process?

4. (this one is traditional, but I don't know) If I get a bachelor's degree in Business from Excelsior, Can I do my masters in CS from another graduate school? 

Getting answers to these confusions will help me go through the journey, and I will be grateful to you guys. Thank you so much for your attention and participation.

[ss20ts]

The answer is it depends on the school. Every school has different requirements for graduate admissions. Schools like TESU, UMPI, and COSC have a physical campus and no one knows if you completed your degree in person or online. WGU doesn't have a campus so it's easy to assume it was completed online. Now schools like Purdue Global and UMass Global tell you with their name that they're online schools.

In my experience, my GPA was far more important than where I completed my bachelor degrees from. Essays and letters of recommendation are also important in admissions especially if you want to get into the Ivies or school in that caliber. If you want to go to MIT, then you better have the science and math background needed.

My grades alone, would get me into Cornell which isn't far from me. I wouldn't put myself through that rigorous of a program at this point in my life though. I'm not in my 20's so the ROI isn't going to be the same. I also enjoy having a life. I know people who've gone to Cornell and other Ivies and it's no joke.

[shoron]

The answer is it depends on the school. Every school has different requirements for graduate admissions. Schools like TESU, UMPI, and COSC have a physical campus and no one knows if you completed your degree in person or online. WGU doesn't have a campus so it's easy to assume it was completed online. Now schools like Purdue Global and UMass Global tell you with their name that they're online schools.

In my experience, my GPA was far more important than where I completed my bachelor degrees from. Essays and letters of recommendation are also important in admissions especially if you want to get into the Ivies or school in that caliber. If you want to go to MIT, then you better have the science and math background needed.

My grades alone, would get me into Cornell which isn't far from me. I wouldn't put myself through that rigorous of a program at this point in my life though. I'm not in my 20's so the ROI isn't going to be the same. I also enjoy having a life. I know people who've gone to Cornell and other Ivies and it's no joke.

Thanks for replying with lots of information. 
Is Excelsior entirely an online college? If I choose TESU, Can I do a few courses on campus if I want to?

[KSoul]

Since an RA degree can allow you to apply to any university, TESU, UMPI, EXU, and COSC will not play a part in keeping you out of an Ivy League school.

Factors that might are:

Courses Taken
GPA
GRE Scores
Fiancial Aid / Tuition / Personal finances
Time

On the sister forum Degreeinfo, plenty of participants have taken their BS/BA degrees and transitioned to top-tier universities. Several have then gone on to earn their P.h.D or E.d.D. from highly respected universities.

There is value in starting phase one of earning an associate on to a bachelor and then moving to stage two, which would be selecting and starting the journey for a Masters degree. Far too many end up with paralysis analysis thinking too far ahead and never taking the essential steps now to establish momentum on their goals.

This forum has proven that most degrees, minus the top-tier or ones with local value to where you want to work, primarily check a box. Spend some time creating a value chart for what is important to you. For many, it comes down to the cost of a degree, the speed to complete it, and what and how you want to use that degree. Once you have those questions answered, it all comes together pretty fast.

Best of luck and leverage the forum; many sharp people here enjoy paying it forward by supporting new members.

[FastTrackDegree]

It will definitely be a big minus, but not impossible (Probably not recommended). You might want to look at just doing an associates degree and transfer in to a better school instead. Penn State World Campus might be ok. There are a bunch of top schools with online degrees from there continuing studies-departments too, not sure how they are viewed though.

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Since an RA degree can allow you to apply to any university, TESU, UMPI, EXU, and COSC will not play a part in keeping you out of an Ivy League school.

This is wrong. It does play a part, not the most important thing, but it will be scrutinized in the admissions process.

[dfrecore]

I would say that if you want to get into a top-tier school, a degree from TESU/EU/WGU will not necessarily HELP you, but they may HURT you - mostly because you're going to be doing a degree via alt-credit, which does not give grades. If I wanted to go to a school like that, I'd probably choose a school where I had at least 30 if not 60 graded credits, with most being A's.

There are schools we discuss on here, which will take a lot of alt-credit, but which also offer many more graded credits, which are much more helpful to applying to top schools.

No, you cannot take courses on campus at TESU, EU, or WGU (except if you're a nursing student at EU or TESU, in which case you would be spending a lot of money and taking all of your nursing courses on campus or in a clinical setting).

[KSoul]

It will definetely be a big minus, but not impossible (Probably not recommended). You might want to look at just doing an associates degree and transfer in to a better school instead. PennState World Campus might be ok. There are a bunch of top schools with online degrees from there continuing studies-departments too, not sure how they are viewed though.

---

Since an RA degree can allow you to apply to any university, TESU, UMPI, EXU, and COSC will not play a part in keeping you out of an Ivy League school.

This is wrong. It does play a part, not the most important thing, but it will be scrutinized in the application process.

Did you not read my comment? It will not keep you out–which it won't and to say a degree from those schools ' will' misinformation. If we are discussing a position on what is the easiest route, I would agree that the need to secure a higher GPA, advanced classes and a high GRE score may make the process harder vs going to USC, Stanford, or Brown for one's undergraduate degree and then applying to Harvard or MIT.

Too many in this forum speak as if they took their degree and applied to Harvard, and Harvard said you are amazing, obviously a top-tier talent; however that degree from ABC just won't cut it for admission. People not getting into Havard or MIT tend to be A. Not connected B. No Financial Influence  or C. Just not smart enough. All this extra talk tends to be to cover up for the lack of A, B, or C.

[sanantone]

I would say that if you want to get into a top-tier school, a degree from TESU/EU/WGU will not necessarily HELP you, but they may HURT you - mostly because you're going to be doing a degree via alt-credit, which does not give grades.  If I wanted to go to a school like that, I'd probably choose a school where I had at least 30 if not 60 graded credits, with most being A's.

There are schools we discuss on here, which will take a lot of alt-credit, but which also offer many more graded credits, which are much more helpful to applying to top schools.

No, you cannot take courses on campus at TESU, EU, or WGU (except if you're a nursing student at EU or TESU, in which case you would be spending a lot of money and taking all of your nursing courses on campus or in a clinical setting).

Agree. People here attend COSC, TESU, and Excelsior to utilize alternative methods of earning credits. The lack of graded courses could hurt an applicant to a highly-selective program. WGU's problem is that it's pass/fail.

[FastTrackDegree]

It will definetely be a big minus, but not impossible (Probably not recommended). You might want to look at just doing an associates degree and transfer in to a better school instead. PennState World Campus might be ok. There are a bunch of top schools with online degrees from there continuing studies-departments too, not sure how they are viewed though.

---

Since an RA degree can allow you to apply to any university, TESU, UMPI, EXU, and COSC will not play a part in keeping you out of an Ivy League school.

This is wrong. It does play a part, not the most important thing, but it will be scrutinized in the application process.

Did you not read my comment? It will not keep you out–which it won't and to say a degree from those schools ' will' misinformation. If we are discussing a position on what is the easiest route, I would agree that the need to secure a higher GPA, advanced classes and a high GRE score may make the process harder vs going to USC, Stanford, or Brown for one's undergraduate degree and then applying to Harvard or MIT.

Too many in this forum speak as if they took their degree and applied to Harvard, and Harvard said you are amazing, obviously a top-tier talent; however that degree from ABC just won't cut it for admission. People not getting into Havard or MIT tend to be A. Not connected B. No Financial Influence  or C. Just not smart enough. All this extra talk tends to be to cover up for the lack of A, B, or C.

If he wants to go to MIT, why would you come in and give that advise, how would it help him? It's like taking a T-ford to a F1 race. Sure it's possible but def not the best path.

[KSoul]

To play along with your analogy: If you want to race in an F1 event, you first need a car. The OP is just a fan at this stage of the conversation.

This was his first question:

1. Will graduate schools like Harvard & MIT accept these degrees? No, I know they are very selective. Not everyone will get the chance to be enrolled. But Having an Excelsior degree is a minus there, or is the validation quite the same?

There is only one answer to that question if we are working on brevity: Yes. Is there nuance when considering the best route, most accessible route, or best-structured route? Another easy Yes. Call me Mr. Assumption; I am guessing most that come into the forum tend to have factors on why they are not going the traditional route or are not operating under a construct that there is only one way to a degree. My answer played to that narrative and stayed factual vs., creating an unnecessary dust-up that was inaccurate.