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

[KSoul]

My advice - If someone is smart, young, and has money don't even think of these schools.  These schools better suit underachievers, old people who missed the boat, or people with limited financial resources.  You are aiming for a degree to tick a box.  If you aspire to be an academic go to the best school you can afford and be prepared to work your butt off and above all write write write until you can write 20 pages without breaking a sweat.  I have a cousin who teaches at a university. In his 30 year career he has written 60 or more scholarly papers.  You don't learn how to do that banging out multiple-guess exams.  That being said, you could be the 1 out of 10,000 who turns a bottom rung degree into an academic career.

In a contemporary context, particularly with post-pandemic considerations, the guidance of yesteryear seems archaic. The allure of academic tenure, often littered with undervalued recognition—a pathway often leading to regretful introspection in one's twilight years about forsaken opportunities for a life rich with experiences—is a paradigm to be cautiously deliberated. It is not about secure retirement packages or the tenure track's hollow conquests but about cultivating a fulfilling journey.

Old Guy, update your perspective on success. It is no longer akin to procuring a winning lottery ticket—relying on chance—but instead, it emerges from eschewing the well-trodden paths and embracing the myriad of innovative models accessible for realizing one's professional ambitions. The focus should be on tearing down the antiquated frameworks and venturing audaciously into the multitude of novel enterprises available for achieving your aspirations.

[Old Guy]

So underachieving is a goal we should aim for? Good luck with life. Come to think of it you might make president in the Ivy League.

[LevelUP]

Harvard has a low acceptance rate. 3.2%, and that's down from it's previous 4%+ rate. I'm not saying give up hope, I'm just saying try not to get hopes up too high.

There is no context around this number, which makes getting into Harvard sound like winning the lottery.

A student's chance of admission to Harvard can actually be as high as 75% with the right credentials. This is the reason why some students get accepted into almost all the Ivy League schools they apply to.

They are not lucky.

I did my BA online at ASU; while my transcript doesn't say that it was online, it's pretty obvious because I live on the East Coast.  I realize it's not Harvard, but I was able to get into Johns Hopkins.  They looked at my college transcript (I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA), an essay, my resume, and two recommendations.  Of course, I'm doing the program online BUT the same program is also offered on-campus.

ASU is an excellent flagship college.

However, it's worth noting that some individuals have gained admission to top colleges, like Johns Hopkins, holding a degree from SNHU.

WGU has no grades, yet lots of people get accepted into Georgia Tech which is a top 5 program.

I will say UMPI was in general MUCH easier than my previous B&M BS degree. (even the gen eds were harder at my old school) and Sophia classes were nearly a joke. I got a 4.0 without much effort but barely scraped by with a 3.4 in my previous degree. Nearly everyone on Discord or here is getting honors, whereas honors were pretty rare when I was in undergrad. There is definitely grade inflation.

Sometimes, it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.

Grade inflation is prevalent even at Ivy League schools. The last thing you want to do is attend a random community college where professors play games with DFW courses that can significantly impact your GPA, putting you at risk of potential discrimination in the future.

College is somewhat of a game; you play to win and then move on with your life.

When you take responsibility for your own education, you can apply more rigor than any college could ever possibly provide.

My advice - If someone is smart, young, and has money don't even think of these schools.  These schools better suit underachievers, old people who missed the boat, or people with limited financial resources.  You are aiming for a degree to tick a box.  If you aspire to be an academic go to the best school you can afford and be prepared to work your butt off and above all write write write until you can write 20 pages without breaking a sweat.  I have a cousin who teaches at a university. In his 30 year career he has written 60 or more scholarly papers.  You don't learn how to do that banging out multiple-guess exams.  That being said, you could be the 1 out of 10,000 who turns a bottom rung degree into an academic career.

These schools better suit underachievers, old people who missed the boat, or people with limited financial resources.

The colleges we recommend are suitable for everyone. There is a debate about whether it's better to attend a ranked college (such as ASU or Penn State) for your undergraduate studies or opt for a lower-ranked undergraduate institution and then pursue a master's at a high-ranked college.

If you aspire to be an academic go to the best school you can afford and be prepared to work your butt off and above all write write write until you can write 20 pages without breaking a sweat.

Some careers you can BS your way through them by writing and talking, sure. In some careers, you actually need some skills.

Not everyone wants to become an academic.

That being said, you could be the 1 out of 10,000 who turns a bottom rung degree into an academic career.

If your goal is to become a teacher, there is nothing stopping you from achieving that with any of the colleges we recommend. However, if your ambition is to become a college professor with tenure, the odds are relatively low, regardless of the college you attend, and the 100k+ you could spend on a doctorate could potentially become a significant waste of money.

So underachieving is a goal we should aim for?  Good luck with life.  Come to think of it you might make president in the Ivy League.

Apart from being vague, it's important to explain what you mean by "underachieving" in either quantifiable or qualifiable terms?

[Duneranger]

My advice - If someone is smart, young, and has money don't even think of these schools.  These schools better suit underachievers, old people who missed the boat, or people with limited financial resources.  You are aiming for a degree to tick a box.  If you aspire to be an academic go to the best school you can afford and be prepared to work your butt off and above all write write write until you can write 20 pages without breaking a sweat.  I have a cousin who teaches at a university. In his 30 year career he has written 60 or more scholarly papers.  You don't learn how to do that banging out multiple-guess exams.  That being said, you could be the 1 out of 10,000 who turns a bottom rung degree into an academic career.

I wouldn't go that far but if I was in my early 20s, I would be gunning for a B&M college experience at the least and do all I could to get into a top tier undergrad program. People here get defensive when this is mentioned for some reason. Yes, some schools like ASU have the exact diploma, but the experience on campus vs online can be night and day. with regard to networking, research, types of courses, and social growth. Getting an 8 week degree from UMPI just isn't the same as going to an upper tier traditional school for 4 years . It just isn't. That being said I have two online degrees from different schools and felt like I did learn but it wasn't comparable.

[frankc]

From my experience, I've found that getting recommendation letters was a big headache. I have degrees from EU and TESU and noticed a big difference when I applied to Georgia Tech's OMSCS program, which I think is an online-friendly program. TESU professors didn't respond to my emails, and the office staff wouldn't help beyond providing email addresses. In contrast, Excelsior's staff actively helped by personally asking professors to write letters for me. I managed to get three letters from Excelsior but none from TESU (in fact, not even a reply).

[LevelUP]

From my experience, I've found that getting recommendation letters was a big headache. I have degrees from EU and TESU and noticed a big difference when I applied to Georgia Tech's OMSCS program, which I think is an online-friendly program. TESU professors didn't respond to my emails, and the office staff wouldn't help beyond providing email addresses. In contrast, Excelsior's staff actively helped by personally asking professors to write letters for me. I managed to get three letters from Excelsior but none from TESU (in fact, not even a reply).

If you want to obtain a recommendation from professors, it has been reported that it's best to reach out to the professor at the beginning of the course and ask for a recommendation, assuming you earn an A.

This way, the professor is more likely to remember who you are. For TESU, some professors may provide their home phone numbers, which you can use to text them. Utilize RateMyProfessor to identify professors who appear to be friendly and willing to go the extra mile for students.

[ss20ts]

From my experience, I've found that getting recommendation letters was a big headache. I have degrees from EU and TESU and noticed a big difference when I applied to Georgia Tech's OMSCS program, which I think is an online-friendly program. TESU professors didn't respond to my emails, and the office staff wouldn't help beyond providing email addresses. In contrast, Excelsior's staff actively helped by personally asking professors to write letters for me. I managed to get three letters from Excelsior but none from TESU (in fact, not even a reply).

At UMPI and Amberton I had no problem getting letters of recs. I also communicated with my professors so they would know who I was because I knew I was going to need those letters.

[bjcheung77]

Unless you take a few classes with an instructor/professor, it's really hard for them to really know you well enough... I suggest for those who are going through TESU or any other institution to see if you can take a couple or more classes with the same instructor. When I took Penn Foster classes way back then, I purposely waited for all 3 classes to be taught by the same person... But in the end, I didn't even need a recommendation from them for anything, it's best to plan things forward even if you don't need it, you're already prepared for that as a backup option.