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

[eLearner]

The problem is, if you want to go to Harvard Graduate School you'll be competing with people who already have undergrad degrees from Harvard or other name brand schools. That's the real big roadblock.

You could always enroll at Harvard Extension, graduate with a Bachelor's, then apply to Harvard Graduate School. If you don't get into the graduate school, fine, you still win: you'll have a degree from Harvard, and you'll have a shot at lots of other good graduate schools out there.

Or, you could just save a ton of money, go with a low-cost school to get a Bachelor's, then apply to the Harvard Extension Graduate School. HES is still a high-quality program.

[HogwartsSchool]

It seems there is a premise where if someone goes to UMPI, WGU, etc., for their undergrad, they won't be able to get into Harvard, MIT, or any other IVY league school for their master's. That's not accurate. For example, a student graduated with a bachelor's from WGU, then got accepted and successfully completed an MBA at MIT. Another example is a student who earned a bachelor's at TESU and got accepted into Cornell Law School (T14 law school). Where you get your bachelor's is only part of the equation. How strong is your personal statement, resume, grades during your bachelor's, community, goals, etc? Anything is possible to a certain point; planning is essential.

[davewill]

The thing to remember about grad school admissions is that your application is a package. It is unlikely that any ONE thing is going to keep you out. If you've got reasonable grades, recommendations, essays and good work experience, then what school you went to probably won't matter. However, if you have no experience, recommendations, etc... then you might need a great GPA from a good school to get you over the top.

[KSoul]

Wish Harvard Extension had not raised their prices so much over the years; however, I love this option to backdoor into Harvard if you have the chops.

[shoron]

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.

Thanks for being so descriptive. I am amazed to see the support from this forum, especially when I am just a new Member. As I have been dropped out for almost 5 years now, It is a heavenly deal to get the bachelors in the quickest time possible. Plus, I am not doing this for my employer. I am a startup founder, and My company is doing pretty well. I don't think I will ever find a job for myself. 

But, Where I live, in this part of the world, having a respectable Degree is a big deal. It is a cultural issue here. Plus, getting a Harvard degree is my dream. But I understand this is extremely selective and not for everyone. Here, I have leverage. I believe I should be lucrative to any school because of my portfolio and the recommendations I can manage. But I just wanted to ensure that an online degree wouldn't block the way entirely. From most of the people's comments, I am convinced that It is not a STOP but could be a barrier. I am thinking after completing my bachelor's; I will go to an average-level graduate school and get a degree with a good GPA and then do another master's may be a few years later, from any of the ivy league schools. I love to believe I should be able to manage a scholarship.

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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).

Thanks for your specific Infos. You wouldn't believe, But I actually joined this forum to read your post and, if possible, to get consultancy from you. One of my friends recommended getting connected with you. So, I am very thankful for your reply. 

After reading all the comments, I am convinced that an online degree is not entirely a STOP but a barrier. As I am doing this for myself and don't need to find jobs, My plan is to get the bachelor's as soon as possible and go to an on-campus graduate school. I will aim for a good GPA and try again for another master's in TOP tier university like Harvard. 

I believe I should be able to manage financial aid for this. If not, I might afford the fees too. Do you think this should work and fulfill my dream of being an IVY league Graduate?

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The thing to remember about grad school admissions is that your application is a package. It is unlikely that any ONE thing is going to keep you out. If you've got reasonable grades, recommendations, essays and good work experience, then what school you went to probably won't matter. However, if you have no experience, recommendations, etc... then you might need a great GPA from a good school to get you over the top.

You are right! Thanks for the motivation. I am a startup founder, working with World Bank, the gates foundation, and universities like Kent-Monash and others. I should feel motivated. Haha. Thanks.

[dfrecore]

[quote pid='384718' dateline='1672956261']
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).

Thanks for your specific Infos. You wouldn't believe, But I actually joined this forum to read your post and, if possible, to get consultancy from you. One of my friends recommended getting connected with you. So, I am very thankful for your reply. 

After reading all the comments, I am convinced that an online degree is not entirely a STOP but a barrier. As I am doing this for myself and don't need to find jobs, My plan is to get the bachelor's as soon as possible and go to an on-campus graduate school. I will aim for a good GPA and try again for another master's in TOP tier university like Harvard. 

I believe I should be able to manage financial aid for this. If not, I might afford the fees too. Do you think this should work and fulfill my dream of being an IVY league Graduate?

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[/quote]

Feel free to PM me. Make sure your PM can receive responses (not sure how to do that myself, sorry).

It's not the "online" degree that is the issue as much as it's the way you plan to get credits.  If you're going to use alt-credit for much if not 90% of your degree, you won't have many graded credits.  So forget the "online" thing because that's not really the problem here.

I have no idea how to fulfill your dream to be any Ivy League Graduate, since that's not my dream and I've spent zero minutes thinking about that.  Sorry, I'm just not the best person to ask about this particular thing.

[davewill]

You are right! Thanks for the motivation. I am a startup founder, working with World Bank, the gates foundation, and universities like Kent-Monash and others. I should feel motivated. Haha. Thanks.

I would guess that telling a great story, having good recommendations, etc... won't be difficult for you, then.

[eLearner]

The thing to remember about grad school admissions is that your application is a package. It is unlikely that any ONE thing is going to keep you out. If you've got reasonable grades, recommendations, essays and good work experience, then what school you went to probably won't matter. However, if you have no experience, recommendations, etc... then you might need a great GPA from a good school to get you over the top.

In a less competitive situation, sure. But in a competitive enrollment situation like with Harvard Graduate School, one thing can make all the difference. If you're up against a bunch of people with Harvard degrees already (which you will be), or degrees from other top schools (which they'll have), and strong grades (which they'll have), but you show up with a degree from a low-tier school, you're highly unlikely to overtake the other applicants.

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.

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It seems there is a premise where if someone goes to UMPI, WGU, etc., for their undergrad, they won't be able to get into Harvard, MIT, or any other IVY league school for their master's. That's not accurate. For example, a student graduated with a bachelor's from WGU, then got accepted and successfully completed an MBA at MIT. Another example is a student who earned a bachelor's at TESU and got accepted into Cornell Law School (T14 law school). Where you get your bachelor's is only part of the equation. How strong is your personal statement, resume, grades during your bachelor's, community, goals, etc? Anything is possible to a certain point; planning is essential.

I've known of similar stories. We just have to be careful not to allow rare cases to steer our view. Of the tiny single-digit percentage of students Harvard Graduate School even admits, I doubt any significant portion includes students from low-tier schools. Certainly not many from schools as low-tier as the ones we discuss here often.

[HogwartsSchool]

The thing to remember about grad school admissions is that your application is a package. It is unlikely that any ONE thing is going to keep you out. If you've got reasonable grades, recommendations, essays and good work experience, then what school you went to probably won't matter. However, if you have no experience, recommendations, etc... then you might need a great GPA from a good school to get you over the top.

In a less competitive situation, sure. But in a competitive enrollment situation like with Harvard Graduate School, one thing can make all the difference. If you're up against a bunch of people with Harvard degrees already (which you will be), or degrees from other top schools (which they'll have), and strong grades (which they'll have), but you show up with a degree from a low-tier school, you're highly unlikely to overtake the other applicants.

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.

Harvard College has acceptance rate of 3.2%, however, the other graduate colleges are not 3.2%. Example, Harvard Graduate School of Education has around 35% acceptance rate; Harvard Graduate School of Design has round 17%; John F. Kennedy School of Government around 33%. There is a big difference between only thinking 3.2% vs 33%. 

source: https://www.petersons.com/graduate-schoo...13347.aspx

[KSoul]

Excellent share, @HogwartsSchool. It all goes back to the position that pretty much anything is possible in academia with enough effort and creativity. Your talent must match your aspirations for the chips to fall in your favor.