Explaining the Big 3 to my colleagues...

[mrs.b]

I agree with rebel, cookderosa, and the others. Most of it is in your head. The rest is others' misunderstanding of the road less traveled. I would say one in maybe thirty actually might be looking down their noses, and are they really worth the time or aggravation?

When I've been asked, I said I went to Thomas Edison State College, and when given the confused look, I might add that it's a state college in New Jersey. Since I live half a country away, that says it was online. If asked further about it, I explain that working 50+ hours a week, a lot of travel for work, and a family to take care of, it was either online school or nothing, so I hunted down a fully accredited state school that offered what I needed and got the job done. That tends to get a nod of respect, even from the high-and-mightiest of degree snobs I've met.

For the handful that I've gone into real detail and explained testing options, I summarize it by saying a CLEP or DSST exam is like signing up for a course, skipping all the classes, reading the book on your own, and showing up for the final exam that determines your success or failure in the course. You can do it on your own time, with as much or little time as you need, but you still have to know the material to get the credits. I only go into that detail with folks that I've already recognized are not snobs.

Like all the others have said, though, try not to take any of it personally. The alternative is to be ashamed of an accomplishment that should make you proud. For those very few (and there are honestly few) that try to make others feel bad about their accomplishments - whether their reasoning is because you're doing it better or smarter than they did, for less cash, in less time, or because they honestly feel that traditional college is the only way to go - they only have as much power over your motivation and self-esteem as you give them.

P.S. At an HR conference a few months back (where degree snobbery runs rampant), when everyone was discussing their college days and eventually looked my way to contribute, I laughed and added that my extracurricular activities for my college days were working full-time and raising a family. No snide remarks were had, and later had two stop me to ask where I went to school, only to find out that both of them did go to college - hence where their own stories came from - but dropped out short of finishing. Not all "college days" stories include a graduation, if you were to press for details.