Scott started his degree program in 2003, and had no prior college credit before jumping into the distance learning environment. He graduated in October 2007 having attained an A.A.S. in Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Kaplan University.

Scott is now a MBA student at Norwich University.

Scott welcomes feedback and questions. Feel free to email him at sdavis (at) WheelCipher.net or visit his web site at http://www.ScottDavis.info

• Second Thoughts? Not Me

  I’m still excited about being accepted to Norwich last Friday.  I got a huge envelope in the mail with all of the school info, what to expect, etc … Its good stuff.  The student handbook is pretty thick, and I took an hour or so to read it last night.  The change in scenery is very exciting to me. I didn’t want to seem paranoid, and I wasn’t having doubts about my decision, but just for the fun of it, I pondered for a while yesterday, wondering if I had made the right decision.  I was thinking (if only for an instant) that perhaps an executive MBA would be better for me.  There are two primary executive MBA programs here in my town.  The first one is from the University of Texas, and the other one is from Baylor University. Both are top notch schools, so I took a quick peek at their programs.  I am certain I’ve done this in the past several months during my exhaustive search for the right program.  Now I know why I didn’t select one of those schools.  Cost! The UT program is $55,000, and the Baylor program doesn’t even announce their price.  Common sense tells me that any MBA program with group field trips (one of which goes to Europe) is going to be out of my price range.  I poked around a couple of other programs as well.  I think I was really looking for something I missed.  You know that feeling that some people get when they are packing for a vacation?  They will spend two days packing for a trip and then at the last minute, they will convince themselves they have forgot some important thing that they can’t think of?  That’s what was happening to me. At the end of the day, I am completely happy and satisfied with my decision.  I have been accepted to what appears to be a really great school and the more I learn about the program, the more I like it (even before I have started the classes). I am having NO second thoughts at all!  I am excited more than I can express. I have about 2 weeks before classes start, and my hopes of reading a few books in my copious spare time between classes is slowly dwindling.  I better get started on that. Add to:                      Posted Wednesday, November 14, 2007 1:56 PM by WheelCipher | 0 Comments Filed under: MBA, Random Thoughts, Norwich

• Concord Law School

  More changes are coming at Kaplan in the form of mergers.  I’d like to provide an opinion on one aspect of these mergers.  The concept of “online law school” is what I’m talking about, and I have some concerns. Kaplan recently announced a merger with Concord Law School.  I’ve always been of the opinion that there are certain subjects or degrees that are probably best not taught online.  Law is one of those.  I am of the opinion that there needs to be a lot of face-time in getting a degree like this, and my suspicions were pretty much confirmed when I talked to a close friend of mine who recently graduated from a law school in Oregon.   He is of the opinion that there is a lot that people would miss out on by getting an online law degree.  Furthermore, since the California bar is the only bar that accepts the degree from Concord, this is going to make it tougher on graduates since the California bar is one of the hardest in the nation. The overall pass-rate for the California bar is low to begin with.  It’s even lower for schools that are not ABA-accredited.  My friend also has turned up through some research that post-graduation employment rates for non-ABA accredited graduates is even lower. From my perspective, I am not sure it would be worth the time and money to get a law degree if you were not going to practice law.  With a degree from Concord, you can only practice in California.  So this limits the options a student has tremendously. I would also be concerned about pouring the thousands of dollars you would have to spend into an institution that doesn’t have the standard ABA accreditation.  This also puts a lot of restriction on the student (even if they were allowed to take the bar in states other than California).   When taking any online degree program, we have to weigh the pros and cons of our particular situation.  This not only applies to a law degree, but to all degrees in all disciplines.  There are issues of cost, transferability, employment benefits, income realization, and more.  Perhaps I am missing something (I’ve never claimed to know it all), but there just seems to be more cons in this online law degree program than pros. For more statistics on this program, please see: http://info.concordlawschool.edu/AboutConcordLaw/barexam.aspx?ID=BExam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bar_of_California Add to:                      Posted Monday, November 12, 2007 7:00 AM by WheelCipher | 2 Comments Filed under: Distance Education, Random Thoughts

• And The Answer Is ....

  After taking a few weeks to gather the required documents for my application to Norwich, writing what I hoped was a great essay telling them why I wanted to be there, and submitting everything the day it was due (because I graduated from Kaplan that same day), I was in “waiting mode”. I was told it would be about a week before I knew anything.  But I did get verbal confirmation that they had all of my required documents and the package had been forwarded to the committee that reviews them. After several days of waiting, the call finally came yesterday morning.  I was sleeping when the call came in, but I checked my phone when I woke up. (I’m currently taking a few days of vacation out of town.  Otherwise, I would have normally been at work).  I knew why they were calling, and I obviously got back with them immediately. I was hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.  My advisor had told me at one time that they only accept about 40-50% of the people who apply. When I got in touch with him, he told me that I had been accepted to the program.  I got in on my first try to my first choice!  You can’t beat that! In the coming days, I will have some program advisors and others call me to talk about the program (so I am told).  I am really looking forward to that.  All of this is pretty exciting for me. Classes start on December 3, 2007 (about 3 weeks away).  So I am going to have a very short vacation between my graduation from Kaplan and the start of my next journey. Beginning in December, this blog will be archived for future reference, and I will maintain “My Norwich University Experience”.  This should be fun. On a side note, I got my final transcripts from Kaplan (the same ones that were sent to Norwich).  My final GPA was 3.47.  I will round up to 3.5    I was pretty happy about that.  I worked hard over the four-year term. Now, it’s on to bigger and better things. Add to:                      Posted Saturday, November 10, 2007 2:49 PM by WheelCipher | 1 Comments Filed under: MBA, Kaplan, Norwich

• Is It Worth It?

  The cost of an education is very high.  I don’t need to remind people about that.  There comes a time where we have to ask ourselves what we want out of a degree.  I remember back in the early 1990’s when a friend who graduated from The University of Texas Law School told me that he knew people that graduated with advanced degrees, but were waiting tables or driving a cab to make a living.  I couldn’t believe that, but I also had no reason to doubt him. This article pretty much tells us that some things never change.  Many students are graduating with loan debt that exceeds the yearly salary they might get if they are hired in the field in which they are educated.  Payback on a degree can take many years.  In “the old days”, a degree set you apart from other people when looking for a job.  In today’s world, I think an advanced degree (Masters and above) just gets you in the door a lot of the time. Despite an overall pay increase in recent years, one in four graduates still work in bars, cafes and other low-level jobs several years after leaving university. Some are being forced to take poorly paid jobs to clear debts amid unprecedented competition for the best graduate positions. (source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/06/ngraduates106.xml) Another spin on this whole situation is the benefits of distance education.  I feel very lucky in that I am well-established in my career.  I got to where I am without college.  That is a very rare thing.  But with my years of work experience, I think that I would reap major benefit with a college degree.  I am certainly not getting a degree in order to get a job or make a name for myself out there.  I am doing so in order to further what I’ve already built. For this reason, I think I’m in a better place than a newly-minted graduate with no other skills or professional work experience.  Don’t let this scare you away from getting a degree if you don’t already have one.  You will need one just to get in the door in most situations.  You will still be better off for it. Add to:                      Posted Friday, November 09, 2007 7:00 AM by WheelCipher | 1 Comments Filed under: Online Degree Tips

• Accelerated Degree Programs

  We see a lot of advertising for schools that offer “accelerated” degrees.  This can be misleading to some if you don’t know what you are getting into.  As someone who has just graduated from Kaplan, and had no transfer credits going into the program, I wanted to provide some perspective on this topic. Keep in mind that there are a LOT of variables (transfer credits, extra courses, work experience credit, etc…), but I am providing my perspective based on my schedule. When Kaplan (or any other school) says “accelerated” or uses any like-term to insinuate that you can get your degree quicker than the normal four years, they are correct, but they don’t usually go into too much detail.  “Accelerated” has been reduced to a marketing buzz word in the distance education world in order to get more people to sign up.  I am not saying that they are being misleading, but people need to know what they are getting into if they are making a decision based on the marketing. I started at Kaplan in October 2003.  I graduated in October 2007.  That’s exactly four years.  During that time, I twice took a term off (for a total of about 6 months, based on 3-month terms).  That’s a minimum of four classes that I could have taken during that term.  I also failed one class and had to take it over.  That set me back a little bit. My schedule was as follows: OCTOBER 2003 – 3 classes JANUARY 2004 – 3 classes APRIL 2004 – 3 classes JULY 2004 - 3 classes (Failed one) JANUARY 2005 – 2 classes APRIL 2005 – 2 classes OCTOBER 2005 – 3 classes FEBRUARY 2006 – 2 classes MAY 2006 – 2 classes JULY 2006 – 2 classes OCTOBER 2006 – 2 classes JANUARY 2007 – 2 classes MARCH 2007 – 2 classes JUNE 2007 – 2 classes AUGUST 2007 – 3 classes If I had taken only 2 classes each term (the recommended way to do it), and not taken two terms off during the course of my degree program, I would have been there a little longer than four years.  If I taken the schedule above and not taken the two terms off, I would have completed my degree in 3 ½ years. So the “accelerated” part entails the student working extra hard to take some additional courses in order to finish early.  Furthermore, it also takes into consideration any transfer credits you may have.  The hard part is that getting credits that will transfer.  Assume that you won’t get to transfer in anything, and schedule from there. The bottom line is that you need to schedule your classes well in order to take advantage of a less-than-four-year plan.  Also, while taking 3 classes at a time at Kaplan is very feasible, it does add a noticeable workload.  It takes time and dedication to get them all done. Plan well.  Ask questions. Add to:                      Posted Wednesday, November 07, 2007 7:00 AM by WheelCipher | 0 Comments Filed under: Online Degree Tips, Distance Education, Random Thoughts