I am still in the process of getting my degree online in Communications. I started off at UMUC and then transferred to City University of Seattle. I am hoping to transfer to CUNY online soon. Not because I didn't like CityU, but because it is much cheaper. Plus I live close to NYC so if I can find the time, I could take some classes in person that may not be available online. My employer provides tuition reimbursement, which is great. However, with CityU I would max out the pre-tax amount after the first quarter. Anyway, on to my review.
Round 1: I cannot remember what the exact catalyst was, but in 2001 I decided I wanted to finish my degree. When I was 18 I attended Cleveland State University. At the time, I was just not into school. After 3 semesters, I moved to New York City and attended a trade school for television production. I used their job placement program and got a job soon after the program ended. But as the years went on, I regretted not finishing my degree. I do not remember how I found UMUC. Most likely an internet search looking for an online communications program. I believe I looked at UoP as well, but went with UMUC because I liked the courses that they had over UoP's.
I had very little guidance from an adviser. I jumped in head first and took a history class and a journalism class. I never had a classroom orientation so I was pretty clueless. If we were required to participate in discussions, I didn't know it. I do not remember seeing a syllabus or any sort of class schedule for either class. And when everyone talked about the library, I thought they meant on campus, since many of the students in my classes did both online and in person classes. In the history class we had to write a 20 page paper. We had to pick one of five subjects. I could not find enough information on any of these subjects to complete a 20 page paper. I dropped the class. I was getting a solid A in my journalism class, but around Christmas time, we had an assignment to go to a local city council meeting and write a story about it. Between work and traveling home for the holidays, I could not attend a meeting. And then we had another assignment where we had to write an obituary about Madeline Albright, even though she was alive. I could not find the information I needed to complete the assignment. I did tons of internet searching and nothing. Instead of reaching out to my professor like I should have, I reached out to a fellow student. She clued me in to the online school library. I felt like such an idiot. At this point it was two late. I had missed two assignments and we were told we could only miss one. My biggest mistake was not contacting my professor. I probably could have worked something out with her. I really was enjoying the class but thought it was over me since I missed two assignments and we were told we could only miss one. Since I liked the class, I stuck around and observed it until the drop out date. Well, that is what I intended to do, but I forgot. I ended up with a D in the class, all because I took everything so literal and did not reach out to my teacher or an adviser. So, I was not so sure at the time if getting a degree online was for me, and I gave up.
Round 2: Six years later, I was once again motivated to finish my degree. I decided to give UMUC another chance. This time I did the right thing by taking the classes they now recommend you to start with, one of them being a class on how to use the library and research. The other class helped out with learning styles and getting used to the virtual classroom. Now I was ready! Well, sort of, I got married so I took off a couple of semesters. Then I went back and took another history class and intro to computers. These classes were laid out much better than they were in 2001. I knew what to expect in the classes and was able to plan the workload better. The only issue I had was my history teacher liked to bring his politics into class a bit too much. Instead of discussing what would have been on our final, we had to discuss how awesome Ronald Reagan was and how much Jimmy Carter sucked (his opinion, not mine). One of the things I really liked about UMUC is their clubs. I was in the communications club, where other communications majors discussed their experiences with classes. Although, knowing as much as I did about the classes I was required to take made me reconsider the school. The classes that were related to my field were not available online anymore. So I started searching for another program...
UMUC Pros:
1. I think the clubs for the different majors are a great idea. It helps students to figure out how much of a workload they can take on each semester.
2. I liked the length of the classes. I did not feel overloaded with work.
3. Nice progress chart that was helpful in planning out courses.
UMUC Cons:
1. The advisers were not that helpful. Got better later on.
2. Long essays for finals.
3. Pricey if you do not live in Maryland.