JCC Senate So I'm thinking about taking online college

So yeah, thinking of getting an online associates degree in creative writing, probably from Liberty University.

But for those who have ever done online classes, what is it like? I know it is different from each school ti school, but how is it? How's workload, schedule, doing it while full time working, etc.

 

Really look into the loans.

Public university may be better, most since COVID now have virtual options.


And I have only heard bad things about Liberty University.

 

Be careful in your choice of online college. Especially be careful of Liberty University. They are not a school. They are a cult.

 

You’d might as well light your money on fire.

 

When I clicked on this thread, I had assumed University of Phoenix or something. Didn't think it would be worse than that.

 

To be clear, you may think they mean “ a cult” because they find the religious beliefs radical.

They do not. They mean “cult” in the sense of “corrupt vanity project with rampant abuse of power.” Family members of the school President openly have sex out of wedlock with students, contracts are steered preferentially towards personal friends of the leadership, good teachers are fired for small, reasonable criticisms, and many executives openly flout principles the school is supposed to uphold.

Even if you are interested in a smaller school where you think people “share your values” Liberty University absolutely is not it. It’s where a second-generation Falwell gets the money and attention to feel like he’s a celebrity. And live like one, in the very worst connotations of that idea possible.

 

[QUOTE="Ghost, post: 58686150, member: 98273]And I have only heard bad things about Liberty University.[/QUOTE]

Liberty University was founded by Jerry Falwell. That speaks volumes.

 

More than that: bad and restrictive culture and teachers, and predatory student loans.

 

This is going to be like when we all advised him not to join the Army... he's going to do this ridiculous thing.

But, in case you are listening to people here, I will echo everybody else... find another option for school. This is not the right one, believe us.

 

I used my local community college instead

 

Just me, but I did NOT have the ability to completely self-manage my studies and did not thrive in online-only university classes. That takes skills I did not develop until forced into it when working from home during peak COVID.

 

I’d say this is the route I would recommend for an associate’s. Reasonable costs, in-person options, generally accepted as a valid source of associate’s degrees by employers and institutions, not a total goddamn scam…

 

Since you are aiming for an associate's degree, I too would recommend attending a local community college. If you then wish to continue you education and get a bachelor's, your credits will transfer to a university. (Full disclosure: I teach at both a university and a community college.)

Avoid Liberty University, it is a scam.

 

Yeah I keep reading about stuff that makes me question it. I was gonna wait till next fall anyway so I have time to look for other stuff.

Just it's hard to find an associates in just creative writing. And I'm not sure what else really would be worth it for me right now. I can always stick with my old plan of no college and just work lol. But at least I'm open to the option of it now.

Far as military goes, I will be leaving active duty soon, so that's part of the reason why I'm considering all this of what my next step is

 

I've been thinking of this myself. I know others who have done it and I've not heard any major complaints. A friend whose STEM masters program I'm interested in says that his grades are based around papers, projects, and discussion boards.

This is something I worry about.

 

So I'm taking these classes that military provides (requires) to give info on future education opportunities.

Reading online about creative writing degrees, I may not do college for it. I'm reading from people who've done it that's it's a worthless degree. That you'll gain more experience in writing and workshops.

So question would be, what do I do for a backup degree instead? I'm not passionate about anything else so not really interested in wasting money

 

I've been doing that already, trying to get my first book out actually soon hopefully. But I am looking into business stuff, which has been recommended. Least could be something

 

As someone who is in college right now almost done in fact I do recommend you go to an institution that will challenge you. I mainly chose my current university because it was less than an hour drive from home and they offered me a good scholarship but what I have discovered is that the student body is a lot more conservative than one would think for a New England university. And not that it’s made me more conservative. I doubt my politics have much changed. But it has made me a much better person at talking then I used to be. I would truly recommend you reconsider what university you go to. And not just because of that.

 

I literally just said to someone just yesterday that the best way to learn to write is to read books by great writers and, very rarely, books by bad writers. Then I corrected myself and said that you also have to write. Like a lot.

There are certainly technical things you can learn from structured educational classes, but reading great writers and writing as much as possible will teach you more than you could possibly imagine.

 

Yeah I’d agree with that, it’s what I heard a lot of too when I looked into it. It might be good to do just one of those classes at a community college, to see how a workshop can go with some facilitation help and guidance from a professor. Some public libraries offer that too, depending on how big the city is, but I’d still check either way.

I’d say don’t feel pressured to get a degree now, if nothing else is sparking your passion or seems to fit with your career journey, you can come back to it later — it’s easier to do when you’re younger, I hear, but you also don’t want to regret any money spent.

Having said that… if you’re still really focused on writing, a big part of being an author is also marketing, so perhaps considering a degree in Marketing? It could also be good to take a single class in technical writing, a single class in graphic design, which could also help with writing. Or if, say, you think all your books will be heavily influenced by different time periods on earth, perhaps consider a degree in History. Or if you think you’ll mostly write Indiana Jones kind of stories, consider Anthropology (of which Archaeology is a subset). Etc.

I also want continue to advocate looking at those quality YouTube channels for free advice and tips. There’s so many.

Hope this is helpful.