Life as an Online College Student

Before you decide to go to school online you need to do your research. There are unaccredited online colleges that do not offer college degrees that are legitimate. The department of education always asks for a school code before you complete a FAFSA to get funding for your college education.If you are charged a fee and then suddenly are mailed a college diploma then that college is not an accredited institution. A college degree needs to be earned by a reputable institution in order for an employer to take the person seriously.  You should always make sure that you are attending an accredited online college so that you get the best education possible. You do not want to waste your time and money going to an unaccredited online college.There is a stipulation that you do not have to pay back federal student loan money if the college that you attend has no accreditation or for some reason loses their accreditation.

When I take tests online I am always frustrated because my internet connection always fails somehow. You can only access your test once. If your Internet connection fails then you have to email your professor and have the test reset. This is a very time consuming task. The tests can be difficult because if you select the wrong bubble, you get it wrong. Many times I have reviewed my test and have seen that some of the bubbles were not the same as I had originally filled them in. You always have to be careful when you take a test online. You need to save your answers frequently in case you get booted from the exam because of a lost internet connection. This is aggravating to me but I have to get good grades on my tests in order to keep my grade point average in good standing. Have you ever taken tests online before in an online college setting?

Often, I am assigned college papers to complete in my online college courses. Sometimes, the professor gives a guideline to us about topics that we can write our papers on. Now, the professors usually ask you by the second week of class for your research paper topic and an outline of what you will write about. I always have trouble completing this task. I never know what is the perfect topic to write my research paper on. It can be hard to find a topic that you can find a lot of sources on. Usually, the sources that you find will have a lot of the same information. It takes many good, unique sources to write a ten to fifteen page research paper. I usually try to find an innovative topic. Professors will give you a much better grade if you keep your topic current and up to date. They read so many research papers every semester, so you need a topic that stands out from the rest. How do you pick your research topics?

I have taken a few math courses online. We always have to show our work when we do any assignments or tests. This can be hard because equation editor takes forever to do. Math classes are hard when you have to type everything out. Even if you leave off one number you will get points off. I am not a mathematical genius. I prefer addition or subtraction. I am not great at trigonometry, calculus, or algebra, Can’t math just be numbers? I would prefer it to be that way. We all have issues in our mathematical discussions. One person will post their answers, some will copy it,and others will come up with a completely different answer which is usually wrong. It drives me nuts so I am never the first one to post my answer because everyone will look at it and then tell me where I went right or wrong.It is like public speaking which I am so very bad at. Sadly, I will have more math courses to take in the future.

Now, I have taken online college courses and every semester I am charged one hundred dollars for my technology fee. I am always stunned at how many hidden fees there are when you go to school online. I get charged technology fees, and they charge you for transcripts, text books, etc. Everything is so expensive. I am surprised that so many people do actually attend college courses because they are so costly. I know many people who now have to find better jobs just to cover their college loan payments. College degrees can be good for your career outlook but now millions of people have college degrees so it does not separate you from the other job applicants. As far as these technology fees are concerned, I can never get an exact answer about what they pay for. I guess maybe to access the site, or to pay the people who have to maintain the school’s web site and online college features.

In response to a comment that I got I decided to elaborate on online college discussions. Now, as an online college student I can tell you that I prefer larger classes to smaller ones especially for online discussions. I post a lot of responses because I always seem to come up with something new to say. I have been in large and small classes. I have even taken an independent study course online where I was the only person in the class. I prefer doing online discussions where people actually want to participate. I have had classes where the subject material was very hard and people did not understand the topics that we were discussing. We are supposed to read our text books and take information from it and cite it in our responses. This way even if you cannot think of anything to add, you can still get points for actually putting forth an effort and writing something. I like it and I think it is a good way to get to know my fellow classmates.

Group discussions are a huge part of the online college learning experience. You communicate with your online college classmates by using the class’s online discussion board. You are usually told to make one initial response to the discussion board topics. You are then asked to read the rest of your classmates responses and reply to at least two people. You are usually told to include in text citations and write at least a paragraph for each of your responses. This is a good way to discuss important topics in your classes. The teachers usually come in and post their responses in bold. They also ask additional questions after you post your responses so they can make sure that you understand the content that they are teaching. I like group discussions online. It is a great way to see the varying views on topics and participate and get to know you classmates.

I have gone to college online and many people think less of me because I do not attend college classes on a regular campus. There are some online colleges that are not accredited. However, my online college is accredited, they even have a regular college campus that people have visited. I have never had the opportunity to visit the actual campus because I live far way from the college campus. Now, I work very hard at my classes. My mom went to college at night before there were online colleges. It was very hard for her to keep up with the classes because she was very tired and had to drive an hour to class and an hour home each day for four years.I have used text books that I bought at regular college campus book stores. I communicate with my classmates by email, chat room, and discussion board. I get good grades and average grades depending on the assignments. I feel like I work just as hard because I have no instructor that is physically able to help me. We can only  communicate with our professors by email. Do you think online college is harder?

Today is January 5, 2009. Today is Monday. The weather was cold but not blustery today. I cleaned out my closets. The doors are hanging off the hinges. I live in an old apartment so everything falls off or beaks because they never update the fixtures and knobs here. I never understand how I accumulate so much stuff. I mean I had so many old boxes, clothes, bills, papers and other things in my apartment. I had to keep making trips to the dumpsters because big boxes will not fit in a tall kitchen bag. It is a distance from my apartment to the dumpster outside. They should make bigger trash bags for when you have a lot of trash. The trash bags that I buy are thing and break very easily. Winter is still going strong.I hate it that it gets so dark so early. I am looking forward to spring and summer, then my utility bill will not be as high.

Today is January 4, 2009. Sadly, today is a Sunday. This means that the weekend is now over. I watched the wild card playoff games. The Ravens won their playoff game against the Dolphins. I made a shepherd’s pie today. It turned out nicely. I did not use instant potatoes to make the shepherd’s pie this time. I used fresh potatoes. It is very hard for me to peel and slice a lot of potatoes. It hurts my hand very much. I know that many people think that it is lazy to make potatoes but I am in my twenties and I have had joint issues for a while. All of the holiday stuff is gone. Now people are less nice to each other. The next major holiday is Valentine’s Day. I like Valentine’s Day. I am always looking for a very creative gift. I like to do creative things that express emotion and love for Valentine’s Day. Anyone can buy flowers, candy, and a card.