Back to school
After finally letting go of the idea that I'm going to be a paramedic anytime soon, I've decided to go back to school to get an associates in IT.
I start online classes with Phoenix University on the 17th.
Before anyone says anything about how I shouldn't take classes with Phoenix:
Yes, I am aware that this is more expensive than J Sarge (local community college)
No, I don't really want to go to J Sarge or VCU and waste money by falling asleep in classes b/c I've worked all day
No, I have no desire to go back to VCU and it's denial that over half of it's students need night courses
Money-wise, phoenix is comperable to VCU once you add the hundreds of dollars worth of books and ubiquitous "University Fees". With Phoenix, I don't need books, all my course materials are included in the price per class.
Another thing that I like about Phoenix over VCU is that everyone I have spoken too has been courteous, professional, and more than willing to explain things to me. I have an honst-to-G-d financial counselor that I can contact by e-mail or phone, who actually called me of her own initiative. Oh and she will continue to call me every week until all of my financial aid stuff has processed through the department of education. It took an act of god to get in touch with anyone in the financial aid office at VCU, you had to waste an hour of your time waiting in line just to turn in a form. I have an acedemic counselor whose contact information I also have, and she'll call me on my schedule. The idea that an academic advisor will call me at a time that's convenient for me and not her blows me away. I have a whole group of people whose assistance I can access, and they're actually available! Things may have changed in the 4 years since I went to VCU, but I doubt that they've changed enough to make me want to recommend the University.
I get that VCU's a state run school with limited resources, but maybe instead of trying to make itself so much bigger and brighter, it should focus on fixing what it's already got.
I know that Phoenix may be just trying to woo me. I get that and ya know what? I like it. I like it enough that I'm willing to get an associates degree that has "online" on it. If this is the sort of treatment I can expect while I'm taking classes with Phoenix, I'm sticking with it. I need involvment of an Academic counselor to help me when I have a question about what my next course is, and I need that financial counselor to answer my questions about how I'm going to pay for all of this. I need these people, and I couldn't get them at VCU or J Sarge
I just realized that this was mostly in response to the conversation I had with my mother last night. it went something like:
Me: Hey mom, guess what? I'm going back to school for IT
Mom: Where are you taking classes?
Me: Phoenix University online
Mom: OMG why are you doing that? J sarge is so much cheaper and you already have credits at VCU!
Me: B/c I like Phoenix and it's no more expensive than VCU, and just so you know, the proper response to your child telling you they're going back to school is "That's great! I'm gald you're going back" not "why are you going there?"
And then we argued, as usual. So really, this entry is everything I would've said to her had I not been smooshed by yet another example of how my mother will never approve of what I do. It's funny, even though I know that she'll never approve of the things that I do unless she"s told me to do them, it still hurts when she doesn't approve of a big, life-altering decision that I've made.
So, something happier. The financial counselor has already old me to expect a large chunk of money in addition to tuition, from financial aid. That meas that I'm getting a laptop, yay laptop! So all of my friend who work in IT, what kind of laptop would you recommend for an IT student with no focus in graphic design. Please note, any of you that have recommended a Mac, sorry, I'm not getting one. I do recognize that macs are superior, but they're expensive and I have a really hard time with the interface.
I start online classes with Phoenix University on the 17th.
Before anyone says anything about how I shouldn't take classes with Phoenix:
Yes, I am aware that this is more expensive than J Sarge (local community college)
No, I don't really want to go to J Sarge or VCU and waste money by falling asleep in classes b/c I've worked all day
No, I have no desire to go back to VCU and it's denial that over half of it's students need night courses
Money-wise, phoenix is comperable to VCU once you add the hundreds of dollars worth of books and ubiquitous "University Fees". With Phoenix, I don't need books, all my course materials are included in the price per class.
Another thing that I like about Phoenix over VCU is that everyone I have spoken too has been courteous, professional, and more than willing to explain things to me. I have an honst-to-G-d financial counselor that I can contact by e-mail or phone, who actually called me of her own initiative. Oh and she will continue to call me every week until all of my financial aid stuff has processed through the department of education. It took an act of god to get in touch with anyone in the financial aid office at VCU, you had to waste an hour of your time waiting in line just to turn in a form. I have an acedemic counselor whose contact information I also have, and she'll call me on my schedule. The idea that an academic advisor will call me at a time that's convenient for me and not her blows me away. I have a whole group of people whose assistance I can access, and they're actually available! Things may have changed in the 4 years since I went to VCU, but I doubt that they've changed enough to make me want to recommend the University.
I get that VCU's a state run school with limited resources, but maybe instead of trying to make itself so much bigger and brighter, it should focus on fixing what it's already got.
I know that Phoenix may be just trying to woo me. I get that and ya know what? I like it. I like it enough that I'm willing to get an associates degree that has "online" on it. If this is the sort of treatment I can expect while I'm taking classes with Phoenix, I'm sticking with it. I need involvment of an Academic counselor to help me when I have a question about what my next course is, and I need that financial counselor to answer my questions about how I'm going to pay for all of this. I need these people, and I couldn't get them at VCU or J Sarge
I just realized that this was mostly in response to the conversation I had with my mother last night. it went something like:
Me: Hey mom, guess what? I'm going back to school for IT
Mom: Where are you taking classes?
Me: Phoenix University online
Mom: OMG why are you doing that? J sarge is so much cheaper and you already have credits at VCU!
Me: B/c I like Phoenix and it's no more expensive than VCU, and just so you know, the proper response to your child telling you they're going back to school is "That's great! I'm gald you're going back" not "why are you going there?"
And then we argued, as usual. So really, this entry is everything I would've said to her had I not been smooshed by yet another example of how my mother will never approve of what I do. It's funny, even though I know that she'll never approve of the things that I do unless she"s told me to do them, it still hurts when she doesn't approve of a big, life-altering decision that I've made.
So, something happier. The financial counselor has already old me to expect a large chunk of money in addition to tuition, from financial aid. That meas that I'm getting a laptop, yay laptop! So all of my friend who work in IT, what kind of laptop would you recommend for an IT student with no focus in graphic design. Please note, any of you that have recommended a Mac, sorry, I'm not getting one. I do recognize that macs are superior, but they're expensive and I have a really hard time with the interface.