Visionary Woman: 1st 2 years of college are review of HS?

[MonkeyMomma]

Curious, I've used the University of Utah for a few classes I needed to pick up. They hav a large selection of distance learning options.

[bananacat]

This doesn't really have anything to do with the topic, but I see a lot of folks here posting about taking classes from (reputable) colleges online. I'm wondering if any FJers have recommendations for some places that have online classes and the process by which you start that.

I actually have a 4 year degree and have no real need to get another one since I will likely never work outside the home again, due to my disability, but I loved college and just enjoy taking classes. I've taken tons of classes at various online places that are not associated with a college, but I have now pretty much gone through all the ones I want to take and they are not adding anything new that interests me :(

I'd love to take a class or 2 a year just cause I'm weird like that.

My advice is to pick some schools first and THEN see if they offer online classes. A lot of the online schools that are advertised on tv or banner ads are scams or diploma mills. Since you already have your degree, why not look at the website of the school you went to and see if they have any online courses? You might also check out your local community college because they tend to have more classes that you can take for your own interest that aren't part of something else, so if they have online stuff there might be more variety.

[Rosa]

See, the problem is that you guys took cool stuff in college. You know the ideal fundie kid is not taking quantum mechanics or going to art school! An education is what you make of it. And they will make any education stupid, nonthreatening to their worldview, and at least vaguely religious.

quoted for truth.

I do like to think some of these girls are mouthing the party line and quietly turning their lives around at the same time.

[emmiedahl]

About online colleges, I have a friend taking science classes online from UC Berkeley and I am doing the same through Washington State. I would look at your alma mater and see what they offer. My degree is not considered an online degree, but I was able to combine prior credit with the classes that they consistently offer online. My new bachelor's will be in social work and biomolecular science (interesting combo, I know; I needed X amount of credit and I chose majors based on # of credits needed and classes offered online).

College advisors can be very helpful. Mine just happens to be good with this particular situation.

[fundiefan]

My freshman year was review in math. I've never been a math person and never will be and if I were to go to college now, I'd test into basic review math.

The rest? For me, not so much. While many things were covered in college that were covered in high school, they were covered in more depth and with different applications and with my input. In high school, we were pretty much told how things are. In college, we discussed and learned the why and how and implications. Different colleges do things differently but my experience was not two years of repeating what I already knew or learned. Lots of expanding on existing knowledge but no actual repeating that I recall. And I didn't take AP classes in high school or honors classes in college.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Huh, maybe things have changed since I was first in college. I remember having to take the ACT in order to be able to apply to college. After that, I had to take placement tests for English, math, and Spanish. I choose to take the Spanish placement in order to be in the correct class in college.

As a result, I started with Calculus I, as I had taken Trig in high school. I started with second semester English, due to taking AP English in high school. I don't remember which the level of Spanish. That was 18 years ago!

I do remember that very little was a review. Chemistry the first week was a review, but nothing else that I can remember was a review. From my perspective, either things have changed or she's lying.

[lilwriter85]

Good point SunnyAdnrsn about the ACT. Placement/standarized tests do sort of determine what the first year of college will be like for some people. I think stating that the first two years of college are a review of high school depends on a lot factors and a student's background. For some people, the first year of college is a review of high school, because they entered without college credits because they might not have taken concurrent or AP classes in high school. I took AP US HIstory, AP World History, and AP English so when I entered college I didn't have to take any history classes and started off with English 102. A friend of mine from high school who went to the same college as mine didn't take AP history classes in high school and the first year of college she wished that she had taken AP World History in high school, because she said the Western Civilization course she took at the college was a basically a review for her. Back in high school she only took AP English and she had been encouraged to take AP World History which back then basically meant that you would be getting more homework and projects than non a AP history class.

Some general education/core college classes sometimes aren't easy. College Algebra for a lot of people is difficult. Science courses at the college level are a bit harder and sometimes certain science courses can be struggle for some people if they had no prior knowledge on certain things. I took a college level environmental science class that was a bit easy for me, because my high school offered earth sciences courses but in my state most students only take the usual biology, chemistry and physics curriculum in high school, so there tends to be a lot of people who don't know much about oceanography, geology, astronomy, meteorology and similar subjects.

I also knew several people who take remidal or non-credit Math or English courses during their first year of college because they didn't do well on the ACT's and the colleges placed them in those courses before they could take English 101, College Alegbra or Statistics.

[Rosa]

For online classes: always start with your own state's community colleges and state universities (in Minnesota they are all one system, but the university campuses have higher tuition and offer more courses than the community college campuses), and then check the states your state has tuition reciprocity with. Your local community college is going to almost always be the cheapest option, if they offer online or teleclass options.

Also I don't know if this applies to anybody here but I just learned recently that many states, including Iowa (where i got my degree) and Minnesota (where I live now) offer free tuition to 60+ year old residents at the state universities.

[Curious]

Thanks for the suggestions re: online classes. My alma mater does not offer online classes, so that is out. I did some checking and there is a community college that has a local campus, which offers online courses so I am going to check that out.

[VodouDoll]

Curious, the Harvard Extension School offers online courses as well. You could check them out. Anyone can register; you don't have to be accepted to Harvard unless you want to work toward a degree. The classes and professors are excellent. You can also download entire courses from schools like Berkeley, Stanford, and Yale at iTunesU. It's not hard to find the syllabi online and then you can read and follow along without having to do any of the papers. It's a great way to stay engaged with lifelong learning.

[emmiedahl]

I also think that the free online lectures from Ivy League schools can be a real blessing for those of us in school elsewhere. I got a lot of physics help from MIT; they obviously have better professors than the community college where I took it. They explained things better and then I understood them more and performed better on tests. I felt like I had the best of all worlds: my choice of Ivy League professors and then a class size of twenty so I could ask questions of my own professor.

[clibbyjo]

I also think that the free online lectures from Ivy League schools can be a real blessing for those of us in school elsewhere. I got a lot of physics help from MIT; they obviously have better professors than the community college where I took it. They explained things better and then I understood them more and performed better on tests. I felt like I had the best of all worlds: my choice of Ivy League professors and then a class size of twenty so I could ask questions of my own professor.

My son is doing the MIT classes as well. I didn;t think to have him do it at the same time he is taking classes at CC nect year, I will do that.

[bekkah]

College was not a repeat of high school for me. I was on a science honors track in high school. I took challenging courses in high school and in college.

First year:

General Chemistry 1

General Chemistry 2

Philosophy in Literature

First Year Seminar(2 semesters): my topic was that's not fair, inequality in the world.

French 1: review of mid school french but I really needed it.

Intro to Environmental Studies:really interesting class and learned about a variety of issues

The Biblical Tradition:examining the bible from a cultural perspective and a historical one too

I learned a lot during my first year of college. I'm now a senior. My education has made me think and change my world view. I studied abroad in India and kept taking challenging classes. Your education is what you make of it.