Psychology

After being laid off from my job in July I took a serious look at a dream I have always had regarding my career goals. I have always wanted to be a psychologist or psychiatrist. For those who do not know the big difference between the two is that the psychiatrist can and does prescribe medications. I looked at the colleges near me to see what they offered and how far I would have to drive. Then there was the cost factor. University of Wisconsin colleges in Green Bay and Oshkosh both offered BA Psychology degrees. Green Bay is an hour from my home and that is too far to drive daily. Oshkosh was less than an hour, about 40 minutes, so almost as bad. The driving during three quarters of the year is not bad, but come winter there are just too many days it is difficult or even dangerous. I decided local colleges are not an option for me right now. I had heard there were online degree programs so I decided to research them. I soon realized that the availability was far more than anything I had imagined. I could utilize programs at colleges such as Phoenix, DeVry or Globe which had locations in Appleton, near me or I could complete it online entirely. I realized I needed a better way to organize and track the information so I could review it to come to a conclusion easier. I started a spreadsheet and in it I tracked all the information I felt was important to my decision. Accreditation General reputation Degree Program Cost per credit/ credits per course Book Cost (average) Additional fees (technology fees) Course style - open classes or scheduled times? Advisers name & info provided, usefulness, helpfulness, etc credits required to complete credit transfer in and out (if needed) Is there a Physical campus? Length of time in online degrees (previous experience or new?) How long has the college been around Do they have ties in my state via alumni, internship programs etc. Graduation rates Career center and employment rates College Student websites ratings of school- what did students that attended have to say? One college I was reviewing was knocked off my list because the adviser lied to me regarding financial aid information, I assume to try to make me believe they had better offers available. One said I could not talk to financial aid until I 'signed up' for classes,and another wanted me to pay the registration fee in order to even discuss the degree program, school, financial aid etc. Another college was offering students a huge scholarship to attend. It was about $20K and I thought that was amazing, until you looked at the cost of attending the school. It was still more expensive than several others. I was willing to pay a little more if need be, I was not choosing by cost alone, but this school's graduation rate was less than 50%. That was overall for the school and no data to the specific degree graduation rate was even available. Lessons learned in this process include: -Some of the online colleges, who seem reputable, have shady registration advisers. Their job is to get as many registered as possible. Its sales. -Registration fees can be waived. -Sometimes grants are available for books the first term to help get started. -Terms can be 8 or 16 weeks, this is a big difference. -Free money is not free, and finding scholarships is a full time job in itself. -When you tell them you do not want to attend your info is sold and they just keep calling and calling and calling. -Sometimes its just easier to buy your transcript and send it yourself. In the end I chose Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). I really wanted a school in the south so I had an excuse to go there in January of 2017, my expected graduation date, but they were the best choice for me. The adviser was really helpful and I had a thousand questions for her. I talked with people in the financial aid office, I talked to students currently attending and I looked at the accreditation and general reputation of the school. I searched the name of the school online and found a variety of information about the school written by others. Blogs, comments reviews and posts etc have to be taken with a grain of salt, not everyone who complains really has a legitimate complaint, but some do. Of course, the overall cost, my final debt for attending was involved. In the end I was really impressed by SNHU.

I started my first classes the end of August 2013 and am in my fourth term now, I have received notification from SNHU that I am now on the President's list (ie: Dean's list) with a 4.0 and am very proud of the efforts I have made, the information I have learned and my accomplishment thus far. I have written a term paper for each of the courses and have decided to post some of them on here. I am currently researching psychology in the criminal justice system and have written two papers for this field of study. Others have found the information interesting, informative and they were all well received by my professors. So far it has been an easy and smooth process.