If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?
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Let me start by saying I abhor the idea and concept of college education. Put simply in my mind, the return on such a significant investment never really comes to fruition.
However, I have been doing some reading on getting a bachelor's degree because it seems to be getting harder and harder to get a job without a degree. I stumbled across this little nugget of information:
http://degreeforum.wikia.com/wiki/Degree_Forum_Wiki
Essentially the idea is to take a huge amount of standardized tests, get credit for them, submit a portfolio of work you've already done in the field and get credit off of that, then either take classes for the remainder of the credit needed, or test out of them at the college itself (The "Big 3" online colleges allow you to transfer in all credits instead of just some, except for like one class)
From what I read, the colleges are regionally accredited- "...two of them are state schools, and the third was formerly a state college of New York." which would mean they are verified as legitimate.
Tell me- is this something you would do?
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The need for a degree is due to the HR machine, would that HR machine look at the school in question and filter you out automatically?
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@Breffni-Potter said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
The need for a degree is due to the HR machine, would that HR machine look at the school in question and filter you out automatically?
Nope. As stated, the main thing looked for, according to what I read, is regional accreditation for a college to make sure it's not just a diploma mill. So, at worst, it would flag it for more information about the school, but the degree is there and legitimate.
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This is the double edged sword of employment.
We see Scott running around here claiming that the places you want to work don't require a degree - but then we have posts like this that say that the jobs they are seeing do.
I haven't been job hunting in a while - but the last time I was, I do recall seeing a lot that wanted it (and sometimes or equivalent experience).
This is just a hard place to be in. I think if you can find a good placement agency, that might give you leg up, but some many of those places just seem shady.
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The honest truth there are very few businesses that do not care about degrees. Is this right? Nope, but it is reality for the under a certain income level jobs.
People have had it drilled into them for the last 60 plus years that the only way to be smart and know anything is to have that expensive piece of paper. So businesses owners have bought into this and this is how you get a good paying job.
Do I look for a degree, no but I know LOTS of businesses that do, far more than that don't.
So if you can get a degree without going into major debt. Go for it. But do not rely on the "teaching" to actually mean anything and know that you have to keep your skills up by doing not learning. Because 90% of what is taught is garbage. Know that going in and I think you would be all set.
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@Dashrender said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
This is the double edged sword of employment.
We see Scott running around here claiming that the places you want to work don't require a degree - but then we have posts like this that say that the jobs they are seeing do.
I haven't been job hunting in a while - but the last time I was, I do recall seeing a lot that wanted it (and sometimes or equivalent experience).
This is just a hard place to be in. I think if you can find a good placement agency, that might give you leg up, but some many of those places just seem shady.
Here's actually my fear- https://www.fastcompany.com/3057941/the-future-of-work/how-the-masters-degree-became-the-new-bachelors-in-the-hiring-world
. Mind you, I haven't personally seen the changes that are noted in that article, but it does get me wondering. At the very least, it gets me thinking I should get a bachelor's degree.Legitimately every single job posting I have ran across requires a Bachelor's. Often they'll say or equivalent experience, but it seems to be obvious that they're looking for one.
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@Minion-Queen said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
So if you can get a degree without going into major debt. Go for it. But do not rely on the "teaching" to actually mean anything and know that you have to keep your skills up by doing not learning. Because 90% of what is taught is garbage. Know that going in and I think you would be all set.
That's actually the piece I intend to avoid as well. I'm not looking for the teaching. I can teach myself and show that I retained it in an exam. I figure I've been in the field long enough to know at least a decent amount of what is and isn't worth knowing. Plus, we have these communities to ensure that we always stay in line with that.
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Right, so it's important to find ways around HR when and if possible. Sadly it's probably not that possible again, unless you're being hunted.
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@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
@Dashrender said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
This is the double edged sword of employment.
We see Scott running around here claiming that the places you want to work don't require a degree - but then we have posts like this that say that the jobs they are seeing do.
I haven't been job hunting in a while - but the last time I was, I do recall seeing a lot that wanted it (and sometimes or equivalent experience).
This is just a hard place to be in. I think if you can find a good placement agency, that might give you leg up, but some many of those places just seem shady.
Here's actually my fear- https://www.fastcompany.com/3057941/the-future-of-work/how-the-masters-degree-became-the-new-bachelors-in-the-hiring-world
. Mind you, I haven't personally seen the changes that are noted in that article, but it does get me wondering. At the very least, it gets me thinking I should get a bachelor's degree.Legitimately every single job posting I have ran across requires a Bachelor's. Often they'll say or equivalent experience, but it seems to be obvious that they're looking for one.
ALSO not to mention that is one of the easiest filtering methods of applicants. I see it looked at this way- A degree isn't necessarily bad, so if we filter out who doesn't have a degree, we're still picking the top of the candidates.
If I'm not mistaken, there are some places that do automatic filtering for Resume's, and they may use this as one of the criteria. In other words, they may not even acknowledge that you exist or ever see your resume if you don't have a degree.
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@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
If I'm not mistaken, there are some places that do automatic filtering for Resume's, and they may use this as one of the criteria. In other words, they may not even acknowledge that you exist or ever see your resume if you don't have a degree.
We talked about this very thing a year or so ago. My dad always asked/told me - if you are looking to hire two people, and they are same in every way except one has a degree and one doesn't who would you hire? Of course my dad said the guy with the degree, But other chimed in and said the opposite. To those others, the degree showed that the person probably just wasted time spending money that probably didn't do them much good, etc, etc.
We definitely have a situation where we've been told that if you don't have a college degree (and likely thousands in debt) that you aren't as good as someone without - it's no different than the societal norms for beauty - if you don't look like X, well you aren't good enough.
I'm not sure we'll ever get away from these types of problems, so I don't know the answer.
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This is just me generally speaking, but you don't need it to be successful. I can think of 1 example right off the top of my head. My best friend doesn't have a degree, yet works for ADP at home and he's in the 6 figures.
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A degree should only be relevant when you are in your early or mid 20s looking for your first real job. Im 37 next month and if someone wont hire me because I dont have a BS from 15 years ago, well they can do without my superior(most of the time)skills. Ill go work for myself or find someone that will hire me.
Will it even matter in 20 years when worldwide employment rate is 5-10% due to automation in all fields?
A bit off topic, but i much prefer the term Curriculum Vitae (life's work) to resume.
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@Son-of-Jor-El said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
This is just me generally speaking, but you don't need it to be successful. I can think of 1 example right off the top of my head. My best friend doesn't have a degree, yet works for ADP at home and he's in the 6 figures.
I fully agree. It is plenty possible. It's not easy, but it's possible.
@momurda said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
A degree should only be relevant when you are in your early or mid 20s looking for your first real job. Im 37 next month and if someone wont hire me because I dont have a BS from 15 years ago, well they can do without my superior(most of the time)skills. Ill go work for myself or find someone that will hire me.
Will it even matter in 20 years when worldwide employment rate is 5-10% due to automation in all fields?
A bit off topic, but i much prefer the term Curriculum Vitae (life's work) to resume.
A problem I run into is even with 6 years experience in IT, I don't even get contacted back for anything higher than entry-level. I'm in my early-mid 20's, but I'm far from my first job. Jobs in my area are tight, period. and this is where my family is, so I intend to stick around, at least for a while longer. I wish I could give the entire concept the finger and walk away from anywhere like that, but the truth is when you have no jobs that'll consider you because you have no degree, and you're in a position of needing a job... Your mindset changes.
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Even if it were free, it's not likely worth it. The time alone normally hurts you too much. And the further you are from 17, the less good it does.
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@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
However, I have been doing some reading on getting a bachelor's degree because it seems to be getting harder and harder to get a job without a degree. I stumbled across this little nugget of information:
This is a total lie. It's a fabrication from people with degrees trying to justify the decisions that they made.
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@scottalanmiller said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
Even if it were free, it's not likely worth it. The time alone normally hurts you too much. And the further you are from 17, the less good it does.
Let me ask you a base question- Do you agree with the concept of certs?
@scottalanmiller said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
However, I have been doing some reading on getting a bachelor's degree because it seems to be getting harder and harder to get a job without a degree. I stumbled across this little nugget of information:
This is a total lie. It's a fabrication from people with degrees trying to justify the decisions that they made.
That was a because. Personal experience. I'd love to say it's bull. Truly, I would. But, in my experience in my area, it really isn't.
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@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
From what I read, the colleges are regionally accredited- "...two of them are state schools, and the third was formerly a state college of New York." which would mean they are verified as legitimate.
Tell me- is this something you would do?
I did it, and I did it from the school in NY that you are looking into. If you were to do any degree, that's where I would do it. But even there, it doesn't help as much as you think AND if you do it from certs your degree won't really be valid. You get credit for demonstrable experience, NOT from certs. A few creds from certs, maybe, but nothing like WGU's double dipping.
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@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
@scottalanmiller said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
Even if it were free, it's not likely worth it. The time alone normally hurts you too much. And the further you are from 17, the less good it does.
Let me ask you a base question- Do you agree with the concept of certs?
@scottalanmiller said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
However, I have been doing some reading on getting a bachelor's degree because it seems to be getting harder and harder to get a job without a degree. I stumbled across this little nugget of information:
This is a total lie. It's a fabrication from people with degrees trying to justify the decisions that they made.
That was a because. Personal experience. I'd love to say it's bull. Truly, I would. But, in my experience in my area, it really isn't.
It is, you can't have personal experience that really says otherwise. Every business TELLS you that they aren't hiring you because you don't have a degree. But in reality, almost no one does not and if you think about how embarrassing it would be for a company to really mean that... very few do. Don't read into the excuses, it's simply not true.
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By putting limits on yourself (not wanting to move, etc) you are really hurting your job finding, and in the long run hurting your family. If there are no jobs in Shithole, Kentucky that pay well, move somewhere else that has high paying jobs.
Its like the people who live in flood deltas and have had their house destroyed multiple times, refuse to move because of sentimental reasons. -
@FiyaFly said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
@scottalanmiller said in If you could get a Bachelor's Degree for under $8,000 in less than a year... would you?:
Even if it were free, it's not likely worth it. The time alone normally hurts you too much. And the further you are from 17, the less good it does.
Let me ask you a base question- Do you agree with the concept of certs?
Certs as certs, yes. Certs as a double dip to buy a fake degree, no.
