Does obtaining a Ph.D in your field matter?

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Perhaps I'm biased, but to be blunt, I probably wouldn't think of on online PhD as a "real" PhD. And I sure wouldn't consider a PhD from a school that's only online to be comparable to a PhD from a brick and morter institution. May not be fair, but that's how I see it.

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

So much about getting an MBA is about networking and collaborating with your cohort. Most people I know who did traditional full-time, executive, and evening MBAs say that the interaction with your professors, classmates, and guest lecturers was the single most important thing about their educations. Part of the reason you pursue higher education is access--to more money, to different perspectives, you name it. I don't exactly know what you're accessing if all you're doing is logging on.

These pretty much sum up my feelings. Any graduate degree you receive, whether it be a masters, JD, MBA, or MD, whatever, has to do with that access issue. It's the face-to-face interaction with your professors and fellow students that makes the experience, and how you can parlay that into your future career goals. It's very hard, if not impossible, to get that same experience out of an online program.

I've known a few people who have done the online thing, and for the most part, it seemed like they just wanted the letters after their name, not the extra knowledge and hard work that went with it. That may be generalizing, but that's been my experience.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

These pretty much sum up my feelings. Any graduate degree you receive, whether it be a masters, JD, MBA, or MD, whatever, has to do with that access issue. It's the face-to-face interaction with your professors and fellow students that makes the experience, and how you can parlay that into your future career goals. It's very hard, if not impossible, to get that same experience out of an online program.

I've known a few people who have done the online thing, and for the most part, it seemed like they just wanted the letters after their name, not the extra knowledge and hard work that went with it. That may be generalizing, but that's been my experience.

And, I think this is the opinion of anyone who is in a position to hire people at this level. All advanced degrees are NOT equal! It may not be fair, but it's a reality. It's about the equivalent of going to the Caribbean for Med school or a DO program. When we chose residents for our radiology program, those candidates went to the very bottom of the pile despite grades and test scores. The experience with graduates from these programs is generally not equivalent to MD programs for us so this colors our subsequent evaluation of future applicants.

[KSigkid]

The timing is kind of funny, but The National Jurist, a magazine for law students, had an article this month about online law schools. Maybe I'm being hardheaded, but I just don't see how you can get the same type of education in an online program as those of us who go the brick and mortar route (whether in a day or evening program).

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

The timing is kind of funny, but The National Jurist, a magazine for law students, had an article this month about online law schools. Maybe I'm being hardheaded, but I just don't see how you can get the same type of education in an online program as those of us who go the brick and mortar route (whether in a day or evening program).

You probably can't, and the law schools know it. I think it comes down to the issue of some graduate degrees being "cash cows" for the Universities. Clearly, the school pays far less for an online student than for a traditional student, but there's usually not that big a difference in tuition; many online programs do not offer scholarships or fellowships like brick and mortar institutions do.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

You probably can't, and the law schools know it. I think it comes down to the issue of some graduate degrees being "cash cows" for the Universities. Clearly, the school pays far less for an online student than for a traditional student, but there's usually not that big a difference in tuition; many online programs do not offer scholarships or fellowships like brick and mortar institutions do.

They talked about the cost issue a lot in the article, how it allowed "non-traditional" students to get law degrees.

The thing is, though, that there are a lot of "non-traditional" students in my program, at a pretty solid state school. The evening program is a lot of work if you're working full time - but, then again, a law degree (or any graduate degree, for that matter) is supposed to be a lot of work.

I feel like part of it is that it's sold as some sort of shortcut to a graduate degree. There shouldn't be any shortcut.

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

I feel like part of it is that it's sold as some sort of shortcut to a graduate degree. There shouldn't be any shortcut.

At my old work I knew three different girls who'd independently decided they wanted to go to an online school. They were each the kind to cut corners and look for any shortcut they could find, even if it meant cheating a little bit. I didn't have much respect for them.

Makes it hard for me to take online schools.