I want to go to graduate school!

[adegree4me]

I haven't finished my bachelors yet. I'm still deciding of which of the big 3  to go to. 

I want to go to grad school after I finish up. I'm unsure what program I want to attend. 

Anyway, which of the big 3 would give me a better chance at getting into a masters program?

[allvia]

I do not see how one would give you an edge over another.  Now depending on what you want a graduate degree in - as you didn't say - what your degree is in, or more importantly what courses it included (some graduate programs have undergrad requirement courses) could matter.  However, with all things being equal - all three of the Big3 are pretty much equal.

[eLearner]

My only take is that maybe one name might sound more appealing than another. Personally, I like Thomas Edison over the others. Excelsior sounds like an old-fashioned medicine, and Charter Oak sounds like a regional bank. That means nothing about the quality of those schools, but if I had to nitpick that would be it, lol.

As an aside, I notice allvia's status light says "Away". I didn't know that status was available. I thought only "Online" or "Offline" were available. Interesting.

[adegree4me]

I do not see how one would give you an edge over another.  Now depending on what you want a graduate degree in - as you didn't say - what your degree is in, or more importantly what courses it included (some graduate programs have undergrad requirement courses) could matter.  However, with all things being equal - all three of the Big3 are pretty much equal.

Thank you! I'll go delete my other post.

[rachel83az]

Before you start looking for a graduate school, you probably should decide exactly what kind of degree(s) you want first. The degree dictates the school. There is nothing wrong with a generic liberal arts/liberal studies degree and you can certainly get into a graduate school with such a degree but it would likely help if you start focusing your studies at the undergraduate level. This could cost a bit more initially but would prepare you better for future graduate studies. And undergrad courses are, after all, generally cheaper than graduate ones.

Some examples:

As I understand it, a Psychology degree from COSC can actually wind up costing more than a Psychology degree from TESU because COSC does not accept Coopersmith. And they require a specialized statistics course that can't be found at any alternate provider that they still accept.

If you want a History degree, only Excelsior has a Bachelor of Science in this area. TESU is a BA and COSC is a General Studies degree with a History concentration. This doesn't always matter but, if it does, needs to be taken into account ahead of time.

COSC is the only one of the big 3 that has any sort of a legal degree besides Criminal Justice (General Studies with a Paralegal concentration). Setting aside the issue that it probably cannot be completed with alternate credit, if you were hoping for a career as a paralegal then that is probably the school that you would want to go to.

So, ultimately, what do you want to do?

[asianphd]

Agree with this. The name should not be the most deciding factor.

[dfrecore]

You should always begin with the end in mind.  Then work backwards from there to determine what you need to do for a bachelor's degree.

Therefore, decide what graduate program you want; then figure out what the requirements are to get in. Like, do you need 30 graded credits?  or 60?  or does it not say?  Do you have pre-reqs that need to have graded credit?  Or does your school/degree just say you need "A" bachelor's degree to get in, in which case I'd probably do the very easiest/quickest/cheapest degree.

You may also decide that the competitive program you're looking might be just as well done at another non-competitive school where you can bring in your inexpensive bachelor's degree, because overall, getting both done quickly/cheaply is the best option for you.

Overall though, none of the Big 3 has an edge over the other 2 in terms of "name brand." The only differentiation will be the actual degree, and that may not even matter.

Also, keep in mind that looking too far down the line, to graduate school, may do the one thing that's guaranteed to be a problem, and that is not pulling the trigger and getting a bachelor's degree.  I've seen MANY people on this forum get paralysis of the analysis, and do nothing because the decisions were just too overwhelming.  Get a bachelor's degree first and foremost.

[adegree4me]

You should always begin with the end in mind.  Then work backwards from there to determine what you need to do for a bachelor's degree.

Therefore, decide what graduate program you want; then figure out what the requirements are to get in. Like, do you need 30 graded credits?  or 60?  or does it not say?  Do you have pre-reqs that need to have graded credit?  Or does your school/degree just say you need "A" bachelor's degree to get in, in which case I'd probably do the very easiest/quickest/cheapest degree.

You may also decide that the competitive program you're looking might be just as well done at another non-competitive school where you can bring in your inexpensive bachelor's degree, because overall, getting both done quickly/cheaply is the best option for you.

Overall though, none of the Big 3 has an edge over the other 2 in terms of "name brand." The only differentiation will be the actual degree, and that may not even matter.

Also, keep in mind that looking too far down the line, to graduate school, may do the one thing that's guaranteed to be a problem, and that is not pulling the trigger and getting a bachelor's degree.  I've seen MANY people on this forum get paralysis of the analysis, and do nothing because the decisions were just too overwhelming.  Get a bachelor's degree first and foremost.

Everything you said makes perfect sense. I will just focus on the bachelors degree. So far, anything that interests me requires “a bachelors degree” and I have 125 RA credits as well, so that is in my favor.

[ss20ts]

I haven't finished my bachelors yet. I'm still deciding of which of the big 3  to go to. 

I want to go to grad school after I finish up. I'm unsure what program I want to attend. 

Anyway, which of the big 3 would give me a better chance at getting into a masters program?

Something for you to consider. You may not want to go to one of the Big 3 if you want to go to grad school. I say this because people take courses from a variety sources such as Sophia and Study.com which are ACE credit not RA credit and you will not receive a letter grade. Grad schools always have a minimum GPA requirement for acceptance and typically a minimum number of credits that are included in the GPA which is quite often your last 60 credits so you need a letter grade for those credits for grad school. Two schools you may wish to look at since you will need RA credit is WGU and UMPI. Both are competency based programs so you won't be on a semester schedule. You'd move at your own pace like you do on Sophia and Study.com.

---

My only take is that maybe one name might sound more appealing than another. Personally, I like Thomas Edison over the others. Excelsior sounds like an old-fashioned medicine, and Charter Oak sounds like a regional bank. That means nothing about the quality of those schools, but if I had to nitpick that would be it, lol.

As an aside, I notice allvia's status light says "Away". I didn't know that status was available. I thought only "Online" or "Offline" were available. Interesting.

Excelsior is part of the New York State motto which means "ever upward" and it's included on the state seal.

---

Everything you said makes perfect sense. I will just focus on the bachelors degree. So far, anything that interests me requires “a bachelors degree” and I have 125 RA credits as well, so that is in my favor.

Keep in mind that most grad schools will calculate your GPA from the last 60 RA credits. So the 125 credits from over time won't necessarily count. It's the most recent credits that count. It's kind of a weird thing to think about. Do you have any idea what kind of degree you're looking to complete?

[adegree4me]

I haven't finished my bachelors yet. I'm still deciding of which of the big 3  to go to. 

I want to go to grad school after I finish up. I'm unsure what program I want to attend. 

Anyway, which of the big 3 would give me a better chance at getting into a masters program?

Something for you to consider. You may not want to go to one of the Big 3 if you want to go to grad school. I say this because people take courses from a variety sources such as Sophia and Study.com which are ACE credit not RA credit and you will not receive a letter grade. Grad schools always have a minimum GPA requirement for acceptance and typically a minimum number of credits that are included in the GPA which is quite often your last 60 credits so you need a letter grade for those credits for grad school. Two schools you may wish to look at since you will need RA credit is WGU and UMPI. Both are competency based programs so you won't be on a semester schedule. You'd move at your own pace like you do on Sophia and Study.com.

---

My only take is that maybe one name might sound more appealing than another. Personally, I like Thomas Edison over the others. Excelsior sounds like an old-fashioned medicine, and Charter Oak sounds like a regional bank. That means nothing about the quality of those schools, but if I had to nitpick that would be it, lol.

As an aside, I notice allvia's status light says "Away". I didn't know that status was available. I thought only "Online" or "Offline" were available. Interesting.

Excelsior is part of the New York State motto which means "ever upward" and it's included on the state seal.

---

Everything you said makes perfect sense. I will just focus on the bachelors degree. So far, anything that interests me requires “a bachelors degree” and I have 125 RA credits as well, so that is in my favor.

Keep in mind that most grad schools will calculate your GPA from the last 60 RA credits. So the 125 credits from over time won't necessarily count. It's the most recent credits that count. It's kind of a weird thing to think about. Do you have any idea what kind of degree you're looking to complete?

So I can’t get a bachelors at COSC and then get an MBA at WGU?