Other decent online alternatives to WGU?

I see WGU is the online college where most people are going but I'm wondering if anyone has tried other good alternatives?

My main issue against WGU is the student mentor requirement and having to work with them. I'm a person that works better alone and I really don't need or like the supervision. Nothing is going to change my my mind on that it's just how I work best. I'm looking into alternatives and would like some help with suggestions.

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Comments

markulous

If that's your only gripe, then I wouldn't worry about it. My mentor and I had a weekly call that lasted 5 minutes (more if I had questions) and after a month or two, he pushed it to every other week. Half the time I wouldn't even answer and he'd just need me to email him when I had a moment letting him know everything was good. The call is really just for you to present him/her with any questions or requests.

And if you don't like supervision, I'm not sure how a traditional college would be better when you're forced to interact with a professor and submit homework, do discussions, etc.

Dakinggamer87

I think no matter what school you choose regardless of online or traditional there is going to be a minimum amount of supervision. It helps you stay on track for your goals and additionally helps you stay focused.

techfiend

I can't think of a way university supervisors could be more hands off then WGU. Honestly if you have some self-discipline to keep going with your degree they should never be an issue. Like Markulous said you can skip calls once you've proven you can do it on your own. I spent almost two months without phone contact with my student mentor. Everything can honestly be done via email and if phone calls are really an issue I'm sure they'll accommodate your needs.

My only real gripes with WGU is the disorganized enrollment process and classes I didn't really want to take but this would have been an issue at any university. Getting through some courses was a little difficult but give yourself a few weeks to do it and get it out of the way. It was much better than having to take the course weekly for months.

JamesKurtovich

techfiend wrote: »

I can't think of a way university supervisors could be more hands off then WGU.

This.

It's a 15-minute conversation.

J_86

If that is the only thing you dislike about WGU, I think you are over thinking this a little. I talked to my mentor maybe 10 minutes a month, sometimes not even that. You have to interact with them a little, more of just making sure you are keeping up with the course work and just to make sure you don't have any questions. The rest of the time I study and complete corse work whenever and wherever I feel like.
If the certs listed in your profile are still accurate, you should really reconsider. They all count towards credit and you would not have to take the classes associated with those certs.

Winzer

JamesKurtovich wrote: »

This.

It's a 15-minute conversation.

More like 5 minutes in my case. It's not much of a hassle, really.

Codyy

It's like the least bothersome 45 second phone call every week / 2 weeks you'll ever have. I literally talk to my mentor once every 2 weeks(when you first start it's once a week, then they get lenient after you show you don't need to be babysat), and it rarely goes for over a minute. He asks me how it's going, I tell him what I'm working on when I plan on testing, and he says cool let me know if you need anything. That's it. Not exaggerating, it's usually 30-45 secs. If I have questions he's there to answer, if not he doesn't waste my time and I don't waste his. Perfect IMO.

Danielm7

Agree with everyone else, you're really overthinking the mentor thing. My calls went something like this...

Hey, Daniel, doing good?
Yeah man just keeping my head down and working.
Cool, need me to unlock anything for you?
Not today, I'll email you in a couple days for the next unlock.
Cool, sounds good, keep it up, talk to you next week, call or email if you need me before that. Bye.

If you get a really overbearing mentor then request another one. Do you have a manager at work? Do you even talk to coworkers? It'll be about 1/100th of that interaction, which is almost nothing.

I don't think you're going to find another school that has the same level of accreditation, low cost, acceleration, self-paced, everything you're looking for, which doesn't even make you occasionally check in with someone, it's really not a big deal. I know you said, " Nothing is going to change my my mind on that" but you'll be shooting yourself in the foot to be so firm in your stance.

cyberguypr

My first mentor was awful. The second one was very good but I still dreaded the calls. The stupid 30 second phone call is OK for the majority of the people out there. Those of us who feel miserable fielding the call are in the minority. Before/during/after the call I seriously felt like I wanted to hurt people. As a general principle I hate do to stuff that has no value. All forms of mentor interaction were exactly this. My main mentor or the course mentors were never able to answer the few questions that I had. To me they represent ZERO value. Actually negative value, because I waste my time engaging them. Although I don't need a glorified cheerleader, I understand accreditation and whatnot requires this interaction.

Having said this, I agree with others that it will be hard to find another program that provides everything that WGU does. The pros outweigh the cons. Only the OP can decide what he's willing to take.

philz1982

draught wrote: »

I see WGU is the online college where most people are going but I'm wondering if anyone has tried other good alternatives?

My main issue against WGU is the student mentor requirement and having to work with them. I'm a person that works better alone and I really don't need or like the supervision. Nothing is going to change my my mind on that it's just how I work best. I'm looking into alternatives and would like some help with suggestions.

Is this for a Masters or Bachelors? Most of the Master's degrees I've been part of (I'm enrolled in 3 right now) are very collaboration focused as Masters tend to lean towards managers. Now if its a Bachelors there are plenty of non-collaborative Bachelors.

volume

Danielm7 wrote: »

Hey, Daniel, doing good?
Yeah man just keeping my head down and working.
Cool, need me to unlock anything for you?
Not today, I'll email you in a couple days for the next unlock.
Cool, sounds good, keep it up, talk to you next week, call or email if you need me before that. Bye.

That's exactly how mine went, unless I needed a resource unlocked or had a question. Not a big deal.

joshmadakor

draught wrote: »

I see WGU is the online college where most people are going but I'm wondering if anyone has tried other good alternatives?

My main issue against WGU is the student mentor requirement and having to work with them. I'm a person that works better alone and I really don't need or like the supervision. Nothing is going to change my my mind on that it's just how I work best. I'm looking into alternatives and would like some help with suggestions.

Having graduated WGU, I would have to say that this is a non-issue. Just compromise with your mentor at first. Once they see that you know what you're doing, they will usually just let you do your thing. You only have to have a weekly conference call per protocol.