Devry / ITT students and Grads.. Opinions / comments please?

Deesiel

I'm considering Devry and ITT as a source for an IT-related BS degree (as well as WGU), and I'm sure others who are on (or will find) this forum are as well.

Can current and former students please chime in with their experiences at these schools? Pros / Cons, Likes / Dislikes, etc?

I understand that you can find this info in a search (and I have), but it would be nice to have a thread dedicated to it. (perhaps STICKY-ed... WGU has a sticky, why not Devry and ITT?)

neil221211

The Information Systems Security program at ITT is going through a revamp. Before what they had done was take their online course and offer it on campus. The current plan for the revamp is to have instructors and then have virtual labs as well. Hopefully it is better than the current program.

NetworkingStudent

Deesiel wrote: »

I'm considering Devry and ITT as a source for an IT-related BS degree (as well as WGU), and I'm sure others who are on (or will find) this forum are as well.

Can current and former students please chime in with their experiences at these schools? Pros / Cons, Likes / Dislikes, etc?

I understand that you can find this info in a search (and I have), but it would be nice to have a thread dedicated to it. (perhaps STICKY-ed... WGU has a sticky, why not Devry and ITT?)

I attend a college similar to ITT tech and Devry, and these colleges are for profit colleges, and their main concern is making a profit. They have board members to answer, and they need to find ways to become and stay profitable. It is my opinion that this is their main concern. The tuition is around $400.00-$600.00 a credit. At my college the tuition goes up $15.00-$20.00 per credit every year during the summer semester. I really don't feel like I'm learning more by attending this college vs a subsized state college. Also, these colleges aren’t subsided by the state, so you’re paying the full price of tuition!! The biggest problem though is that the accreditation isn’t up to par with other schools. Most of these schools aren’t regionally accredited so if you want to transfer your credits, you’re going to have a tough time transferring credits. I called WGU and a few schools in MN and they said they won’t take my credits.
I think you should go to WGU it’s cheaper and it looks like you have a lot of certifications, and those might transfer when you apply at WGU.

steve13ad

I'm going to agree with NetworkS, a lot of people on TE attend WGU and have had success.

You may wanna check out a public school, there cheaper and tend not to have the same negative reputation/stigma of ITT or Devry.

phantasm

I'm a DeVry student and will say that I have my reservations. However it does hold an accreditation and is also accredited by ABET for it's engineering programs. Google shows this:

Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission | DeVry University

Yes it is a for profit school, feel however you want about it but the rep the school has is both deserved and undeserved.

Deesiel

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

I attend a college similar to ITT tech and Devry, and these colleges are for profit colleges, and their main concern is making a profit. They have board members to answer, and they need to find ways to become and stay profitable. It is my opinion that this is their main concern. The tuition is around $400.00-$600.00 a credit. At my college the tuition goes up $15.00-$20.00 per credit every year during the summer semester. I really don't feel like I'm learning more by attending this college vs a subsized state college. Also, these colleges aren’t subsided by the state, so you’re paying the full price of tuition!! The biggest problem though is that the accreditation isn’t up to par with other schools. Most of these schools aren’t regionally accredited so if you want to transfer your credits, you’re going to have a tough time transferring credits. I called WGU and a few schools in MN and they said they won’t take my credits.
I think you should go to WGU it’s cheaper and it looks like you have a lot of certifications, and those might transfer when you apply at WGU.

The fact that these schools are 'for profit' doesn't scare me. I currently attend a nationally accredited 'for profit' school and overall I'm pretty satisfied with my education. I will admit that some of the classes are ridiculously easy, but these classes are the general ed classes so I don't mind the easy A... I came to learn about IT, not human anatomy or philosophy of ethics. Keep in mind that even though these school are 'for profit' and that is their primary concern, they still have a standard to adhere to in order to maintain their accreditation. If they lose their accreditation, it will severely effect their profitability as they will no longer be able to accept federal loans, which is the source of the vast majority of their income. From my understanding, part of the requirement to maintain a national accreditation is that they must maintain a certain job placement rate. In order to do that, they must provide the means for students to acquire the skills that employers want.

I'm in an AAS program and will graduate in October. I'm not going for the BS at my current school because my wife and I are planning a move to ATL next summer, and that isn't enough time to complete the BS. Since this school is a nationally accredited 'for profit' school, I know that a lot of schools wont take my credits.

I've spoken with a WGU advisor, and it sounds like they will take quite a few (plus my certs), so thats not an issue. I'm assuming (u know what they say about that...) that ITT will take most (if not all) my credits since my school and ITT are members of the same national accreditation association. I'm not sure what Devry will accept, but I suspect they will accept more than a traditional regionally accredited school would.

I like WGU's pricing model the best no doubt, but with moving to a new area, I like the idea of going on campus. I have a few friends in ATL, but it would be nice to meet more people face to face.

I'm a veteran, and Devry has a special tuition rate for veterans (plus I get the chpt 33 GI Bill... ), so I'm not as concerned about the cost.

Deesiel

phantasm wrote: »

Yes it is a for profit school, feel however you want about it but the rep the school has is both deserved and undeserved.

I'm curious... what do you mean by this?

Also, it looks like the program you are in is the same one I would choose if I end up at Devry. Overall are you satisfied with it?

phantasm

Deesiel wrote: »

I'm curious... what do you mean by this?

Also, it looks like the program you are in is the same one I would choose if I end up at Devry. Overall are you satisfied with it?

Basically for profit schools has a stigma about them and most alumni from state schools turn their nose up at DeVry graduates (undeserved). They also deserve the reputation they have because some of the instructors (not professors) do things half assed and the classes can be easy as hell.

In regards to my progam, B.S. of Technical Management w/ emphasis in Net Com. Well, I work in the networking field so most of the classes I had to take taught me nothing new. Conversely, depending on which campus you're at with depend on the quality of their network lab. For example, I've attended 2 campuses for DeVry. The first one had 2 routers and 1 switch for the lab, my current campus has 5 racks of equipment for the students to use.

Would I do it all again? Don't know. I take my last final tonight and then "graduate" next month.

zerglings

phantasm
We have the same program (TM with emphasis in Net Com)! Though, I had 60 credits coming in to DeVry. Including the 60 credits are from my CNAP credits so I didn't have to deal with their legacy routers and switches and going through the CNAP curriculum within 8 weeks! That would be crazy.

Deeisel
Don't do it if I were you. The only reason why I chose DeVry was because I just want to be done with my BS. I had AS coming into our Network department (thanks to CNAP and CCNA of course) but I felt that I'll be limiting myself once I leave the company and move back 'home'.

Another reason why I went to DeVry was because it was the only school that will give me the most college credits; thus, lesser money to put give out. Also my work schedule was a pain in the butt (2nd shift Sun-Wed) so it was hard for me to find a good school that will fit my schedule. Now, my schedule is first shift so I could probably go to one of the good schools in my area but too late now. I already finished my degree last year.

Evaluate your situation. If you can go to a better school then definitely skip DeVry and/or ITT. I don't know about WGU and have seen their site because of TE (was a lurker before) and their program is really interesting. I would assume that their program is far better than DeVry. To be honest, the 8 weeks per class of DeVry is a joke. I honestly didn't retain anything from any classes that I took because of this or maybe I am just losing my brain cells. *shrugs*

veritas_libertas

phantasm wrote: »

I'm a DeVry student and will say that I have my reservations. However it does hold an accreditation and is also accredited by ABET for it's engineering programs. Google shows this:

Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission | DeVry University

Yes it is a for profit school, feel however you want about it but the rep the school has is both deserved and undeserved.

Isn't the ABET accreditation only for those specific locations? It actually fascinates me that Devry was able to get ABET accredited.

zerglings

Accreditation basically means that the institution meets the standards set by the accreditors?

veritas_libertas

zerglings wrote: »

Accreditation basically means that the institution meets the standards set by the accreditors?

Oh, I understand that! This is the area of page that caught my attention:

http://www.devry.edu/whydevry/accreditation.jsp

The following programs, at the following locations, are accredited by the Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202, 410/347-7700:

• Baccalaureate Biomedical Engineering Technology (BMET): Columbus, Decatur/Alpharetta, Federal Way, Ft. Washington, Irving, Kansas City, Northern California (Fremont), Phoenix, Southern California (Pomona)
• Baccalaureate Computer Engineering Technology (CET): Addison (Tinley Park), Arlington, Chicago, Columbus, Decatur/Alpharetta, Federal Way, Ft. Washington, Houston, Irving, Kansas City, Long Island City, Northern California (Fremont), Orlando, Phoenix, South Florida (Miramar), Southern California (Long Beach, Pomona, Sherman Oaks), Westminster
• Baccalaureate Electronics Engineering Technology (EET): Addison (Tinley Park), Arlington, Chicago, Columbus, Decatur/Alpharetta, Federal Way, Ft. Washington, Houston, Irving, Kansas City, Long Island City, New Jersey (North Brunswick Paramus), Northern California (Fremont, Sacramento), Orlando, Phoenix, South Florida (Miramar), Southern California (Long Beach, Pomona, Sherman Oaks), Westminster
• Associate EET: North Brunswick (program not available for enrollment by new students)

In addition to having accredited university status, some DeVry University programs are also accredited. The Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET requires a separate review of each engineering technology program at each location and the initial evaluation of newer programs may not be requested until the first class of students has graduated, nor is future accreditation guaranteed. The CET and EET programs at DeVry Calgary are not eligible for this accreditation.

dairou18

I currently go to ITT Tech and I'll have the AAS Computer Network Systems degree in 3 months. It's been interesting to say the least. The classes started out huge and got smaller and smaller and smaller and now there's only a handful of us that are graduating together.

The instructors, for the most part, were pretty good. There are some that know their stuff and some that don't and that's probably the same anywhere you go.

ITT Tech claims to be very "hands-on" and that is what made me want to go there. I thought that may have been the case when I sat in my first class and right away we ripped open a desktop, tore everything out and put it back together.

After that class, there was a lot of simulation instead of using real equipment which was a bummer. I wanted to experiment or "lab" with a real server, not some server on Virtual PC. Same with the Cisco gear - I wanted to use real routers and switches rather than Packet Tracer. In fact, I wanted to use real equipment so much that I went out and bought my own and got my CCENT.

I guess that isn't necessarily bad because the Virtual PC and Packet Tracer will teach the basics but it's so much better to use real equipment.

If I had the chance to do it all over again I'm not really sure what I would do. I recently graduated high school and knew I wanted to get into IT. I had no clue what I was going into and ITT Tech contacted me, told me about their CNS (Computer Network Systems) program and went on about the "hands-on" and it all sounded good at the time so I went with it.

Another thing that surprised me is that I was easily the youngest person in every class. I'd say the average age was about 30. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with it. I guess I'll see in the next coming months...

zerglings

Not to be rude or anything, but actually I don't care about their accreditation other than the accreditation I need to transfer my college credits once I decide to enroll to other University for my Master.

grayfox587

don't ever attend ITT or DeVry, i went there and it was terrible, and its such a joke, here in Illinois, those degrees aren't worth anything. Pay more to attend a better college, it is definitely worth it in the end. We currently have 3 interns from DeVry, and i told my boss what to expect, and lets say they know nothing.


Cons
-8 week courses
-no hands on work
-you will probably get passed up interviews because you attended ITT or DeVry
-there are so many people that graduate from there year to year, do you want to like the rest, or do you want to stand out?


if you have any other questions, i will gladly answer them


p.s. i hate DeVry, it ruined my life.....should of went to community college and then to my university, i am in huge amounts of dept

phantasm

grayfox587 wrote: »

don't ever attend ITT or DeVry, i went there and it was terrible, and its such a joke, here in Illinois, those degrees aren't worth anything. Pay more to attend a better college, it is definitely worth it in the end. We currently have 3 interns from DeVry, and i told my boss what to expect, and lets say they know nothing.


Cons
-8 week courses
-no hands on work
-you will probably get passed up interviews because you attended ITT or DeVry
-there are so many people that graduate from there year to year, do you want to like the rest, or do you want to stand out?


if you have any other questions, i will gladly answer them


p.s. i hate DeVry, it ruined my life.....should of went to community college and then to my university, i am in huge amounts of dept

Apparently you didn't learn anything about grammar or sentence structure. DeVry is a mixed bag of blessings. Oh and for the record, a state school costs less than DeVry and the education is better.

zerglings

DeVry is easy if you just do what you're supposed to do. Even without putting so much effort you'll eventually 'earn' to be in the Latin honors list - Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude.

grayfox587

phantasm wrote: »

Apparently you didn't learn anything about grammar or sentence structure. DeVry is a mixed bag of blessings. Oh and for the record, a state school costs less than DeVry and the education is better.

haha i knew someone was gona say something.........jerk

Deesiel

grayfox587 wrote: »

don't ever attend ITT or DeVry, i went there and it was terrible, and its such a joke, here in Illinois, those degrees aren't worth anything. Pay more to attend a better college, it is definitely worth it in the end. We currently have 3 interns from DeVry, and i told my boss what to expect, and lets say they know nothing.


Cons
-8 week courses
-no hands on work
-you will probably get passed up interviews because you attended ITT or DeVry
-there are so many people that graduate from there year to year, do you want to like the rest, or do you want to stand out?


if you have any other questions, i will gladly answer them


p.s. i hate DeVry, it ruined my life.....should of went to community college and then to my university, i am in huge amounts of dept

Do you meet once per week, or more, during the 8 week course?

What program were you in? Some people say they got a decent amount of hands-on, and others (like you) say they got none. Perhaps it depends on campus AND program?...

earweed

Deesiel wrote: »

Do you meet once per week, or more, during the 8 week course?

What program were you in? Some people say they got a decent amount of hands-on, and others (like you) say they got none. Perhaps it depends on campus AND program?...

That's why not all the ITT or Devry campuses are accreditted, it's not a very well controlled program. The well set up and operated schools suffer because of the bad ones due to the reputation follows the name. I am sure there are a few good ones out there.
As far as the hands on for servers goes I'd never touched a "real" server until recently and that was just a server 2008 foundation for a small office setup I'm doing. Doing server work on VM's will prepare you for the real thing. I don't think packet tracer for Cisco is good because you are actually training for a specific vendor hardware and need to get hands on.

earweed

grayfox587 wrote: »

haha i knew someone was gona say something.........jerk

This is a forum not a chat room and some people here take pride in their ability to use the english language. I'd also like to quote someones signature addition here, paraphrase actually, and I can't remember whose it is:
Show some self pride and capitalize the i

SephStorm

I was seriously considering Devry, because they allow a generous transfer for military experience, and they eliminate 4 classes for CNA graduates. I would probably go for it if I was going for my Assoc. degree and I felt the credits would transfer to WGU, however I have decided to go ahead and save the government and possibly myself some money, go and knock out my BS, then start on a Masters if so inclined.

So, in reference to their online programs, are they saying that none of them(IT) are accredited? because they say the ABET accredits programs at a location, and the HLC accreditation is not for the IT programs.

Deesiel

SephStorm wrote: »

I was seriously considering Devry, because they allow a generous transfer for military experience, and they eliminate 4 classes for CNA graduates. I would probably go for it if I was going for my Assoc. degree and I felt the credits would transfer to WGU, however I have decided to go ahead and save the government and possibly myself some money, go and knock out my BS, then start on a Masters if so inclined.

So, in reference to their online programs, are they saying that none of them(IT) are accredited? because they say the ABET accredits programs at a location, and the HLC accreditation is not for the IT programs.

My understanding of Devry's accreditations is that certain programs at certain campuses have an additional accreditation from ABET; however, Devry as a whole is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA), which is a regional accreditation. All of the campuses fall under the NCA accreditation since their main campus is in Illinios. The online programs and all the campuses are listed on the NCAHLC website.

http://www.ncahlc.org/component/option,com_directory/Action,ShowBasic/Itemid,184/instid,1784/lang,en/

zerglings

You're not gonna get a better hands on experience from DeVry than community college. As far as I can tell, the guys that came out of CCNA curriculum from DeVry are not even close to the people that came from community college and went through the Cisco Network Academy deal. Do yourself a favor and do not go to DeVry if you have other options.

grayfox587

earweed wrote: »

This is a forum not a chat room and some people here take pride in their ability to use the english language. I'd also like to quote someones signature addition here, paraphrase actually, and I can't remember whose it is:
Show some self pride and capitalize the i

i r sry did not knw had to be on gme 100%......grammar ninja's

It depends on the teacher and how they run the course for the semesters, two of my cisco classes met two times a week, and the other two, once a week. If i were you i would run the numbers, i am sure if you go to a community college and then a university and you will still pay the same for DeVry.

I really hope you go to a great university, your a veteran you deserve a great education

veritas_libertas

grayfox587 wrote: »

i r sry did not knw had to be on gme 100%......grammar ninja's

He may have been a little harsh, but it does make it difficult to read and gives the impression that this forum is uneducated. Lets try to at least appear intelligent on the forum.

I say this while noting that my grammar is sub-par...

zerglings

How about the people whose native tongue isn't English?

How about the people whose native tongue is English but can't even spell the simple words correctly?

Does it make them uneducated as well?

veritas_libertas

zerglings wrote: »

How about the people whose native tongue isn't English?

Is it his native tongue (English)? If not I apologize, but my guess is that it is

I'm pretty sure we could tell the difference, especially if they put location in the UserCP.

zerglings

**deleted**

MeanDrunkR2D2

Myself I'm a DeVry graduate and honestly I'm very happy that I chose this University over the local ones that I had attended partially before DeVry.

It is all about what you put into your education honestly. Any moron can go to a state University and get a degree, in my opinion. The quality of education I received at Devry was top-notch. The biggest downside is that the cost is high. However, you get a great education for that money and in areas I have been employers haven't turned me away from interviews or jobs because I graduated from DeVry. In my opinion those that snub DeVry either weren't able to apply themselves to the course work and did poorly. If you half ass it at DeVry you won't pass the course. Sure, there may be a few courses here and there that you can half ass and get a decent grade in, but the more specialized courses you do have to pay attention, study, and be able to comprehend what the professors are teaching.

After you graduate they have an excellent career services department that will go above and beyond many other Universities to help assist you in finding a job in your career field. Now, if you happen to be in the military, or have completed time in the military you can get a hefty discount on the tuition.

I've never second guessed my education because I worked hard and was able to graduate near the top of my class and it prepared me well for my career. You could do alot worse than DeVry and unless you want to pay for it will be hard pressed to find many Universities that will give you a better education for less.

As a background on my education, I did attend a community college and honestly, I don't think a single one of those professors had any experience in IT, much less knew enough to prepare me for even Geek Squad work. I then went to a state University and found the courses to really be spread out and slow as far as my learning curve is, so I would get bored. I quickly tired of that and planned to take a semester off to refocus myself towards my education. Well, that semester turned into 5 years when I finally realized that I need to get my education finished. I then went and researched the local universities where I lived and I knew immediately after going to the ITT building and speaking with them that it was a joke of a school. Then of course read the reviews online and they were mostly negative. I checked out all the state schools and CC's in the area and they just didn't have as good of a IT program as what I was looking for. Then I stumbled on DeVry, talked to a few friends who at that point had graduated from Devry a few years earlier and they were all doing great in their careers and loved the education that they got there.

I researched more into DeVry and found that it was a great school for engineering and IT and then enrolled into the CIS program. Most of my credits transferred over from my time in CC and the State schools (except for a few of the fluff courses I took in college). I still had quite a ways to go to finish but was able to complete my degree in just over 2 years with my BS in CIS.

There are many DeVry graduates out there that do look out for other DeVry alumni which helps quite a bit when finding a good career job.

earweed

Like anywhere else it amounts to what you put into it. Well put MeanDrunkR2D2.