BU Real-time Review: Before the storm
grauwulf
Member Posts: 94 ■■□□□□□□□□
A few people have asked for reviews on how things work out with my M.S. program at Boston University. With that in mind I'm going to occasionally post real-time review pieces so you can get an idea of how the program compares to traditional courses and other online programs. Hopefully it will be found useful.
As general information; I completed my Associates degree through almost all brick and mortar course work (Community College). My Bachelors of Science was then completed almost entirely online (UMUC). My certifications have all been self study, and I've passed about 10 DSSTs in addition to my professional certifications. Given all of this I consider myself to be at least generically qualified to present an 'across the board' perspective. Those are my only credentials, so you've been warned
Before the storm:
Classes start next week so I'm pretty excited. BU uses the Blackboard system that just about every other college uses. It has it's problems but it's not terrible. I received my welcome packet about a week or so after being accepted and was very underwhelmed. I wasn't expecting bars of gold bullion or anything, but all you get is a welcome letter and a reusable shopping bag. Now don't get me wrong, my wife and I are big recycle types. We have a compost pit and rain collection barrels and all that jazz, but really? a tote bag? ... Welcome to Boston University's NPR school of technology ... On the other hand a day later I got my student ID in the mail. It's a simple part-time student ID with your name and ID number on it but it does let you go to sporting events and any other school activity it you happen to be in the area which is really cool. If you want a "real id" you can just stop by campus and pick one up. I know, it's just a card, but it does make you one of the team / part of the family and I really appreciate that after some of other online programs where you aren't 'part' of the program, just taking part 'in' it. I plan to go to at least a few hockey games
So-far so-good, but what about class? Well my first class starts next week so I don't know. What I do know is that A) the blackboard system is pretty easy to use. All new online students are in an online orientation now so folks in the various programs are starting to form up a bit and chat which is nice.
The books are current but not bleeding edge. This is good for a few reasons. First, you can get them cheaper. I got my $133.00 book on ebay for $25. Second, the teachers and online facilitators, might actually 'know' the material if they aren't swapping out books every semester.
This brings up another point. Facilitators. It seems that each class has a professor (the same person who teaches the class in real life - the prof for my first class is the CS department chair... no pressure), a facilitator and a lead facilitator. As far as I can tell the prof is a manager and the facilitators will be the primary points of contact. I'm guessing that these are PhD students so we'll see how well that goes.
Lastly - schedule! Holy $chnikies the schedule is INTENSE. BU online graduate courses are 4 credit hours and only 7 weeks long. That's 2-3 chapters, a quiz, 4-6 discussion threads, and ongoing project work - every - single - week. Add in that I have a wife and a job as a security/development consultant that has been 60+ hours a week for months now.... yeah... bring on the red-bull. If you maintain that pace you will finish the program in a year and a half, and potentially go insane. I like pressure but wowie.
OK folks that's what I've got. I'll keep you posted. Like it or not
As general information; I completed my Associates degree through almost all brick and mortar course work (Community College). My Bachelors of Science was then completed almost entirely online (UMUC). My certifications have all been self study, and I've passed about 10 DSSTs in addition to my professional certifications. Given all of this I consider myself to be at least generically qualified to present an 'across the board' perspective. Those are my only credentials, so you've been warned
Before the storm:
Classes start next week so I'm pretty excited. BU uses the Blackboard system that just about every other college uses. It has it's problems but it's not terrible. I received my welcome packet about a week or so after being accepted and was very underwhelmed. I wasn't expecting bars of gold bullion or anything, but all you get is a welcome letter and a reusable shopping bag. Now don't get me wrong, my wife and I are big recycle types. We have a compost pit and rain collection barrels and all that jazz, but really? a tote bag? ... Welcome to Boston University's NPR school of technology ... On the other hand a day later I got my student ID in the mail. It's a simple part-time student ID with your name and ID number on it but it does let you go to sporting events and any other school activity it you happen to be in the area which is really cool. If you want a "real id" you can just stop by campus and pick one up. I know, it's just a card, but it does make you one of the team / part of the family and I really appreciate that after some of other online programs where you aren't 'part' of the program, just taking part 'in' it. I plan to go to at least a few hockey games
So-far so-good, but what about class? Well my first class starts next week so I don't know. What I do know is that A) the blackboard system is pretty easy to use. All new online students are in an online orientation now so folks in the various programs are starting to form up a bit and chat which is nice.
The books are current but not bleeding edge. This is good for a few reasons. First, you can get them cheaper. I got my $133.00 book on ebay for $25. Second, the teachers and online facilitators, might actually 'know' the material if they aren't swapping out books every semester.This brings up another point. Facilitators. It seems that each class has a professor (the same person who teaches the class in real life - the prof for my first class is the CS department chair... no pressure), a facilitator and a lead facilitator. As far as I can tell the prof is a manager and the facilitators will be the primary points of contact. I'm guessing that these are PhD students so we'll see how well that goes.
Lastly - schedule! Holy $chnikies the schedule is INTENSE. BU online graduate courses are 4 credit hours and only 7 weeks long. That's 2-3 chapters, a quiz, 4-6 discussion threads, and ongoing project work - every - single - week. Add in that I have a wife and a job as a security/development consultant that has been 60+ hours a week for months now.... yeah... bring on the red-bull. If you maintain that pace you will finish the program in a year and a half, and potentially go insane. I like pressure but wowie.
OK folks that's what I've got. I'll keep you posted. Like it or not
Comments
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idr0p
Member Posts: 104
I applied for fall 2, waiting on reply. Ill def give my 2 cents if i get accepted as this is my target school.
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FatalMatt
Registered Users Posts: 7 ■□□□□□□□□□
Looking forward to your experience. I'm applying for the Spring.
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veritas_libertas
Member Posts: 5,746 ■■■■■■■■■■
Thanks for the initial review. Please keep us updated, it's nice to get a broader view of online university degrees. -
grauwulf
Member Posts: 94 ■■□□□□□□□□
Will do folks! Classes run from Wednesday to Tuesday (no, I don't know why) so I probably post something at the end of each week. I know most folks here are familiar with the WGU system so it just seemed worth while to present some alternate options and how those work in real life.
To all of you considering BU: at this point I say go for it. Based on what I have seen of the programs so far they are challenging but doable.
Class 1 assignment 1 : build a complete LAN + MAN + WAN inter-network diagram and explain it.
This is definitely not undergrad With that in mind, I guess I should get to it.
Enjoy all! -
veritas_libertas
Member Posts: 5,746 ■■■■■■■■■■
Will do folks! Classes run from Wednesday to Tuesday (no, I don't know why) so I probably post something at the end of each week. I know most folks here are familiar with the WGU system so it just seemed worth while to present some alternate options and how those work in real life.
To all of you considering BU: at this point I say go for it. Based on what I have seen of the programs so far they are challenging but doable.
Class 1 assignment 1 : build a complete LAN + MAN + WAN inter-network diagram and explain it.
This is definitely not undergrad With that in mind, I guess I should get to it.
Enjoy all!
Agreed. Thanks for being willing to share your experience with us. I'm sure Webmaster would agree that we don't want to come across as being a WGU only community. Hopefully more TE members will be willing to write about their online university experiences. I believe there are several members who have attended UMUC, including you. -
idr0p
Member Posts: 104
Will do folks! Classes run from Wednesday to Tuesday (no, I don't know why) so I probably post something at the end of each week. I know most folks here are familiar with the WGU system so it just seemed worth while to present some alternate options and how those work in real life.
To all of you considering BU: at this point I say go for it. Based on what I have seen of the programs so far they are challenging but doable.
Class 1 assignment 1 : build a complete LAN + MAN + WAN inter-network diagram and explain it.
This is definitely not undergrad With that in mind, I guess I should get to it.
Enjoy all!
What class are you taking Grauwulf? -
idr0p
Member Posts: 104
One issue i did see is that there is only 5-6 classes available for the 7wk track every half trimester. and some of the classes like.. advanced forensics and stuff are not on there
