idano Blog Network

I know it is so weird to do all of the work just to get into school and then 2 semesters later quit but I have to do what I have to do.

The main reason for my departure from the land of higher education is the impact it is having on my family and I. Having to put in the extra time in the form of a couple nights a week was wearing me out. When I did have time to spend with my wife and kids I was grumpy and tired so the time was not the best.

Another reason that got me to this point was evaluating the ROI (Return On Investment). It was looking as though I was going to invest 3 years of my life and and $40-$50K on this education. That is a pretty significant investment for anyone. The question I had to ask myself was this – what am I going to get out of? Well I already am in the career that I want to be – Product Management – and I have a fall back of Web Design and Development. I am covered pretty well so this was looking to not be the wisest investment of my time and money.

In my current position I have room to grow and develop and really learn the ropes of being a Product Manager. I believe that if I take the time and effort that I was going to put into school and put it into my job then I am going to get more of a return then if I was in school. There is a lot to learn at my present job and if I am on top of my game I can excel here.

The final reason that I quit school was that I dreaded it, hated it in fact. I do not know what it was but I really did not like to go. Every time it was time for class I could find a million reasons not to go. If I actually made it to class I would be there thinking of all the things that I could be doing if I were not in class. That is sad especially because I was paying to sit there! I know that this is sort of a maturity issue but when it comes down to it this is a me issue. This is just the way that I am and I have to deal with me and utilize me the best I can for the best results.

Final Thoughts

I looked at school as an investment, tried it out, weighed the cost of the investment verses the return, and made what I believe is a good investing decision. There are many factors that need to be considered when going back to school – your current occupation, family, and financial situation. You then need to prioritize those things and make your decisions based on the results.

I think college is something that you should really strive for right out of school. I am going to push my kids to do that. When you are young and do not have any work experience school is the thing that can get you in the door to the career that you want. When you are older experience in a particular field usually trumps school alone or is considered an equivalent. The current position that I am in required a Bachelors degree and preferred a Masters degree but I had 8 years experience in the field so my experience was considered equal to a degree.

The only time that I think getting your degree when you are older may make sense is if you aren’t really in a “career” at the time (doing whatever jobs) and you want to establish a career.

Now I am off to pay the couple of student loans that I have acquired in my little experiment.

Technorati: Quitting School, College, University, DeVry, University of Pheonix

That’s it, earlier this week I went to University of Phoenix and filled out my application, paid my fee, and changed my FASFA to UoP for next semester. I had filled my wife in on the differences between DeVry and University of Phoenix and she agreed that UoP was the place to be.

The extra added bonus is that I have 25 units at this time which puts me as a second year student at UoP as opposed to a first year student at DeVry. This makes a difference because I will actually qualify for a little more financial aid as a second year student. If all of my figures are right I should end up with about $1000 extra money which would be refunded back to me. This money would go towards paying off the new Mac I just bought.

I probably would have been better of by going to UoP in the first place but I had not looked into them. I as kind of at a cross roads in life at the time and just needed to get into school ASAP so thing really did work out since DeVry got me started so quick.

Anyway, I do not have my classes yet but will update here once I get them.

Technorati: University of Phoenix, DeVry, Class, College, University, Going back to School

The experience that I have had with the faculty at DeVry really got to me yesterday and prompted me to look at greener pastures. The first place that I checked out was University of Phoenix. I went to their website and requested a call from a counselor.

I got the call this morning and met with the counselor during my lunch hour. It was a good meeting.

UP (University of Phoenix) is a little different then DeVry in a couple of areas that has prompted me to consider switching. The first is that they do not operate on a semester based layout. Classes are 5 weeks long and you only take one class at a time and are considered a full-time student. At DeVry their classes are 8 weeks long and a semester is 16 weeks. You have to take 3-4 class every semester to be full time. My financial aid only covers enough to take 1 class every 8 weeks and therefore I am considered part time. With UP my financial aid will their 5 weeks classes so I can go “full time” and finish sooner.

The other thing that is different at UP is that their online classes are actually cheaper then their in-house class. This is the opposite at DeVry. At DeVry you can take online class but they cannot exceed 50% of the classes you take or they charge you more. The one catch is that the lower price at UP only applies to the lower tier class which account for about 2/3 of the classes that you need to take. The upper tier is more expensive then the standard in house classes (it ends up being cheaper at UP in the long run).

The two items above are pretty significant to me because 1.) I am only going to school part time right now and it is going to take me forever at this rate to finish, and 2.) I think that online classes will be easier for me as my schedule gets out of control sometimes and missing class is a probability.

The final difference that I feel between University of Phoenix and DeVry is that UP seems to be more established in the Austin area. Their facility is much larger and does not appear to be a satellite campus like DeVry in Austin is.

If I decide to switch I won’t start taking classes at UP until July since that is when the 2007-2008 Financial Aid kicks in as it would be really messy to try and do it sooner. I am going to discuss it with my wife before making a decision (that is one thing they don’t teach you in school ).

For being prepared by Microsoft certification one must be aware of the time frame, passing score and format of the exam. For example the pass score of the exam 70-270 is 700 points. However the maximum score can be vary from passing score, with proper guidance and preparation one can achieve about 800 to 825 points even in exam Server core requirements 70-290 . Exam 70-284 MCSE Exchange Server 2003 Installation has 310 questions with answers and 93 study notes. All the exams have open enrollment with 12 months completion time.

Technorati: University of Phoenix, DeVry, Class, College, University

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That’s right – only 30 minutes into the class I am dropping. There is a combination of reason for this. I guess the main reason is that I had a little run-in with the professor concerning missing class last week.

At first she did not want to let me make up the assignment at all and then she relented somewhat and offered to let me turn it in by Wednesday with a 5 point reduction. In all honesty that was fine with me and for the most part generous on her part. But, when I went to class tonight she was having everyone do part of their homework out of the book in class. My book barely shipped out today so I doubted that I would be able to get it in time to do last weeks homework and this weeks also.

So I headed to the admin office.

I ended up dropping this class and picking up the next level of Algebra in its place. Since I am still in the “math” mode I should do well in the class. I’m probably going to send back the books when I get them to save some $$$$$.

Technorati: DeVry, Class, College, University, Advanced PC Applications, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access

My new class started last week and I missed it as I was out of town on business. The class is Advanced PC Applications with Lab which is a class on advanced uses on Microsoft Excel and Access. I have used both for years now but from my experience there is always a new trick or shortcut to be learned by taking a class.

ince this is a class who’s subject I am pretty familiar with this semester should be pretty easy – if I can make it to class. Also, I do not have my book yet so I am not able to do this week’s homework. I have an email into my Professor so hopefully she will cut me some slack and either give me more time to complete this week’s homework or let me borrow a book.

Either way I will be working with numbers like I was in my last class but Excel will be doing the crunching this time.

A couple more thoughts –

There are many universities which are offering different short courses, certifications and an online degree as well. However people are interested in Microsoft certifications more than any other degree. Microsoft learning provides online training courses which include online exam to achieve microsoft certification . Popular certifications are MCSE, MCAS, MCP etc. every exam has a unique ID like Exam 70-293 is for Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure. One can prepare for these exams by himself as well a training kit is required for this e.g. Self Paced Kit For Exam 70-294 having 425 prepared questions.

Technorati: DeVry, Class, College, University, Advanced PC Applications, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access

I recently got an email from Rob informing me that when you download the Beach House Theme from the WordPress Theme Viewer that the version number on the file that you download is incorrect.

The latest version of the Beach House Theme is 1.22 but the file name has 1.21 in it.

I have downloaded the file myself and have verified that it is the latest and greatest version.

Thanks Rob!

Technorati: WordPress Beach House Theme, WordPress Theme, WordPress

The best rewarded cards are citi cards due to the cheap insurance it charges. These are often known as a visa card. 0 credit cards come without annual fees and financial charges. The credit card consolidation loans give immediate relief from all creditors and debts. There are many attractions given by capital one credit card like 0% apr on purchases until march 2009. Here listed are the top 10 cheap hosting server companies available without sacrificing quality.