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would you ever look down on someone because he has an online graduate degree?

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shortylickens said:
No, but only because I dont think of college as being all that fucking hot anyway. Most of them are just catch up for a shitty high school education. And based on what I've seen, like high school the college teachers are just sliding them through anyway.

Only the ivy league cocksuckers have any reason to be truly proud. Everyone else is just grinding through the system to get a piece of paper that doesnt really make them much more employable. These days so many companies prefer indians or koreans in bulk rather than headhunting one american at a time.
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Ummmmm....you do know that "grade inflation" is even more rampant in the Ivy's, right?
 
jingramm said:
even if the degree is from a reputable school like Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, University of Washington, etc. from their engineering school?
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I've actually looked into the the online master's engineering program that Purdue offers through distance learning. It's the same courses taught by the same professors. You do the same homework and take the same tests which need to be administered by a designated proctor. The course catalog that's available is light on courses that require lab work and heavy on courses that are more theoretical because those can be done just without any additional equipment.

As far as I can tell Purdue does not make any distinction between a degree earned on their campus or through distance learning. Considering they have a great deal to lose if their name is diluted by a low quality online program it seemed like a completely respectable way to get a degree.

I would be concerned about a degree from a place that is not acredited by ABET or doesn't have a well known name for engineering. Schools with a valuable reputation aren't going to risk it by a bad program while schools that have nothing to lose will churn out degrees to make a few bucks.
 
Depends on the school. I'd look down on some degrees from a lot of particular colleges and universities moreso than someone with an online degree from a school with a high reputation. And, while you did point out that you're referring to an engineering degree, there are some degrees that are little more than a piece of paper, regardless of the type of school attended.
 
kinev said:
Ummmmm....you do know that "grade inflation" is even more rampant in the Ivy's, right?
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Yup, read the NY Times article last week about that crap. Unbelievable, instead of doing a better job teaching they decide to just pop an extra .33 to the grades for the last 2 years. :thumbsdown:
 
jingramm said:
even if the degree is from a reputable school like Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, University of Washington, etc. from their engineering school?
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I've met several Purdue engineers lacking a basic concept of physics. The school does not really have any bearing on the quality of work you'll get.

Even in engineering, you are most often graded on how well you regurgitate what the prof want to see.

Anyone that can memorize old test solutions and the examples covered in class should be able to graduate.
 
For engineering? Yeah probably. I would expect that such a degree only requires you to take an additional set of online courses. It would be difficult to arrange any meaningful lab or research experience. I have been seeing more universities dropping the option to get a MS by taking extra classes and requiring a thesis. I find thesis work to be more meaningful since it requires that you actually make a serious application of your knowledge and learn more about your area of study.

I would not expect the above to be a viable lesson plan for an online degree. Generally though, I would expect any employer to ask about your graduate studies in which case this information would be borne out regardless of whether you hold an online degree or not.
 
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It depends.
If said person was able to maintain a high gpa throughout, it shows they are fairly efficient at the self-discipline, & teaching oneself. Or somehow they could just bullshit and get by, but I see alot of that at a real school too. Like that one kid who would always sleep in class and didn't even take his book out the plastic, and passed w/a 98%. Yet I put in endless hours and sleepless nights to study, do work and barely get a C, I don't get it!
But either way I'd value that hands on experience over the online-only experience. Unless said person already had the placement & hands-on experience in whatever profession they were in school for.
But eh, yea, highly depends on school/person/etc.
I haven't met anyone that has finished an online degree before dropping out.
 
No. Honestly the only people I look down on are smokers. If you don't care enough about yourself to give up a nasty expensive waste of a habit like that then why should I respect you?
 
lxskllr said:
Degrees don't influence my opinion one way or the other. I've seen too many papered dumb asses to put too much stock in them. Quality work is what impresses me.
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This ^^^^^

In my 35 years of Industrial experience 7 out of 10 Engineers have great brains but couldn't plan or organize a cluster-fuck.

If this hurts your feelings, you must be of of the magnificent 7!
 
Yea. I dabbled with some engineering stuff when I first started school, before I switched majors. Definitely something folks who wanna break into the profession should have some extensive hands-on experience.
 
Bignate603 said:
I've actually looked into the the online master's engineering program that Purdue offers through distance learning. It's the same courses taught by the same professors. You do the same homework and take the same tests which need to be administered by a designated proctor. The course catalog that's available is light on courses that require lab work and heavy on courses that are more theoretical because those can be done just without any additional equipment.

As far as I can tell Purdue does not make any distinction between a degree earned on their campus or through distance learning. Considering they have a great deal to lose if their name is diluted by a low quality online program it seemed like a completely respectable way to get a degree.

I would be concerned about a degree from a place that is not acredited by ABET or doesn't have a well known name for engineering. Schools with a valuable reputation aren't going to risk it by a bad program while schools that have nothing to lose will churn out degrees to make a few bucks.
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This. I got my Master's in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado at Boulder(CU Boulder) via distance learning. It is the same class, with the same teachers and students and the same content. The only difference is that it is taped vs. live. I have to do the same homework and same projects with people in class, sometimes even in teams of people who are in class. I had to go to campus once to give my capstone presentation.

The content and the exams are not watered down in grad school (even online). They are very detailed and if you do not understand the content, you will not pass the course.

I also attended UC Irvine's grad school on campus for Networked Systems for two years before I transferred to CU (had to move due to taking on a new job) so I know how grad school is like in person.

I am in a unique position to say that both(distance and on campus) were equally difficult (content wise) and not all online programs should be discounted. Each program was difficult in technical classes. Going to school via distance learning had additional problems of turnaround time for questions because I simply could not just ask them when they came to me. I also had to deal with isolation from my classmates who for the sake of team assignments were very often in class students. We had to use skype, conference calls, etc. to get stuff done.

I cannot speak for all distance learning programs but I would say any that follow the same format (live on campus lectures taped). If you want a good distance learning education, I can only recommend going to big name schools or state schools.

BTW - CU does not differentiate between online and on campus degrees.... Neither should you.
 
No. Education is all what you make of it yourself. The last place I worked, the VP of Engineering asked what 3/8th was.. yeah, he was actually asking what it was in a decimal. If you have a genuine interest in something and apply yourself you can actually 'learn' and not just memorize.

That said, unfortunately it will most likely be a sticking point sooner or later - ie. used as an excuse to hold back on wages etc. Most places tend to be run by the Sales side of things, so stuff like an impressive looking piece of paper, good golf skills, good friends in the right places, ability to BS your own mother, etc, tend to over-rule actual skills. They don't have the patience for actual engineering so if you're trying to do it the proper way they aren't going to like you much.
 
Absolutely. At just a bit over 6'-1", I "look down" on most people anyway...It's the rare tall one that forces me to look up...😛

I suspect that an "on-line engineering degree" wouldn't be looked at too favorably. Some majors, sure; English, philosophy, etc...but not something that required tons of lab work like engineering or science majors.
 
IcePickFreak said:
No. Education is all what you make of it yourself. The last place I worked, the VP of Engineering asked what 3/8th was.. yeah, he was actually asking what it was in a decimal. If you have a genuine interest in something and apply yourself you can actually 'learn' and not just memorize.
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the answer is =round(3/8,3)
 
BoomerD said:
Absolutely. At just a bit over 6'-1", I "look down" on most people anyway...It's the rare tall one that forces me to look up...😛

I suspect that an "on-line engineering degree" wouldn't be looked at too favorably. Some majors, sure; English, philosophy, etc...but not something that required tons of lab work like engineering or science majors.
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Not that you'd even actually use any of that lab work in real life. I would say as long as you can pass you FE and PE there shouldn't be any issue. especially since you already have a BS. Like others have said, I wouldn't bring it up if I weren't asked about it tho.
 
I wouldn't if it was from a reputable school and the school itself did not acknowledge a difference between their online or physical degrees. If the school recognizes them as the same then I trust the school knows a hell of a lot more about their program then I do so I am really in no position to be critical of them.

Now with that being said if it was a no name or a for profit "University" of Phoenix type thing, then yeah I would look down on that.
 
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