Brutally Honest Student Reviews of Online Schools
posted by Mark on November 6th, 2009
Where to Find Online College Reviews from the Students’ Mouths
Choosing an online school can be a nerve-wracking task, especially with the glut of diploma mills and otherwise disreputable institutions, but one tool available to you is the opinions of other students and alumni. While an Internet search for “online schools” will mostly bring up sites that regurgitate sterile, overly positive marketing-speak about schools, there are some (see below) that provide unfiltered opinions and first-hand accounts from current and former students.
Granted, as with all product reviews found online, you should take these opinions with a grain of salt, since people are usually more motivated to comment on bad experiences than on good ones. An isolated review — bad or good — shouldn’t be taken as gospel, but a proliferation of similar opinions could be seen as a noteworthy trend. Look for specifics — not just “this school sucks” or “this school rocks” — and details on criteria that are important to you, be it faculty interaction, technical support, course quality or financial aid.
- Distance-Education.org: Over 300 reviews of online schools, sortable by school.
- eLearners.com: Includes a forum for reviews, questions and opinions about specific schools. Since it’s a forum, it’s not as organized or easily navigable as more standard website content.
- GetDegrees.com: Hundreds of reviews of over 100 online schools.
- GetEducated.com: Hundreds of profiles of schools — both online and offline — with reviews included in some. Search for specific schools or degree, and then filter by “100% online” to find online schools.
- GuideToOnlineSchools.com: Close to 1,000 reviews, exclusively of online schools, easily navigated in one list.
- JustColleges.com: Around 100 reviews of online schools.
- Online Degree Reviews: Over 2,000 reviews, sortable by college and subject.
- Students Review: Around 70,000 reviews, not restricted to online schools. You have to search for specific schools, or narrow down your choices by school type.
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Tags: Online Education, online resources, online schools, reviews