University of Phoenix Online Review

I am in my first semester at the University of Phoenix. I have attended a standard university in the past but wanted to continue my education at my own pace and on my own time. I currently work a full time job and have little time to attend standard classes. I looked into the University of Phoenix a few times but wondered how an "online school" would be looked at and whether I would actually like it.

First lets discuss "online schools", these types of schools are more common now then they were in the past and have come a long way. I think depending on who you ask some people turn their noses up at online schools. They don't see them as good as a campus school. I am here to say that I do not agree with that. I can only speak for the my experience but the University of Phoenix is accredited and most workplaces including mine will reimburse your tuition to the University of Phoenix.

So how exactly does it work? Well when you sign up you get an enrollment counselor who calls you once a week at first to check up on you. Not a big deal, mine was very friendly and once they know your doing OK they don't call you as much. My Counselor called me when I first signed up and walked me through signing up online and doing my FAFSA (financial aid), he was very helpful and made it super easy. No pressure from him and I felt comfortable talking to him. You also get assigned an Academic counselor and a Financial adviser. You speak with them when you first start to get to know more about your classes and about your financial aid and other costs. Your academic counselor will also help you with your transfer credits if you have any.

OK so how are the classes run? The classes are run in forums. When you log in you will see your classes listed, usually two per semester. Click on the class you want to go into and you will see your whole semesters worth of work, course syllabus and calendar. You will also see the materials you need for each class. The main forum is the discussion forum, this is where all your work and daily discussion questions will be. Now since you go on whenever you want it is not a live classroom, meaning its not in real time. You will see different threads in which you can participate in. The two most important things besides handing in all your assignments are attendance and participation. You have to post two times three days a week to the main forum for participation and twice a week for attendance. You also have an individual forum for which you will post your assignments.

If you are use to using a computer and have been in chat rooms or forums then you will find it easy to maneuver, if not it may take a little time to get used to. It helps to take a tutorial or workshop which basically walks you through everything before you start your classes. They have so many tools and people to call for help that it is very easy to learn.

One thing I would say is if you need one on one help often this may not be for you. Some people find it harder to learn because you are not in a lecture environment where you can just ask questions and hear a whole lecture on the topic of the day. I think its more for people who find it easy to learn a little on their own and can just read an assignment a few times and get what the teacher wants from you. In my experience so far, the teacher is easy to email, chat or call if you do have questions though. You can also become friendly with the other students and get their email addresses if you need help. I really like the university so far and it fits great into my schedule!