Thinking about finishing my degree...

[musclestack]

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I'm seriously thinking about going back and getting my degree. I only have 21 credit hours under my belt, and I'm not even sure if all of them will transfer to the new institution, so let's just assume I'm starting fresh. If I decide to go through with it, I would be leaning towards either a civil engineering or business degree. I've worked WITH engineers most of my adult life, and I've always enjoyed the field. I also like learning business.

Regardless, the first step for me is actually making the decision to go back. Here's the thing...I want to keep working full time (8-5, M-F). So, the only option I have is to take online classes. I don't have a family so that makes things a little easier. There are several downsides to online classes, the major one for me being that if I want to keep working full time, I wouldn't be able to attend as a 'full time' student (12+ hours). So, I would only be taking probably 6 hours each semester, plus 3 in the summer, which translates to between 7 and 8 years to finish my degree!! So, the return on the investment wouldn't take place until pretty far down the road.

Sooo...have any of you guys taken online classes and kept working full time? How many hours per semester were you able to handle? Also, if you were to pick between a civil engineering major and a business major, which would have the potential to open more doors/make more money? I'm not happy with my current situation, so I know I need to make some changes. Going back to college is one of my options. Just looking for others' perspective.

That's where you guys come in...

[Hazard]

I can't really be of any help here..... I apologize. I do admire the decision to go back as its really not something I can do. Always hated class..... Online classes would be more appealing to me but even then.... I'd slack lol.

I've taken the most difficult path :-/

[Splifton]

I had some difficulty with online classes last semester. Only reason I opted for them was due to the lecture being at a satellite campus almost 45 minutes away from where I lived.

I feel there is no connection with your professor or the other students. I ended up spending a lot of time back tracking my notes because I had an incorrect comprehension of something that most likely would have been avoided if I was able to immediately ask the teacher for further explanations. I'm someone who constantly asks questions to help solidify a sensible interpretation that clicks in my mind. If I am unable to get immediate input I usually end up forgetting my thought later on when we have the chance to ask any questions.

[calgarian]

very novel thought. Just make sure that you finish what you started. Education is extremely important no matter which path you choose. you got my vote

[Mitch535]

I worked full time and went to school full time. Very tough. I would go with civil engineering degree. The job market is SATURATED with BBA degrees right now and it is difficult to get a job with a business degree unless you have an MBA or specialize in an area of business like accounting. When I graduated with my BBA in management, I couldn't land a job anywhere and decided to go back again and get a marketing degree, and it still took a long time to find a good job. My brother makes more than I do and he's a mechanic.

Which is why I'm about to go back, again, for my RN.

[RaginCajun]

Do it!

I did 44 hours in a year (worked part time and pretty much every weekend) and finished up.

as you mentioned, take courses you can online, then look for any night courses that a local university/college would offer.

[musclestack]

Good stuff, guys. I really appreciate the feedback. For those of you who have taken online classes and worked full time, how many classes did you take per semester? It would be fantastic if I could go full time online (12+ hours), but I really don't think it's realistic...I don't think I would have time to sleep!

I understand that many people have BBA degrees; they're like a dime a dozen. I originally wanted to get a business degree, but now I'm thinking about civil engineering, mostly for the reason Mitch535 mentioned. However, I'm sure an engineering degree will be tougher to tackle through online classes compared to a business degree.

[musclestack]

Do it!

I did 44 hours in a year (worked part time and pretty much every weekend) and finished up.

as you mentioned, take courses you can online, then look for any night courses that a local university/college would offer.

Did you attend a brick and mortar college? Or did you take your classes online? Or some of them?

[bsh]

I'm 49 and never finished to receive a degree... It still bothers me in the back of my mind some and I would love to attend a university to accomplish what I started out to do... But with that being said, I started my own business and I do better than the engineering, architecture, mechanical, guys I do business w/ and they are always joking about how they need a gig like mine, haha... The point I'm making is sometime a different path turn in to some other then u thought!?!

Colleges are a business and they love ur $ only u can decide if it's worth it...if I was u, I would finish ur close

[musclestack]

I'm 49 and never finished to receive a degree... It still bothers me in the back of my mind some and I would love to attend a university to accomplish what I started out to do... But with that being said, I started my own business and I do better than the engineering, architecture, mechanical, guys I do business w/ and they are always joking about how they need a gig like mine, haha... The point I'm making is sometime a different path turn in to some other then u thought!?! Colleges are a business and they love ur $ only u can decide if it's worth it...if I was u, I would finish ur close

Funny you mention it because I've always felt that I would be more satisfied doing my own thing/working for myself. But having a college degree is also something nice to have to fall back in if things don't pan out.

[calgarian]

Funny you mention it because I've always felt that I would be more satisfied doing my own thing/working for myself. But having a college degree is also something nice to have to fall back in if things don't pan out.

Education never hurt anyone it will only help you make better decisions I am not sure how old are you but that is the only field that doesnt need a age restriction. Its just me, but Education is must you may or may not choose to work for someone and i think " But having a college degree is also something nice to have to fall back in if things don't pan out. " is a wrong approach you are expecting your business to fail even before you even started.
Just my 2 cents you can have it for free.

[musclestack]

Education never hurt anyone it will only help you make better decisions I am not sure how old are you but that is the only field that doesnt need a age restriction. Its just me, but Education is must you may or may not choose to work for someone and i think " But having a college degree is also something nice to have to fall back in if things don't pan out. " is a wrong approach you are expecting your business to fail even before you even started.
Just my 2 cents you can have it for free.

I agree that it's hard to put a price on education and, even though it will take me a while to complete a degree, after I have it, the return on my investment should be pretty quick (if I compare it to my current situation). When I said that it's nice to fall back on, of course my education would take a priority seat if I choose to continue it, however, I also look at it as 'insurance'. I hope I don't ever wreck my car, but if I do, I have that 'back-up plan' so I don't have to take a knock from my pocket. Same thing for me really...although there is more than just one benefit to getting a higher education, what I'm saying is that I would be happiest if I were self-employed, but at the same time, I find it beneficial to cover all bases.

[Hazard]

College is only as good as what you choose to major in IMO. My closest friend is in debt over his ears.... But he's an architect now. Atleast he has multiple degrees in the field to prove it. He hasn't ever found a job. He's been graduated for 8 years now.... Still paying for it..... Doing hard manual labor.

[bsh]

College is only as good as what you choose to major in IMO. My closest friend is in debt over his ears.... But he's an architect now. Atleast he has multiple degrees in the field to prove it. He hasn't ever found a job. He's been graduated for 8 years now.... Still paying for it..... Doing hard manual labor.

agreed 110%. Universities love to hand out worthless degrees that will never pan out to be worth anything!!! They think the world revolves a round them, when in fact, the should be luck to receive ur $$$... We have as a social norm, be convinced to think college is ONLY proper rout to take... This is not necessarily true in today's marketplace...

z

[Hazard]

agreed 110%. Universities love to hand out worthless degrees that will never pan out to be worth anything!!! They think the world revolves a round them, when in fact, the should be luck to receive ur $$$... We have as a social norm, be convinced to think college is ONLY proper rout to take... This is not necessarily true in today's marketplace...

z

I was making $300/hr in the medical field without college. Now..... The downside is that when the company folded I had nothing to fall back on. Had to put my nose down and I did what I had to do.

I always did well on tests and hated the extra work. College was worse than highschool for me. You had to PAY for starters, if you didnt hand in an assignment you'd be marked down - EVEN IF I could prove I knew the material. The way I saw it, as dumb as it may seem, was if I was paying and I could take the tests and proved I knew the material, I should pass the class. My professors didnt see it that way lol

[NACH3]

Very interesting fellas... Musclestack I've been going thru this in my mind as well - plus your only going to get older(we always say I'm too old but we know we're never too old) but as we wait we're just justifying what we are doing now knowing how hard it's going to be... Working full time while going to school is very hard but imho very rewarding - Plus It's going to teach you things as you go along - problems Life GFs etc etc it'll only make you as strong as you know you can be!

I'm all for it - as Cal stated we must make sure what we set out to do is done finished finito!

And like others have said - it's only as good as what you major in - your return investment - that's all it is... Your paying for it - do it's only as good as what you'll get back out of it - go for it brother!

[Hazard]

Education needs to be looked at as an investment. What's your return going to be? If the field has a high demand and justifiable pay..... By all means go for it

[bsh]

At ur age (26) absolutely go finish and hang something on the wall bro! Really, u don't want to get older and still be thinking about it... But like others have said, really take into account the marketplace u want to enter and see if it's a match! It's all math when it comes down to it in the end... U'll do great...

[RaginCajun]

Did you attend a brick and mortar college? Or did you take your classes online? Or some of them?

I finished up at a big college I took one class online but the rest were all scheduled classes since they did not offer them online.

As others have stated, I'm still paying for it but it isn't that much as I had a scholarship for 3 years.

Look online, there are tons of scholarships available now that weren't years ago

[djgreen]

engineering is where the money is that is the field I am in you wont have any problem finding a job not in my state anyway

[Splifton]

Reading through this I never really thought my degree would be worthless, but now I'm starting to take into consideration the "what-ifs."

[jimmyinkedup]

Never to late to improve yourself and your situation.
An engineering degree would enable you to get a job in business or engineering. A business degree would not enable you to get a job in engineering. Thats the way Id look at it.

[NACH3]

Never to late to improve yourself and your situation.

^^^ well said! Truest statement I've heard... Never to late for anything! I'm starting to really embrace this(after yrs of not doing)

[73rr]

Go for engineering degree. Like many have said there are to many ppl getting a business degree. A engineer degree will stand out compared to everyone else with a business degree. NOT saying anything bad about a business degree.

[bsh]

Engineers are flooding in from India and the like and working for nothing... I have seen this first hand. Don't get me wrong, engineering is a wonderful choice, my father is one, I should have an engineering degree for my sales rep gig but I don't and it's just a fluke it ended up that way! But, what I'm saying is there is a lot of competition out there!
Business associate I have was the chair of the fire protection and safety program at OSU and he told me they have a 95% placement record

[djgreen]

go for electrical or mechanical or civil engineering you cant go wrong I work in the field most of the engineers are white males nothing personal bsh but saying that its not worth it because of people from India are doing it is just not right every engineer I know and I know a lot are well off and can quit there job today and be working somewhere else tomorrow one of my teachers was retired mechanical engineer and he owns a big house a ocean front beach house and a lake house where he has 100k in pontoon boats sitting on the water

[calgarian]

I agree that it's hard to put a price on education and, even though it will take me a while to complete a degree, after I have it, the return on my investment should be pretty quick (if I compare it to my current situation). When I said that it's nice to fall back on, of course my education would take a priority seat if I choose to continue it, however, I also look at it as 'insurance'. I hope I don't ever wreck my car, but if I do, I have that 'back-up plan' so I don't have to take a knock from my pocket. Same thing for me really...although there is more than just one benefit to getting a higher education, what I'm saying is that I would be happiest if I were self-employed, but at the same time, I find it beneficial to cover all bases.

I would personally think that your higher education will make you more "aware" of the things that are going on in terms of your business. Education supposed to explore you with the new opportunities. Mind you it is coming from a guy who wants to do double Masters in computer science.....

[73rr]

I'm a mechanical engineer. Best thing I ever did and u are 100 % on the point about job security djgreen.

[musclestack]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who chimed in. It sounds like just about everyone is in favor of me getting my degree. I believe the route I'm going to take if I go through with this, is to stay working full time. So, it's going to have to be online classes. I know it's going to take longer since I won't be going full time, but like I said, it's a long term investment. I'm going to call around to a few places offering engineering degrees and go from there.

Off topic...someone above mentioned that I am 26 years old. I'm not sure why my profile says that, but I am, in fact, 31 years young.

[bartman314]

do it. many studies show the lifetime earnings of a college graduate are signifcantly higher than just a hs diploma. i'm an engineer myself and am now primarily in a business role. so i advise civil engineering, learning business can be done on the day job as it were.

[bloodchoke]

I can't comment on juggling work and online classes but, I went back to school full time in 2012--at 41 years--old to finish my math degree. I'm now a graduate student and I love it. My point: give it a shot, if only to satisfy your curiosities. You may go back and not like it; then, you'll know. Otherwise, you'll always wonder.

Either major that you're considering are wise (for a returning student). I strongly urge you to research the different types of accreditation. If the online school you're considering awards credits that don't don't transfer to state universities, I'd avoid them. I might be wary of an online engineering program since those programs are typically pretty lab intensive. Good luck, man!

[Euroholic]

If your only doing it to make money its a bad idea and a waste of time. You spend money to lern then you graduate and have to spend time climbing the ladder. How long will it take you to break even from your investment to study? Your better off using that money to make you money now via a buissnes or some sort of strategy like investing in property buy a few rentals and have them just ticking over and when you build up some capital just buy another etc etc then sell one to pay the rest off. No one in their right mind wants to get up and go to work everyday but we need money. So set your self a goal on how much money you need to retire then work like buggery until you reach that goal. Its not hard to make money you just do what you have to do. Work more hours, work 7 days a week do no spend money on stupid items that you do not need. Hard work and dedication to captilism is all it takes. And for every dollar you make try to make 5 dollars off that dollar.

[djgreen]

Euro the American dream is dead IMHO so doing that ^^^ is more difficult than ever with taxes and government regulations and without collage most people cannot get a job that pays a salary that allows to save any kind of money

[bloodchoke]

Euro the American dream is dead IMHO so doing that ^^^ is more difficult than ever with taxes and government regulations and without collage most people cannot get a job that pays a salary that allows to save any kind of money

Some can and do, and it's easy to point out examples of it (Mike Rowe does that all the time) but, for the average Joe and without a lot of luck, education is really the way to go (imo). For all degrees combined (even the ones people think are worthless), the average returns to education is 0.103. In other words, for each additional year of education, your salary increases by 10.3% (compounding).

[GirlyGymRat]

Musclestack. Do it! Figure out how to do it! U may have to make sacrifices. U may have to borrow $. I had to and I don't regret a penny spent. Figure out if engineering is for u! There's other options out there if math is not your forte.

Business major is an option but you can do biz fields with an engineering degree. The converse isn't true. MBA, paid by employer, after BS in engineering is wiser choice IMO.

[wmaousley]

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I'm seriously thinking about going back and getting my degree. I only have 21 credit hours under my belt, and I'm not even sure if all of them will transfer to the new institution, so let's just assume I'm starting fresh. If I decide to go through with it, I would be leaning towards either a civil engineering or business degree. I've worked WITH engineers most of my adult life, and I've always enjoyed the field. I also like learning business.

Regardless, the first step for me is actually making the decision to go back. Here's the thing...I want to keep working full time (8-5, M-F). So, the only option I have is to take online classes. I don't have a family so that makes things a little easier. There are several downsides to online classes, the major one for me being that if I want to keep working full time, I wouldn't be able to attend as a 'full time' student (12+ hours). So, I would only be taking probably 6 hours each semester, plus 3 in the summer, which translates to between 7 and 8 years to finish my degree!! So, the return on the investment wouldn't take place until pretty far down the road.

Sooo...have any of you guys taken online classes and kept working full time? How many hours per semester were you able to handle? Also, if you were to pick between a civil engineering major and a business major, which would have the potential to open more doors/make more money? I'm not happy with my current situation, so I know I need to make some changes. Going back to college is one of my options. Just looking for others' perspective.

That's where you guys come in...

I have and still do take online classes. If you want Business or Engineering checkout Arizona State University. I am currently getting my Masters online and have 12 credit hours per semester with a full time job that has me traveling a lot. I maintain a 3.46GPA, however this takes time management skills. I have quit partying completely and my Gym life has been put on the back burner, having said that I do have plenty of time for my family which I really enjoy.

Civil Engineering is guaranteed to give you an advantage over a Business Degree. The world has a shortage of Civil Engineers. I would have been an engineer however I do not want to take calculus or trig for engineers.

my Adviced would be for you to get a BS Eng then an MBA. This will open so many doors for you.

[musclestack]

I have and still do take online classes. If you want Business or Engineering checkout Arizona State University. I am currently getting my Masters online and have 12 credit hours per semester with a full time job that has me traveling a lot. I maintain a 3.46GPA, however this takes time management skills. I have quit partying completely and my Gym life has been put on the back burner, having said that I do have plenty of time for my family which I really enjoy.

Civil Engineering is guaranteed to give you an advantage over a Business Degree. The world has a shortage of Civil Engineers. I would have been an engineer however I do not want to take calculus or trig for engineers.

my Adviced would be for you to get a BS Eng then an MBA. This will open so many doors for you.

Impressive! How do you manage to take 12 hours AND have a full time job? Do you sleep lol?

[musclestack]

Musclestack. Do it! Figure out how to do it! U may have to make sacrifices. U may have to borrow $. I had to and I don't regret a penny spent. Figure out if engineering is for u! There's other options out there if math is not your forte.

Business major is an option but you can do biz fields with an engineering degree. The converse isn't true. MBA, paid by employer, after BS in engineering is wiser choice IMO.

Thanks, GGR. One of the fortunate things about my situation is that I would not have to borrow money. And yes, I'm leaning towards a civil engineering degree.

[musclestack]

I can't comment on juggling work and online classes but, I went back to school full time in 2012--at 41 years--old to finish my math degree. I'm now a graduate student and I love it. My point: give it a shot, if only to satisfy your curiosities. You may go back and not like it; then, you'll know. Otherwise, you'll always wonder.

Either major that you're considering are wise (for a returning student). I strongly urge you to research the different types of accreditation. If the online school you're considering awards credits that don't don't transfer to state universities, I'd avoid them. I might be wary of an online engineering program since those programs are typically pretty lab intensive. Good luck, man!

Noted on the bold^^. I will check into this. Thanks!

[calgarian]

College is only as good as what you choose to major in IMO. My closest friend is in debt over his ears.... But he's an architect now. Atleast he has multiple degrees in the field to prove it. He hasn't ever found a job. He's been graduated for 8 years now.... Still paying for it..... Doing hard manual labor.

I am guessing he made a shitty choice. if he has multiple degrees I am guessing he is not very positive guy that is the only reason i can see that the guy with multiple degrees cant get a job but honestly what do i know.