The Time it Takes to Decide to Enroll in an Online School

Posted by Pamela Gustafson on January 15th, 2009

Before enrolling in a college program (online or onsite), there’s a lot of planning, thinking and reflecting that must go on. This process varies in time, depending on the person.  Matching someone’s interests and talents with a college major and lucrative career is  often a time consuming task.

Me? I knew my future career when I graduated from high school.  I was a product of the fthe fifties and sixties culture, and the only consistent female role models were teachers and nurses.   My mom wanted a nurse in the family, but I wanted to teach.  In hindsight, the job culture of my time made the choice easier, far more so than it is with today’s young people.  But obviously, not all women are cut out to be caregivers, teachers and nurses.

I have two children both majoring in political science.   My oldest son knew he wanted to be a politician since eighth grade, when he participated in a mock campaign and convention.  He joined the marines for four years and afterwards connected with many political veteran’s organizations while he worked on his degree.

Now he’s interning as a legislative aide in Nevada for one semester, and is using the online environment to take two more classes, as his internship is a great distance from the university he attends.  His use of the online environment kept the plan to graduate in 3 ½ years on track.   He plans on running for office and entering law school.

My daughter floundered for a year declaring her major as Spanish, and then by process of elimination chose political science, a topic she finds interesting. Her floundering cost the family an extra semester of tuition, two semesters if you count summer school.  The good news, she discovered that her university offered some of her classes online, so she could work full time in the summer and still take classes via the computer.   She does not want to run for office and doesn’t know where she is going to work after college.   Of course, her mother’s fantasy is that she can someday be paid to work on her brother’s campaign.

The most time-consuming part of the enrollment process is deciding what you want to study.   If you have a clear vision of your college and career goals, finding an online program and enrolling is no big deal.  This web site achieveyourcareer.com is a great example of how large amounts of college information can be gathered for a individual. The information can then be easily accessed from the comfort of one’s own home.    When a student’s career goals are not defined, which I suspect is common, I advise students to find universities where general studies classes transfer easily to other colleges.

The most time consuming part of the enrollment process is the decision.  The decision could be made in 8th grade or at the age of 19 or older.  The actual enrollment with all the online tools available, is actually quite fast.   Instead of snail mailing in requests for the documents colleges require, you can usually do this by email.   The ease of the internet can speed up the process when trying to get into a program or class just before the semester starts.   There have been times when I have enrolled in an online class a few days before the semester starts.  It is the easiest part of the process, as compared to the decision of what to study.