Being a double major may have its perks after college, but right now it's hard. I have to take a boatload of classes just so I can graduate in four years. I may only have one more year left of school, but it may be my hardest year yet. And this school year started with an online summer school class.
Of course, if you need to take a summer school class, and your only option is to take an online class, do it. That's the exact position I'm in. I have to take two online summer classes to keep up with graduation. I have just finished my first class, and I have a lot of opinions about it. To begin, why the fuck do we have to pay full tuition price to take a three-week online class? It's absolutely ridiculous that I have to pay $1,500 dollars for an online class that lasts only three weeks. The only thing that this class consists of is online homework and tests. The teaching part is basically unneeded because we are taught by reading the book ourselves. On that note, let's also talk about why we need a book for a three-week online class. Apparently, the $1,500 was not enough money, because I needed to buy a $100 dollar online textbook. While the class says it is mandatory, I opted out of it because money isn't growing on trees. I will probably end up with a B in this class, but I didn't have the textbook, which could have given me an A. The fact that your income may impact your GPA baffles me.
Finances aside, let's talk about the content of the course. Every class may be different, but I have a feeling that this course exemplifies many courses throughout the United States. I can truly say that I learned absolutely nothing. It's all temporary knowledge that you use for a week and forget. We have to teach ourselves and are then thrown into a quiz or a test. Not only were we given a lot of quizzes and tests, the tests and quizzes contained questions that were so wordy, they were meant to trip you up. So I had to spend hours self-teaching myself, to miss some questions because of fucking wording? Who does that? Also, because the class is condensed into three weeks, we are given so much information, that you're basically set up to fail. School is supposed to teach you, and classes like these are the opposite of that.
Many people take online classes because they are easy to cheat. Quizlet and Coursehero continue to help college kids get through school. While it boasts their GPA, they aren't learning anything. I know that schools know students cheat, so why do they continue to allow it. They may say "Cheating is prohibited" but they aren't trying to stop it. Why would I work hard and not cheat, when everyone else takes the easy way out and looks up the answers. Schools see this and do nothing, and online classes are the main target for cheating.
My rant may be over, but my feelings are still strong. Online classes are a big no-no in my book. You learn nothing, have to pay up the ass for a three-week joke class, and it's easy for everyone to cheat. If you're looking for an easy class to take with no effort, online classes are for you. That's why I believe online colleges are a joke because there is no teaching there. It's just information that you apply for a day, and forget. Take the online class if you must, but take it for me, it only hurts in the long run.