For the most part, your new online educational goals will be met with positive comments and wishes for much success. The majority of those you talk with will be excited for you, curious about how it works and possibly interested in doing the same thing for themselves. There is, though, a small faction of people who will be negative in attitude toward not only online education in general but your goals as well. Do not let those people take away from your excitement. If you know anybody who is likely to be a negative influence at all, here are some of the things that they might say to you and your response so that you can stay on track and not falter in the face of doom criers and negativity.
“Online education does not count as real school.”
This is a common thought, unfortunately. There was a time when there were scams that would take your money, send you a fake diploma and you were done. There are some schools that are not fully accredited and may not be as well respected as others. However, not only are there many schools with full accreditation by the states that they are in, there are major universities that offer full programs as distance education – with the exact same curriculum and expectations as the classroom-based education.
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“What can you really learn online?”
You can learn a lot, actually. Some students learn more online than they would in a classroom setting because they are visual learners. Online education does not just teach the general lesson of the class but the ability to research and recognize different learning styles and other valuable, real-world lessons.
“You pay more for online education than what it is worth.”
This is one of the comments that is the farthest off base. In fact, for the most part, online education is not only affordable for most students; it tends to be cheaper in the long run.
“You will not get financial aid for online school.”
On the contrary, you will get the same amount of financial aid that you would qualify for if you were applying anywhere else as long as the school is properly accredited. You can get grants, loans and other forms of financial aid for your online education. You can apply for scholarships and in some cases may be able to apply for online-only scholarships. Before you get started, you should discuss what you can get with the financial aid office so that you can put your own mind to rest.
“You only chose that because you could not make it in regular school.”
This comment is mean-spirited on a number of levels and may indicate that the speaker is feeling a little poorly about himself for some reason. Your response should be simple: I picked online education because it was the right fit for me and my family at this time.