Online Degree Graduates

Thread Starter

Shagon

Joined Aug 19, 2009
48
Is there any one in here who as gotten there Electronic Degree Online?

Was Getting the degree online worth it? Did you have any problems getting a job? and are there really a huge difference in the work market in having an EE degree over an EET degree?
 

bignick270

Joined Mar 25, 2009
36
I have a 4 year ECET, but it was not from an online program. It took me a while in 2008 to find a job but I ended up with a small company as an Engineer. I have had several larger companies almost laugh at my degree at career fairs while looking for an engineering job. I have seen job openings at some companies where the entries are limited to BSEE or higher degree holders.

My advice would be to obtain a EE degree unless you want to do lower technician style work as it will greatly reduce your job opportunities with a EET in today's market. If I could go back in time I would most definitely switched majors to our EE program instead of the ECET.

You will not find a undergraduate EE that is accredited and that is fully online (maybe one out there but if I recall correctly you have to visit the campus for a residency period to perform lab work). You will find a lot of graduate level EE programs online though if that is what you are looking for. If you are looking at a undergrad program and you have aspirations to be an engineer, there is no substitute for enrolling into a university and taking the courses where you will have the labs to reinforce what you are learning.

What ever you do make sure the program is ABET accredited.
 

Thread Starter

Shagon

Joined Aug 19, 2009
48
Can't you like get your BS in EET and from the credits you earn from EET get an EE degree? EET isn't so different from EE. Just do the remaining classes that are missing to get an EE.

I doh have plans on going for my masters but I am in situation where for at most 6 years I am only capable of doing distant studies...

I really need some help on this...
 

marshallf3

Joined Jul 26, 2010
2,358
Some of the basic courses may pass across as qualifying if you later switch to a major university but it all depends on the creditation of the online place to begin with.

Sadly this happens more often than not, I've seen people having to repeat courses that they may (or may not) have received an equivalent education in. Luckily some universities will offer you the capability of "testing out" of some courses - kind of like if you can pass the final exam for the course they consider it proof enough that you've been properly educated in the subject.

However, as mentioned above, when the time comes to interview they're going to lean far towards someone who's actually spent actual time on campus or with an online school that requires occasional campus attendance.
 

Thread Starter

Shagon

Joined Aug 19, 2009
48
The school that I am attending, Excelsior College do state that they are ABET accredited.

I just want to know if it would be possible to get my BS in EET at excelsior college and when I able to move to the United States transfer all my credits to an on campus school and spend at most a Year there to obtain my BS in EE.

And would that greatly increase my chances of getting a job as an Electronic Engineerer
 

someonesdad

Joined Jul 7, 2009
1,583
The degree used to mean that you had completed a relatively standard curriculum and could thus bring a reasonable set of skills to the table. I can't speak with knowledge about the current environment, so I won't say anything.

However, I wanted to comment on the fact that the degree just gets your foot in the door. The real weeding out process begins at the interviews with a company. You've GOT to be able to interview well to get a job. Again, I can't speak for all the companies out there, but the companies I worked for in my career (HP, Varian, Perkin-Elmer) had anywhere from reasonably thorough (P-E) to pretty tough (Varian) to tough and thorough (HP) technical interview processes.

Since I spent 25 years at HP, I'll comment on their typical technical interviews (I retired nearly a decade ago and HP was headed downhill and is no longer the HP that the older employees remember as the "real HP", so things may not be the same anymore). You'd typically spend a morning at 3 or 4 technical interviews, then go to lunch with (usually) another technical person (and this would result in a less formal interview). The people chosen to do interviews would be the technically good people and there would be simply no chance of you BSing your way through the interview. For example, one of my coworkers was an EE (and he wound up being a respected R&D lab manager) told me once he loved to ask "simple" questions of the prospective EEs. One question he always used was "Tell me how a transistor operates"; then he'd quiz the candidate about the use of that transistor in various circuits. He'd be able to do a good job of exploring the basic knowledge of the candidate -- and there's no way to hide the fact that you're missing some knowledge, especially from a guy that had spent 20 years designing circuitry. And it was the kiss of death to BS instead of simply saying "I don't know".

Thus, when you interview, you'd better make sure you know the basics of your profession well.
 

marshallf3

Joined Jul 26, 2010
2,358
The school that I am attending, Excelsior College do state that they are ABET accredited.

I just want to know if it would be possible to get my BS in EET at excelsior college and when I able to move to the United States transfer all my credits to an on campus school and spend at most a Year there to obtain my BS in EE.

And would that greatly increase my chances of getting a job as an Electronic Engineerer
Go through some of the course requirements at the major US universities for EE compared to EET - quite a bit of difference meaning you'd only be able to do some EET before you had to get into the EE part.
 
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