Online degree question

[Lsh9222]

I am 30 years old and needles to say I will be applying as a mature/discretionary student. I am hoping to apply at Dal law, UVIC, university of Manitoba (I got selected for an interview for this cycle but didn’t get in) university of Windsor and university of New Brunswick. 
I’ve been going to university since 2016 but have completed 52 credits only towards my degree so far. I had family responsibilities and constant need to be employed so I’ve never been able to take a full course load. I have decided to do my degree online now. I want ask any one if they know of some one or have had experience with this. Does it look bad on the application to have an online degree? I mean that’s the only way I can do my degree faster. As much as I love attending classes, it’s not practical for me. Also I am wondering about the reference part. I probably won’t have any academic reference other than I did some research work for my professor early this year. Any feedback would be appreciated. 

[CleanHands]

As long as it's something properly accredited like Athabasca University it will be considered like any other degree (by most Canadian law schools) and you'll be fine.

With that said you may not be considered a "mature" student as many law schools reserve that for people who have been out of school for some number of years.

Edited September 7, 2021 by CleanHands

[Yogurt Baron]

33 minutes ago, Lsh9222 said:

I am 30 years old and needles to say I will be applying as a mature/discretionary student. I am hoping to apply at Dal law, UVIC, university of Manitoba (I got selected for an interview for this cycle but didn’t get in) university of Windsor and university of New Brunswick. 
I’ve been going to university since 2016 but have completed 52 credits only towards my degree so far. I had family responsibilities and constant need to be employed so I’ve never been able to take a full course load. I have decided to do my degree online now. I want ask any one if they know of some one or have had experience with this. Does it look bad on the application to have an online degree? I mean that’s the only way I can do my degree faster. As much as I love attending classes, it’s not practical for me. Also I am wondering about the reference part. I probably won’t have any academic reference other than I did some research work for my professor early this year. Any feedback would be appreciated. 

I'll second all of what CH said. I did an in-person BA, did atrociously, got into no law schools, took some time off, went back and got a second BA from Athabasca with much stronger grades, and got into several of the law schools you list. So an accredited online degree is fine, or at least was back in my day.

I add that caveat because Athabasca has, in recent years, switched from a tutor model to a call-centre model. When I went there, courses were taught by professors, who could and did provide academic references. If anything, the individualized nature of the courses could lead to more specific and detailed references than you'd get if you were just one student of two hundred in a lecture hall. The references I got from Athabasca were wonderful. I don't know whether or how this new model has affected the way law schools view AU.

On the other hand, the bolded makes me wonder: if you do have professors, why won't you have any academic references? If you have professors, you can ask them for references, even if you didn't have close relationships with them. That's very common, and totally okay. References (like extracurriculars) are a piece of the law school application where almost everyone either drastically overestimates or drastically underestimates their quality. Make the grades from an accredited school, get the LSAT score you need, and you'll be fine.

[nitzy]

Applying this cycle with a degree from Athabasca. I've spoken to admissions at both Dal and the U of A, as I was also worried that an online university might be looked at differently. These two schools indicated they would treat a degree from Athabasca the same as other accredited Canadian Universities. I am not sure if you had planned to enroll in Athabasca or not, but I would highly recommend it. Another commenter has indicated that they are switching to a call center model however that was not my experience and I am a recent graduate. I did notice that some of the courses in say, the business related disciplines were more like a call center however most of my courses were in the humanities and I had an individually assigned tutor for each course who I would speak with regularly regarding my courses. I have even secured an academic reference from one whom I was especially close with. If you have any other AU questions I would be happy to answer if you'd like to DM me. 🙂

[Yogurt Baron]

I will happily defer to the knowledge of the person with more recent experiences at AU. When I was graduating from AU years ago, they were beginning a transition away from full-time professors with PhDs into "here, call a 1-800 number, talk to Kevin, he can help you with any of your courses"...but I have no idea if that transition was ever completed, or if, once it was completed, it was reversed to any degree. I'm glad they still have individualized tutors - some of my best learning experiences came with AU tutors.

[Lsh9222]

Thank you all for this information. @nitzyi would definitely ask you some more questions, after I am done looking up info on Athabasca 🙂 

[RC51]

On 9/7/2021 at 9:11 PM, nitzy said:

Applying this cycle with a degree from Athabasca. I've spoken to admissions at both Dal and the U of A, as I was also worried that an online university might be looked at differently. These two schools indicated they would treat a degree from Athabasca the same as other accredited Canadian Universities. I am not sure if you had planned to enroll in Athabasca or not, but I would highly recommend it. Another commenter has indicated that they are switching to a call center model however that was not my experience and I am a recent graduate. I did notice that some of the courses in say, the business related disciplines were more like a call center however most of my courses were in the humanities and I had an individually assigned tutor for each course who I would speak with regularly regarding my courses. I have even secured an academic reference from one whom I was especially close with. If you have any other AU questions I would be happy to answer if you'd like to DM me. 🙂

Hey nitzy fellow AU applicant here, sent you a DM!