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Columbia MSOR Questions about CVN

Joined
4/16/12
Messages
1
Points
11
Hi. I should probably start by saying that I'm an undergraduate "pre-FE" freshman who is just taking some time to dream about future possibilities, so you don't need to take my "plans" too seriously. But anyways, I have a few things that I am wondering about regarding the possibility of doing a Columbia MSOR online.

My first is about the reputation of the program. Some people online have compared CVN to Harvard Extension School, since you can take classes without matriculating and later be accepted based on your grades. While I personally think there is nothing wrong with that (if you can handle the coursework, why should you be treated as inferior?) but I'm curious if that affects its reputation among employers or anyone else important. Are the CVN programs easier to get into than their on-campus equivalents? In terms of GRE and undergrad GPA? Thats what people seem to be implying by the comparisons to HES, but I can't find any hard evidence. Would doing well in a CVN class make it significantly easier to matriculate and/or compensate for undergraduate transcript weaknesses?

My next is about switching between CVN and on-campus study. Can one go from being an online student to being an on-campus student? I live in the New York area, so being an on-campus student is completely manageable, but at the same time, studying from home does appeal to me quite a bit. If I were to do the program from online, but later decided that I wanted to be on campus, could I do that?

My last question is about trying it out. I would want to see what the classes are like before jumping into it, possibly before I graduate (once I've at least taken sufficient prerequisite classes here at my college). Are there any risk free courses I could take? Like something that is not graded or something that is evaluated on a pass/fail basis, so that I can try it out without having to be too dedicated? If I find that I like it, I would definitely put my full effort into it, but I'd like to be able to stick my foot in the water rather than dive in headfirst.
 
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