schools

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new guy
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schools

Post by new guy »

I live in northeast philadelphia and I am interested in going to an electronics school. I cannot find any in the phila. area that offer night school. Can anyone help?
Dean Huster
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Re: schools

Post by Dean Huster »

Decent night schools will be tough to find. In most cases, your area vocational-technical schools ("vo-techs" operated by either the local school districts or by a state department of vocational education) usually have night classes, but rarely do they parallel the daytime classes, typically being a course in dc electronics and offering nothing more advanced because the classes won't "make". If the vo-tech has a good self-paced instructional program, they have the capability of having night courses that are identical to the daytime courses such that a student can switch back and forth if they switch shifts on their jobs. A good example of that is the Francis Tuttle Technology Center in Oklahoma City.<p>A community college may be a possiblity for you. They often have evening classes designed for working folks. However, a lot of 4-year and associate-degree community colleges only offer general education courses during the evening or summer rather than specialty courses. Really stinks when they do that.<p>The other option may be a commercial tech school such as DeVry or ITT Technical Institute. They both have campuses all over the country, but I don't know if they offer anything other than daytime programs. You have to check them out individually. You should be able to find them on the Internet for more information. I've heard nothing but good things about DeVry.<p>Another option is to steer away from tradional education and see if you can find a correspondence school. There used to be lots of those around, but most have fallen by the wayside. I believe that Cleveland Institute of Electronics (CIE) is still in business. They advertised in Poptronics all the way to the final issue. They're at (800) 243-6446 or http://www.cie-wc.edu<p>Dean
Dean Huster, Electronics Curmudgeon
Contributing Editor emeritus, "Q & A", of the former "Poptronics" magazine (formerly "Popular Electronics" and "Electronics Now" magazines).

R.I.P.
cato
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Re: schools

Post by cato »

I can't recommend a school to you. However, I can mention that it was hard enough to stay away in engineering classes at High Noon. Trying to stay awake in class after a days work..I can only imagine that would be....brutal man...just brutal :o
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MrAl
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Re: schools

Post by MrAl »

Hello,<p>This is a little off topic, but Dean, are
you saying Popular Electronics or its
derivatives are no longer published?<p>Al
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
russlk
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Re: schools

Post by russlk »

Where have you been, Al?
RE: staying awake in night school: You have to sugar up, a cup of coffee and candy bar did it for me.
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Chris Smith
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Re: schools

Post by Chris Smith »

Or you can study on your own time, and challange the Exams at a local college. <p>Worked for me with a 60 hour work week, and home study to boot. You can study easier with out distractionsm or commute, in the comfort of your home.
wd5gnr
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Re: schools

Post by wd5gnr »

Challenging is getting more accepted.
One problem though is that any ABET certification requires an amount of lab work and I don't know any way around that except doing the lab work. ABET cert may not bother you if you don't plan on seeking a PE ticket, though.<p>There are three kinds of schools:<p>1) Regionally accredited schools -- these are the guys you know (MIT, UT, CalTech, etc.) plus a lot of schools you never heard of.<p>2) Well-meaning schools that aren't accredited. Many of these are "trade schools". Some are accredited by someone else (like DETC). Some of these are better than others.<p>3) Degree mills that sell you a diploma in exchange for cash.<p>Avoid #3 at all costs. Many of them are accredited by "the XYZ accreditation agency" or in another country. This is just a sham and serves no one but the mill operator.<p>#2 is good if you want to learn and can't or won't go to a #1 school. A lot of the schools in this area (like ITT) probably fall into this category. Employers know them, but you can't use a degree from these places to get into grad school (at least not easily). Also, if the school is not a known name, many employers will assume it is a degree mill.<p>#1 is the gold standard. There are 3 big schools that specialize in distance/challenge and have this level of accreditation:
http://www.tesc.edu
http://www.cosc.edu
http://www.excelsior.edu/<p>Many of these are used by the military -- you can't stay in one place long enough to go to regular schools. Good grad school acceptance, but no ABET-EE degree (there are some EET options, though and plenty for CS).<p>This is a thorny area. The government recognizes certain accrediting agencies. But they have no real authority. So some diploma mills will say they are licensed by the state of _____. Well, yeah, so is the McDonalds across the street -- they have a business license. Also I could start the Al Williams Accreditiation Agency and "recognize" any school I wanted to for whatever reason. <p>Good info:
http://www.degreeinfo.com - Lots of discussion
http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/ - The state of Oregon has a good no-nonsense look at this issue and a list of schools they consider degree mills.<p>Good luck!
Dean Huster
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Re: schools

Post by Dean Huster »

Hmmmm. Where HAVE you been, MrAl? Check out the following URL and look near the bottom of the thread for the big magazine blurb. The last issue of Poptronics, formerly Popular Electronics and Elecronics Now magazines, was the January 2001 issue.<p>The URL:<p>http://206.131.241.58/ubb/ultimatebb.ph ... 1&t=000451<p>Dean
Dean Huster, Electronics Curmudgeon
Contributing Editor emeritus, "Q & A", of the former "Poptronics" magazine (formerly "Popular Electronics" and "Electronics Now" magazines).

R.I.P.
greg123
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Re: schools

Post by greg123 »

Dean,<p>Poptronics stopped in Jan 2003.<p>greg
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