Future RVer - College on the Road

[Ashlee G.]

Hello, I'm really glad to have found this forum. While I am not on the road yet, I plan to be within the next 1-1.5 years. I have some questions I hope you guys can help with! I am currently a senior in high school, and my family gave me the opportunity to join them in traveling. I've been considering my choices and decided that if I go, I will attend online schooling to get my BA in HIM. My biggest concerns are wifi-access and time. As I understand, classes will probably take 30-45 hours per week. Will it be possible to have enough internet access for this? Also, are there options to download some course materials? My last big focus is time. Between part-time working, drive time, and family, hiking, etc. should there be enough for classes? I understand that it relies on how much time you put aside, but I am curious to hear a general thought. Is this a common thing, attending school while traveling? I'd love to hear some stories of how you guys managed it, if that's the case. Thank you!

[Optimistic Paranoid]

As far as Internet Access on the road goes, you need to go to The Mobile Internet Resource Center.  Chris and Cherie LITERALLY wrote the book on the subject. They've got great YouTube videos, also.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

In general, as far as Internet goes, it will come either from wifi or cell phone service.  The later can be VERY expensive.  There simply isn't enough bandwidth out there to provide TRUE high-speed, unlimited internet cheaply.  

If you can park in parking lots with stores that provide free wifi access, you should find that most such places don't turn their router off at night, so it's often possible to get hours of free internet by parking close to their stores when they are closed.

[SWharton]

I admire your ambition and besides the challenge of wifi access you might want to consider taking fewer courses also, another place to ask this questions is www.fulltimefamilies.com and www.xscapers.com.

Besides businesses, all libraries have wifi access. There will also be times when you don't have any access at all.

You might want to look into other colleges that are more attuned to your needs so you don;t  need so much online time.

[sandsys]

College is hard. Devoting the time necessary to do well in it is hard. Getting family members to leave you alone while you study may be hard. Having enough of an internet connection EVERWHERE is hard. But, it is all doable. You just have to want it enough.

My husband worked a full time job while going to college half time for eight years and still finding time for me and our daughter. It was worth it.

Linda Sand

[JimK]

You need to talk with your family about their travel plans.  I can tell you this would absolutely not work the way I travel.  I have been on the road for the past 2 1/2 months.  I have visited numerous national parks including Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic, Great Basin, Bryce, Capitol Reef and am now in Hovenweep National Monument.  I often go days without even phone service let alone any internet.  Between driving, exploring, hiking and other activities there are only rare occasions of inactivity that would work for online study even if there was internet access.

I am a huge advocate for education, but it is worthless without adequate time and effort.  Also consider that higher education is not really about information that goes out of date.  It is more about critical and analytical thinking and learning how to learn.  That usually works much better when the student interacts face to face with other students and with faculty.  Online learning seems to be more related to factual information.  Sure there is a place and some necessity for that but it is much less important than the critical and analytical factors.

Perhaps it makes sense to take a break from academics and enjoy and experience travel.  Then later you could return to academic studies. 

[Ashlee G.]

Quote

 

On 10/11/2018 at 3:13 PM, Optimistic Paranoid said:

As far as Internet Access on the road goes, you need to go to The Mobile Internet Resource Center.  Chris and Cherie LITERALLY wrote the book on the subject. They've got great YouTube videos, also.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

In general, as far as Internet goes, it will come either from wifi or cell phone service.  The later can be VERY expensive.  There simply isn't enough bandwidth out there to provide TRUE high-speed, unlimited internet cheaply.  

If you can park in parking lots with stores that provide free wifi access, you should find that most such places don't turn their router off at night, so it's often possible to get hours of free internet by parking close to their stores when they are closed.

2

Thank you, I will check out their website and videos. I personally don't own a phone, so I know little about cell phone service. I can imagine it would be highly expensive on the road, though. Thanks again!

On 10/11/2018 at 3:19 PM, SWharton said:

I admire your ambition and besides the challenge of wifi access you might want to consider taking fewer courses also, another place to ask this questions is www.fulltimefamilies.com and www.xscapers.com.

Besides businesses, all libraries have wifi access. There will also be times when you don't have any access at all.

You might want to look into other colleges that are more attuned to your needs so you don;t  need so much online time.

Thank you for the suggestions! The nice thing about the college I'm looking at is that you can work at your own pace. A bachelor's could take 2 years or 6, etc. depending on how you work. I didn't think about libraries, that would be a nice way when possible. 

On 10/11/2018 at 4:37 PM, sandsys said:

College is hard. Devoting the time necessary to do well in it is hard. Getting family members to leave you alone while you study may be hard. Having enough of an internet connection EVERWHERE is hard. But, it is all doable. You just have to want it enough.

My husband worked a full time job while going to college half time for eight years and still finding time for me and our daughter. It was worth it.

Linda Sand

Thank you! I've always been fairly ambitious, especially when I have my mind set on something. I know there would be difficulties, but worth it in the end. 

19 hours ago, JimK said:

You need to talk with your family about their travel plans.  I can tell you this would absolutely not work the way I travel.  I have been on the road for the past 2 1/2 months.  I have visited numerous national parks including Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic, Great Basin, Bryce, Capitol Reef and am now in Hovenweep National Monument.  I often go days without even phone service let alone any internet.  Between driving, exploring, hiking and other activities there are only rare occasions of inactivity that would work for online study even if there was internet access.

I am a huge advocate for education, but it is worthless without adequate time and effort.  Also consider that higher education is not really about information that goes out of date.  It is more about critical and analytical thinking and learning how to learn.  That usually works much better when the student interacts face to face with other students and with faculty.  Online learning seems to be more related to factual information.  Sure there is a place and some necessity for that but it is much less important than the critical and analytical factors.

Perhaps it makes sense to take a break from academics and enjoy and experience travel.  Then later you could return to academic studies. 

3

Thank you! From my understanding, we'd be visiting an area and staying there for a month or so to do temp work before moving onto another place. It generally would depend on how many places we are trying to visit in x amount of months. You do bring up a point in terms of little inactivity. Traveling takes up a large portion of time. I understand your thoughts on higher education. Ultimately, it depends on the degree and what the individual seeks in life. I considered the idea of traveling first, then pursuing university, although it just doesn't work in my case. 

Thank you all for the advice! I truly appreciate it. While I am unsure where the future may take us, I will consider everything said here and decide how to go about schooling. 

2

 

[Solo18]

I travel full-time, but I teach online college classes half-time for a private, non-profit commuter college in Michigan, and I have a lot of experience with getting and giving an education, so I am going to address the educational part of your plans:

1. I am concerned that you are considering a college that lets you "work at your own pace."  This is usually a sales point of a for-profit college, and almost always, they are bad news.  Even if such colleges are regionally accredited, they often provide a sub-standard education, plus they take a lot of your money.  In addition, no matter what they tell you, they are often not well-respected in the outside world.
2. Don't get sucked into the pay-one-fee-and-take-as-many-classes-as-you-want-for-a-reduced-rate sales pitch.  There are a couple of hundred thousand students in the U.S. who have signed up with for-profits that went out of business and left them owing tens of thousands each in federal loans.  Paying as you go allows you to quit and go somewhere else if you change your mind.
3. Whatever college you choose, you need to make absolutely certain your credits will be accepted by other fully-accredited universities.  And don't go by the "advising" department's word.  Call a local state-funded university and ask them if they accept transfer credits from XXXX college and under what conditions.  (This also applies to religious colleges, by the way.  Some are very good, but others are not accredited in the same way as state-funded or private non-profit colleges, so credits don't transfer.)
4. Before you choose a college or university, talk to your high school guidance counselor and an advisor from a couple of state-funded universities.  State-funded universities want your dollar, but they report to the public, not to investors.  There are also colleges like the one i teach at that are private, but still non-profit, and that are run by a board of directors that are people from the community and from businesses who want to deliver a quality education.
5. Taking online courses is hard, and I really do not recommend it for students without some college experience.  No matter how well you did in high school, you need to learn to be an independent learner on a college level before you tackle online learning.   

I agree 100% with what Jim and Linda Sand said about the value of education.  It is much more than reading books and completing assignments. I would strongly encourage you to either take a year off before you start your education or take a year to go full-time at a non-profit institution where you can live on campus while your parents travel.  After that year, you can decide what you want to do with the rest of your life.   

There are a lot of legitimate universities and colleges out there that offer some of their classes online.  Some even offer entire degrees online, but where most of their students attend regular on-ground classes.  Transferring credits between programs and between institutions are much easier with such non-profits,  

Anyway, I wish you the best in your education and in your travels.

[Solo18]

In rereading my post, I am sorry if I was a little harsh in my comments, but I hate to see a young student make serious mistakes that can cost them a lot of money and make them give up on an education.

One addition, you might consider a slightly broader degree so it will be usable in more than a medical setting.  A regular IT degree is useful in any type of business, so it gives you more flexibility.

[sandsys]

12 hours ago, Solo18 said:

In rereading my post, I am sorry if I was a little harsh in my comments, but I hate to see a young student make serious mistakes that can cost them a lot of money and make them give up on an education.

Minnesota has a program where, if you qualify, you can go to college tuition free you junior and senior years of high school and get credit at both. Her senior year our daughter decided to do that. But she was not ready for the totally different environment college is. So she dropped out of college, thus failing to get her high school diploma. She eventually got her GED but it's not the same. 

College is hard. Lots of kid drop out their freshman year. What you are proposing to do will make it harder. We don't intend to be mean. We just want you to do well. I'm sorry that makes us sound negative rather than supportive.

Linda Sand

[2gypsies]

I hope you'll take in seriously SOLO18's comments from someone who works in the field of online college.  One can spend a lot of wasted time and money with some of the gimmick programs offered.  While your parent travel you might want to attend a junior college near you for the basics.  Best of luck to you!

[Solo18]

Just to clarify, the college I teach at is primarily on-ground, meaning that 70% of classes are held in regular classrooms at a regular college building.  We don't have sports because none of our students live on campus and because virtually all of them work.  Many of my students are married and parents, so take online classes because they cannot attend a regular college because of work and family situations.  And our students enter as juniors (we are a rare "senior" college) because they take the first two years at a community college (a "junior: college).  So, by the time I get them, they are experienced students, not entering freshmen.  Being an entering freshman is a lot different than being a junior with college experience in terms of taking an online course. 

In addition, cost is very important.  Many state-supported colleges have classes that are offered online.  Tuition is a LOT cheaper at such places, 50% or less compared to private colleges.  And community colleges can cost only 20-30% of that amount.  So check with your local community college or state-supported college to see what they charge per credit hour.  

Just be careful with your decisions.