Keri O’Reilly lives in Massachusetts, works full time, and had already earned her undergraduate degrees with a double major in Communication and Fine Arts when she decided to go back to school and earn her MBA. “Though I had already completed my bachelor’s degree, I had never taken any business classes. I knew that in order to be admitted into an MBA program, I would probably need to complete several prerequisites.” “I was looking for a flexible program that would would fit into my timeline and schedule,” said Keri. She started doing some research about MBA programs and found a good fit for her goals with Curry College, which offers a hybrid model; some of the requirements can be completed online and other requirements need to be completed on-campus.
Completing MBA Prerequisites Online
The MBA degree program at Curry College, which offered an accelerated hybrid program, was just what Keri was looking for. It offered courses online and on-campus and since it was designed with working adults in mind, she knew she could make progress on her degree while continuing to work full-time. “Curry offers an accelerated MBA degree program I can complete in two years, even while working,” said Keri. “The challenge, however, was the program had prerequisites that needed to be fulfilled in order for me to start. Fortunately, my MBA advisor told me about StraighterLine, and recommended their online courses as an affordable and flexible way for me to complete my business prerequisite courses.” After hearing about StraighterLine, Keri did her due diligence and visited StraighterLine’s website to see what the courses were all about. She was impressed at the low-cost and the self-paced design of the courses -- and she was eager to give it a try. “My enrollment counselor told me that StraighterLine courses were all online, self paced, and that I could enroll in them immediately. And that’s exactly what I was looking for. The courses were available at such a low cost that it was definitely worth giving it a try even though I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
Finishing 3 College Courses at StraighterLine
Keri did give StraighterLine a try and liked the experience. She enrolled in and completed Statistics, Financial Accounting, and Macro Economics at StraighterLIne, completing the prerequisites she needed. “The best thing about StraighterLine was the convenience of completing the classes online on my schedule and how easy it was to transfer the course information to Curry. It was all set up so well. The transcript transfer was super easy - I just had to hit a button!” Keri also appreciated how the StraighterLine courses were set up. “It is really simple to take an online class at StraighterLine; it’s very intuitive. I have taken online courses elsewhere that were much harder to navigate. StraighterLine courses have a good flow. You get tested on what you learn. There were no surprises on any of the exams or homework assignments. It’s how it should be.”
Advice to Working Adults Thinking About Earning Their Degree
“Give an online course a try whether or not you think you will do well online or not. Navigating a StraighterLine course is a lot easier than you might think it will be, and as long as you are good with time management, you can do well, “says Keri. “Even if you don’t do as well as you’d like on a StraighterLine course, you can still come back and take it again.” Keri also has advice to students who are thinking about going back to school while working full time. “The key to my success was sticking to a schedule and time management. My entire Saturday was set aside for school whether it was completing the prerequisites I needed or taking one of my Curry classes,” she said. “I would set a time table for exactly which things I would need to do and block out time for things I needed to get done.” Keri will be receiving her diploma for her MBA at Curry College in May 2018. Thanks to StraighterLine, she conveniently completed the prerequisites she needed to move forward in her graduate degree. Congratulations, Keri! Want to try an online class? Try our free trial today!
