Cayuga Community College- Online Courses?

I am currently taking psych 101 this semester and I am also registered for developmental psych for summer. I plan to take A&P I in the fall and then A&P 2 next Spring. Some of the schools that I email stated that online courses aren't a problem as long as it includes a "lab" and is a 4 credit course; others stated it was a problem. My question is, how would they know? The transcript will not show any distinction between in person or online courses so I don't know. Also Cayuga is part of SUNY so its not a diploma mill or something. I say as long as the college is "legit" and you are disciplined enough to manage online coursework, it shouldn't be a problem but contact your perspective school if there are any doubts. I too work full time and have family obligations so I want to take most, if not all of my pre reqs online through Cayuga or one of the other SUNY campuses.

Hi,

I am taking Human Development through Cayuga online right now. While I cannot speak for the specific classes you are interested in or how schools will view those courses, I do want to share my experience.

I have never disliked a class as much as this one. I am taking another online class through Westchester Community College and I am enjoying it MUCH more, so I think online classes do not all have to be as horrible as this one and I hope you have a better experience.

My frustrations:

1. Upon registration you are given separate ID's and passwords for three different sign-ins (Cayuga Online, Angel, and your e-mail) -- all of these are different and I have to look up my ID's and passwords every time I log in.

2) The class has a lot of requirements: for example, every two weeks, you must respond to the instructor's questions within 48 hours (if it is after that you receive a 0 for that post, even if it is just a few hours later... there are no valid excuses)... then you must respond to three different students on non-consecutive days with posts of a 100 words or more (not including words like i, a, and, the). Every two weeks, you have to submit an essay exam and a response (must be more than 550-600 words... again not including words like i, a, and, the). Overall, these requirements are not unreasonable at all, but the little additions that I bolded for you make the class ridiculous.

3) These requirements do not encourage discussions back and forth. You must respond to three different students---what about responding to one student three times and having an actual discussion? And, what if you post something, and then check later in the day and someone has said something great back to you... or someone else has posted on another feed and you want to respond? Well.. you should probably wait another 48 hours before responding so that your post "counts". Often, people just post short summaries of the material we read in the textbook to meet the requirements, and different people post the same information again and again... and soon it feels like there is nothing else to be said. Occasionally, the professor will post with what seems like copied and pasted posts from a previous semester. Also, after my professor told me to recount my response, I went through to delete all the "excess words" and I was still above what he wanted, and so he adjusted my grade accordingly. But really, these excess words matter that much?

4) My professor does not give good feedback. The feedback is actually laughable, but maybe I just expect too much.

5) The class average is in the high 60's.

The good:

1) At least the material is interesting.

2) The folks in the business office and admissions who helped me register are unusually nice and helpful.

I will be taking another class or two through Cayuga online this summer and I am hoping for a better experience.

I am sorry, I know I am not helpful with your specific courses; I hope my post helps anyone interested in Cayuga. I am taking my classes through Cayuga because there are no better (cheaper) options.

I have checked with a bunch of schools I am interested in applying to in NYS and they mostly accept online courses but you should check with each school especially for the science's that you are interested in. Some say they would prefer science labs to be in person. I was not aware that Cayuga does not differentiate between online and on campus on the transcript...

Good luck in your classes! I wish you all the best and I hope you have a better experience than me. If anyone has positive experiences to balance mine out, please share as well. I feel bad posting such a negative review, but I haven't had another place to share. (No course evaluations through the school, at least not yet.)

-- Julia

awild, oh my! my experience so far is much more positive than yours, although I do agree with the multiple user name frustration when using ANGEL. In psy 101 we do one chapter/week, get 3 "mini" papers, midterm, and final. For the discussion we have to answer two per chapter and have at least one response to another classmate and that's it! I don't know if its because I already have experience with graduate level online courses but I find the course relatively easy so far and very reasonable. I just hope all my other courses would be a similar experience. good luck!

up_a_hill, yes! Good! I am so glad that you had a positive experience.

I really think my experience was professor specific. It sounds like you had different requirements which makes me relieved. I am hoping for a more positive experience this summer.

I'll try to remember to report back. :)

I enrolled in MicroBio 216 (online) at Cayuga for summer 2013. Is anyone else taking this same course who lives near Westchester NY? Looking for a study/lab partner....

Btw- I contacted Pace and Dorthy Hopfer, and they both accept this course as transfer credit...

I took quite a few classes at CCC prior to my acceptance into St. Joseph's College of Nursing in Syracuse, NY. Many were online...English 101, Psych, Developmental Psych, Nutrition...I took sociology in person (5 wk summer course/tried online but wasn't a fan of the professor so I withdrew before the end of week 1), also took A&P 1&2, and Microbiology at the Fulton campus. They have a study on Sunday option that allowed me to take A&P 1&2 in one semester. spending 6 straight hrs in class on Sunday was not much fun but i was too nervous to do labs online; for micro they want you to buy a microscope! No thank you! Plus the online classes are already more expensive to begin with. It wasn't easy but was certainly worth it. I only had an issue with one professor in an online class; I followed directions to a T but was not getting the A's I wanted on discussions. I started doing double what he required and got an A in his class. Some professors just expect more I guess. Overall I had a great experience at CCC, ended up with a 4.0 for my prerequisites and I am looking at taking some free electives there in the fall to apply toward my BSN as I graduated from St. Joes in December 2011 and want my bachelors now. I know a lot of people that took non nursing classes at CCC and as long as their grades were on par were able to transfer them for credit at St. Joes without a problem. Hope this is helpful! Good luck!

up_a_hill, yes! Good! I am so glad that you had a positive experience.

I really think my experience was professor specific. It sounds like you had different requirements which makes me relieved. I am hoping for a more positive experience this summer.

I'll try to remember to report back. :)

Hey! Just wanted to write in that I took two more courses through Cayuga: Genetics and Nutrition. They were both great. Like, really, really great. The discussions were thought provoking and my professors provided feedback and seemed like they actually cared about the class. What had frustrated me with Human Development—no actual discussion just requirements for bland posts, and incorrect, vague feedback—was professor specific.

Just wanted to clear that up. Best of luck to all!

I am an aspiring nurse, i work full time and have two small children so i thought taking some pre requisite classes online class was convenient and it should be easy. Boy was I wrong. I have taken business classes on line while i was pregnant and did very well - all b's and maybe one c but my experience with Cayuga College was the worst experience ever. They really make u feel worthless in the end. I took microbiology with lab - 4 credits there. The class is structured but the quizzes are outrageous...the questions are not basic - they are in debt questions and 1.5 mins per questions....little time and I ended up scoring really bad on all quizzes. I keep writing the professor showing concern how poor my grades were and what she suggested I do the review questions at the end of each chapter that it will help but she was wrong!...she was a robot and really did not help. She showed no concern that my quiz scores were low - no valuable suggestions, nothing! Although on my labs and discussions i got all 100s , even did bonus questions etc. I even redid one lab that I scored low on(as i suggested and she agreed) to bring my average up becuz i did not use the format suggested (first lab assignment).....i couldn't even make a C! I even purchased supplemental part to the etext book to help master the quizzes and nothing, altogether the course cost me abt $2000 (which also includes the lab kit with microscope abt $500 worth) - all went down the drain!!! I am hurt and disappointed that they did nothing to help...i was always on time with all my assignments. If I were you, i would not waste my money on Cayuga Community College - they purposely give a low grade or fail you so you have to retake with them. Please think carefully before you take a class with them...total rip off!

all of this information is very helpful and thorough - thank you!