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Anyone heard of this place? I have a couple close to me in MI... Sounds like a degree mill...
Is it a tech. school?
How's the employment outlook?
I heard they do "quarter hours" and their "credits" don't transfer out.. how could someone get into a better Grad School if they receive a BS from Baker?
I'm shopping this idea choice for possible schools, however I'm not talking about 'baker online'
It's accredited but I'm guessing their reputation isn't too good.
I know of at least one community college near a Baker campus that does not accept transfer credit from there, even for the general education courses. You would have to find out about other schools, as each institution decides on its own which credits to accept from various colleges. From what I hear, a Baker degree is acceptable for careers in Health Information Technology, Secretarial, things of that sort. I know one or two of the campuses just started an Elementary(?) Education degree - not sure how well respected that would be, especially with the amount of unemployed teachers in the state. Not sure what field you are going into, but I'd be careful about the programs. Different campuses offer different programs, so I would ask around your area. I know the one in Flint offers a few engineering degrees, Cadillac offers a Vet Tech program (not sure if its an accredited program or not - I'd watch for that too). I would guess anything in the business/administrative services area would be acceptable in most places. I wouldn't trust the tech or human services degrees to help out much when looking for a job though. But, that's just from the things I've heard about the college, I have no personal experience with them other than the booklets they send out every few months. The perception may be different in other parts of the state, or vary from industry to industry, company to company. I would investigate before committing to them however.
I heard they do "quarter hours" and their "credits" don't transfer out.. how could someone get into a better Grad School if they receive a BS from Baker?
There is nothing inherently wrong with "quarter hours". Ohio State University (home of the Buckeyes) operates on the quarter system.
Oh baker.. the joys of baker. My girlfriend attends baker in Owosso MI. I know from that school, they pretty much have one professor that teaches most the biology classes(anat/phys, microbio, etc). This one teacher alone treats students like absolute ****, yelling at them in class over asking questions, etc. What happens when people bring it to the dean, etc? Nothing.. not one thing. They say he is 'highly qualified' and thats it.
Their programs are BS, they hold it against people for re-taking classes and wont allow you into programs if you've retaken over 2 classes. I could go on, but its pointless. Avoid Baker at all costs. Any community college is better.
And what do you base that on? You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
Sorry, if I offended you. I know a few Baker graduates. All of them say it is a degree mill and a big mistake. After hearing some stories from them, I see it no better than a University of Phoenix.
Yeah, Baker College is pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of reputation. The only kids I am aware of that went there were the same ones who flunked out of community college.
I can't really speak to the specifics of the college, but the reputation is very weak. If for someone reason I had gone there, I wouldn't tell anyone about it.
I am attending Baker and it has its good points and bad. I previously attended the Allen Park campus. I am now an on-line student (thru the allen park campus) because my husband got a job out of state and we moved. I have considered transferring many times to a local college in our new state but I am only 10 classes away from obtaining my Associate Degree in Business with concentration in Graphic Communications (graphic design).
I think Baker is a decent option IF you are already working in your chosen field and want to enhance what you already have going on. I personally feel its not the best option if you are wanting to change careers like I did. Baker is good about class schedules and working with adults as adults have more distractions in our lives verses a young student just out of high school.
I pretty much explained the good above but what I didnt like is that some of the instructors are not as trained as they should be. Dont confuse an "instructor" to be the same as a college professor. Most instructors at Baker have a Bachelors degree (and work full time in their regular jobs) where as a true college professor needs to have a masters degree or higher. I had a math teacher at the campus that was horrible! Her degree was in HR services. I have no clue as to why this woman was teaching math. The failure rate was very high under her instruction. My husband who does not have a college degree is a whiz at math. I would bring home tests that I didnt do well on and he would look them over. He found errors on my instructors part where I actually got a question correct and the instructor had marked it wrong! Needless to say I was not impressed in that area. My graphic design instructor had a bachelors degree from a very well known university and she was very good. Another beef I have is now that I have moved away, Baker will not help me obtain a internship which is required for me to graduate. I was told I need to find an internship on my own. I am finding this to be a little difficult.
I also found that Baker catered to students more than made it difficult. I have attended a couple of Community Colleges and the behavior and irresponsibility of Baker students would have never been accepted at the other colleges I attended. The college has small class sizes which would be great for a student that suffers from severe ADD or dyslexia. They would prolly thrive better in the Baker environment verses a community college with less one on one direction.
If I had to do it all over, I prolly would have not chosen Baker due to the fact their graphic design program is not very good. It is artistic and Baker doesnt even let the graphic design students do any of the artwork for the school. They hire an outside source. Any other graphic design college would have this work done within the school. The enrollment was low in our program so the college did not invest money into it as they should have (something I realized mid way thru). We learned on older software and when we requested the newest software, the school said it wasnt in the budget for such a small group. That really pissed me off. I basically feel at this point, I racked up loans for a hobby and not a career.
So in a nutshell...its good if you want to enhance your current career, need a flex schedule or need small classroom sizes. Otherwise I would look at other available colleges in your area. Good luck!
First of all, to bash any type of Education is just nuts. Baker is an accredited school and credits DO transfer to Universities and other colleges. It is NOT a degree mill. If that were the case, you could easily walk in and get a degree. I personally have attended Universities and local colleges and now attend Baker. The classes are 10 weeks and those 10 weeks are tough. They do not pass those who do not work hard and the professors "I've" had ALL have master's degrees in the fields in which they work. BECAUSE of the smaller class size, you get much more assistance from the professors. Most people that want to "wing it" or fly by would not do well in that environment because they would HAVE to participate. It is required in every class to write a paper or do a presentation. This almost never happens in community classes. I've personally known people that have attented community colleges that could not ever write a paper (quality paper that would be applicable in the business world that is).
To address the post that said they are on the bottom of the totem pole. I have called various people in the industry... Directors of Health Services, managers, administrators of hospitals etc. ALL of them said they do not care where the degree comes from in the end. All that matters is that the person has the degree and met the criteria. In fact, when it comes to the health care arena... it used to be acceptable for people to have C's and D's. It is no longer the case ... the people that are entering into the field now are typically A-B students.
To address the post about not letting you re-take classes. Think about it. It is not fair to someone who takes the classes ONCE and gets a 4.0 if others can keep repeating the class over and over. If they can't get a 4.0 and have to retake the class that is fine, but to make it fair to the people who take it ONCE, they should be penalized. It is already bad enough that people can transfer INTO colleges with credits from other schools and retake the class and get 4.0. (when they've already had the class before and not done well) what an advantage right? I would have loved to have all the knowledge from other classes before taking mine.
Kudos for ANYONE trying to better themselves and going college, period!!
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Education of any kind is a good thing right?
