Moderator’s note: I’ve moved this to college search & selection and renamed your thread.
You’re best off studying archaeology in person at a university. Like the sciences, it is a hands-on discipline. The chances of you succeeding in that career field with an online degree are slim to none.
Completely untrue if you’re aiming for a master’s or PhD. Virtually any graduate program is going to expect research experience.
^This.
What are your stats? What state do you live in?
I’ll check out the rankings and look into different online programs.
It’s hard to say what my parents can contribute, because one month it could be 5k and the next it might be nothing. (Medical bills suck)
I’m still not comfortable giving out the states name, sorry! The small state college is open admission and the top majors are biology, nursing, and engineering.
There is no classical courses or anything of the kind, there isn’t even an archaeology degree. I would be stuck doing history. (Which isn’t the end of the world.) Honestly, I would attend this university just in the hopes of having a normal college experience. But it would not really prepare me for grad school.
About undergrad research, can you please source that?
I contacted a few of the universities I would be interested in attending for a masters and they all say no research is expected at undergrad??
If it is 100% vital it would be a huge decision factor.
here are my stats:
Act 32
GPA 3.8
Ecs are really weak due to my health. Mostly volunteering.
(At the flagship they aren’t high enough to really do much, at the small date school it helps a lot)
The worst part is is that I actually got into my top choices, I just was unable to attend due to my health. 
So I’m stuck either online or at one of the two state schools.
You guys are all troopers for sticking this out.
Do your top choices know you were prevented from attending due to your health? Were you already enrolled when you had to withdraw?
Will your health be getting better, and do you have any timeframe? Or is it the sort of horrible disease that never gets better?
Do you think it’ll be possible for you to study abroad later on?
Since you’re under 26, aren’t your health expenses covered, or can your parents improve their plan’s coverage with a lower deductible?
Is the matter keeping you from the flagship your health or costs?
You wouldn’t be going for a Master’s degree. For History/Archeology, you’d be going for a PHD. And PHD admissions depends upon research ability. So yes research is essential. (Also: any PHD worth doing is funded meaning you don’t pay tuition and generally receive a stipend and, in history, should only be done at top programs.)
Check out whether the small school has an honors college/program and what it entails.
And it sounds like it wouldn’t be possible at the smaller school nearby, nor with the UK online school.
So, we need to think creatively about this.
You said that only HS seniors are eligible for merit scholarships, etc. This may not be true. If you have NO college credits other than those taken while enrolled in HS (dual enrollment), then you may be considered for funding as if you were a graduating senior. However, if you took any college courses after graduating HS, then you would not be eligible for first year scholarships.
My top choice knew that I had to withdraw because of my health problems and I was never full enrolled.
Unfortunately my health won’t get any better. Luckily, it is no longer progressive (fingers crossed) but it won’t get any better.
I would absolutely love to study abroad later on, but it would definitely be determined by how well I was doing.
My parents still pay for my insurance, but I have a rare illness so we have to go out of state for a lot of care and our insurance doesn’t pay for those visits/treatments.
When it comes to the flagship both health and costs are a prohibiting factor. We may have months were it would be doable and other months were we just can’t afford it, meaning we’d have to take out loans. I’m also really worried that if I had to drop out we’d loose most of our money. And then there is the physical rigor of attending a university that large (campus is 1500 acres).
Why could I not get a masters degree for history/archaeology? Someone in my family got a master before their PhD and most institutions offer masters in those fields. (It was a few years ago tho)
I’m going to contact the undergrad research facility at the flagship and get some more information. I definitely want to be competitive for grad school and it’s the only research college in my state.
The small college does have an honors program. It’s really easy to get into (they want students to have a minimum 25 ACT to be accepted) It doesn’t offer much. The main thing it boats are educational trips and dances.
Sorry this is such a frustrating situation. I absolutely love school and it’s really hard for me to even have to be thinking about it in terms of my health.
Yes, you can get a masters degree in history or archaeology. However, if you start out intending to earn a masters degree, it is likely that you will need to pay for it yourself. If you are accepted into a PhD program and receive funding, then depending on where you study and your particular emphasis, you might be required to complete a masters program before continuing to the PhD. Some students will leave after the masters. In other doctoral programs, there isn’t a specific requirement that the students complete their masters. Often in those kinds of programs, students who decide after a while that they don’t want to continue working toward a PhD (or if their professors don’t think they have what it takes to finish a PhD) are awarded a masters as a kind of good-bye present.
@happymomof1 Thank you! That’s what I thought and that has been my familiy’s experience.
Something that my parents brought up that I completely forgot about is the GRE.
If I did either of the online programs I don’t think I’d be prepared to take the GRE when it comes to grad school.
So there is yet another thing to think about.
A master’s is often terminal (and not funded). If you want to work in archeology, you have to get into a PhD program. You usually get the Masters on the way.
College doesn’t specifically prepare you for the GRE any more than high school specifically prepares you for the SAT. Pcik up a GRE prep book at the library and take a look at the test. It is only marginally harder than the SAT. There are subject exams for some fields of study, but not all. If your field doesn’t have a subject exam, and you normally do well on standardized tests, the GRE probably won’t be a big deal for you.
I completed my second masters degree through a distance ed program. The learning experience is indeed different from a classroom based one. I missed the live interaction of the classroom, and it was sometimes challenging to communicate with faculty. However, online communications has improved so much since then that your experience is likely to be completely different from mine. It is much easier to emulate a classroom experience electronically now. For someone with a shaky health situation like yours, online really makes sense. You can pursue your studies without having to leave a medically safe zone.
Do the online programs you are looking at offer an option for a summer term or semester on campus? That is something you should ask about. When your health permits, you could go to campus, spend time “live” with some of your professors and classmates, and have at least some of the on-campus college experience.
@owlsaremybuddies – I sent you a private message.
@happymomof1
Thank you so much, for all of this. I really appreciate it.
Since the online Universities are located in the UK, there are no generals. So I’d be going three years without math or English and I don’t know how prepared I’d be for the GRE.
(But just looking around there are a lot of resources that I could use to study for it, so it’s not the end of the world.)
One of the programs I’m looking at does have an optional one month on-campus lab work course. I don’t think that it’s quite the same thing as a traditional semester on-campus and I’m thinking of emailing them and asking if it could be a possibility. (Thank you for the idea!)
Also, I know it sounds weird, but thank you for saying that about the medical situation. A lot of people think I’m crazy for even thinking about doing online, especially with how well I did in HS. It’s validating to have someone tell me that it makes sense, so thank you.
I think you also might like some advice from @HImom and @MaineLonghorn Both of them have children who experienced severe health issues while in college. They may have more ideas for you.