Online degree to traditional masters

Graduate School
1

<p>I have a bit of a unique situation which is very complicated but, I will try to be as concise as possible.

  1. Presently a California Community College student with 4.0 GPA and 90 semester credits
  2. Do not receive any financial aid and will not qualify for any as EFC is over 40k.
  3. Parents refuse to contribute, and I am living on my own 3k miles away from all relatives
  4. Do not qualify for independent status because of my age</p>

<p>Here is the complex part:
I intend to forgo my dream of UCLA and instead attend American Military University online and get a BA. The BA will automatically qualify me for independent status. Due to the fact that my income is less than 8k I suspect I will receive substantial financial aid for grad school.</p>

<p>The problem is can I even get into grad school with an online degree? I am talking about UCLA MA/JD program for philosophy or any of other top-ranking school? Or, will my entire quest prove to be moot?</p>

2

<p>Sorry for the wasted forum space, I just found another similar thread</p>

3

<p>If by “financial aid” for grad school you mean loans, then yes, you’d be well-positioned to receive a good amount, but I’d caution against doing an online degree for your BA, especially if you’d like to go to UCLA for grad school. Is there a cheaper state school you could look at transferring to, one that would give you merit aid considering you have a 4.0? Keep in mind that there’s no shame in taking longer to complete your BA while you work and pay your way through school - if anything, the “real world experience” would be a boost for your applications so long as your grades stay up and you get stellar test scores. </p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

4

<p>With a 4.0 you should qualify for significant merit aid. Start calling admission and financial aid office of schools you’re interested in and find out how they can help you reach your goals.</p>