Once, selecting an undergraduate school was relatively easy: either you applied to a traditional four-year institution or to a community college. If you lived close to the school, you could commute; otherwise you could live in a dorm. The new options available to students make this choice considerably more complicated. Today, a myriad of online universities exist, as well as the option to take online classes at many traditional ‘brick and mortar’ schools.

There are certain obvious advantages to online colleges. First of all, you can literally go to school in your pajamas. Secondly, you can attend class when it suits your needs and schedule. Most online classes use a blackboard format, where students post messages so they can discuss various texts and problem sets. Students do not have to assemble at a specified time and place to go to class. Students can take tests online and upload papers via their home computer. Although there will still be deadlines and there may be some ‘live chat’ requirements, for a student with a family or a busy full-time work schedule, the flexibility of an online environment may be necessary. Online classes are often cheaper for students because they don’t require the overhead of maintaining a classroom and faculty offices.

However, there are some clear disadvantages to an online education. Students will not receive the personal social reinforcement of coming to class and talking face-to-face with professors and their fellow students. This can make it much easier to ‘slack off’ on assignments and put off doing work. There are no opportunities for professional networking outside of class or engaging in fun extracurricular activities. Also, some hands-on majors are not simply feasible to take via a purely online format.

One possible compromise is to go to a school that offers both online and traditional classes. This allows a student to have the college experience, including class discussions, while offers the flexibility of some online scheduling. There is no ‘answer’ to the online versus brick and mortar debate: it depends on the personality and circumstances of each individual student.