All college programs require you to use your time wisely, but good time management is essential for online courses. It's easy to put off readings and assignments unless you set a clear schedule for yourself and stick to it. Since traditional courses meet at predetermined times, you have defined deadlines and more immediate consequences if you don't meet them. Also, an online course will probably require a greater overall time commitment than traditional courses.
Online courses excel at flexibility and this makes them a good choice for busy parents, full-time workers and students carrying a full schedule. Most courses require that you log on at predetermined intervals, but you can choose to do this at any time during the time period. This makes it easier to work into hectic schedules and at odd hours. Traditional classes have very little flexibility in meeting times or locations.
One of the prime advantages of a traditional course is the personal attention you get from the instructor. Not only will you get immediate feedback during class, office hours and meeting times are easier to schedule. You usually won't know when your online instructor is immediately available, and your hours and location may not make a personal meeting possible. It's recommended that students don't take online courses in their weak subjects unless they have access to on-campus tutors and instructors.
It is imperative that your traditional and online courses are from an accredited college or university. If they are not, they won't transfer to other institutions. It's a good idea to talk to a counselor before you enroll in online courses because there may be some restrictions in transferring the credits as well.
Because online classes are fairly new in most colleges and universities, classes are often restricted to a handful of core courses. Usually, you will find a greater variety of courses on campus. However, there are a number of strictly online colleges and universities that offer a wide variety of courses to choose from and because these institutions are usually national, they can afford to offer more courses.