Ooh I don't know to be honest. Try emailing them these questions. They respond quickly.
Don’t do it! We’ve already had so many issues due to lack of organization, lack of honest & open communication, and we have not been put in a position to succeed. We’ve had 6 students drop the program already, because they cannot balance work and the program (as advertised), and they couldn't lose their jobs. We’ve had 3 people quit their jobs because they couldn't balance both & could not give up the program. Many of us are not doing well and it is starting to become detrimental to our goals of bolstering our credentials/GPA.
In my honest opinion, if you are accepted to another program.... take that one! At least for another year, to allow them to figure out how to ~actually~ implement a fully functional and helpful online SMP.
As for your questions for lecture: It is 100% online, so there are no live lectures. Some professors record lecture videos and upload them to Canvas to watch, along with a Powerpoint link to download the slides. Other don’t even put forth the effort to produce Powerpoint slides for us, and others don’t even post lecture videos that they record themselves.... they just post “helpful” Youtube links.
It is similar to the face to face cohort, but also dissimilar. They are trying their hardest to keep us “separate”, while also maintaining the same curricula/schedule between the two cohorts. The face to face cohort is given many more opportunities and provided many more tools to succeed than the online cohort.
As for the question regarding how Adcoms will look at online SMP’s vs. in person, I believe that COVID-19 has made them less biased towards the in person SMP’s and more open to respecting a student who does well in an online SMP. *EMPHASIS ON “does well”!!!* Whichever fashion of instruction you choose for your SMP, just make sure that you are able to do well in that program, that you are supported and put in a position to succeed, and that your goals are valued, respected, and supported throughout that program!
Good luck to yall!