Looking for info: Ashford University

Hello. I have been reading the forums for a couple of days and after doing a search for info on Ashford I wasn't able to find much here. I want a Bachelor's in Sociology and I have narrowed down my selections to Ashford, Ellis, TESC, Excelsior, and Charter Oak (the last two offer concentrations in Sociology).

I am leaning toward Ashford because the program fits my needs and on a personal note, I really liked the enrollment and financial aid counselors I have encountered so far. They seem to know exactly how to manage my transition from UofP (by the way, I am one who has enjoyed my UofP experience and would stick with them if they offered Sociology). Ellis would be great and first choice except they don't have financial aid and I could never afford school without it. TESC has never gotten back to me, and according to what I have read here they have a bad reputation as far as customer service, which is pretty much a dealbreaker for me.

That brings me back to Ashford. I am just about ready to take the plunge and begin the application process. Reputation does matter to me (although I did go with UofP knowing their reputation once again because of great customer service and how easy they made the process), and I'd like to know if anyone has detailed experience they'd like to share. Thank you very much for your consideration.

 

I had a great experience with them, certainly they have the most transparent enrollment process I've ever seen and their customer service throughout the program is excellent. That being said they are not the least expensive option around but if money is not the biggest factor they are certainly a good school from my experience.

 

Thank you for your reply. I see you went through the MBA program with them, congratulations. Would you mind telling me what was the worst thing you could say about your Ashford experience?

 

Why focus simply on that? I suggest you read my blog, I pretty much chronicled my entire experience there.

 

Ashford

There is both good and bad to any school, including Ashford. It almost seems as if friendorfoe works for them (which many students do). If I had to give Ashford a rating out of 10, I would say a 6.5-7...which means that if I had to do it over I would. The school's accredited and most of the teachers are competent when it comes to their subject.

I am 4 classes away from graduation (Bachelor's of Arts in Social Science, with a concentration in education) and can't wait! It's been a long road...and I even transferred in with 64 credits. I can't imagine taking all 120 credits here for my Bachelor's. For anyone considering that, my suggestion is to go to community college and take at least 50 of your credits. While the school is convenient, it's definitely not a breeze. First off, if you aren't a good writer or despise writing, this school is not for you. Everything is submitted in essay or 8-10 page paper form. The classes are 5 weeks long, so expect a ton of work. Then once you're finished with that class, you're onto the next - the very next day. Weeks start on Tuesday and end on Monday. So when you finish your class Monday, you start your next one on Tuesday. It feels like you can't even stop and take in the fact that you just finished 2-3 papers, read over 600 pages of textbook, and completed 30-40 essays/short essays in a 5 week period. Even thinking about it makes me tired.

The tests are open book, so as long as you read the material, you should be able too get 100's on all of them. If you haven't read the text and are looking for answers while doing the test, you'll probably average an 80 for them (some are timed). Like with all open book tests, there are a lot of trick questions and answers that can only be found in a small paragraph out of the 150 pages of required reading for the week. Trust me, the index can't find everything. The amount of required reading is a bit overwhelming sometimes, but you get use to it after awhile.

Overall, my academic advisers have always been good, but if you're planning on receiving financial aid expect a lot of BS. Not only are they constantly changing your adviser, but the majority of them are incompetent when it comes to their job. I have had too many issues with them to even go into, but it's a necessary evil since I can't afford to pay for it out of pocket.

Since I had been to college before and experienced it that way, I'd have to say that college at a university is more interesting and fun, but if you need to get school over with quickly and somewhat inexpensively in order to get a job or a better paycheck, this is the place for you. Just make sure you have the focus and willpower before starting or you may end up wasting a lot of time and money.

Good luck.
Leah