ABD Psych student options to finish dissertation??

Hello all, I am currently an ABD psych. student. I have been enrolled at Walden University for the past several years finishing up coursework leading up to my dissertation. I now have over $80,000 in student loans to repay and still do not have my dissertation completed. The dissertation process at Walden has been a complete disaster and I just need to move on from them. I am curious as to what my options are now. Do any schools accept ABD students? I would certainly be willing to look at universities overseas (preferrably with no residency or face-to-face requirements due to expense), however, I am desperate at this point. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

There are some South African schools out there that might work with you, and others may be chime in on that. Generally, most schools accept very little doctoral credits in transfer, and ABD transfers are, to the best of my knowledge, almost unheard of.

ABD can mean many things to many people. Where are you EXACTLY in the dissertation process?

Shawn

 

Most schools will only accept a small number of doctoral level credits in transfer. Basically, they want you to do the entire degree at their school, not someone else's school. The dissertation seems to trip up a lot of people. I've never "been there, done that" so I can't give any real advice but maybe the people at PhinsheD can help:

PhinisheD

 

I read horror stories like this every day on the NCU forums. Its just the way it is with PhDs. I hope it doesn't happen to me, but if I run into a situation like this I will pull out all the stops to get past it. If that means hiring an editor, a statistician, or whatever, I will do it. I have actually started reading PhD completion books in ebook format so that I know what I am getting myself into. I just started my PhD in January.
My advice is to stay the course. But come up with new ideas.

 

tigerlilly, would you mind telling us what has made the Walden experience such a disaster? If we know what has messed you up, maybe there are some members who can offer better advice. I too am approaching the ABD phase of a doctorate and I would really like to know.

 

When schools set out to make alot of money off few students, this is the sort of thing that happens. The best route would be to stick it out with them, but since your student loan amount is approaching allowable limits, your concerns are understood. A fact you should know is that almost all oversea doctorates are research-only and as such, will not require any credit transfer (you'd just be starting a new program). Before, you leave Walden, ask them to award a master degree for coursework completed. Contact Rmm0484 and see what is required to get into a SA doctoral program with ABD. Best of luck!

 

Yes, but they (a) will have the student start from scratch, (b) offer no guarantee to proceed to the Ph.D., (c) not be supported by financial aid, (d) will require (typically) 6 years of part-time enrollment.

Better to slog through with Walden (which isn't known to be a problematic school) or negotiate with a new school. Who knows what a conversation (or several dozen of them) will lead to? What is sure is that there is no published way to do one's coursework at one university and the dissertation at another. And even if you can negotiate a safe landing elsewhere, they're going to want to know why you can't finish at Walden. That will have to be a good story.

 

tigerlilly,

You might want to look into Saybrook University (Graduate Education in the Humanistic Tradition | Saybrook University) out of San Francisco, CA. They offer a doctoral completion program for students at other regionally accredited schools who were advanced to candidacy but who have not completed their dissertations. They are regionally accredited by WASC and you would probably have to attend some residencies but this may be an option for you to consider at this point.

Take a look at pgs. 109-111 in their academic catalog which describes their doctoral completion program:

http://www.saybrook.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Saybrook%20Catalog.pdf

Good luck,

abnrgr275

 

It's an interesting suggestion, but my guess is that Saybrook isn't going to be substantially less expensive than Walden.

 

or any easier.

 

This is also true of many universities. During the time a family member was at UCSC several students left as ABDs (I do not know if they were able to obtain masters degrees - a possibility at some universities). I also know an ABD student from Case Western who had trouble with her dissertation (refused to follow advice of her adviser).

 

I was working on an EdD and Nova Southeastern dropped the name and exact program before we all had finished our dissertations. My advisor was an idiot! But, he was the chair, too! So, unlike a classmate I could not simply move over and find another advisor to finish the dissertation. I was in DEEP financial loan debt and decided NOT to spend another penny on this worthless former mailbox school scam. (Now they have regional accreditation) Some bigshot left them millions and hence they have become "legitimate"! Because I am retired and DON'T really need the degree any longer, I got all of my pre-dissertation units accepted at a religious university since one of my two MAs is in Theology.
I will complete a PhD in Religious Education instead. I am a retired K-12 fully, clear, credentialed and keep my credential "active". TO ME ALL OF THESE REGIONALLY ACCREDITED and all of these FOR PROFIT programs are paper chase scams! My Master's from Fuller Seminary isn't worth a penny, won't even get you a cup of coffee--what I did to get that degree was outrageous. At least the MA from Chapman lead to a teaching credential! The school I am accepted at isn't regionally accredited (but neither was Jerry Fallwell's Liberty University at the begining--and Falwell's PhD was from a diploma mill!) so it doesn't matter that the 301 something or another status matters to me. As I mentioned, Nova was a mailbox and degree mill at its inception. I thankfully am retired, and the degree program I will complete is dirt cheap but 30 yrs old! They make you write a 30,000 word dissertation, but they don't screw you as do 99% of all these online programs. This online educational bubble is about to burst, and so many people have so many degrees, even degrees for the now in demand ones will soon be a dime a dozen! The evils of capitalism rears its ugly head to create a generation of degreed people but people without hope of employment above the level of a barista.

 

NSU didn't deliver