I recently was contacted from Walden University. I'm looking for a good online graduate school, and Walden looks pretty decent & is comparable to others. I was wondering if anybody else has attended or graduated from Walden that might be able to fill me in. Thanks, SMALLS
I just applied to the Walden Masters Psychology program yesterday. I don't think that there are too many Walden students/grads on this board but I will be sure to post my experiences as this board has been an invaluable source of info for me in my search. Good luck!
Walden has been around for many years and awards, perhaps, the most doctorates per year (over 100) for a virtual university. I have known several Walden grads in academia and other fields. Tony Piña, Ed.D. Administrator, Northeastern Illinois University
Walden I am currently pursuing a MEd at Walden. I am really enjoy in it. It has a fairly slow pace and the instructors, so far, are very considerate of personal needs. Classes are scheduled from the time you start your degree; in other words, you graduate with the same group you start your degree. I am starting my fifth class, and I am getting the same instructor I had for classes one and two. I see that as a big plus. You get to know the faculty members well. I would recomend Walden to anyone. Aldo
Capella has around 10,000 students Right now, Capella University has around 10,000 students. At my colloquias, the majority of students were on the Ph.D. level. There must have been at least around 800+ students at these. Capella is exploding in growth. As they continue to acquire more professional accreditations (Already have CACREP for Counseling) such as APA and others, they will become a very attractive alternative. Walden is a good school. Dr. Brian Austin, who is the co-developer of Capella's Harold Abel School of Psychology was first at Walden starting the Psychology dept. there. The difference between Capella and Walden is that the founder of Capella was a successful corporate CEO sold on very aggressive marketing. Capella markets in major magazines, NPR, is aggressive with corporations, institutions, and government agencies to establish formal ties, etc. Hope this helps a little.
I agree about Capella's aggresive marketing. On the other hand, and this is just my experience, they can be a little too aggressive. Before I joined Walden, I was undecided between Capella and Walden. If I remember correctly, Walden was not as expensive. Capella's courses, at least back then, were not three credits. Even though per credit Capella was cheaper, per class it was much more expensive. The "salesman" tried to tell me that Walden was more expensive because the cost per credit was more. The fact that he would bring this up, and refused to admit that Capella was more expensive really turned me off. Cost was an issue, but not the deciding factor in pursuing an education. I did feel, at the time, that dealing with Capella was like trying to buy a new expensive car from an aggressive sales person. I did email Capella, after I made my decission, to let them know that I did not appreciate the aggressive marketing, and that ultimatelly it became the deciding factor. Even then, I receive a few more calls from the "salesman" until I told him to please not call back. Walden never called me once, until I was enrolled. Again, that was just my experience. I do have to say that both are fine schools. Aldo
Well, methinks that a lot of salesmen (whether they sell DL schools or used cars or what-not else) need to know that the soft-sell approach works a lot better than the hard-sell approach. But maybe the problem is that not too many salesmen have marketing degrees.
Funny! Aldo, I agree that both schools are great schools, along with another group of distance schools (Fielding, Saybrook, Union, etc.). It is funny that you shared how you were mistreated by a salesperson. I'm sure that happens with almost any of the online and "for profit" schools. When I was considering doctoral programs among Union, Walden, Capella, Fielding, and Saybrook, I found the following. Union was going through some inner turmoil in transforming itself and re-inventing itself for the 21st Century ( I was taken aback that their Prez, at the time, was aggressive as a Lesbian and Union would show her and her lover on their magazine and refer to them as a "couple." That was personally offensive to me. I noticed that they got rid of her. I axed Union out with this as one of several reasons why I would not go there. I spoke to the Saybrook people. I found that their Humanistic slant and Non-profit status gave them a Hippie/"Save the World and the Whales" slant, appearing to attract "New Agey" types who have lots of incense and Indian music. [I'm exaggerating, I know]. I found them kind but not business savy, somewhat stuck in the 20th Century. This along with their 18 Semester credit transfer policy did not win me. Oh, yes, you had to pay around 13k a year regardless of number of classes you took. Fielding, though APA accredited, was very inflexible with transfer credits, especially since a Counseling Psych masters has most of the topics and areas a typical clinical psych doc. has. I was not ready to repeat a ton of courses. Their vague guidlines for doing work in courses you have already taken was not good enough for me. I calculated that you would spend the cost of a 3 bed/2 bath home (at the time... now only a 1 bed condo) by the time you graduated. Walden, was, initially attractive to me but their 24 credit hour transfer policy (still low for me, since I did a 60 credit Masters) and my interview with the psychology chair just turned me off. While talking to some lady filling the Chairmanship then, I felt I was talking to an Amazon Woman! She was rude, rough, and acted non-interested. I was amazed how folks like these can become "psychologists." Perhaps that is why she was in academia. When I looked at Capella, it was the best in terms of all the factors I was considering. Pay on a per course basis, acceptance of 30 semester credit hours (one year's worth!), committment to get the "Capella" name out, constant innovation in programs, a large array of specializations, etc. all served to get me to enroll. I am glad I am at Capella. It is not perfect but it is quite good, over-all. I would rate it at a 94% quality in comparison to my limited experience with the others.
Well, like you said, they are for-profit organizations, and they are in the business of selling. I guess it can be said that, in any sale, how you are treated counts. As I said before, that was strictly my experience with Capella and I do not think it should reflect on others' experiences. Perhaps I just happen to deal with a former credit card tele-marketer? I guess it shows how two people in two different fields can have different experiences. Perhaps the psychology department at Capella is better, and the education department at Walden may be more adquate to people in that field. Truth is, they all should be courteous at all times and one should not have the feeling of "talking to a tele-marketing" company. There are many other great school that lack the organization to be effective DLs, yet they are good schools with very capable faculty members. It is a tough market and it is difficult to have a solid structure behind the efforts. Aldo
I've been looking into Walden's Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration program and have been pleasantly surprised that I haven't been hounded by anyone from Walden trying to get me to enroll. I received one phone call and an e-mail message from an enrollment advisor when I initially signed up to go to an informational meeting and was really worried that the phone would be ringing off the hook when I wasn't able to attend because of work commitments. Has anyone attended one of Walden's informational meetings, and if so, were they truly informational in nature or were the meetings basically just a hard-sell attempt to get you to enroll at the school? I've reviewed the transfer policies for all of Walden's Ph.D. programs and depending on the degree program they allow between 36-56 quarter hours (24-37 semester hours) of transfer credit, which in my opinion isn't too shabby. One question I have about the Walden Ph.D. program is specifically related to the KAM's that are required in some of the doctoral degrees at Walden. Does anyone know exactly how the KAM-process works at Walden? It appears the KAM allows for self-directed study within a given subject followed up by final papers related to the KAM topic. I'm curious as to how long each KAM section takes to complete on average and the amount of reading/work required to finish a KAM itself. abnrgr275
I am thinking about the Walden Management Ph.D. and wonder if anyone can answer a couple of questions about it? 1. Assuming I don't have to take any prereq courses, how much will it cost me to complete the degree? ( I took a cursory glance at the pricing but found that it was not intuitively obvious to calculate the total tuition cost.) 2. Is it possible to do a Self-Directed program in International Business? 3. Is there an email address to contact this dept. to ask some questions? If so, would you please share it with me? ( I clicked on Contact Us, but it redirected me to a form to request a catalog, and there was no room to ask specific questions) Thanks so much.
I'm not going to pursue a PhD, but I'm still keeping my options open and am not going to burn any bridges behind me. Having said that... Walden University keeps sending me emails with an invitation to meet with a local coordinator who is recruiting for another local cohort class. I was also asked if I wanted to continue receiving the emails -- and the answer is yes. I'm still sniffing at Walden for possibly 2006, but it depends on $$$$ and motivation.
1. We've got a few things going on here.Tuition at the doctoral level is $3850/qtr. The program lasts allegedly 4-5 yrs. The program requires 134 qtr. hrs., but 56 qtr. hrs. may be transferred in with a relevant master's degree. Hence, the questions become : (a) 134 hrs. or 78 hrs. for the program?; (b) 4 yrs. or 5 yrs.?; and (c) 3 qtrs. or 4 qtrs. per year? An individual who wishes to graduate in 4 yrs. at 3 qtrs./yr. with 134 qtr. hrs. needed will need 11.17 cr./qtr. to make such a deadline. This will take 12 qtrs. @ $3850/qtr. = $46,200. An individual who wishes to graduate in 5 yrs. at 4 qtrs./yr. with only 78 hrs. needed will need only 3.9 cr./qtr. to make such a deadline. This will take 20 qtrs. @ $3850/qtr. = $77,000. It appears that most classes are 4 qtr. hrs. It is possible for a working adult to do 2 classes/term (8 hrs./qtr.). Thus, one who needs 134 hrs. (i.e., you have no MBA) will need 17 qtrs. to finish @ $3850/qtr. (=$65,450) while one who needs 78 hrs. (i.e., you have the MBA) will need 10 qtrs. to finish @ $3850/qtr. (= $38,500). 2. Walden University (www.waldenu.edu) does have an MBA in Global Business, but it was not immediately obvious whether it is possible to create the International Business concentration within the Self-Designed PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences. 3. You might try [email protected]
I have been enrolled in their PhD program for a year now. I have enjoyed my experience very much. I especially love and have benefited from the attendance of the residencies. There I have met others in the program and gotten to know the professors. I can not say enough good things about Walden. I earned my BSN, MN, and MPH at Emory Univeristy in Atlanta, Ga. I have by far enjoyed my experience with Walden more than with Emory. They are committed to providing a quality education and produce high quality graduates. Wanda
