NCU or Salve Regina

Hi joel66,

I checked on the Kaplan/Schweser website and found the matericals quite expensive. Where did you see the books, exams and videos for 150 dollars?

BTW, have you thought of actuarial vs CFA exams?

 

On Kaplain/Schweser website the books are from 399 to 1,399. If you read the description and then go to ebay and type in "cfa level 1" in the search, you will noticed the same material that is in the 399 to 599 range selling on ebay in the 100 range.

I think after I complete my CPCU 540 and CPCU 560 I will be in a better position to decide which exam to take. Right now, the workload at Chancellor, it is possible to study both CPCU and MBA. My goal is to complete CPCU by August then start the CFA path. Not sure about actuarial, doesn't the math go much deeper?

 

I'm a doctoral student at NCU and I have three pieces of info for you; two positive and one negative.

Positive: NCU is transitioning to using mostly eBooks for their texts and they tell me that the price for a text will drop considerably. The paper books for my first class were $350, which is terrible. The book for my second class was $39! That class required only a paper APA manual and the rest of the material was in the form of published research via the web. So it seems like it's going to be great, but don't take my word for that, check with them personally.

Positive: Don't let anyone tell you that NCU is easy. It is rigorous and the grading is tough.

Negative: NCU customer service is not that great. I just finished my first class and here are my observations: It takes several days to receive a reply from anyone you email. Assignment turnaround on this first class was pretty slow, usually a week, sometimes more. For a paper, a week is reasonable, but for the regular assignments it's a bit slow. I get the impression that everyone there is overworked. Responses are usually short and terse. They call your instructor a "mentor" but I have not gotten much mentoring. That being said, I'm reasonably happy with NCU, but then again, I don't need (or like) much hand-holding from my professors.

 

That is one of the reasons why I like Chancellor so much. I was blown away from my initial emails with the enrollment advisor who assisted me on getting set up with the financial aid dept. and getting me enrolled in my initial classes. Even the book vouchers I immediately received to get my books online for free. The other thing I noticed is the dean of the business dept. Lee Smith. You have no idea how many emails I sent him with questions before and after I signed up. He easily could have told me to talk with my advisor, but always took the time to respond to my questions even on his blackberry.

 

I'm surprised by some of the overlap between the CPCU and Casualty Actuarial Society exams. This looks really interesting. I take it there is 9 exams from Associateship to Fellowship.

 

Here's a question I would ask...

In light of the fact that in the show cause order from the HLC stated that one of the reasons for the order was the failure to meet Criterion 3, in particular in accordance with student learning outcomes and assessment, why has Chancellor University chosen not to send any representatives to the HLC Annual Conference for training in Program Outcomes Assessment and Student Learning?

According to the Annual Conference Resourse Book, Chancellor isn't at the HLC Annual Conference. (I happen to be here).

 

That's a very good question. Only list I can find in that HLC Annual Conference list is only an exibitor's (vendor) list and not any schools. Do you have a link that shows the school representatives?

 

http://annualmeeting.ncahlc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=291&Itemid=323

The listing of schools (along with their representatives) is listed in the Resource Book. Ohio institutions begin on page 43.

Shawn

 

I contacted the dean of the business dept and got a response from his blackberry that people from Chancellor University is there and represented. He advised there was a mix up in their listing.

 

That's good news. Pretty unlikely that I would see the reps here (this meeting is huge), but if I do, I'll let you know.

Shawn