Walden's Tempo Learning

If you are taking five courses a term, why are you finding time to post on DI? Get to work!!!

 

But that's not the point. What did you mean by the distinction?

 

It was only a quote that came to mind, which wouldn't apply to you. However, some people on here haven't completed the doctoral journey but feel qualified to speak on what it takes to complete it.

 

Lol.. I probably won't do it. Although I think it could benefit my career goals in some way or another, I need to be PhocuseD so that I can be PhinisheD in the timeframe I've established for myself.

If, after completing the Ph.D., I feel a need to complete another degree, I'll do so. However, I hope that I will focus on taking the steps necessary to get where I want to go because a degree alone will not get me there. I wish there will be no urge for any further degrees. I want to write a book about my interesting life (haha), move to my dream state, adopt a kid, and find other purposes for my life beside degree pursuits.

 

PhocuseD and PhinisheD sound like good plans... As for your other goals if you're not doing education for educations sake, instead of more tuition payments at your age, at least consider IRA, 401K, Index Funds, Real Estate, or hell.. if you feel like gambling - Crypto...

 

I have two IRAs (Rollover and Roth) + employer's sponsored 403b. I do some trading on the stock market (a bit conservative). My goal is to pursue real estate and establish a 529 plan for my son (ser) post completion of the Ph.D.

 

Good for you Chris. FYI - depending on which state you're in, 529 plans can be the debil... some states have put fee structures and restrictions in place, that make them unattractive in comparison to other instruments.

 

Thanks for the heads up re 529 plans.

 

Timeline of Walden application process:

Applied on Saturday morning (February 29th)

Accepted on Saturday afternoon (February 29th)

Submitted Transfer of Credit Request on Monday morning (March 2nd)

Request approved on Monday morning (March 2nd)

So, since I received credit for both research courses, I'm only down to 8 courses. I'm expected to start today if I accept the offer. I went onto Wheel Decide (Yes or No). Usually, I spin the wheel three times and go with the majority. Sometimes when I don't get the answer I was hoping for, I'll go five times. Well, today, all five times, it landed on "no." I guess that's all the confirmation I need about this M.S. in Psych degree.

 

Keep two things in mind, especially in light of Walden's for-profit status:

First, if they're offering you a discount program today, it will still be available tomorrow. And next week, and next month, and next year. "If you enroll today" is generally a scam - a technique more becoming for car dealers (and even then dumb-ass customers tend to fall for it).

Second, the fact that they moved soooooooooo quickly on your application shows that they will quite literally take anyone. The fact that they moved so affirmatively on your package also shows that they will take anyone - in other words, even more than other schools, the sole purpose of their admissions representatives is to get their hooks into warm bodies, especially if those warm bodies are prepared to pay on their own without going through federal financing. You are a walking orgasm for these people - don't fall for their bait.

Incidentally, I have both worked with (in the non-profit sector) and interviewed Walden graduates. I have, FWIW, universally not been impressed with them.

Right . . . You are accepted and receive transfer credit within two days of applying, and you are expected to start on the same day. Hello? Does this sound like a con or a rip-off? (Yes, those are the only two choices.) There's a lesson to be learned from this, and you don't need to spin a wheel or flip a coin to learn it: Avoid Walden like the proverbial plague. And remember, regardless of the school or its status, things that sound too good to be true usually are.

If you have not done so, check out Walden's article on Wikipedia. Students should do this with any school they are considering. Look specifically for student outcomes and any controversies with which the school has been involved. The Walden wiki alone should be enough to discourage anyone who has the balls not to fall for their bait.

 

In related ways, that's been a complaint of mine for years. This is especially true of those speaking about sources of doctoral degrees. So I'm going to rant for a minute.

In the more-than-20-years I've been posting on this board and its predecessor, I've seen a lot of criticism about certain schools, particularly Union. This is, no doubt, due to Union's prominence in the field of nontraditional higher education (it practically started it), as well as the troubles Union experienced for quite awhile (now almost 20 years in the past). Invariably, such criticisms came from people who had not done a doctorate themselves.

When I did my dissertation at Union, internet trolls purchased one copy and downloaded it 67 times in a weekend. They lit up the various boards with all kinds of criticisms. None were accurate, however, not a single one. It's as if they didn't know what they were looking at. Not surprising, since not one of them had done a doctorate anywhere. The only person with an actual doctorate to read it and critique it--a guy who was a pretty steady critic of me--found it to be of decent quality.

Ironically, the dissertation has a major flaw, one that should have killed it. (Or, at least, delayed its acceptance until repaired.) But none of the trolls picked up on it. And it was a big thing, not some obscure mistake.* More irony: I didn't really understand what I failed to do in the dissertation until I undertook the second at Leicester. But it falls into an area poorly addressed by Union back then, but has now become a mandatory part of each learner's program.

In short, I don't play the "my doctorate is better than your doctorate" game. You know, the "I have a PhD from an RA non-profit school yadda yadda yadda." But I really don't care for advice or criticism--nor comments about the subject of taking a doctorate--made with rock-solid conviction by people who have not done it.

*In a scholarly doctorate like the PhD, one really should address the theoretical underpinnings of the field of study, and also examine how the dissertation adds to the scholarship. This is done through the literature review--examining gaps in theory, not merely determining that your study hasn't been done before. It is also done by arguing its originality and the significant contribution it makes by either creating theory (knowledge), testing theory, or both. I did not do this, settling only for showing the gap in the research. In my thesis at Leicester, I did this thoroughly, demonstrating that the subject was scholarly, that it could be researched using scholarly methods, and that I was both adding to theory and testing it by creating a grounded theory (look it up). Sometimes things are better the second time around.

 

I seem to remember that the sharpest criticism of Union came from the two people on this board who earned their doctorates there.

 

^^^this

If a university moves that fast on an application, they show no signs of quality. Hence, why I did not move further with GCU. Now I am in the agonizing waiting game with Duke and Johns Hopkins. Just 2ish more weeks to go! Haha

 

I think there's a flaw in the logic. Simply because a school has an open admissions policy does not mean that graduates have low quality degrees. Open admissions means that everyone gets a chance to prove themselves. It doesn't mean the coursework is easy or the standards are low. If the dropout rate is high this suggests that the level of difficulty is high as well. People get admitted then get slammed with work they're not prepared to handle. If degree completion rates are low, tuition is high, admissions are essentially open this suggests a predatory MO. It's a common criticism of for-profit schools. But if you survive and earn the degree it suggests that it's a quality degree. It might be a scumbag (predatory) school though.

 

My apologies Kizmet, as my wording was definitely a little "off". My MBA program is not "open" admissions but they definitely have more slack in their admissions than I would like.

The core of my comment is that some programs are a lot easier to get admitted to due to the fact that they do not have as high of admissions standards. It does not mean the curriculum is not quality and it does not mean the teaching is not quality. All it means to me is that one runs the risk of being in classes with individuals who do not bring any worth to the discussions and projects.

 

This is fair. But it was done from a perspective of actually knowing what was happening instead of uninformed carping by those who did not. Union was neither a paragon of educational quality, nor was it the diploma mill some (again, uninformed) people tried to say it was. Academically, it was always okay--but its variance in terms of quality was too much. What it excelled in was person-centered graduate education, which it practically invented. But I digress....

You're making my point that criticisms usually come from those who have not done it, are not in it, etc. Whatever "it" is.

 

Oh, I wouldn't be so quick to come to that conclusion. About 90% of colleges and universities in the US are non-competitive; they accept all qualified applicants. For a master's or bachelor's degree, I can't see why this wouldn't be quick. For the doctorate, a more complex package is often required to determine if the person is ready to take on doctoral study and intends to research in an area the university is interested in and/or is able to supervise. So it takes longer.

Very few master's programs--especially those offered to mid-career working adults--are truly competitive.

 

I hope you're right in that I get a quick decision. Both interviewers said that it'll be about 2-3 weeks.