Walden University

Good school with good professors. If you are looking for someone to hold your hand through college, then go elsewhere.

Maybe it is just me but this school seems to be a really hard if you were taught to do school assignments differently. It's like this. The way I was taught to do papers is totally different from what these instructors want. Every paper that I was taught how to do is to make sure most of it is in your own words just like the school material is, but I have recieved a person's paper from an instructor on how a paper should be. People, this paper was almost all citations. The instructors do not even go by the mandatory DQ assignments, they want it their own way. As a matter of fact they are not even the one's that give the assignments. They have someone else make up the assignments for the class. They ask questions on tests that aren't even the book or the person that made the assignments, got them from the wrong book. For example a test that I took for my Leadership class. There were a few questions that was on chapter 29 of the book and the course material is only chapters 1 through 12. If I could do things over I would prefer to go to an on campus college. I went to a 2 year college and was acing my classes, the only thing that sucked is that they did not like the fect that I never went to class. They told me it was not my grades, because the instructors informed them that when I did go to class, I helped the other people, it was my lack of showing up to class. That was my fault totally. I figured hell if i can pass tests and papers with A's and B's I wouldnt need to go, boy was I wrong. I guess it is my own stupidity. Last night I talked to one of my classmates and he said he is passing with a 3.2 and he puts his paper through a website that does everything for you from grammar and what you should have as citations. Now I'm like damn, if only I would have known that the teachers like that better. Oh he also informed me that they use a specfic Word format and if you send them a paper and do not have that program you will get a deducted grade. How f'ed up is that. Well if I don't graduate from there, I at least hope there is a school that will accept a 1.9.

I have just completed my BSBA at Walden after transferring from a city college. I was hesitant of going to an online university because of the "open enrollment" policy. It is very true that some of your classmates will be wholly unprepared for the coursework, especially in 1000-2000 level classes. Most classes require some kind of group project, and this is where your grade can be affected. If you are a diligent student, expect to carry a few group projects. Academic advising is not thorough at times, and deciphering the program progress record is not easy. Aside from this, I want to say that my experience at Walden has been outstanding. Most of the instructors were very down to earth and not stuck in the "academic clouds". Discussions and projects center around real world applications and scenarios. The program is a little more expensive than some, but well worth the price in my opinion. If it werent for the fact that HR departments view a BS and MS from different schools favorably, I would be attending Walden for my MBA as well.

Materials: I gave this a five since I never bought any materials. Teachers: Staff may possibly have been well-qualified, but they made up for it by being uninterested. Most responses obviously copy/pasted. Institution: Emails were not responded to in a timely fashion, if ever. Account frequently frozen because of poor communication between financial aid and accounting departments. Lots of institutional spam. Support: Again, I gave a five just because I did make use of this service. Value: At the time I enrolled, Walden was the cheapest online program on the market. I have never bought any course materials, further saving quite a bit. Use of technology: Software for the web-based courses was somewhat outdated and clunky, but usable. No major usability issues, just could have been a lot better. Outside resources, however, were mainly for-pay, and not worth using even if they had been free. 'Pro': The pros of this school are that it is one of the cheapest country-wide institutions (go to a state or country school if possible). Also, they will give a degree to anyone, and I mean anyone who can string several words of questionable English together. If you are developmentally disabled or English is neither your first, nor indeed second language, Walden may be for you (this is unfortunately not a joke). 'Con': In general, poor quality of online materials (need to buy lots of books, despite nominally being an 'online' university). Also, poor quality of classmates. Amazingly, many students could not spell despite there being a spell-checking tool built in to the posting form. Some students would fail completely to understand the assignment, basically just do whatever they felt like, and receive an 'A' anyway. Teachers were probably qualified, judging from their bios, but generally disinterested and would only send canned responses. Back on the 'pro' side, that means they are easy to game. Summary: If you live out of the country like me, or there are no good local choices in your area, Walden may be a good choice. If you want to get a degree with little-to-no work and little-to-no actual learning, Walden may be a good choice. If you are on a budget but cannot find anything cheaper, Walden might be a good choice. If these three considerations are not foremost for you, or if you really want to learn business administration, do not choose Walden as it is little better than a degree mill.