Athabasca University : Athabasca University Reviews
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on May 3, 2012
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Fantastic University, for MATURE learners
I just finished my MBA with AU. It is far harder than a conventional university. I have two other degrees from a classroom setting, from good schools, and the MBA program demands are not light. It is however, a very enjoyable program. I truly enjoyed all courses, and yes, I had the one eventual weak prof here and there, but overall, all profs are very competent, and highly educated. I think that the most important advice for AU's prospect students is: if you are lazy, if you like to have things done "for you", don't bother. AU MBA offers a mature environment, for MATURE learners. It is not about "doing yourself" as the support is incredible, but it is about "thinking for yourself". Nobody is there to tell you what to do (although the MBA program will provide you with a detailed agenda, ahead of time, on what to do in each course). You either do it seriously, or you might as well just save your money and time. If you want to "play along" and "piggyback", AU is not for you. Here you really have to work hard, and show that you do work hard.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on February 17, 2012
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For Mature Students only
I recently completed two online courses at AU: BIOL204 and CHEM217. I decided to take these courses out of interest as I am a working High School Teacher. I only went as far as gr. 11 Biology and chemistry so I knew i had to be prepared and organized
BIOL204 was mainly readings, two written assignments, 7 at-home labs, and two exams. I did not really speak with my tutor too often and just emailed. I had to re-write my first bio report as it was barely a pass. I took note of my tutor's feedback and scored 80% on the re-written report. The written assignments were not hard but information presented had to be detailed, exact, and with lots of examples. The labs were fun and did not take up a lot of time. The textbook plus assignments ( including assignments grouped by first name that i did not have to do but did anyways) provided enough info for the exams, but i also used random youtube lectures for extra understanding. My final course grade was an A-. I considered this an easy course and not very consuming.
CHEM217 was definitely harder and more consuming. I felt like I was doing 2 courses in one. Each chapter included problem sets that needed to be worked through before progressing onwards. I was doing problem sets at least 4 days each week, about 4 to 6 per day. I scored well on the assignments but I got a lot of help from youtube lectures and online examples from various sources. My tutor helped with explaining assignment problems but I was not in contact with them that much. You definitely need to have a tutor available for chemistry. The home lab is requested after passing the first two assignments. I did not get my lab kit until late in my calendar which threw off my study schedule. The labs were very consuming. They took me at least 3 to 4 hours to do as they included additional problems that needed to be answered on top of the basic lab report. It normally took me about 2 days to finish each lab and submit the report. Since i received the lab kit late I was trying to do 10 labs plus problem sets and preparing for my final all in about 3 weeks. I thought both exams were very hard. I scored 68% on my mid-term and 64% on my final (however the marker's feedback for both exams was that I did well). Since I averaged an A on my assignments and A+ in my labs my final grade was a B.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the courses because they were challenging and interesting. I felt like I pushed myself intellectually and feel that I can definitely push through academic obstacles. However doing these courses on your own, especially chemistry, requires commitment, organization, focus, and major problem solving skills. I knew that i was getting the basics when I was able to notify my tutor of several chemistry textbook mistakes in a few chapter examples. These were confirmed by him later. But this was after spending hours on these incorrect problems. You dont want to waste time trying to figure out a problem so contacting the tutor as soon as you can is the best thing to do. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out problems on my own. But i definitely would not have passed CHEM217 without using the internet as a resource for information, lectures, and problem examples.
My BIOL204 marks were posted within the two week time frame but the chemistry marks took longer. I notified my tutor when they took too long to post and received them promptly(tutors do not mark exams only assignments).
I cant say anything bad about AU. Distance education means you are doing it on your own so if you are well organized and committed you should do fine. If you get a bad tutor then try and get them to give feedback on assignments so you can tailor your results to fit their standards. I did that with my re-written BIO lab report and went from a 53% to an 80%. Chemistry was tough but I am proud that I was able to get through it and complete both courses. I am currently enrolled in BIOL205 and CHEM218.
Wish me luck!!
R
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on August 30, 2011
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jumping through hoops if you have the money
Overall the university is high quality, because the tutor (who marks everything) is available by email (or phone) whenever needed, has a phd in field and is successful in professional career with subject (my tutor for english undergrad. is a published author). Also good feedback is given on essays, so you know what marker expects. Any calls I have made to university have been answered and I was satisfied at the end of the call, furthermore I was never transferred to other people.
Unfortunately, I won't be taking another Atha. course because of the 'hoops' I feel I have to jump through and the exorbitant amount of money being charged for the course. I have an undergraduate degree, a graduate degree and continually upgrade my qualifications through online and on campus courses for the past 8 years. This is my first distance learning course, and found that the amount of work expected - with additional fees for EVERYTHING (despite being the most expensive tutition I have ever paid even than international univer.)is more than has been expected of me in all my experiences. I much prefer online courses to this... I managed to find an inviligator at my local library for FREE but up until i stumbled onto it, i was going to have no choice but to pay 85$per exam -and travel to another city! (You can register someone new to invili. but it takes 60 days to go through the process.)While I submitted my essays by email-it is not necessarily the norm. My exams are all handwritten and have to be mailed away. I think part of the problem of price for this course is that they send you all the books required(i had a boxful dropped off in my driveway by the road and found them when i went out one morning!) but I already had many of what they sent. There should be a choice to get the books my self if it will save me 500$....
I took this course because of the flexible time given and the option to buy and extention if needed. I have four kids, am a working professional and found the flexibility extreemly attractive. However, I could have been patient for 6 months taken an online version with another great university and saved myself a lot of money, course work and physical work meeting deadlines and finding inviligators! It really has been more money than it is worth, and the pluses of this university can be met elsewhere.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on April 5, 2011
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A solid and positive experience
I've been "Attending" AU for a couple of years now. From the very beginning, the experience was exactly what I was looking for (self-paced, 100% individualized-study, access to quality tutors/teachers as req'd).
While this isn't a news flash, it's still worth repeating....AU is only a good choice if you're actually capable of managing your time/effort. Every course comes with a sample timetable, however there is no hand-holding. It takes a real effort (even for the most structured people) to effectively develop and execute a learning plan.
That all said, the rewards are incredible. The flexibility AU offers is amazing, and I'm regularly impressed by the quality of graduates I've met. The Certs, Diplomas and Degrees are recognized everywhere, and are well thought of for admission into Graduate studies.
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Anonymous
(Graduate) on March 15, 2011
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Athabasca University's Master of Arts - Integrated Studies
I just finished the Master of Arts – Integrated Studies (MAIS) through Athabasca University (AU) and I felt compelled to post a review here because this program in particular is truly outstanding. Everything, both the instructors and the courses, far exceeded my expectations for a master’s-level degree program.
Even administrative parts of the program, like asking questions of the MAIS or Centre for Integrated Studies Offices and getting information, or submitting certain documents or what have you, was always a hassle-free experience--they are all super helpful and professional. I never had a problem with contacting anyone for help in relation to submitting study plans and accessing the usual services necessary to moving forward in a degree program.
I think someone else made a great and very accurate comment in other reviews for Athabasca University when they said that AU is for mature students who are willing to work hard, and it is NOT for those who want an easy ride. You have to be highly disciplined and self-motivated to take AU courses, even the paced group-study courses where a certain amount of the grade is devoted to discussion and participation/interaction among students on the online Moodle boards. I worked full time while I pursued my degree and so I had to be highly organized and spend a lot of my free time reading, researching and writing—-that is the reality of this program. There are no shortcuts with this program, and there is certainly no hand-holding.
I also understand that, based on some comments that I read from my other classmates during the course of the program, it is not all that uncommon for people to drop out of the courses at Athabasca because they tend to be much more challenging than expected. I did an English honours program at a highly regarded university in Canada, and now I work in a social sciences/health-related research/writing area, and I can say that my educational experiences with the MA-IS program were far and away superior to pretty well most educational offerings that I have had, whether my B.A. program courses or professional workshops or conferences. The quality of the education is on par with most of the best universities in Canada, but I would argue that it is better based on my own experience.
Although I am not familiar with their undergraduate courses, I know that Athabasca’s Master of Nursing and MBA programs are also very highly regarded. Even though AU prides itself on being an open university and is progressive in its curriculum and in terms of reducing barriers to pursuing post-secondary education, I would caution that if you are considering the MA-IS program you need to have a strong undergraduate background, i.e. strong in writing and research skills, with relatively good grades. If you sailed through your Bachelor’s degree with low marks, you won’t get very far and will find the MA-IS extremely challenging and disappointing. The MA-IS program is a LOT of work, and there are high expectations of what sort of work the students will produce.
Overall, I highly recommend the MA-IS program and Athabasca University generally. It is a high-quality institution with great instructors and administration. Of course, there will always be some issues and small hassles with distance learning—-this is unavoidable. But if you’re disciplined, relatively intelligent, and are willing to work, then you will get the most out of any course that you take with them.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on February 25, 2011
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Bcomm - Great school
I laugh at some of the reviews that people write here. Most of the bad reviews are from students who are currently attending university and did poorly on their course so they think that taking an online course from an university such as Athabasca is the easy route. News flash kids. The courses offered at Athabasca are real courses. In fact, this is distance learning, and therefore, its more challenging than your tradtional courses. Again, don't register to Athabasca if you're looking for a quick way to obtain credits cause you'll be disappointed.
As for my experience, I'm enrolled in the Bcomm program and I have no complaints. Sure, you might have one or two profs that you don't get along with, but hey, you'll get the same experience at traditional unversity. As for the profs themselves, all of them that I've worked with are qualified, some have MBAs or PHDs. The school has pretty high standards on who they hire. Don't believe me, check their career section.
Distance and online learning is the future folks. No one has the time anymore to attend school especially when everyone is trying to upgrade their skills while working on their careers.
This format of studying is the solution to many of us who are constantly trying to improve themselves. And for that, I thank Athabasca.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on February 15, 2011
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Calculus 2 is the first and last course I will take at Athabasca
I am 3rd year engineering student and needed Calculus II when I was transferring between universities. I ended up taking it with Athabascsa and wow what a struggle it was.
For this course, you are given an book full of notes/examples, a textbook with questions and a solution manual.
The only good thing I can say about this experience was I got the grade and credits I needed. Thats about it.
Now onto the bad:
Firstly, the tutor. What a joke. I only spoke with him a handful of times over the phone during the course. Each time I asked a question, he simply wrote the solution (EXACTLY the same as the solution manual) and faxed the answer to me. In my opinion, unacceptable.
Secondly, the schools organization. I had a very tight dates and a specific deadline to have this course done (my new school needed the grade). The school sent one of my exams to a different province and lost one of my exams in the mail (over the week during the summer when the school is closed) which resulted in myself phoning all over to track it down. Luckily, I managed to find it (not where it was supposed to be).
I have heard so many good things about the business programs at this school, which is why I thought this would be a good option for Calculus 2. I was wrong. I have also talked to other students about my awful experience and deferred them away.
Lastly, this course is ridiculously hard. If your math skills are weak, I wouldn't recommend this course, especially with the tutors they have. By far the hardest university course of my educational career.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on January 4, 2011
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Distance Education is always a crapshoot...
The bottom line is this: Athabasca is for mature hardworking students who want to (and have the ability to)learn the material, get the transcript/credits, and get out. Some even do better in this type of course than a traditional program. It's not for students who need hand holding to get through a course. You definitely need to be motivated and a textbook learner. If you cannot learn on your own from a textbook and need everything explained to you, AU is NOT for you. You have to be bright enough to figure things out on your own. You can't be surprised that you have to figure out how to best make use of your text book, or that your assignments didn't cover the material on your exams. In distance learning, this is how they cover all the material. Your assignments cover most info NOT on the exams. Otherwise the exam is just a longer assignment repeat.
On the other hand, if you are reasonably bright, a hard worker, can read a text book, and can follow instructions, you have a very good chance at doing well if you try. Now that doesn't mean that you won't encounter problems, or that the school doens't have issues (all distance programs can be hell at times), but you have a good chance of learning what you want and getting the official piece of paper with marks saying you did just that. Some people can't handle distance courses, and others can't handle the frustrations and politics dealing with such schools. But if you need to, and you can grit your teeth, you can get what you want out of it and move on. The good thing about AU is that while distance courses are expensive (as standard for most distance programs), the courses are reputable and transferable to pretty much any school in Canada.
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