Walden University : MBA Reviews

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MBA - All the information is there, its what you make of it

By: lahartley84 (In Progress) on July 16, 2011

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Materials and books are shipped to you.  Extensive online library.  Courses and well outlined with clearly stated objectives. Some real time lectures would make this a 10/10. 

I enjoy a tough instructor, and mostly that's what I have found at Walden.  They encourage independent learning, meaning one must search for one's answers.  The overall expectation has been that a strong base must have been established in the undergraduate work.  

Institution is perhaps the let down here. I really had hoped that it is better known and was more accredited.  I believe students want to feel in some ways secure about the school they attend and am still unsure about how it truly compares to other MBA programs.  For instance, banks in Canada where I'm from could not grant me a student loan because they have not recognised the school yet (its still too new).

Support:  In spite of my doubts, the accounts receivable office has been unbelievably understanding that I am paying as I go and have worked with me to make payments incrementally.  My academic advisor responds back to me within hours, as do my instructors.

The value of the program has been worth my effort.  I work full-time as I take my course, and in the last year my work has improved.  I feel more confident and competent within my field.  The program has taught me to take the initiative. I have an interview with one of the company leaders next week! 2 years ago, I didn't believe it would happen.

Technology - so far so good.  No major crisis. Suggest a portable computer and back-up drives.

Great MBA Program

By: timwright07 (Graduate) on January 6, 2011

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I received my MBA in the spring of 2010 and was very pleased with the quality of the program.  I went to a traditional university for undergrad and decided to go back and earn my MBA for professional development.  I needed a program that offered online courses due to the unpredictable nature of my work schedule; I couldn't commit to a class room type of environment not even on the weekends as sometimes I had to work.  

I received excellent support from my professors and classmates.  Accounting has always been my least favorite subject and while struggling in class I contacted my professor and she scheduled a phone call with me to discuss the subject. We proceeded to speak for 45 minutes until I finally understood.  You can't get that type of quality time with professors at many large brick and mortar institutions; usually it's with a TA.  The coursework is not as easy as you may think.  My first year in the program was about as challenging as I expected meaning that I didn’t really stress out much.  My second year in the program was much more demanding, rigorous and challenging.  I had to work hard to earn every good grade I received.  As a matter of fact, to add credibility to the program, I went to a presentation with an association I belong to at SMU in Dallas which is well known academically.  The speaker was one of the professors from their MBA program who taught their HR Management course.  He presented a topic he was currently covering with his students.  It was the very same topic I was studying at the time at Walden which made me feel very good and secure with the quality of education I was receiving.  

An added plus – they deliver your materials to your front door.  For the busy professional this is priceless!!  Good luck and I hope my review helps.

Fire Chief

By: ctomfly (Graduate) on June 8, 2009

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Two of my buddies and I were going to start a traditional nights weekend MBA program. However after doing traditional colleges for my AA and BSA, and having a growing family, I tried Walden for on-line ease and hopefully not being too difficult. Boy I was wrong. I spend three (years) Christmas days doing homework and almost failed statistics. For those bashing the school it’s probably because somebody they know went there and they are trying to discredit it. My two buddies had their degrees in just over two years. I had mine in three. I am Walden Proud!

Walden MBA

By: Anonymous (Graduate) on May 11, 2009

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Walden's MBA program by far exceeded my expectations.  I was able to create a business plan throughout the life of the program that will actually go into use.  The instructor and peer support were very helpful.  Great balance of challenging work with flexibility for full time working commitments.  Highly recommended.

Go somewhere else... anywhere else!

By: Anonymous (In Progress) on April 18, 2009

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What an incredible waste of time and money.  I have three previous degrees from traditional universities and decided to try the online experience.  It was awful.  After two full semesters I have a 4.0, but am switching to another university, and eating about $9,000.  But, it's worth it for me to have a degree from a school that is respected.  The students I had to work with were incredibly lazy. I honestly question the school's admission criteria.  Some of the other student's work is abysmal, yet they still make it from class to class.  If you want a valuable degree go elsewhere.  If you can’t write and have zero work ethic, Walden is for you.  I should have bought $9,000 worth of Cracker Jacks and hoped to find a degree there.  It'd likely be worth more.

Backup ALL your emails & get everything in writing

By: Anonymous (In Progress) on February 24, 2009

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My experience at Walden U was not as I had originally anticipated. At Walden, I think most of the instructors try to work with and have more patience with hardworking adults, who have children and other major responsibilities.  However, from my experience, there are a few that do not.  For instance, I had a family crisis and one of the teachers, who I thought,  would allow me to complete my work and grade it did not.  She let me do all the work and did not grade it, so I did not pass that course.  When I attempted to find the email that I sent her and she responded to, Walden University had purged the email system; thus not allowing me to appeal the grade.  I usually saved everything, but I did not get a chance to save that email to an external email.  When I first started the degree program, I used my hotmail account to receive email correspondence, but later they changed it where all of the student's email addresses were through Walden.  Now, I can see why.

Walden MBA is Competitive

By: Anonymous (In Progress) on November 21, 2008

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I would have to flat out disagree with the last person's assessment of the Walden MBA program.  Most of his issues seemed to be with the University--not the program.

I have two more courses before I complete my MBA in Project Management and have had only one professor that just gave me an "A" regardless of what I submitted. In my Business Finance course, I had the best professor (Dr. Jong Yi) that spent upwards of two hours *every week* explaining to me the lessons for that week because I had trouble.  I received an "A" in that course as I have in all my courses so far, but I worked *very* hard to do so. 

Listen, there are people who will throw together an assignment and not care how it comes out. Some people cheat and plagerize.  I did thorough research, worked in teams, and worked with my professors to get through each course (2-eight week courses per semester). That is why I thought I got a lot out of it.  The one course that I got the most out of was a Marketing class where we fought a lot due to conflicting ideas regarding our team assignment.  But let's face it--isn't that what the work place going to be like anyway?

I gave Walden University a "9" overall because I have enjoyed my experience. Plan on getting the "Walden U" shirts, coffee mugs and stickers for my cars.  I found the reading materials, course texts, articles, etc. top-notch and updated to reflect current trends.  The PowerPoint presentations with the live videos were refreshing and took the place of the instructor lectures.  Never had any measurable issue with support and I have been able to work on my school work while traveling numerous times for work and while on vacation at Disney World (not something I loved to do--I had to do it!).  How else can you do that and attend a brick and mortar?  Very impressed with the use of technology--definately got exposed to technologies I hadn't previously known about. 

It would have been ideal to attend an accredited school locally such as Georgia State, Emory or Kennesaw State here in Atlanta, but let's face it. Unless, I leased a private helicopter, how would I be able to make the weeknight courses with all our traffic?  And Weekends? I am a parent, those are for piano lessons, laundry and karate.  An at-home program works just fine for me.  I schedule the time, and I control my learning.  I also like the principle of social change that is the undercurrent of each course.  The school is accredited and I know people who have gotten MBA's from Emory who many have the fancy paper, but still don't have a clue in the work place.  

So like everything else, your experience at Walden will be what you make of it.  It is not perfect and your mileage will vary.  But please know there are way more people that love the school than hate it.

Support at Walden University is a JOKE!!!

By: bakernc03 (Graduate) on October 2, 2008

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I completed my undergraduate degree at Walden University in Business Administration. The administrative support I received was absolutely terrible. This problem wasn't limited to one department either. I had trouble with the Financial Aid department, the Bursars office, the Academic Advisors, the "Graduation Team", etc. Every issue I encountered required me to e-mail and call at least ten times (and this is not an exaggeration and I have the e-mail chains to prove it for anyone doubting me on this). Nobody would ever handle any of my problems, and I was constantly pushed off on other people. I have never received this poor of customer service from any other organization (and I've had to deal with a lot of notoriously poor organizations like the VA, DoD Records Offices, State Unemployment Office, and Credit Card companies).

I have been done with the Walden program for two months now, and of course I still can't get anyone to respond to me and tell me if they are even working on processing/issuing my degree. Also, I still haven't received my Financial Aid award (Pell Grant and Stafford Loan) from 4 months ago. In fact, I was actually told today that I will not receive it, because the school didn't process it on time. Apparently the Financial Aid has to be processed during the term it is to be awarded for (although I submitted it two weeks prior to the term's end date, apparently it takes three months to process like everything else at Walden).

Other than the administrative support, the program was ok. The courses were easy and you received a 100 on pretty much any assignment as long as you submitted it. Everything I learned in the program came from reading the text books, as the teachers provide little to no lecture.

The program price is a little costly, but the convenience of doing your degree quickly (easily handled 3 six-week courses at a time to complete 19 classes in a little over a year of course time) and at your own time added to the value.

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